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King of the Silver River (Will O’ the Wisp)

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King of the Silver River (Will O’ the Wisp) LIS 402 Folklore in Popular Media Literary Character: King of the Silver River (Will o’ the Wisp) King of the Silver River Shawn Urban March 11, 2004 • July 18, 2009 Gail de Vos, University of Alberta Terry Brooks (1977) introduced a character in his book, The Sword of Shannara, who was based on a mysterious and still contested phenomenon called the Will o’ the Wisp. In Brooks’ story, two protagonists are about to be discovered by a deadly Skull Bearer (think Tolkien’s (1966a) Nazgul) when a flash of light distracts the Skull Bearer. The Skull Bearer turns to chase the light which disappears then appears farther off several times, luring the increasingly infuriated Skull Bearer away. After some time the flash appears behind the protagonists, then an old man with a lantern appears beside them. This old man knows who they are and their destination. The protagonists grow sleepy and the man’s voice builds in their minds. At the same time he seems to grow younger and his clothes change. In the protagonists’ dreams, they seem to gain a deeper awareness of nature around them. They are waken by a welcoming party only miles from their destination, instead of days. The welcoming party says a flashing light led it to them. One of the protagonists recalls an old folktale about a mysterious character called the King of the Silver River, thought to inhabit the region where they encountered the light. The Will o’ the Wisp is well documented in scientific journals (Stilo 2002) and is encountered irregularly but frequently in many areas of the world by people of all repute (Odenwald 2003, Thurlow 1998). It seems to be a natural phenomenon, but it is obscured by folklore, urban legend and contrary eyewitness accounts. Several hypotheses, scientific and other, have been proposed to explain the phenomenon, but each has been refuted, dismissed or found wanting (Odenwald 2003). The most famous and popular hypothesis, that Will o’ the Wisps are products of ignited marsh gases wafting from rotting marsh vegetation, was proposed by Isaac Newton in 1730. This hypothesis has been invalidated by most observations and every experiment designed to test it, but like other types of urban legend it has wedged a permanent place in folklore. No real scientific attempt to directly investigate these lights has been conducted due to their fringe position in scientific circles and their semi-predictable (hit-and-miss) nature. To complicate matters, several separate but similar phenomena are pigeonholed by both science and common lore (Odenwald 2003), including St. Elmo’s Fire, a phenomenon related to Will o’ the Wisp, which has been explained by science. LIS 402 - Storytelling Folklore in Popular Media Shawn Urban Page 2 The Ignis-Fatuus, or Will o’ the Wisp (Whimper 2003) Will o’ the Wisp folklore (AT type 330, motifs A2817, F491 and Q565, Andersen 1865, Huestis 1916) evolved to provide answers regarding the mysterious lights science and witnesses could not satisfactorily confirm or explain. It describes this phenomenon, giving it a name, a face and a role or purpose, some meaning which the people who experienced or heard about the phenomenon could identify, point to and understand. The folklore also warns listeners about following these strange lights which seemed to lure the unwary into strange, isolated and occasionally dangerous places (Parkinson and Topham 2000, Quinion 2002). Several figurative references have been attributed to this last aspect of the folklore, including the phrase “pixie-led” (Odenwald 2003) and the tendency of a false idea or influence to lead people astray (Quinion 2002), much like a red herring. The folklore also entertains. In fact, Will o’ the Wisp folklore has ranged from comic to nostalgic (Huestis 1916) to ghost stories (Parkinson and Topham 2000) to didactic (motif A2817.1, the tale of the smith who outwits the Devil, was rejected from Heaven and Hell and was given a coal or a light to see with as he wandered the Earth at night). The Will o’ the Wisp is the Jack o’ Lantern, so embedding itself in popular pagan and Christian folk culture. He is also a headless railroad conductor, a spirit, an extraterrestrial or some UFO, a pixie or fairy, an omen of death or disaster (much like the Banshee) and a guide, very similar to a rainbow with an unapproachable end, which leads to a treasure (Parkinson and Topham 2000) or ore load (Odenwald 2003). She has many names, for she is prevalent in local legends across the globe where this phenomenon is encountered. Brooks’ capitalization of the Will o’ the Wisp folklore is an immediate attention getter. The King of the Silver River is an immediately noticeable being in the Shannara series, powerful and magical in a natural rather than studied way. He feels exotic, supernatural, above everything around him, even without the Will o’ the Wisp allusion. However, Brooks counts on his reader recognizing the allusion in his story. By introducing the King of the Silver River as a Will o’ the Wisp, Brooks sets his Shannara series in established folklore context, giving his story and his story’s world a sense of depth, breadth and context connected to and based in our world and its folklore. This adds our history to Brooks’ world and gives this world backdrop elements Brooks’ readers are likely to be familiar with. The King of the Silver River also has the character of Tolkien’s (1966b) Tom Bombadil, himself based on an earlier Tolkien character (1985), Tinfang LIS 402 - Storytelling Folklore in Popular Media Shawn Urban Page 3 Warble, who in turn is based on the Will o’ the Wisp motif. The King of the Silver River is a magical helper who gives the characters and readers of the story a sense that evil is not the only powerful force in Brooks’ story world. This provides both characters and readers a sense of hope that good will ultimately triumph over evil. It also adds romance, or a sense of deeper stories, to the story being told. King of the Silver River Pine Warbler (Wikipedia 2008) (Hogan 2005) Brooks treats the Will o’ the Wisp folklore with respect. The King of the Silver River is a romantic addition to his Shannara story. He is a powerful helper enshrouded in mystery. He also retains a folkloric or legendary status in Brooks’ world and our own. Brooks carefully avoids explaining him away. The protagonists who encountered him are left unsure of his existence, because they become sleepy in his presence. This enables Brooks to retain the mystery established in Will o’ the Wisp folklore in his story. The King of the Silver River’s existence is cloaked in doubt, yet kept real by confirming reports of the flashing light, by each of the protagonists, the members of the welcoming party, established legend in Brooks’ world and the reaction of the Skull Bearer to the light. The King of the Silver River is not given deadly power, but he is given the ability to lure the Skull Bearer, and an undeniable air of confidence in this ability. The Will o’ the Wisp motif serves as an effective means to deal with the Skull Bearer from a position of greater power. Confusing and infuriating the Skull Bearer, leading it on, demonstrates far more power than killing it would have. The protagonists and the readers are left with a sense of hope and balance, that the protagonists are not alone in their struggle against overwhelming evil forces. Brooks assumes that his readers will recognize and be familiar with the Will o’ the Wisp motif. He does not mention Will o’ the Wisp anywhere. Instead he describes the King of the Silver River using details from Will o’ the Wisp folklore. In fact, the King of the Silver River is not even named until twenty pages after he is encountered. This forces Brooks to rely on his description to characterize the King of the Silver River. The Will o’ the Wisp has signature characteristics which Brooks gives the King of the Silver River, including: a lantern; the power to appear and disappear (hood the lantern), particularly when approached; elusiveness; the power to lure the unwary; and an air of mystery or doubt regarding his existence. The King of the Silver River also has other powers which reinforce his Will o’ the Wisp character: he can cause those who encounter him to fall asleep; he can influence dreams; he can change his appearance; and he LIS 402 - Storytelling Folklore in Popular Media Shawn Urban Page 4 can transport those who encounter him great distances without them noticing (while they are asleep). These are features that could be attributed to the Will o’ the Wisp, as those who encounter the Will o’ the Wisp often end up lost or unsure of their surroundings, while at the same time thinking they are safe or elsewhere. The Will o’ the Wisp and the King of the Silver River have a natural magic and mystery associated with them. Brooks takes care to nurture both these features. I am not sure if the Will o’ the Wisp as a mysterious appearing and disappearing light which leads the unwary to strange places is a universal folklore motif. I am also not sure where Will o’ the Wisp and related phenomena, Spook or Earth Lights, St. Elmo’s Fire, and Lightning Effects, such as Ball Lightning, are encountered. Snow-bound Inuit, in North America and Asia, prior to encountering Europeans, for instance, might not have heard about or encountered a Will o’ the Wisp. On the other hand, I think the motif of sensing and following something, a strange elusive light, shadow, noise, smell or other, in uncertain conditions (a blizzard or torrent or sand storm or darkness) is universal and most cultures which hear about the appearing and disappearing light which leads the unwary to strange places would recognize the larger motif and understand the Will o’ the Wisp folklore.
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