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Sycorax
A tale of witchcraft and retribution in 14th-century Yorkshire is told through the eyes of a penitent monk.
In the credulous squalor of medieval Yorkshire, a peasant girl is accused of being a sorceress. The suffering inflicted upon her by male superstition sparks a spectacular and terrifying retort which initiates the legend of Sycorax. Many years later, the story is recounted by Edmund, a flawed monk at Byland Abbey, who sets out to write a history of the witch as a penance for lascivious fantasies. In the process, he uncovers a brutal and eerie tale in which he becomes fatally involved. Not just a trip into another epoch, and more than just another supernatural thriller, this cunning mock-translation of the medieval tale of Sycorax reveals that the compulsions and delusions examined are endemic in us all today.
In the credulous squalor of medieval Yorkshire, a peasant girl is accused of being a sorceress. The suffering inflicted upon her by male superstition sparks a spectacular and terrifying retort which initiates the legend of Sycorax. Many years later, the story is recounted by Edmund, a flawed monk at Byland Abbey, who sets out to write a history of the witch as a penance for lascivious fantasies. In the process, he uncovers a brutal and eerie tale in which he becomes fatally involved. Not just a trip into another epoch, and more than just another supernatural thriller, this cunning mock-translation of the medieval tale of Sycorax reveals that the compulsions and delusions examined are endemic in us all today.
220 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 30, 2013
Sukie Dobson is odd. In late 14th century Yorkshire, that is a very dangerous thing for a young woman to be. Guilty of no more than being poor, independent-minded and having knowledge of the 'old ways' of healing herbs and largely harmless spells, she is nevertheless accused of witchcraft. Worse yet, her accuser is a young man from an aristocratic local family. As such, her fate is sealed.
The novel is narrated by Brother Edmund, a monk charged with recording her life and 'career' and the fiend Sycorax, the demon believed to be inhabiting Sukie's earthly form. This task is to be his penance for his wild youth and still lustful dreams. He travels to Sukie's home, interviews witnesses, including Sukie's sister Tressie March, the bailiff that arrested Sukie and various other players in the drama. In the meantime, he is tormented by dreams of his former paramours, of images of Sukie herself and the ale wife Alys, another innocent soon to be caught up in the Catholic Church's witchcraft hysteria.
After brief but brutal stint of torture, a sympathetic clergyman lets her off with a year's jail time and a couple of days in the stocks. While in the stocks, she is brutally attacked by a mob of women, suffering what appears to be a catastrophic head/brain injury. She's never quite right again.
Essentially disowned by her family, Sukie is forced into a marriage with a brutal alcoholic Watkin Trothers. Frustrated by her inability to remember tasks and to keep a good house, he beats her frequently. Sukie eventually escapes, leaving behind his grotesquely twisted corpse. From then on, she is transformed, according to Brother Edmund's narrative, into Sycorax the witch.
Brother Edmund's records of the horrors that follow, as well as his confessions of his lustful dreams. become fodder for an extremist cleric who wants to eradicate all 'pagan' practices from Yorkshire. Loss of his mentor, the Abbot Fabian, to a particularly weird death, seals his fate. He becomes trapped in a web of accusation and church intrigue which ultimately lead to his own unraveling.
Aspinall skillfully transports the reader into this dark period of history. The Church and the gentry are all-powerful. The poor eke out a living as best they can and the old pagan traditions are not yet completely banished from their lives. Witchcraft is believed (rather conveniently for the power that be) to be practiced almost exclusively by women of this peasant class. Brother Edmund narrative shows how faith can be twisted into mania and the devastation of innocent lives caused by those who do not 'fit' a society mold.
The novel is narrated by Brother Edmund, a monk charged with recording her life and 'career' and the fiend Sycorax, the demon believed to be inhabiting Sukie's earthly form. This task is to be his penance for his wild youth and still lustful dreams. He travels to Sukie's home, interviews witnesses, including Sukie's sister Tressie March, the bailiff that arrested Sukie and various other players in the drama. In the meantime, he is tormented by dreams of his former paramours, of images of Sukie herself and the ale wife Alys, another innocent soon to be caught up in the Catholic Church's witchcraft hysteria.
After brief but brutal stint of torture, a sympathetic clergyman lets her off with a year's jail time and a couple of days in the stocks. While in the stocks, she is brutally attacked by a mob of women, suffering what appears to be a catastrophic head/brain injury. She's never quite right again.
Essentially disowned by her family, Sukie is forced into a marriage with a brutal alcoholic Watkin Trothers. Frustrated by her inability to remember tasks and to keep a good house, he beats her frequently. Sukie eventually escapes, leaving behind his grotesquely twisted corpse. From then on, she is transformed, according to Brother Edmund's narrative, into Sycorax the witch.
Brother Edmund's records of the horrors that follow, as well as his confessions of his lustful dreams. become fodder for an extremist cleric who wants to eradicate all 'pagan' practices from Yorkshire. Loss of his mentor, the Abbot Fabian, to a particularly weird death, seals his fate. He becomes trapped in a web of accusation and church intrigue which ultimately lead to his own unraveling.
Aspinall skillfully transports the reader into this dark period of history. The Church and the gentry are all-powerful. The poor eke out a living as best they can and the old pagan traditions are not yet completely banished from their lives. Witchcraft is believed (rather conveniently for the power that be) to be practiced almost exclusively by women of this peasant class. Brother Edmund narrative shows how faith can be twisted into mania and the devastation of innocent lives caused by those who do not 'fit' a society mold.
July 5, 2012
Sycorax is a book I picked up, I have to admit, purely because it caught my eye in the bookstore. Generally this works well for me, and in this case I wasn't disappointed. The book is a story of a 13th century witch hunt, told from the point of view of the monk set to chronicle it. It's a fine example and exploration of the notion of the subjectivity of the author. The fact that it is supposedly a modern interpretation of a historical series of events lends an interesting twist to the questions of supposedly supernatural events and to what degree they are psychological effects of the ideology of the original author as regards the infallibility of the Church, the persistent and omnipresent machinations of The Fiend, and his obsessive repression and denial of his own sexuality. It's not an essential book for most people I know, but if you're interested in the relationship between sexuality and the religious persecution of witches it's worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews