Year of the Griffin
Encyclopedia
Year of the Griffin is a 2000 novel by British children's author Diana Wynne Jones
. It is the sequel to The Dark Lord of Derkholm
and is mainly centred on the exploits of a group of students during their first year at the University.
The problem is compounded by the fact that, during the time of the Pilgrim Parties, the University left out all theory and artistic or slow ways of doing things, in order to produce magic-users that could get an inexperienced, idiotic and ignorant party of offworlders around a dangerous land without too much damage being done. It therefore follows that since it is now these magic-users who are running the University, all they teach are the basics, since they themselves had never been taught any of the theory. This means that nothing is being taught properly, and new, innovative or creative magic is discouraged.
His class consists of - Elda, youngest daughter of Wizard Derk, and a griffin; Lukin, the Crown Prince of Luteria; Ruskin, a dwarf; Claudia, the part-Marshwoman, part-Empire half-sister of Titus, Emperor of the South; Felim, the brother of the Emir; and the beautiful, wealthy and mysterious Olga, who will not divulge her parents' identity.
Although Corkoran's hopes are initially high, they are immediately dashed on hearing that, far from being rich and wealthy, Lukin has run away from home in secret in order to attend the University, and his father, King Luther, had expressly forbidden it; Ruskin is a runaway slave who will be killed if the Forgemasters find him; Felim has also run away and the Emir has sworn to send assassins after him; Wizard Derk has no love for the University, and neither does Emperor Titus; and Olga will not even tell him who her parents are.
Despite this inauspicious start, the yearmates quickly become fast friends; indeed, Olga and Lukin quickly fall in love, and become very close to each other. But although their personal lives are on track, their studies are going exceptionally badly. Most of their classes are taught by the incompetent and swelled-headed Wizard Wermacht, who is convinced that the University's way of doing magic is the only way.
Just as they are about to give up, Wizard Derk comes to visit Elda, and gives them a list of books of magical theory (in particular, those by Wizard Policant, founder of the University) to read so the magic they are learning makes sense. After the revelation of these books, Elda and her friends end up writing extraordinary essays which baffle Wizard Corkoran in their compexity and innovative concepts of magic use. Unfortunately, they receive low grades, as they are deemed to be too complex and not "properly" answering the question.
Together the friends protect and help each other through the year, setting protections spells against assassins, getting followed by odd cloakracks, dealing with the awful Wizard Wermacht, and having coffee in the courtyard.
Ms. Jones also shows humorously how even the slightest actions have consequences. For example, when creating ward spells to protect Felim from assassins, Elda and her friends create a pentacle of books around him and Ruskin keeps dropping orange peel around the runes. It results in an assassin falling into a pit of orange juice instead of a pit of water and whenever Felim is in danger "a cocoon of books" (described as a 'black beehive') surrounds him.
Staff at the University -
Outside the University -
Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones was a British writer, principally of fantasy novels for children and adults, as well as a small amount of non-fiction...
. It is the sequel to The Dark Lord of Derkholm
Dark Lord of Derkholm
The Dark Lord of Derkholm is a fantasy novel written by Diana Wynne Jones, which won the 1999 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature. It takes place in a parody of a high fantasy world similar to that first explored in Jones' humorous guidebook in the Rough Guide model, The Tough Guide...
and is mainly centred on the exploits of a group of students during their first year at the University.
Plot background
Eight years have passed since the defeat of Mr Chesney and the end of the Pilgrim Parties, and the University is having problems. The University has financial issues, and is being hopelessly mismanaged by Wizard Corkoran, whose aim, or rather, obsession, is to be the first man on the moon. Corkoran and the rest of the current University staff think that the point of the University is to churn out as many wizards with only a secure, basic grasp of magic as they can, in order to remedy the damage Mr. Chesney's tours have caused. Although making certain that the students grasp the basics is no bad thing, the University leaves out a lot of theory and believes that magic can only be done in one set way.The problem is compounded by the fact that, during the time of the Pilgrim Parties, the University left out all theory and artistic or slow ways of doing things, in order to produce magic-users that could get an inexperienced, idiotic and ignorant party of offworlders around a dangerous land without too much damage being done. It therefore follows that since it is now these magic-users who are running the University, all they teach are the basics, since they themselves had never been taught any of the theory. This means that nothing is being taught properly, and new, innovative or creative magic is discouraged.
Plot summary
Wizard Corkoran, head of the University, has just run out of money. This is not good - the University urgently needs repaired, the teachers want to be paid, and he needs money for his moonshot project. But there is hope; he plans to send begging letters to the parents of his new first-year class, asking for money. Unfortunately, it becomes clear that this plan will yield no benefits when he actually meets them.His class consists of - Elda, youngest daughter of Wizard Derk, and a griffin; Lukin, the Crown Prince of Luteria; Ruskin, a dwarf; Claudia, the part-Marshwoman, part-Empire half-sister of Titus, Emperor of the South; Felim, the brother of the Emir; and the beautiful, wealthy and mysterious Olga, who will not divulge her parents' identity.
Although Corkoran's hopes are initially high, they are immediately dashed on hearing that, far from being rich and wealthy, Lukin has run away from home in secret in order to attend the University, and his father, King Luther, had expressly forbidden it; Ruskin is a runaway slave who will be killed if the Forgemasters find him; Felim has also run away and the Emir has sworn to send assassins after him; Wizard Derk has no love for the University, and neither does Emperor Titus; and Olga will not even tell him who her parents are.
Despite this inauspicious start, the yearmates quickly become fast friends; indeed, Olga and Lukin quickly fall in love, and become very close to each other. But although their personal lives are on track, their studies are going exceptionally badly. Most of their classes are taught by the incompetent and swelled-headed Wizard Wermacht, who is convinced that the University's way of doing magic is the only way.
Just as they are about to give up, Wizard Derk comes to visit Elda, and gives them a list of books of magical theory (in particular, those by Wizard Policant, founder of the University) to read so the magic they are learning makes sense. After the revelation of these books, Elda and her friends end up writing extraordinary essays which baffle Wizard Corkoran in their compexity and innovative concepts of magic use. Unfortunately, they receive low grades, as they are deemed to be too complex and not "properly" answering the question.
Together the friends protect and help each other through the year, setting protections spells against assassins, getting followed by odd cloakracks, dealing with the awful Wizard Wermacht, and having coffee in the courtyard.
Themes
This story resonates greatly with many university students. Some universities and high schools do constantly ask donations from students' families without considering their financial or social situations.Ms. Jones also shows humorously how even the slightest actions have consequences. For example, when creating ward spells to protect Felim from assassins, Elda and her friends create a pentacle of books around him and Ruskin keeps dropping orange peel around the runes. It results in an assassin falling into a pit of orange juice instead of a pit of water and whenever Felim is in danger "a cocoon of books" (described as a 'black beehive') surrounds him.
Characters
Students at the University -- Elda - The youngest griffin daughter of Wizard Derk. She was sent to the University to learn magic after she pushed a mountain out of shape when she was angry. She is very emotional and has a hopeless crush on Wizard Corkoran, who reminds her of a teddy bear.
- Felim - Felim hails from the Emirates, and spends much of his time dodging the attacks made on him by assassins, sent by the Emir. He also writes poetry to Lukin's sister, Isodel, and is in quandaries as to whether "Isodel" can be made to rhyme with "daffodil".
- Ruskin - A dwarf from the Central Peaks. He ran away from the mines to learn magic at the University in order to overthrow the Forgemasters, who oppress the other tribes of dwarfs. He has a great enthusiasm for, among other things, big fat healers, food spells, and The Red Book of Costamaret.
- Olga - A human girl, who is exceptionally beautiful and very intelligent. She can talk to elementals, and call up winds and monsters at will. However, she does not like to use this talent. She is in love with Lukin, and likes rowing.
- Lukin - Crown Prince of Luteria. He is very poor and often has to borrow money from Olga or one of the others. He is at the University in secret, because his father forbade him to go and would send soldiers to get him back if he knew where he was. He has an unfortunate jinx which, whenever he does magic, causes a hole or deep pit to open, which he cannot then shut.
- Claudia - The half-Empire, half-Marshfolk sister of Titus, Emperor of the South. Although she has a strong magical talent, like Lukin she has a jinx, which manifests itself in getting her and anyone with her hopelessly lost, although she always gets where she's going eventually. This causes problems for her on the way to the University, as they got lost, the map was eaten by ants, and there was a heavy rainstorm.
Staff at the University -
- Wizard Corkoran - The friends tutor at the University, and Head of it. He likes to wear colorful ties, and his aim is to be the first man on the moon. He spends most of his time working on his moon studies, to the point of neglecting the actual University. He is also very bad with money.
- Wizard Wermacht - The teacher at the University who takes most of the first-year classes, and also the youngest. He is nasty, strict, and dislikes Elda, Lukin and the others. He particularly dislikes Lukin, after he made the bad mistake on the first day of opening a seemingly bottomless pit in the floor of Wermacht's classroom. The word WehrmachtWehrmachtThe Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
, whence apparently derives his name, is the German title for Nazi Germany's unified armed forces. This derivation fits the character of a man who adheres to an inflexible and narrow-minded program of teaching and treats with overbearing nastiness those who seem weak or stand out for their differences. Before learning the divinely-selected but unassuming Wizard Derk's identity, Wermacht insults him and then ejects him from the courtyard. Those suffering from imperfections in the form of jinxes like Claudia and Lukin, meet his ire. Ruskin's identity as a dwarf draws Wermacht's wrath from the first day of class and he refers to Elda as "a monster."
Outside the University -
- Wizard Derk: A wizard specializing in genetics, especially the creation of new animals. Shona, Kit, Blade, Callette, Lydda, Elda, Angelo, and Florence's father.
- Querida - One of the most powerful wizards in the world, High Chancellor of the University. However, she leaves the day-to-day running of things to Corkoran, a mistake which she later regrets.
- King Luther - King of Luteria. He is not a particularly pleasant person, and treats his sons and daughters as if they were little children, even though they are practically adults already. He forbade Lukin to go to the University.
- Emperor Titus - Emperor of the South, and Claudia's half-brother. He is the only person who really liked Claudia when she was small and was kind to her. He has been at war with King Luther for a very long time.
- Flurian Atreck - A griffin known as Flury. He is one of the four most powerful wizards in the world, and takes over teaching most of Wermacht's classes when Wermacht, for many long and complicated reasons, gets turned into a bar stool.