The Archetypes of the Fisher King and the Wasteland

"One does not simply walk into Mordor.

Its black gates are guarded by more than

just Orcs. There is evil there that does not

sleep. The great Eye is ever watchful. It is a

barren Wasteland, riddled with fire, ash,

and dust. The very air you breathe is a

poisonous fume."

The story of the Fisher King comes out of

Arthurian legend.

Characteristics of the myth:

The Fisher King • Married to the landwhat happens to the “King”

(modern incarnations: CEO, president, famous person)

happens to the land and its people

– If the King suffers, the land suffers

– If the King heals, the land prospers

• Responsible for the future of the kingdom

The Wound

• The king suffers in some way /

is rendered impotent or sterile,

incapable of leading his people

• The wound (a blight) serves as

a reminder of his greed or

misguided priorities and

contributes to the infertility of

the land, hindering the progress

of his people or culture.

The Abode

• A castle in traditional

texts

• Often made of gray

stone

• Place associated with

the grail

The Wasteland

• A “dead” land, filled with suffering and

despair.

• In modern times, the Wasteland can be a

metaphor for modern apathy or it can

symbolize

– social and moral decay

– a barren, desolate place, incapable of sustaining

life

– the psychological wounding of a culture (ex., the

Lost Generation).

• Where have we seen Wasteland

imagery thus far

in Lord of the Rings?

in Slaughterhouse Five?

The “Dead Marshes” of WWI

In the Dead Marshes of Mordor

Isengard

The Gardens of Isengard

(before) (after)

Mordor

The Wasteland as metaphor

for World War I • T.S. Eliot - perhaps most

famous modernist poet

• Wrote “The Waste Land” about the destruction of European culture and the desolation of the landscape after WWI

• Like Nietzsche and Tolkien, Eliot looked to ancient myth to address modern despair

• Like Tolkien, religious.

The White Tree of the

King of Gondor

What are the roots that clutch, what branches

grow

Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man, 2

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You cannot say, or guess, for you know only

A heap of broken images, where the sun

beats,

And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket

no relief,

And the dry stone no sound of water. Only

There is shadow under this red rock, 2

5

(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),

And I will show you something different from

either

Your shadow at morning striding behind you

Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;

I will show you fear in a handful of dust. 3

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