#sapkowski on the witcher series

[astaldis]

Andrzej Sapkowski: "Personally, I like the Netflix series a lot"

Minute 8:13-8:17 ("persönlich da habe ich die Netflix Serie sehr gern")

He also says something about the Slavic influence: "When you say that in the Geralt Saga many things and matters are inspired by Slavic mythology, that's true, but not only, not only." (He really emphasises this!) ("Wenn Sie sagen, dass in Geralt Saga viele Sachen und Angelegenheiten inspiriert von Slawischer Mythologie inspiriert sind, das stimmt, aber nicht nur, nicht nur. Also keine Mythologie ist für mich schlecht zu bearbeiten.") (3:12-3:30)

When he is asked if he was influenced by Tolkien, he says yes, that he is a specialist at fantasy and has read everything and that his goal was to avoid all the cliche/sterotypes that you find in fantasy and to find his own way. ("Mein Ziel war, alle Klischees die im Fantasy sind, zu vermeiden, also finden meinen eigenen Weg." (6:39-6:55)

So, all in all, Netflix not just copying the exclusively white elves from Tolkien's world seems to be compliant with the author of the Witcher books's ideas. Maybe there could have been more Slavic elements, but that the Witcher is pretty much exclusively inspired by Slavic mythology like some people claim on social media is not true, according to the author (he especially mentions the Brothers Grimm as influences, for example). And that every fan of the books must automatically hate the show is definitely bullshit, if even the author himself likes it.

Take that, haters 😉

[elven-sisters]

Like... Yeah, Ciri and Geralt once again ✨

[meanpersonaart]

That's excactly how the words were exchanged in that chapter in the Lady of the Lake. Yeah, the charcter on the left is Fringilla, on the right Hansa sans Geralt with Jaskier/Dandelion.

Original template - here

[hanzajesthanza]

the new witcher novel is going to be mid as fuck. and you know what. i’m so ready for it

[namedafterflowerstournament]

Botanic Tournament : Main Bracket !

Round 2 Poll NN

Jaskier, the character's name in the original, Polish version means Buttercup. Editors changed it into Dandelion in English versions because they thought it was too girly. Marigold (the name under the pic) is Jaskier's name in the Czech edition.

(Roses, buttercup and dandelion)

[andreai04]

Because perhaps Yennefer feels what I'm feeling now, feels a profound certainty that I ought to fulfil what it is impossible to fulfil, even more impossible to fulfil than the relationship between Agloval and Sh'eenaz. Certainty that a little sacrifice isn't enough here; you'd have to sacrifice everything, and there'd still be no way of knowing if that would be enough.

“How do you know whose destiny is destruction and whose eternity?”

“Destiny alone is insufficient, it’s too little. Something more is needed.”

[silverflameataraxia]

'You found me! Oh, Geralt! I was waiting all the time! For so very long...We'll be together now, won't we? Now we'll be together, won't we? Say it, Geralt! Forever! Say it!' 'Forever, Ciri.' 'It's like they said! Geralt! It's like they said! Am I your destiny? Say it! Am I your destiny?' You're much more than that, Ciri. Much more.'

- Sword of Destiny

[definitely-not-iorveth]

a couple days ago, a stream featuring andrzej sapkowski came out, supposedly announcing a new book in the witcher series (see link below).

i've watched it, and personally, considering the context, i would reign in my enthusiasm until some kind of official announcement.

i'm including the notes of what he speaks about, for anyone interested.

the first short story started with the title: a male form of the polish word wiedźma (witch) doesn't exist, so sapkowski came up with one. the idea for the story came afterwards.

the first short story was supposed to be a one-time thing. he never expected to write a continuation.

he didn't do any research for the witcher books beforehand because 1/ it's a fantasy book, so he's allowed some leeway & 2/ he already accumulated a lot of knowledge throughout his life by the time he started writing. some research on things was needed during the process, but not a lot of it.

he did do beforehand research for a different, more historical series he wrote afterwards (trylogia husycka).

he once again stresses that the book series is not based specifically on slavic mythology - that was something made up by journalists. he took inspiration from various mythologies indiscriminately, and the plot was more important to him than using any specific sources.

he doesn't remember how many short stories he wrote for the witcher.

back when he started, there was no point in sending manuscripts to publishing houses, because the publishers were not interested in polish fantasy books, preferring the foreign ones. instead, an aspiring writer's best bet would be to send a short story to fantastyka (means fantasy, but only as a literary genre), a magazine that published fantasy & sci fi short stories. at some point he got tired of publishing short stories though, and he sent his manuscript in (he says he doesn't remember what book that was). it was successful, and it encouraged more authors to do the same.

he regrets writing under his real name and not under a literary pseudonym.

nilfgaard's similarities to ancient rome are accidental, and nilfgaard should not be interpreted as based on it. sapko came up with it as an aggressive fantasy nation that wants to take over the world, with no deeper meaning behind it.

first map created for the witcher was the work of the czech translator, and most subsequent maps were based on it (or, as sapko puts it, stolen.) "why i never created a map? pettiness." all fantasy books of the time had a map, so he decided his wouldn't have. and so it doesn't.

the witcher comics were parowski's idea (a witcher fan & comic book author). sapkowski didn't participate in its creation. he tried to give his input about the drawings at first, but the artist basically told him to go fuck himself.

he has a cat

he used to be a senior sales representative, and it gave him some knowledge about sales, banking, currencies and economy which he was able to work into the plot of his stories

he reads at least 50 books per year. of recent works, he recommends madeline miller's circe, steven king's two new books, v.e. schwab's the invisible life of addie larue, peng shepherd's the cartographers, herve le telier's the anomaly, r.f. kuang's babel, holly black's book of night. he considers the above the literary events and fantasy milestones of the past few years.

his commentary on people who study and analyze the witcher and its themes: "they come up with things i never could have come up with." he claims he never assigned any specific philosophy or meaning to his works, but he's happy to read the works of people who do.

he says he didn't base any of his characters on himself in any way. at the same time, his opinion is that it's difficult to write a character that doesn't retain some of the author's qualities. however, the characters are in their own setting and their own story. in his words, "you don't write books about yourself. you write books about characters that you come up with, and you give them their own qualities. […] who cares who i am? the reader is interested in who the witcher is, or who the other characters are."

when asked why geralt is different than the other witchers (more sensitive, kinder), he responds that it's because he's a made up character that's supposed to be interesting for the reader, so he needs to be distinguishable from others. a book is supposed to be interesting, and creating an interesting character is one of the ways to achieve it.

when asked why the smell of yennefer's perfume is so specific, he just says that he made it up and perfume like that doesn't exist.

witchers, although they use magic, are a completely separate group from the sorcerers in the book. there are no common points between them. witchers are also not a reference to any specific mythological archetypes or characters.

he doesn't like announcing what he's doing, because he changes his mind a lot, and doesn't always finish what he starts.

he does say that he is working on a new witcher book and that it should come out within the next year or a couple. considering the context of his words, however, i would consider it as more of a 'maybe' than an actual announcement.

[stromuprisahat]

This is how you ruin another character upon their introduction.

‘Why aren’t you in school, student?’ she asked coldly, glaring at Ciri.

‘Wait, Tissaia,’ said the other woman, younger, tall and blond, in a green dress with a considerable neckline. ‘I don’t recognize her. I don’t think she’s…’

‘She is.’ Cut the dark-haired one. ‘I’m certain that she’s one of your girls, Rita. You can’t possibly know them all. She must be one of those who sneaked out through Loxia during the chaos when the students changed quarters. And now we shall wait for her explanation. Well, student?’

...

The woman raised her hand and Ciri immediately understood the seriousness of her mistake. Yennefer had demonstrated to her paralysing spells only once, tired with her long whining. The feeling had been considerably unpleasant. It was the same now.

Fabio cried terrified and leaped towards her but the other woman, the blond one, caught him by the collar and forced him to stay in place. The boy jerked his arm but the woman had an iron grip. Ciri couldn’t move. The dark-haired one bent down and glared at her.

‘I am not in favour of corporal punishment,’ she drawled her words coldly, evening her cuffs yet again, ‘But I will ensure that you’re whipped, student. Not for misbehaviour, not for the theft or elopement. Not even for wearing illicit clothes, walking out with a boy and telling him about things you were forbidden from discussing. No, you will be whipped for being unable to recognize an Archmistress.’

Rita starts with stating she doesn’t recognize Ciri, meaning she's probably familiar enough with her students to be able to. It’s Tissaia, who grabs the girl, and Tissaia, who threatens her. She also paralyzes Ciri, when she believes her to be insolent. Rita catches Fabio- still with Ciri- and lets him speak once he starts to explain.

Compare to:

“Mistress Laux-Antille”: *catches running Ciri* “Another runaway. You've had your fun, novice. Back to the dorms.”

Ciri: “Get your hands off me!”

“Mistress Laux-Antille”:  *hard slap* “You will address me as Mistress Laux-Antille. And you'll clean the toilets for your impertinence.”

...

“Mistress Laux-Antille”, between drunken laughter: “Here, girl! Novices these days are useless. Not like when we were girls. I told you to bring the wine. ... I wanted red! ... Damned Cintran princess. What's so special about her, anyway? ... Girl, the wine! Now.”

In books, it’s Ciri’s pride injured. Her main issue’s the sorceresses dealt with Yennefer- as her guardian- instead of treating her like an independent person. She wasn’t abused by some cruel, sadistic bitch only because she’s younger and “only a student”. Rita’s even kind to her!

‘Hey, girl,’ she nodded at Ciri, ‘be so good and pass me a towel. Come on, stop pouting.’

Ciri hissed quietly, still offended. When Fabio let out who Ciri was, the sorceresses dragged her through half of the city, exposing her to public mockery. In Giancardi's bank the whole incident was immediately explained. The Sorceresses apologized to Yennefer, explaining their behaviour. ... Alarmed by the activation of Ciri’s amulet, Margarita Laux-Antille and Tissaia de Vries mistook her for one [of the sudents].

The sorcerers’ apologized to Yennefer, but none of them thought of apologizing to Ciri. ...

Ciri gave the towel to the Sorceress. Margarita patted her gently on the cheek. Ciri snorted and jumped and splashed into the pool of scented rosemary water.

‘Floats like a little leaf’, smiled Margarita as she lay down next to Yennefer on a wooden couch. ‘And she is as well formed as a nymph. You’re giving her to me, Yenna?’

Margarita Laux-Antille is one of those teachers, whose job is truly their life’s mission. She knows her students, she cares about them, she risks her life for them. Even as a member of the Lodge, her focus is education, not power. She doesn’t beat random girls on the street, because they possess magical amulet.

Fuck you Netflix, for ruining another one of my favourite minor characters! On such a deep, fundamental. level!

‘Ciri, serve us. Damn this carafe is almost empty. Come on, be good and bring us another.’

‘Bring two,’ smiled Margarita ‘As a reward you will get a sip and sit down with us, you will no longer have to strain your ears from a distance. Your education starts here, now, from me before you reach Arethusa.’

[mask131]

Reading "The Last Wish" is honestly such a ride, because - since it is the very raw beginning of the series, you FEEL so much the differences between this sort of idealized, disconnected image people creatd out of the Netflix series, and... what the text actually is.

I already said I was massively surprised upon discovering "The Last Wish" is basically a comedy-fantasy due to the amount of humor in it. But also... You know how there's borderline racist or supremacist fans who are like "The Witcher is PURE SLAVIC MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE and so you shouldn't SOIL it with non-Slavic elements!"

... The titular story of "The Last Wish" literaly reuses the four-elements genies of D&D. Down to the names.

Ah yes, Dungeons and Dragons, the pinnacle of Slavic folklore, THE definitive work of Slavic mythology, the most Polish thing you can find around!

... seriously?

[adaptations-polls]

Which version of this do you prefer?

[hawksblooded]

do any of my moots know the witcher well? i really need to work on that verse for liz

[elven-sisters]

Something wicked this way comes... ✨

And how do you think, who's hiding beetween the trees? (Funny and stupid ideas are also welcome!)

[iris-sistibly]

The Witcher but make it modern.

Geralt, Yennefer and Jaskier living together and raising their daughter Ciri.

*

Ciri opened her TikTok app and pressed the record button. After greeting her followers, she focused the camera on Geralt, Yennefer and Jaskier who were  having breakfast. Jaskier happily waves at the camera, Yennefer makes fierce model faces, and Geralt's brows furrowed, he is a very private person but he appears on his daughter's videos on rare occasions.

Geralt: Why are you focusing the camera on us?

He noticed on the screen's background a set of words, Ciri quickly explained that she was doing this trend about parents' rules on certain things and her followers were curious about her parents' take on this.

Jaskier: (enthusiastic as always, coz he's the fun parent, duh) Ooh! Sounds fun!

Yennefer: Interesting, alright let's do this

Geralt: (pretends to be uninterested) Hm

Ciri: Okay Mama, Papa and Daddy what are your rules about partying?

Geralt: You have to have a chaperone.

Ciri: (scoffs) That's ridiculous papa!

Jaskier: He's crazy, don't listen to him cub. As long as we know who you're with and the place you're at it's perfectly fine.

Yennefer: Agreed.

Ciri: Curfew?

Geralt: You're only 13, you're not allowed to stay out late period.

Ciri: Mama? (Looks at Yen with puppy eyes)

Yennefer: 6pm and only on weekends, summer and/or school breaks.

Ciri: Ugh! You guys are no fun (turns to Jaskier) Dad?

Jaskier: I'll let you stay out until 12 midnight, but only on no school days and with permission from Yen and Geralt.

Geralt and Yen: No!

Ciri sighed and rolled her eyes.

Ciri: Dating?

Geralt: I'll challenge him to become a bruxa bait, if he survives then he can take you out.

Ciri: (laughs) That is so mean!

Geralt: Hardly, I call it a test. If they want to date you then they have to prove to us that they're capable of protecting you.

Ciri: Aw...that's cute!

Yennefer: (Faces the camera) See everyone? Geralt is the over-the-top overprotective one

Jaskier: You're still a child cub, no need to hurry. We'll allow you when you're 18.

Geralt: 25

Ciri: What?!

Yennefer: Your father thinks you're gonna be a baby forever little witch, we all do actually but 18 is fine, though you have to remember what we always tell you about dating and relationships

Ciri: (nods) Always be mindful of the red flags...and drinking?

Yennefer: When you are of legal age and you have to be a responsible drinker

Geralt and Jaskier nod in agreement.

Ciri: Tattoos?

Geralt: I don't mind

Yennefer: Yeah it's fine, I suppose

Jaskier: (shrugs) As long as we get matching tattoos

Ciri: (chuckles) As long as I get to choose the design

Jaskier: Why? What's wrong with my choices?

Ciri: (giggles) No offense dad but your choices are too...bold

Yennefer: Terrible

Geralt: Ridiculous

Jaskier: (gasps, looking offended) excuse me?!

Ciri: Piercing?

Geralt: Fine

Yennefer: They're cute

Jaskier: Are we seriously going to ignore the fact that you called my tattoo choices 'terrible' and 'ridiculous?!'

The girl shook her head, that's pretty much their normal day as a family. She stopped recording afterwards, Geralt and Yennefer continued eating, and talked about their plans for the day (it was a Saturday). Ciri snickered while reviewing the video, and Jaskier still wouldn't stop blabbering about how cool his tattoo choices are.

Jaskier: (still offended af) You guys are just too old fashioned!

-

A/N: This dumb bitch forgot that there is another The Witcher fic in my drafts folder that was supposed to be posted before NYE. Anyway, here's a little fanfic of Geraskefer and Ciri in a modern setting.

[hanzajesthanza]

also i realize i'm saying all these noble and beautiful things about the channel from the purest depths of my heart. but actually i'm also just doing this because i fucking love the witcher books and it pisses me off that people don't know about them that much in english and i can only go for so long (seven years) with people not knowing that there are books. or that the witcher is from the 90s. or polish.

[cha-mij]

Old Irish Mythology: Tír na nÓg is the "Land of Youth"

Willow (1988): Tír Asleen - the oldest and most prestigious of the Daikini kingdoms.

Lady of the Lake (7th Witcher Novel) (1999) and Witcher 3 (2014): Tír ná Lia - homeworld of the Aen Elle branch of elves.

I know Elder Speech was based on a mixture of Welsh and Irish but the question is was Sapkowski also influenced by Willow? I think almost certainly yes.