Eldritch Theories

[Akril]

I've done a lot of fan fiction of the KQ series over the years, and in some of my stories, I've had to come up with my own theories about the mysterious land of Eldritch from KQ7. This new forum seems like the perfect place for me to ramble nonsensically about what I've come up with:

In the King's Quest Companion, Valanice hypothesizes that the world that KQ7 takes place in was "on another plane of existence". I tend to view that world in roughly the same way, seeing Eldritch as being a world existing parallel to the world that Daventry is part of.

I've read a lot of Joseph Campbell's work, and this "parallel worlds" model seems to fit in perfectly with his theory that in myths, the normal world is a sphere parallel to the supernatural world, and sometimes the two worlds overlap, allowing magical beings to encounter inhabitants of the normal world, and sometimes even allowing mortals to cross over into the supernatural world.

Of course, things aren't as clear-cut as this in the KQ world, since Daventry and the surrounding countries are already teeming with magical creatures, and are seldom completely "normal". Still, Eldritch manages to be even more supernatural, and in ways is almost the opposite of Daventry's world.

For example, in Daventry's world, gods and fairies are fairly uncommon and the language of animals cannot be understood by humans unless magic is involved. In the realm of Eldritch, however, humans are quite uncommon (the only ones we meet in KQ7 are dead), gods, fairies and other supernatural beings seem to be the dominant entities, and virtually all animals speak and understand English (or whatever language your version of KQ7 happens to be in).

This makes me think that Eldritch is loosely modeled after the fairy realm mentioned in some of the older myths regarding fairies, which only be reached by mortals with the aid of certain magical doorways or portals. However, though time is said to run much faster in the fairy realm, time apparently runs slower in Eldritch (as evidenced by Graham's cut line in KQ7 and Valanice and Rosella's dialogue in the beginning of the KQ Companion section on KQ7). Perhaps Eldritch is the world where fairies and other supernatural creatures first appeared, and they eventually spread to Daventry and over time developed their own unique appearances.

As much as I got to see of Eldritch, I still had many questions about it when the game was over. Are the desert, the Bountiful Woods, Ooga Booga, Falderal and Etheria the only lands in Eldritch, or is there more to that world that we never got a chance to see? Something I just recently realized is that Eldritch is the only completely landlocked land in the entire KQ series, with the exception of Daventry in KQ1. Are there any oceans in Eldritch, and if so, is Eldritch the sole continent, or are there others? Are those islands in Etheria stationary, or do they move?

And that's pretty much all I could think of to post.

[AndreaDraco]

Extremely interesting.

I always thought of Eldritch like a sort of Olympian world. In the Greek Myth, Gods and Goddesses have halls and green pastures, house and even bedrooms. Moreover, it seems sometimes that Mount Olympus is only one of the ethereal places where gods hang over.

As you pointed out, Eldritch seems like the place where Gods (and maybe dead people?*) live. Thus, Daventry - like our Earth - could be the place where Gods and Fairies manifest their presence through other supernatural beings. Chloto, Lachesi and Atropus, furthermore, are weaving the lives of Men, and since we don't encounter any of them in Eldritch, we can assume that they are referring to Daventry's men.

Confirming this sort of theory, Eldritch is clearly inspired from Greek Mythology (except for Falderal and Ooga Booga): think of Ceres, Attis, the Winds, and so on. Anyway, we see that Daventry is more a medieval country than a classical one, so - maybe - the Gods once prayed in the world "moved" on another plan of existence.

* In the Greek Myth the Gods' world and the Dead Realm (Ade, Avernus or so) coexist in the same "place"

[Datadog]

Eldritch seems like a world split up between life and death. On one side, you have this bright, life-filled forest full of talking animals and nature spirits, with the lands of fairies hovering above. Then the other side is governed by trolls, ghouls, the walking dead and surrounded by an endless desert. It's like they took all the extremes when it comes to the fantasy world spectrum and mixed it all up together.

Alternatively, it could also be a world based on Disney movies.

[Collector]

This new forum seems like the perfect place for me to ramble nonsensically about what I've come up with

Please feel free.

One thing about the King's Quest games is that they have always relied heavily on mythology and fairy tales. With the maturation of the series this takes on a more profound aspect than just Little Red Riding Hood, as fun as the light hearted moments like the "Graham Cracker" jokes were. The moment of Alexander in the Land of the Dead defeating Death with his own image is a powerful moment.

It is interesting that you mention Joseph Campbell. It does put the series in a new light if taken from the view point of The Power of Myth.

[Taryn]

Eldritch probably has other lands, just like how the main KQ world probably has more lands than are depicted in the games. I also think that each of the other lands is really much bigger than the area depicted in the games (do you really think Daventry has a human population of 4 or whatever?) and that the in-game wrapping is just a game device to confine you to a limited area (and save disk space used to describe the rest of the world) in most cases. However, in my version of KQ1, a fairy constrains Graham to the wrapping area to help him find the treasures.

[Akril]

You made some good points about the Greek gods and goddesses, Andrea. Parts of Eldritch seem more reminiscent of the ancient world than the medieval one that most of Daventry resembles.

It is interesting that you mention Joseph Campbell. It does put the series in a new light if taken from the view point of The Power of Myth.

Wow, it's great to hear that you've heard of his work too. I've read several of his books (mostly for the myths retold in them) and found them pretty inspiring.

However, in my version of KQ1, a fairy constrains Graham to the wrapping area to help him find the treasures.

Nice idea! Is that fairy you mentioned Graham's fairy godmother or another one that doesn't appear in the game.

[Taryn]

It's the one in the game, although I think I have her down as the Fairy Godmother of Daventry, or something similar.

[Fender_178]

Very interesting concept I have read the kQ7 story in the KQ Companion and never noticed that before.