Wyrd - Analysis of the Novel
Wyrd - Analysis of the NovelThis essay will discuss the novel Wyrd. It will explore some of the concepts that are found in the novel and attempt to extend the
issues to a point at which they become more clear, and prove the
assertion that, just as Wyrd is a fast moving narrative that spans
continents and ages, it is a novel of ideas.
Wyrd was, in length, a short to medium length novel that was
written by Sue Gough. Briefly, it was the story of Berengaria,
Saladin's daughter and wife of King Richard. After her husbands death,
she was moved to a French nunnery with her handmaiden and son, the
prince (incognito). There she kept an explicit and wise diary,
recording the events in her life. She founded a healing order, and
invented a cordial that was surprisingly popular among the village
folk. She continued to practice Viking religion in subtle ways, and
encouraged spiritual openness, as opposed to the dogmatic teachings of
the time, vesting confidence and a sense of worth in her fellow
devotees. However, she was plagued by her evil anti-thesis, the Abbe
De Ville, who encouraged her son to join in a 'children's crusade' --
and unwise and dangerous religious march. Pat, her son, was eventually
sold as a slave in the middle east, but the Abbe did not know this and
told Berengaria the 'news' of his demise. Unable to cope with such a
revelation, she died and was entombed, as a mummy, with her book
beneath the priory. Found by two archaeologists in modern times, her
book was recovered and her tomb destroyed. Sent to a group of
Australian women (in order to keep it out of the claws of the modern
De Ville, Professor Horniman), the book found it's way into the hands
and heart of Trace, a street kid from Sydney, come north as part of a
modern children's crusade. Unwilling to return to the slums of
Kings Cross, Trace had found her way to the women's homes and beguiled
herse-lf of them. To conclude the story, Professor Horniman attempted
to steal the book, and it was destroyed. All of this was spoken by one
Dr Renouf (a possible future Trace and modern day Berengaria), in an
attempt to draw together the warring factions of the middle east.
One of the most primary themes in the book, apparent even in the
summary, is the repetition of events: recurrence and echoing of past
events and people. The binding threads of time, so to speak, are
constant and absolute: even in different times, the same forces are
still at work throughout the novel. The change of setting is
incidental, and the characters are a constant equalling force. The
children's crusade, the concepts of war and peace, good and evil
are all tied together in the plot, past mirroring future. However,
another theme that is important is...
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