Mythago Wood
Encyclopedia
Mythago Wood is a fantasy
novel
written by Robert Holdstock
that was published in the United Kingdom in 1984. The conception began as a short story written for the 1979 Milford Writer's Workshop
; next a novella
of the same name appeared in the September 1981 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
. The full-length novel retained the same name and was subsequently released, beginning a series of novels referred to collectively as the "Mythago Wood cycle" or "Ryhope Wood series".
Mythago Wood is set in Herefordshire
, England in and around a stand of ancient woodland
, known as Ryhope Wood. The story involves the internally estranged members of the Huxley family, particularly Stephen Huxley, and his experiences with the enigmatic forest and its magical inhabitants.
Mythago Wood is a type of fantasy literature
, especially the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction
. It has received critical acclaim because of its prose, forest setting, and its exploration of the philosophical
, spiritual
, and psychological
. Mythago Wood won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985.
Ryhope wood is a fantasy world
or fictional realm
created by Robert Holdstock for his novella Mythago Wood, published during 1981, that became more famous in his novel Mythago Wood, first published in 1984. The novels and novellas (but not short stories) in the Mythago Wood cycle (see subsection below) are all set in the world of Ryhope wood, with the exception of Merlin's Wood which is set in a similarly magical "sister wood" of Brocéliande
in Brittany
, France
.
Ryhope wood is an ancient woodland that has been undisturbed since the last ice age and appears no more than three square miles in area from the outside. Ryhope Wood is an example of a parallel universe
that overlaps a section of the real world. The wood is much, much bigger on the inside than on the outside; once penetrated, the forest grows larger, older and more unbearable as one approaches the heart of the wood. Lavondyss is the name of the remote, ice-age heart of Ryhope wood.
The forest is referred to by John Clute
as an "abyssal
chthonic
resonator
" because it creates and is home to myth-images, or mythagos, who are creatures (including animals, monsters and humans) generated from the ancient memories
and myths within the subconscious
memories of nearby human mind
s. The book itself defines mythago: "myth imago, the image of the idealized form of a myth creature". Mythagos are dangerously real, but if any of them stray too far from the wood they slowly deteriorate and die. Because they are formed from human myths, they will vary in appearance and character depending on the human memories from which they formed; for example there may be, over a period, many different forms of King Arthur
, Robin Hood
, Herne the Hunter
, etc. - all looking and acting differently, yet all with the same basic functions and all acting by the 'rules' set by their defining myths. Because the area around Ryhope Wood is populated sparsely, there are few mythagos in the woodland; but because of his interest in the wood and his deliberate experiments in the 1930s, George Huxley has succeeded in creating more mythagos than would normally be present in the wood at any one time, so causing a greater than usual diversity within the wood. It is revealed in The Hollowing
, a sequel, that mythagos may be created by conscious thought and are drawn physically to their creators.
Besides creating mythagos of living, breathing creatures, the wood can also generate ancient archetypal
places, from castles to battlefields to small ancient villages. These are referred to as Geistzones in the sequel to Mythago Wood, titled Lavondyss
.
The wood contains four tracks that lead to the heart of the wood; without following these tracks, travelers will have extreme difficulty penetrating the forest. In addition to the four tracks, Ryhope wood contains "Hollowings", also described as an "absence of magic," or pathways under the world. Hollowings function as wormhole
s by transporting mythagos and real humans through space and time within the forest. Time travel
occurs when travelers pass through Ryhope wood's Hollowings. Ryhope wood magically repels outsiders by various means including disorientation
and physical defences such as thick, impenetrable scrub, huge lakes and raging rivers. There are also airborne 'defences' to prevent aircraft from getting too close, such as vortices
of air or air elemental
s which throw an aircraft off course.
The wood has a slower rate of time
than the outside world.
For example, a day may pass in 'normal' time, yet a traveler within the wood may have been there for weeks or longer, in comparison. In addition, "Time Slows," or areas subjected to extraordinarily slow time passage, exist within Ryhope wood and are revealed in The Hollowing.
Christian Huxley : Older brother of Stephen Huxley who enters Ryhope wood as an "Outsider" and plays havoc in the woodland.
George Huxley : Father of both Stephen and Christian. George died while in his mid 50's of age from a deteriorating lung disease. It is revealed in The Hollowing and The Bone Forest
that George is a tall lean man who is a psychologist
who studied with Carl Jung
. He also researched archaeology
and became obsessed with myths. Over the course of his studies of Ryhope wood, George produces a scientific journal in six volumes, a personal diary and a detailed map of Ryhope wood.
Jennifer Huxley : Wife of George and mother of Stephen and Christian. She is only mentioned in Mythago Wood, but her suicide is a major issue in Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
.
Stephen Huxley : Main character of the story who would have been born during 1927 or 1928; he is in his early 20's of age during the events of Mythago Wood.
Harry Keeton : A local ex-RAF pilot who accompanies Stephen into Ryhope Wood.
Edward Wynne-Jones : A researcher in historical anthropology
who teaches at Oxford University. Wynne-Jones is a diminutive and fussy man who smokes a pipe. He is approximately the same age as George Huxley. Together Wynne-Jones and George Huxley study Ryhope Wood extensively during the 1930s. Wynne-Jones makes scientific equipment designed to interact with the paranormal in Ryhope Wood. Wynne-Jones disappears into Ryhope Wood in April 1942.
: This male mythago is a hunter with a large hunting dog who encounters Stephen outside Oak Lodge. Cuchulainn's dog leads Stephen to the buried corpse of an early incarnation of the Guiwenneth mythago.
The Fenlander : This male mythago is a skilled warrior who commands a group of mythago warriors known as 'Hawks'. The Fenlander and Hawks serve as Christian's personal bodyguards as he travels to the heart of Ryhope wood.
Guiwenneth of the Green (also Gwyneth) : This female mythago (usually evoked as an older teenager) is from the Bronze Age
and appears in various incarnations throughout time, including protomyth, a girl from Roman Britain
, a manifestation of the Earth goddess
, young Celtic warrior princess and Guinevere
. Each of Gwyneth's incarnations has a varied personality, some dangerous and others alluring, and differing relations with the members of the Huxley family and Harry Keeton.
Sorthalen : This male mythago is a shaman
or necromancer
who can create and control mythagos, including sylph
s, or air elementals. He is also known by the name Freya which literally means "friend."
Twigling : This male mythago has red hair
and a crown of twigs. He lingers near the edge of Ryhope wood.
Urscumug : This man-boar male mythago is a representation of the first hero from earliest myth. The Urscumug was generated purposely by George Huxley. The Urscumug is twice the height of a human and is a malevolent and ancient variation on the woodwose
.
described it as "for readers who are willing to take the time and effort to let a writer evoke a whole and believable world, peopled with living characters.
Richard Mathews, a literary scholar, states that The Ryhope wood series is considered to be "one of the landmark fantasy series of the late twentieth century." Another scholar asserts that Holdstock’s work stands apart from “genre fantasy” and that “The sequence as a whole is a central contribution to late-20th-century fantasy.”
In one study of Tolkien's work, Holdstock is placed in a quartet of noteworthy fantasy authors including Ursula K. Le Guin
, John Crowley
and Marion Zimmer Bradley
for writing fantasy books that almost have Tolkien's breadth and depth of imagination, and "in some respects surpass Tolkien." Another J. R. R. Tolkien scholar, Michael D. C. Drout
, also asserts that Holdstock's fantasy is significant in the fantasy literature genre. This, he says, is because (in the Mythago Wood cycle) Holdstock has created literary arts containing the power and aesthetic standards of Tolkien’s fantasy without being either a "close imitation of" or a "reaction against" Tolkien. Along with Ursula LeGuin, Holdstock is considered to be a worthy inheritor of the fantasy tradition created by Tolkien.
Again, Richard Mathews expresses the opinion that Holdstock’s writing in the Mythago Wood cycle is an impressive mixture of poetic style and sensitivity. John Howe, a modern fantasy illustrator, wrote: "Mythago Wood is a wonderful book written with great style, insight and individuality." A decade after Mythago Wood was published, Brian W. Aldiss stated that Robert Holdstock's wonderful Mythago Wood was full of ancient power, unrivaled throughout the decade of the 1980s. Mythago Wood is also noted for its pairing of sexuality and violence, and is noted as “an earthy, tactile, deeply mythological tale set in an English wood.” In Horror: The 100 Best Books Michael Moorcock
states of Mythago Wood: "Holdstock avoids sentimentality ... by offering us tougher questions, moral dilemmas, an imagined world far more complex than anything found in the wood's precursors."
’s well-developed philosophical understanding of the psyche
.
The mythagos embody Jungian archetypes since they are dependent on the subconscious, not on distinct memory. Tying in with this philosophy, Kim Newman notes that the series offers “mind-stretching meditation on the nature of collective imagination." Nicholas Riddick states "Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood can be read as a journey into the heartland of the psyche." The story is also considered commonly as an "inward spiral" in which the protagonists undergo cruel and devastating metamorphoses
in a difficult setting. Brian Aldiss said that "Ryhope Wood [is] that terrifying metaphor
for our mental labyrinths" in which "phylogeny
presides over ontogeny
" with regards to an individual's history and destiny. Freudian
psychology appears in the narrative when Stephen and Christian encounter the Urscumug, who displays characteristics of their father.
British setting in which pagan
and shamanistic rituals are common, and one scholar notes that death and mortal remains are prominent and disturbing part of these works. Along the same lines, it is noted that Mythago Wood might convey a more disturbing side of shamanry than other fantasy.
One critical study examines the pagan spiritual aspect of Mythago Wood, in particular how "elements of the series' thesis resonate with pagan worldviews." This is not because Mythago Wood is specifically written for Pagans, but because the mechanisms of Ryhope wood defy science and allow for events that are readily recognizable to Pagans.
with originality and deftness by incorporating its unwritten culture. These elements of culture include the Morris dance
s, the Green Man
, Shamanism, Neolithic
tribespeople, and pre-Roman Celtic traditions. The archetypal wilderness of Holdstock is noted as remarkable and followed up by the notion that within the fantasy genre of literature, Mythago Wood and Merlin's Wood have been considered essential reading because "Holdstock is a writer who has traveled deeper into the woods than any other mythic writer." Michael Moorcock
finds Mythago Wood notable for focusing on the subject of unity
, including both the unity of the landscape and its inhabitants as well as the unity of dreams and the environment. Moorcock notes Mythago Wood is influenced by The Golden Bough
, modern anthropology and the writer Arthur Machen
. Moorcock also observes common elements between Mythago Wood and Ursula K. Le Guin's low fantasy novel The Beginning Place
and George Meredith's
poem The Woods of Westermain.
!width="40%"|Followed by:
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|Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
|Mythago Wood
|Avilion
|}
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Robert Holdstock
Robert Holdstock
Robert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction....
that was published in the United Kingdom in 1984. The conception began as a short story written for the 1979 Milford Writer's Workshop
Milford Writer's Workshop
The Milford Writer's Workshop or more properly Milford Writers' Conference is an influential science fiction writer's event founded by Damon Knight among others in the mid-1950s in Milford, Pennsylvania...
; next a novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
of the same name appeared in the September 1981 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
. The full-length novel retained the same name and was subsequently released, beginning a series of novels referred to collectively as the "Mythago Wood cycle" or "Ryhope Wood series".
Mythago Wood is set in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, England in and around a stand of ancient woodland
Ancient woodland
Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...
, known as Ryhope Wood. The story involves the internally estranged members of the Huxley family, particularly Stephen Huxley, and his experiences with the enigmatic forest and its magical inhabitants.
Mythago Wood is a type of fantasy literature
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
, especially the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction
Mythic fiction
Mythic fiction is literature that is rooted in, inspired by, or that in some way draws from the tropes, themes and symbolism of myth, folklore, and fairy tales. The term is widely credited to Charles de Lint and Terri Windling...
. It has received critical acclaim because of its prose, forest setting, and its exploration of the philosophical
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
, and psychological
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. Mythago Wood won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985.
Ryhope wood
Fantasy world
A fantasy world is a fictional universe used in fantasy novels and games. Typical worlds involve magic or magical abilities and often, but not always, either a medieval or futuristic theme...
or fictional realm
Setting (fiction)
In fiction, setting includes the time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, and initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has been referred to as story world or milieu to include a context beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may...
created by Robert Holdstock for his novella Mythago Wood, published during 1981, that became more famous in his novel Mythago Wood, first published in 1984. The novels and novellas (but not short stories) in the Mythago Wood cycle (see subsection below) are all set in the world of Ryhope wood, with the exception of Merlin's Wood which is set in a similarly magical "sister wood" of Brocéliande
Brocéliande
Brocéliande is the name of a legendary forest that first appears in literature in 1160, in the Roman de Rou, a verse chronicle written by Wace....
in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Ryhope wood is an ancient woodland that has been undisturbed since the last ice age and appears no more than three square miles in area from the outside. Ryhope Wood is an example of a parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
that overlaps a section of the real world. The wood is much, much bigger on the inside than on the outside; once penetrated, the forest grows larger, older and more unbearable as one approaches the heart of the wood. Lavondyss is the name of the remote, ice-age heart of Ryhope wood.
The forest is referred to by John Clute
John Clute
John Frederick Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who has lived in Britain since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part of science fiction's history."...
as an "abyssal
Abyss (religion)
Abyss refers to a bottomless pit, to the underworld, to the deepest ocean floor, or to hell.The English word "abyss" derives from the late Latin abyssimus through French abisme , hence the poetic form "abysm", with examples dating to 1616 and earlier to rhyme with "time"...
chthonic
Chthonic
Chthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
resonator
Resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior, that is, it naturally oscillates at some frequencies, called its resonant frequencies, with greater amplitude than at others. The oscillations in a resonator can be either electromagnetic or mechanical...
" because it creates and is home to myth-images, or mythagos, who are creatures (including animals, monsters and humans) generated from the ancient memories
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
and myths within the subconscious
Subconscious
The term subconscious is used in many different contexts and has no single or precise definition. This greatly limits its significance as a definition-bearing concept, and in consequence the word tends to be avoided in academic and scientific settings....
memories of nearby human mind
Mind
The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...
s. The book itself defines mythago: "myth imago, the image of the idealized form of a myth creature". Mythagos are dangerously real, but if any of them stray too far from the wood they slowly deteriorate and die. Because they are formed from human myths, they will vary in appearance and character depending on the human memories from which they formed; for example there may be, over a period, many different forms of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
, Herne the Hunter
Herne the Hunter
In English folklore, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. His appearance is notable in the fact that he has antlers upon his head....
, etc. - all looking and acting differently, yet all with the same basic functions and all acting by the 'rules' set by their defining myths. Because the area around Ryhope Wood is populated sparsely, there are few mythagos in the woodland; but because of his interest in the wood and his deliberate experiments in the 1930s, George Huxley has succeeded in creating more mythagos than would normally be present in the wood at any one time, so causing a greater than usual diversity within the wood. It is revealed in The Hollowing
The Hollowing
The Hollowing is the third fantasy novel of the Mythago Wood series written by Robert Holdstock. It was originally published in 1993. The title refers to a magical pathway, or hollowing, an archaic English term for a sunken lane or hollow-way...
, a sequel, that mythagos may be created by conscious thought and are drawn physically to their creators.
Besides creating mythagos of living, breathing creatures, the wood can also generate ancient archetypal
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
places, from castles to battlefields to small ancient villages. These are referred to as Geistzones in the sequel to Mythago Wood, titled Lavondyss
Lavondyss
Lavondyss also titled Lavondyss: Journey to an Unknown Region is the second fantasy novel of the Mythago Wood series written by Robert Holdstock. Lavondyss was originally published in 1988...
.
The wood contains four tracks that lead to the heart of the wood; without following these tracks, travelers will have extreme difficulty penetrating the forest. In addition to the four tracks, Ryhope wood contains "Hollowings", also described as an "absence of magic," or pathways under the world. Hollowings function as wormhole
Wormhole
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it...
s by transporting mythagos and real humans through space and time within the forest. Time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
occurs when travelers pass through Ryhope wood's Hollowings. Ryhope wood magically repels outsiders by various means including disorientation
Orientation (mental)
Orientation is a function of the mind involving awareness of three dimensions: time, place and person. Problems with orientation lead to disorientation, and can be due to various conditions, from delirium to intoxication...
and physical defences such as thick, impenetrable scrub, huge lakes and raging rivers. There are also airborne 'defences' to prevent aircraft from getting too close, such as vortices
Vortex
A vortex is a spinning, often turbulent,flow of fluid. Any spiral motion with closed streamlines is vortex flow. The motion of the fluid swirling rapidly around a center is called a vortex...
of air or air elemental
Elemental
An elemental is a mythological being first appearing in the alchemical works of Paracelsus in the 16th century. Traditionally, there are four types:*gnomes, earth elementals*undines , water elementals*sylphs, air elementals...
s which throw an aircraft off course.
The wood has a slower rate of time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
than the outside world.
For example, a day may pass in 'normal' time, yet a traveler within the wood may have been there for weeks or longer, in comparison. In addition, "Time Slows," or areas subjected to extraordinarily slow time passage, exist within Ryhope wood and are revealed in The Hollowing.
Plot summary
The events of Mythago Wood occur between 1946 and 1948, just after the end of World War II. Stephen Huxley returns from service (after recuperating from his war wounds) to see his elder brother Christian who now lives alone in their childhood home, Oak Lodge, just on the edge of Ryhope Wood. Their father George has died recently; their mother Jennifer died some years earlier. Christian is disturbed, but intrigued, by his encounters with one of the mythagos whereas Stephen is understandably confused and disbelieving when Christian explains the enigma of the wood; although both had seen mythagos as children, their father explained them away as travelling Gypsies. Christian returns to the wood for longer and longer periods, eventually assuming a mythical role himself. In the meantime, Stephen reads about his father's and Edward Wynne-Jones's studies of the wood. Part of his research on the wood causes him to contact Wynne-Jones's daughter, Anne Hayden. Stephen also meets a local man named Harry Keeton, a burn-scarred ex-RAF pilot, who had encountered a similar wood when he was shot down over France and has since been trying to find a city that he saw there. Stephen and Harry try to survey and photograph Ryhope wood from the air, but their small plane is buffeted back by inexplicable winds each time they fly over the forest. Stephen soon has his own encounters with the woodland mythagos (and an older Christian) and eventually, to save both his brother and a mythago girl named Guiwenneth (also referred to as Gwyneth and Gwyn), he must venture deep into the wood, and Harry accompanies him.Human characters
Anne Hayden : Edward Wynne-Jones’s daughter who is in her mid 30s during the events of Mythago Wood.Christian Huxley : Older brother of Stephen Huxley who enters Ryhope wood as an "Outsider" and plays havoc in the woodland.
George Huxley : Father of both Stephen and Christian. George died while in his mid 50's of age from a deteriorating lung disease. It is revealed in The Hollowing and The Bone Forest
The Bone Forest
The Bone Forest is a book opening with a novella of the same name followed by seven short stories. All were written by Robert Holdstock and published in 1991 and 1992 . This novella is a prequel to the entire Mythago Wood cycle...
that George is a tall lean man who is a psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
who studied with Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
. He also researched archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and became obsessed with myths. Over the course of his studies of Ryhope wood, George produces a scientific journal in six volumes, a personal diary and a detailed map of Ryhope wood.
Jennifer Huxley : Wife of George and mother of Stephen and Christian. She is only mentioned in Mythago Wood, but her suicide is a major issue in Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Holdstock. It was originally published in the US in 1997 The story is a prequel to Mythago Wood and explores the Christian Huxley's quest into Ryhope Wood and the apparent suicide of his mother, Jennifer Huxley...
.
Stephen Huxley : Main character of the story who would have been born during 1927 or 1928; he is in his early 20's of age during the events of Mythago Wood.
Harry Keeton : A local ex-RAF pilot who accompanies Stephen into Ryhope Wood.
Edward Wynne-Jones : A researcher in historical anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
who teaches at Oxford University. Wynne-Jones is a diminutive and fussy man who smokes a pipe. He is approximately the same age as George Huxley. Together Wynne-Jones and George Huxley study Ryhope Wood extensively during the 1930s. Wynne-Jones makes scientific equipment designed to interact with the paranormal in Ryhope Wood. Wynne-Jones disappears into Ryhope Wood in April 1942.
Mythagos
CúchulainnCúchulainn
Cú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
: This male mythago is a hunter with a large hunting dog who encounters Stephen outside Oak Lodge. Cuchulainn's dog leads Stephen to the buried corpse of an early incarnation of the Guiwenneth mythago.
The Fenlander : This male mythago is a skilled warrior who commands a group of mythago warriors known as 'Hawks'. The Fenlander and Hawks serve as Christian's personal bodyguards as he travels to the heart of Ryhope wood.
Guiwenneth of the Green (also Gwyneth) : This female mythago (usually evoked as an older teenager) is from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and appears in various incarnations throughout time, including protomyth, a girl from Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
, a manifestation of the Earth goddess
Chthonic
Chthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
, young Celtic warrior princess and Guinevere
Guinevere
Guinevere was the legendary queen consort of King Arthur. In tales and folklore, she was said to have had a love affair with Arthur's chief knight Sir Lancelot...
. Each of Gwyneth's incarnations has a varied personality, some dangerous and others alluring, and differing relations with the members of the Huxley family and Harry Keeton.
Sorthalen : This male mythago is a shaman
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
or necromancer
Necromancy
Necromancy is a claimed form of magic that involves communication with the deceased, either by summoning their spirit in the form of an apparition or raising them bodily, for the purpose of divination, imparting the ability to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge...
who can create and control mythagos, including sylph
Sylph
Sylph is a mythological creature in the Western tradition. The term originates in Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as invisible beings of the air, his elementals of air...
s, or air elementals. He is also known by the name Freya which literally means "friend."
Twigling : This male mythago has red hair
Red hair
Red hair occurs on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations...
and a crown of twigs. He lingers near the edge of Ryhope wood.
Urscumug : This man-boar male mythago is a representation of the first hero from earliest myth. The Urscumug was generated purposely by George Huxley. The Urscumug is twice the height of a human and is a malevolent and ancient variation on the woodwose
Woodwose
The wild man is a mythical figure that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to Silvanus, the Roman god of the woodlands.The defining characteristic of the figure is its "wildness"; from the 12th century...
.
Literary significance and criticism
Within the fantasy genre, Mythago Wood has drawn critical attention for a variety of reasons over a span of years. Reviewer Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
described it as "for readers who are willing to take the time and effort to let a writer evoke a whole and believable world, peopled with living characters.
Place in the Fantasy Genre
One type of literary analysis of Holdstock’s work compares it to other literature with similar characteristics.Richard Mathews, a literary scholar, states that The Ryhope wood series is considered to be "one of the landmark fantasy series of the late twentieth century." Another scholar asserts that Holdstock’s work stands apart from “genre fantasy” and that “The sequence as a whole is a central contribution to late-20th-century fantasy.”
In one study of Tolkien's work, Holdstock is placed in a quartet of noteworthy fantasy authors including Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
, John Crowley
John Crowley
John Crowley is an American author of fantasy, science fiction and mainstream fiction. He studied at Indiana University and has a second career as a documentary film writer...
and Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Many critics have noted a feminist perspective in her writing. Her first child, David R...
for writing fantasy books that almost have Tolkien's breadth and depth of imagination, and "in some respects surpass Tolkien." Another J. R. R. Tolkien scholar, Michael D. C. Drout
Michael D. C. Drout
Michael D. C. Drout is the Prentice Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English at Wheaton College and an author and editor specializing in Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature, science fiction and fantasy, especially the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and Ursula K. Le Guin.Drout holds a...
, also asserts that Holdstock's fantasy is significant in the fantasy literature genre. This, he says, is because (in the Mythago Wood cycle) Holdstock has created literary arts containing the power and aesthetic standards of Tolkien’s fantasy without being either a "close imitation of" or a "reaction against" Tolkien. Along with Ursula LeGuin, Holdstock is considered to be a worthy inheritor of the fantasy tradition created by Tolkien.
Prose style
A second type of critical praise and analysis focuses on the quality of the writing.Again, Richard Mathews expresses the opinion that Holdstock’s writing in the Mythago Wood cycle is an impressive mixture of poetic style and sensitivity. John Howe, a modern fantasy illustrator, wrote: "Mythago Wood is a wonderful book written with great style, insight and individuality." A decade after Mythago Wood was published, Brian W. Aldiss stated that Robert Holdstock's wonderful Mythago Wood was full of ancient power, unrivaled throughout the decade of the 1980s. Mythago Wood is also noted for its pairing of sexuality and violence, and is noted as “an earthy, tactile, deeply mythological tale set in an English wood.” In Horror: The 100 Best Books Michael Moorcock
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
states of Mythago Wood: "Holdstock avoids sentimentality ... by offering us tougher questions, moral dilemmas, an imagined world far more complex than anything found in the wood's precursors."
Philosophical & psychological elements
The philosophical and psychological elements of the Mythago Wood cycle have also caused commentary. The mechanism of mythagos being created from the subconscious ties in with Carl JungCarl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
’s well-developed philosophical understanding of the psyche
Psyche (psychology)
The word psyche has a long history of use in psychology and philosophy, dating back to ancient times, and has been one of the fundamental concepts for understanding human nature from a scientific point of view. The English word soul is sometimes used synonymously, especially in older...
.
The mythagos embody Jungian archetypes since they are dependent on the subconscious, not on distinct memory. Tying in with this philosophy, Kim Newman notes that the series offers “mind-stretching meditation on the nature of collective imagination." Nicholas Riddick states "Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood can be read as a journey into the heartland of the psyche." The story is also considered commonly as an "inward spiral" in which the protagonists undergo cruel and devastating metamorphoses
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation...
in a difficult setting. Brian Aldiss said that "Ryhope Wood [is] that terrifying metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
for our mental labyrinths" in which "phylogeny
Phylogenetics
In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices...
presides over ontogeny
Ontogeny
Ontogeny is the origin and the development of an organism – for example: from the fertilized egg to mature form. It covers in essence, the study of an organism's lifespan...
" with regards to an individual's history and destiny. Freudian
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
psychology appears in the narrative when Stephen and Christian encounter the Urscumug, who displays characteristics of their father.
Spiritual elements
The interior of Ryhope wood is a Pre-ChristianPre-Christian
Pre-Christian may mean:*before Christianization**historical polytheism *BC**Classical Antiquity**Iron Age...
British setting in which pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
and shamanistic rituals are common, and one scholar notes that death and mortal remains are prominent and disturbing part of these works. Along the same lines, it is noted that Mythago Wood might convey a more disturbing side of shamanry than other fantasy.
One critical study examines the pagan spiritual aspect of Mythago Wood, in particular how "elements of the series' thesis resonate with pagan worldviews." This is not because Mythago Wood is specifically written for Pagans, but because the mechanisms of Ryhope wood defy science and allow for events that are readily recognizable to Pagans.
Subject & setting
The setting of a myth-rich magical Celtic forest itself, along with its existence side-by-side with the modern everyday world, are characteristics of particular interest to critics. For example, in a recent study of the fantasy genre, Mythago Wood and Lavondyss have been recognized as being significant because they are pure fantasy works that take place in an innovative and startlingly ordinary realm. According to one modern Tolkien scholar, Mythago Wood and Lavondyss are two of Holdstock’s best works which, as fantasies, have an internally consistent framework of principles. Notably, these works deal with the traditions of the British IslesBritish Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
with originality and deftness by incorporating its unwritten culture. These elements of culture include the Morris dance
Morris dance
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells may also be wielded by the dancers...
s, the Green Man
Green Man
A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit...
, Shamanism, Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
tribespeople, and pre-Roman Celtic traditions. The archetypal wilderness of Holdstock is noted as remarkable and followed up by the notion that within the fantasy genre of literature, Mythago Wood and Merlin's Wood have been considered essential reading because "Holdstock is a writer who has traveled deeper into the woods than any other mythic writer." Michael Moorcock
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
finds Mythago Wood notable for focusing on the subject of unity
Nondualism
Nondualism is a term used to denote affinity, or unity, rather than duality or separateness or multiplicity. In reference to the universe it may be used to denote the idea that things appear distinct while not being separate. The term "nondual" can refer to a belief, condition, theory, practice,...
, including both the unity of the landscape and its inhabitants as well as the unity of dreams and the environment. Moorcock notes Mythago Wood is influenced by The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer . It first was published in two volumes in 1890; the third edition, published 1906–15, comprised twelve volumes...
, modern anthropology and the writer Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror...
. Moorcock also observes common elements between Mythago Wood and Ursula K. Le Guin's low fantasy novel The Beginning Place
The Beginning Place
The Beginning Place is a short novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, written in 1980. It was subsequently published under the title Threshold in 1986. The novel does not belong to any of the cycles for which Le Guin is well known. The story's genre is a mixture of realism and fantasy literature...
and George Meredith's
George Meredith
George Meredith, OM was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.- Life :Meredith was born in Portsmouth, England, a son and grandson of naval outfitters. His mother died when he was five. At the age of 14 he was sent to a Moravian School in Neuwied, Germany, where he remained for two...
poem The Woods of Westermain.
Awards
- The novella Mythago Wood won the BSFA AwardBSFA awardThe BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association to honor works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members...
for Best Short in 1981 - The novella Mythago Wood won the World Fantasy AwardWorld Fantasy AwardThe World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
for Best Novella in 1982 - The full-length novel Mythago Wood won the BSFA Award for Best Novel in 1984
- The full-length novel Mythago Wood won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985.
- La Forêt des Mythagos, i.e. the Mythago Wood collection, won the Grand Prix de l'ImaginaireGrand Prix de l'ImaginaireGrand Prix de l'Imaginaire is a French award for speculative fiction. It originally had the word "science fiction" in the name, but this has since been dropped.-French novel:* 1974 : Michel Jeury, Le Temps incertain...
in the category of Prix spécial in 2003. - Mythago Wood was published as part of the Masterpieces of Fantasy series by Easton PressEaston PressEaston Press, a division of MBI Inc., based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a publisher specializing in high-quality leather-bound books. In addition to canonical classics, poetry and art books, they publish a large library of science fiction and popular literature as well.Some of Easton Press's...
, who describe themselves as releasing 'works of lasting meaning, beauty and importance.'
Chronology of works in the Mythago Wood cycle
The order in which the Mythago cycle works were written/published does not necessarily correspond to the order of events within the realm of the Mythago Wood cycle. For example, Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn and the novella The Bone Forest are prequels to Mythago Wood even though they were published at a later date. The novel Merlin's Wood (1994) and short stories in The Bone Forest and Merlin's Wood have little bearing on the events in the Ryhope wood. See the table below for a chronology of events within Ryhope wood.!width="40%"|Followed by:
|----- align="center"
|Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn
Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Holdstock. It was originally published in the US in 1997 The story is a prequel to Mythago Wood and explores the Christian Huxley's quest into Ryhope Wood and the apparent suicide of his mother, Jennifer Huxley...
|Mythago Wood
|Avilion
Avilion
Avilion is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Holdstock. It was published in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2009. It is his first Ryhope wood novel since Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn was published in 1997. Avilion is Tennyson's term for Avalon in Le Morte d'Arthur...
|}
External links
- Mythago Wood: the official website of Robert Holdstock (last accessed Feb 3, 2010) (last accessed Feb 3, 2010)
- The SF Site series review by Steven H. Silver (last accessed Feb 3, 2010)