Scan barcode
deep_in_the_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Video review here!
Despite some flaws, The Worm Ouroboros is currently my favourite fantasy novel set in Middle Earth. ER Eddison, like JRR Tolkien 15 years later, pulled from the Scandinavian Eddas to inspire his own high-fantasy world, but each work stands quite on its own in spite of that! Eddison’s world avoids the good-vs-evil tropes of other fantasy novels. While heavily romanticized on the surface, full of characters who are all about bluster, bravado, and martial virtues, there’s a strong underscore of irony that’s surprisingly deconstructive for a medieval throwback fantasy written in the 1920s! I adored the moments when the female characters would openly criticize the vain endeavors of the men, or when Lord Gro would show his existentialist side in open contradiction of the vainly heroic narratives spun by everyone around him.
Speaking of the characters, I’d compare them to the simplistic heroes in ancient tales like Homer’s epic poems. They usually have a single character trait, and the conflicts that come about are caused or solved by that trait. Pride, ego, and a constant jostling for power behind the scenes are recurring themes, along with the idea that war is perpetual—an inexorable aspect of our nature that we can’t—or won’t—progress beyond. Grudge begets grudge, dominant powers rise, fall, and eclipse one another in an ongoing cycle that Eddison compares to the cycle of seasons, the waning and waxing of the moon, and the movement of stars. The struggle for power is a force of nature that we’re forever beholden to, repeating our mistakes as we try to learn from them. All this is encompassed in the sigil of the Worm Ouroboros—a serpent forever eating its own tail. The ending is a subversive culmination of this theme, which pokes fun at the whole fantasy genre up to the point it was written. In that way, The Worm Ouroboros is like a transition point between the fantasy that came before and the fantasy that came afterwards.
The few faults come from a few too many plot threads that went underdeveloped or ended with simplistic resolutions, when things seem to be building towards a more complex payoff. Much of the covert manipulation of events from the side characters was wrapped up a bit too cleanly. There were also some drawn-out sequences of travelling from point A to point B, where pedantic descriptions that were supposed to immerse me would instead make me all too aware that I was staring at words on a page (the mountain-climbing chapter being the main example).
Though the Elizabethan writing style is challenging, it was a really rewarding nut to crack. I’d been warned about the letters and other documents being almost unreadable, since they’re written in late Middle-English using archaic spellings and unfamiliar words, but a bit of patience and re-reading, and I was able to understand just about every line! This novel really expanded my diction and satisfied my appetite for challenging, unfamiliar prose styles. Once I got used to the antiquated way that Worm Ouroboros is written, I was taken aback by how beautiful many passages are. After reading this, I’m less intimidated about trying some earlier English writing, like the Green Knight, or the works of Milton and Shakespeare. If you wanna master old, flowery English for your D&D campaigns or renaissance fairs, this is the book for you!
In the current canon of fantasy, I think it’s a real shame that E.R. Eddison’s unique work, which inspired later writers such as Tolkien, Lewis and Moorcock, has fallen into relative obscurity. Because of that, and since it’s about to turn 100 years old, I think it deserves to be re-evaluated by the many fantasy readers that have come about in part because of this novel and its influence. Overall I'm wavering between 3 and 4 stars, so my rating might fluctuate!
Despite some flaws, The Worm Ouroboros is currently my favourite fantasy novel set in Middle Earth. ER Eddison, like JRR Tolkien 15 years later, pulled from the Scandinavian Eddas to inspire his own high-fantasy world, but each work stands quite on its own in spite of that! Eddison’s world avoids the good-vs-evil tropes of other fantasy novels. While heavily romanticized on the surface, full of characters who are all about bluster, bravado, and martial virtues, there’s a strong underscore of irony that’s surprisingly deconstructive for a medieval throwback fantasy written in the 1920s! I adored the moments when the female characters would openly criticize the vain endeavors of the men, or when Lord Gro would show his existentialist side in open contradiction of the vainly heroic narratives spun by everyone around him.
Speaking of the characters, I’d compare them to the simplistic heroes in ancient tales like Homer’s epic poems. They usually have a single character trait, and the conflicts that come about are caused or solved by that trait. Pride, ego, and a constant jostling for power behind the scenes are recurring themes, along with the idea that war is perpetual—an inexorable aspect of our nature that we can’t—or won’t—progress beyond. Grudge begets grudge, dominant powers rise, fall, and eclipse one another in an ongoing cycle that Eddison compares to the cycle of seasons, the waning and waxing of the moon, and the movement of stars. The struggle for power is a force of nature that we’re forever beholden to, repeating our mistakes as we try to learn from them. All this is encompassed in the sigil of the Worm Ouroboros—a serpent forever eating its own tail. The ending is a subversive culmination of this theme, which pokes fun at the whole fantasy genre up to the point it was written. In that way, The Worm Ouroboros is like a transition point between the fantasy that came before and the fantasy that came afterwards.
The few faults come from a few too many plot threads that went underdeveloped or ended with simplistic resolutions, when things seem to be building towards a more complex payoff. Much of the covert manipulation of events from the side characters was wrapped up a bit too cleanly. There were also some drawn-out sequences of travelling from point A to point B, where pedantic descriptions that were supposed to immerse me would instead make me all too aware that I was staring at words on a page (the mountain-climbing chapter being the main example).
Though the Elizabethan writing style is challenging, it was a really rewarding nut to crack. I’d been warned about the letters and other documents being almost unreadable, since they’re written in late Middle-English using archaic spellings and unfamiliar words, but a bit of patience and re-reading, and I was able to understand just about every line! This novel really expanded my diction and satisfied my appetite for challenging, unfamiliar prose styles. Once I got used to the antiquated way that Worm Ouroboros is written, I was taken aback by how beautiful many passages are. After reading this, I’m less intimidated about trying some earlier English writing, like the Green Knight, or the works of Milton and Shakespeare. If you wanna master old, flowery English for your D&D campaigns or renaissance fairs, this is the book for you!
In the current canon of fantasy, I think it’s a real shame that E.R. Eddison’s unique work, which inspired later writers such as Tolkien, Lewis and Moorcock, has fallen into relative obscurity. Because of that, and since it’s about to turn 100 years old, I think it deserves to be re-evaluated by the many fantasy readers that have come about in part because of this novel and its influence. Overall I'm wavering between 3 and 4 stars, so my rating might fluctuate!
wendythecatwitch's review against another edition
The language was just too difficult for me at the time. I intend to return to it someday
kerrygold's review against another edition
5.0
The Worm Ouroboros was first published in 1922. In 1968 it was republished by Ballantine, with cover art by Barbara Remington. It was one of the precursors to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, which began properly when Lin Carter took over as series editor.
Lin Carter clearly marks E. R. Eddison as one of the great stylists of early fantasy, along with James Branch Cabell and Lord Dunsany.
Certainly this book is special. You’ll quickly get over the silly names for the nations, Demons, Witches, Imps, Pixies, and so on. The characters are heroic, even the villains. The women are courtly and beautiful without exception. There is magic, monsters, and grand adventures and battles. It’s a great epic fantasy expressed in beautiful, ringing Elizabethan-style prose.
Lin Carter clearly marks E. R. Eddison as one of the great stylists of early fantasy, along with James Branch Cabell and Lord Dunsany.
Certainly this book is special. You’ll quickly get over the silly names for the nations, Demons, Witches, Imps, Pixies, and so on. The characters are heroic, even the villains. The women are courtly and beautiful without exception. There is magic, monsters, and grand adventures and battles. It’s a great epic fantasy expressed in beautiful, ringing Elizabethan-style prose.
radioisasoundsalvation's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
lay1onme's review
Coming back to this at some point. The story is interesting and suitably dark, but it’s written in Old English, which makes it headache inducing. I’m not in the mood to learn another language right now.
piercemoffett's review
5.0
It is very poetically written, and I liked the actual bits of poetry strewn throughout the story. They were, for the most part, not penned by Eddison himself, but a glossary indicates in the back of the book where they originated.
Character names confused me several times, for example Corsus, Corund, Corinius; Gorice, Gorius, Gro. Tolkien, I think, has more memorable character names.
His metaphors are much more imaginative than Tolkien's.
Will finish review later...
Character names confused me several times, for example Corsus, Corund, Corinius; Gorice, Gorius, Gro. Tolkien, I think, has more memorable character names.
His metaphors are much more imaginative than Tolkien's.
Will finish review later...
bperl's review
5.0
This is high fantasy of the greatest caliber. Tolkien lovers, behold your contender for the throne.
outcolder's review
3.0
"He kept a book of anachronistic words and phrases he found evocative (BL MS Eng. misc. e. 599) and crossed them off neatly as he found excuses to work them into his writing." - Young, Joseph. "The foundations of E. R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros." Extrapolation, vol. 54, no. 2, summer 2013, pp. 183+ Ha! I think that's hilarious! The same article calls the author an "amateur medievalist" a number of times and argues that it was Eddison's interest in fantasy that led him to an interest in Icelandic Sagas and medieval literature. He's got a bunch of songs and poems in here from people like John Dunne and Shakespeare.
Forewarned is forearmed, and I had read a slew of complaints and praise for this book before starting on it. When I borrowed it from Villa Fantastica, the SFF library in Vienna, Austria, the guys there said it was a "Klassiker." So I wasn't bothered by the goofy names, the sprawling plot, the half-assed framing device, or the overwrought and archaic language. Yeah, it's a klassiker and if you're into the history of fantasy you have got to read this, but it didn't blow my mind or anything. My favorite bits are about the personality clashes among the bad guys and the most interesting character is of course the traitorous Lord Gro... but did he have to have a large, hooked nose? Groan. The few female characters are all pretty great, except for the foundling of the gods but I guess several centuries trapped in a magic mountain will leave you kind of dull. To sum up: It's epic, but a little too epic.
Forewarned is forearmed, and I had read a slew of complaints and praise for this book before starting on it. When I borrowed it from Villa Fantastica, the SFF library in Vienna, Austria, the guys there said it was a "Klassiker." So I wasn't bothered by the goofy names, the sprawling plot, the half-assed framing device, or the overwrought and archaic language. Yeah, it's a klassiker and if you're into the history of fantasy you have got to read this, but it didn't blow my mind or anything. My favorite bits are about the personality clashes among the bad guys and the most interesting character is of course the traitorous Lord Gro... but did he have to have a large, hooked nose? Groan. The few female characters are all pretty great, except for the foundling of the gods but I guess several centuries trapped in a magic mountain will leave you kind of dull. To sum up: It's epic, but a little too epic.