Foreword

Back to Arheled

Introduction


                 This   tale   grew   in   the   telling,   till   it   became   not   only   a   reaching   back   to   complete   the   mythology   of   JRR   Tolkien,   but   a   reaching   ahead   as   well,   to   the   Armageddon   and   the   end   of   the   world. Such   an   ending   is   only   foreshadowed   in   this   first   book,   let   alone   in   the   subdividing   of   it   into   three   volumes.

When   I   moved   to   Winsted   in   2010,   I   felt   a   great   and   eerie   mystery   hanging   over   it. I   spent   that   year   gathering   atmosphere,   wandering   the   town   and   noticing   things. And   the   things   that   I   noticed   began   to   weave   themselves   together,   until   a   huge   mythical   structure   hung,   formless   and   ungrown,   above   me. It   took   me   over   a   year   of   writing   during   2011   (whose   weather   I   carefully   and   literally   reproduced   throughout   the   story)   to   bring   down   and   incarnate   it,   and   then   the   story   spawned   sequels,   as   all   the   world’s   forces   gather   to   the   Great   End.

Accordingly,   since   I   was   constructing   this   mythology   out   of   real   things,   I   invented   as   little   as   possible   of   the   actual   places   and   carvings. The   carving   under   the   old   bridge   at   Gilbert   was   my   invention,   in   order   to   introduce   Temple   Fell;   however,   the   Signs   of   the   Nine   Hills   and   the   peculiar   star   patterns   indicated   by   them   are   exactly   as   I   described   them. So   are   the   places   in   Winsted,   and   the   eerie   mountain   two   miles   out   of   town,   and   the   strange   cuts   in   the   rock   on   Pratt   Hill,   as   well   as   the   pattern   in   the   rock   veins   of   the   quarry. The   island   in   the   Long   Lake,   however,   is   not   inhabited   by   Forest,   and   the   Midwinters   (or   the   family   I   based   them   on)   do   not   live   in   Riverton.

All   during   2010   I   kept   having   weird   flashes   of   dialogue;   strange   and   mysterious   scraps   of   conversation   that   looked   at   the   world   from   a   frightening   and   alien   perspective,   and   yet   one   so   wise   it   stood   the   world   on   end. I   knew   who   it   was,   of   course. Arheled   had   entered   my   dreams   once   before,   and   I   knew   he   was   bound   up   with   this,   but   I   groped   ahead   as   I   wrote,   and   wrote   by   instinct   alone. He   has   entered   other   people’s   writings;   Alfred   Noyes   knew   of   him,   and   the   Algonquins   had   some   inkling   of   him   in   their   complicated   legends   of   the   august   but   humerous   Glooskap. Whether   he   exists   in   actual   fact,   or   whether   he   is   merely   a   concept   I   was   inspired   with   as   vehicle   to   utter   truths,   I   have   no   idea.

The   sequences   of   numbers   elucidated   in   the   email   string   in   Book   2   are   all   real   and   made   of   real   things,   and   form   deductions   exactly   as   I   gave   them   in   Book   6. The   discovery   of   the   twin   cemeteries   right   where   indicated   gave   me   a   very   queer   feeling,   much   the   same   as   I   had   when   deducing   the   celestial   indications   of   the   signs   of   the   hills,   that   I   was   reflecting   reality   itself   in   some   manner. But   I   did   not   preform   the   ceremony,   and   Mjollnir   slumbers   undisturbed,   if   it   even   exists. I   did   not   dare   find   myself   working   magic.

The   girl-talk   in   Chapter   3   was   lifted   from   four   notebook   pages   I   found   crumpled   up   beside   a   fire   ring   near   Mad   River,   drafts   for   a   play   of   some   sort   and   evidently   written   by   a   girl. Unwilling   to   waste   such   realistic   and   amusing   writing   I   incorporated   it   into   my   own   narrative,   but   I   have   never   found   the   writer.

I   should   add   that   Forest’s   dream   in   Chapter   Two   was   mine,   though   I   forgot   most   of   the   conversation   and   it   certainly   did   not   include   the   Double   Deed   rhyme;   in   fact,   I   woke   up   at   the   spot   where   I   realized   I   hadn’t   brought   writing   materials. I   did   not,   however,   forget   that   the   Gods   dipped   pitchers   there   when   they   made   the   Stars. That,   in   fact,   was   what   made   me   realize   that   the   Stars   were   people. Dennis   Midwinter’s   nightmare   is   also   mine,   the   only   nightmare   I   have   ever   experienced,   up   to   the   twisted   cat   at   any   rate.

My   other   series,   The   Dark   Tower   Returns,   is   closely   bound   up   with   the   Arheled   series,   though   crossover   is   kept   to   a   minimum;   and   is   in   fact   essential   for   an   understanding   of   the   cosmological   and   spiritual   dimensions   of   the   Ragnarok. Daslenga   too   is   more   fully   explored   in   that   series,   and   its’   peculiar   nature   laid   out.

The   Wild   Man   of   Winsted   really   did   happen,   and   I   have   related   the   legend   as   accurately   as   I   could;   but   I   seriously   doubt   the   reality   was   anything   like   the   fearsome   being   I   envisaged. At   first   of   course   I   thought   the   Wild   Man   was   Arheled   himself,   but   when   I   had   Arheled   taunting   Ronnie   about   relativity,   he   seemed   out   of   character,   far   too   dark   and   mocking   and   sinister:   and   then   I   began   to   realize   just   what   the   Wild   Man   was.

So   great   was   the   feeling   of   reflecting   something   real,   that   I   went   up   to   Temple   Fell   at   midnight   of   Christmas   Eve   on   2011,   and   saw   nothing,   and   heard   nothing:   it   was   very   silent   and   peaceful   there. Nor   did   the   milestone   change.

James   Farrell

July   2014