Deadly Desert
Encyclopedia
The Deadly Desert is the magical desert
that completely surrounds the fictional Land of Oz
. On maps, the Eastern quadrant of the desert is called the Deadly Desert, while the other three quadrants of desert are called the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste.
The desert was originally merely a desert, being as dangerous as any natural desert but no more. Indeed, in The Marvelous Land of Oz
, Mombi tries to escape through it and Glinda chases her over the sands, but in Ozma of Oz
, it has become a magical desert with life-destroying sands, a feature that remained constant through the rest of the series.
Anyone who sets foot into the sand of any of these deserts turns into sand themselves. The desert is used as a literary device to explain why Oz is essentially cut off from the rest of the world. However, it has been crossed several times by people from within Oz and from the outside world, with applied ingenuity, with magical assistance, or through unusual natural phenomena.
On his deathbed, L. Frank Baum
reportedly said to his wife, "now we can cross the shifting sands".
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
that completely surrounds the fictional Land of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
. On maps, the Eastern quadrant of the desert is called the Deadly Desert, while the other three quadrants of desert are called the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste.
The desert was originally merely a desert, being as dangerous as any natural desert but no more. Indeed, in The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published on July 5, 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This and the next...
, Mombi tries to escape through it and Glinda chases her over the sands, but in Ozma of Oz
Ozma of Oz
Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good People too Numerous to Mention Faithfully Recorded Herein published on July 30, 1907, was the third book of L....
, it has become a magical desert with life-destroying sands, a feature that remained constant through the rest of the series.
Anyone who sets foot into the sand of any of these deserts turns into sand themselves. The desert is used as a literary device to explain why Oz is essentially cut off from the rest of the world. However, it has been crossed several times by people from within Oz and from the outside world, with applied ingenuity, with magical assistance, or through unusual natural phenomena.
Notable crossings/killings
- Dorothy GaleDorothy GaleDorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
is carried into Oz in her house by a cycloneTornadoA tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
, and back over again by her magic shoes, which fall off during her flight and are lost in the desert. - The Wizard of Oz originally arrived in Oz by a circus balloon (which he implies functioned by a gas lighter than air, rather than hot air), and years later leaves Oz in a hot-air balloon of his own design.
- OzmaPrincess OzmaPrincess Ozma is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the series except the first, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and L...
, the queenMonarchA monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
of Oz, crosses the desert with her whole court by use of an infinitely unrolling carpet. - Dorothy Gale, Shaggy ManShaggy ManThe Shaggy Man is a character in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. He first appeared in the book The Road to Oz in 1909.He is a kindly old wanderer, dressed in rags, whose philosophy of life centers on love and an aversion to material possessions. His one possession of value is the Love Magnet...
, and Button BrightButton BrightButton-Bright is a character in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. He first appears in the 1909 book The Road to Oz.When Button-Bright first appears in the series, he is a very small boy, possibly only about four years old...
cross the desert into Oz by use of a sand ship. - The Nome King dug a tunnel underneath the desert.
- In the film Return to OzReturn to OzReturn to Oz is a 1985 film which is an unofficial sequel to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz. The film is based on the second and third Oz books, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz...
, Dorothy Gale crosses the edge of the Desert by stepping upon stones. - In Return to Oz, the pack of Wheelers fail to get across the Deadly Desert in pursuit of Dorothy and her flying sofa who cross the desert to reach the Nome King's mountain. Half of the pack of Wheelers misfortunately fall into the desert and are subsequently turned into sand and killed. The rest of the Wheelers later return with Princess Mombi and cross the desert through the tunnel dug underneath the desert to reach the Nome King's mountain.
On his deathbed, L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
reportedly said to his wife, "now we can cross the shifting sands".