The Foundations of E. R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros

Abstract

It is tempting to position ER Eddison's first novel, The Worm Ouroboros, as a synthetic example of the Icelandic sagas he read and translated in his capacity as a dedicated amateur medievalist. Close examination casts serious doubt on this interpretation, however. The book contains many features - most of them obviously deliberate inclusions by Eddison - that are the precise opposites of the features Eddison claimed to admire as essential strengths of saga literature. Furthermore, biographical evidence exists to suggest that the characters and incidents of The Worm Ouroboros were present in Eddison's imagination before he most likely discovered medieval literature. It seems more likely, therefore, that his fantasies gave rise to his medievalism, rather than vice versa.