Andre Norton Forum

Re: Kolder and Estcarp

Interesting questions. I assume that the Kolder a) were able to think about the East and b) would have exploited it had they been able to reach it or do anything about it. And I suspect much the same for Simon. (I wonder how much the Escore story owes to what I assume was the chance event that The Witch World and The Web of the Witch World just happened not to mention anything east of Estcarp, thus leaving that plot device open. Or does anyone know whether Norton actually planned the story line out far enough so that, in writing the first, she intentionally held open the East? I recall reading somewhere that she said she hadn't intended to make the Witch World a series but a single shot book, which would argue in favor of chance.)

You've sparked another two questions in me, though.

1) Do we know whether the Alizonders, Karstenians, Gormish, Falconers, Sulcars, and others couldn't think of the east? And 2) If they couldn't, why not? The spell presumably was to keep the fleeing Old Race from returning to the East and its powerful temptations -- why bother with the others? This becomes particularly true when you consider that some of those peoples seem to have arrived in the Witch World . . . or around Estcarp . . . long after the mountains moved and the spell was laid on.

I think the most accurate answers are

1) that in the books as written they couldn't think of the East (we certainly have no evidence that they did until after Escore is re-opened and then it's only that Alizonders in The Mage Stone who seem to pay attention) and 2) there is no good reason for it but it was a slip.

One could try to construct an answer similar to the one re Simon -- they had no reason to think or talk about the East as tall mountains existed and they knew of nothing of value over there . . . but what I'll accept for one person for about 5 to 10 years (however long Simon was around before he was lost and Jaelithe deserted the triplets to find him) but it seems more than a bit lame to me in the case of whole populations over centuries. Surely the Falconers, for example, would have been interested in those eastern mountains. I suppose one could also have the spell renewed and extended for all new entrants to the area or maybe even make it a geographically defined spell -- everyone on the Eastern continent west of the mountains (except those with earth DNA) are subject to it, but that seems weak, too.

Any thoughts?

Hank Greely

PS Did Norton (or anyone else) ever write more about how/why Simon and Jaelithe got lost beyond what appears in the Sorceress of the Witch World?