Witch World

The Witch World by Andre Norton is a long series of fantasy novels set in a parallel universe where magic works and, at the beginning of the series, is exclusively performed by women. The series combines many traits of high fantasy and sword and sorcery. It begins with what is now called the Estcarp cycle. These describes the adventures of Simon Tregarth from Earth, his witch wife Jaelithe, and their three children Kyllan, Kemoc and Kaththea.

The series was expanded greatly with the High Hallack cycle, starting with Year of the Unicorn in 1965 and its sequels Jargoon Pard and Gryphon in Glory. The Dales of High Hallack are on a different continent from Estcarp and its neighboring lands.

Mostly these cycles are organized by continent, Estcarp and its neighboring countries being situated on an eastern continent and High Hallack on a western one, with a wide sea between.

The Turning sequence is about events which convinced conservative witches that men could handle magic responsibly. The Secrets of the Witch World trilogy brings many of these story lines to a climax. Both deal with worldwide events. Except for the last of the Secrets of the Witch World books most of these were written in collaboration with Miss Norton's fans. The Witch World series can be considered the first romantic fantasy series, both because of the content and because these books were a primary inspiration to later romantic fantasy authors like Mercedes Lackey.

On the Witch World, magical ability is considered to be exclusively female and exercised only by virgins, with the sexual act depriving a witch of her power. Estcarp's male-dominated enemies consider rape as a convenient way of neutralising captive witches. The advent of Simon Tregarth, a man who turns out to possess some magical power and who forms a magical link with the witch Jaelithe after she becomes his wife, poses an uncomfortable challenge to the conservative witch hierarchy, which is by slow degrees forced to accept that males - and females who have relationships with them - can and do possess magic power.

Here is a list of Witch World stories:

Contents 1 Estcarp Cycle 1.1 Simon Tregarth 1.2 The Tregarth Children 1.3 Others 2 High Hallack Cycle 3 The Turning 4 Short stories 4.1 Witch World Short Story Collections and Anthologies 5 See also 6 External links

Estcarp Cycle

Simon Tregarth

• Annals of the Witch World (omnibus) (SFBC, 1994), AKA The Gates to Witch World (TOR, 2001), contains Witch World, Web of Witch World and Year of the Unicorn)
• Witch World (1963)
• Web of the Witch World (1964)
  

The Tregarth Children

• Chronicles of the Witch World (omnibus) (SFBC, 1998, AKA Lost Lands of Witch World (TOR, 2004); contains Three Against the Witch World, Warlock of the Witch World and Sorceress of the Witch World)
• Three Against the Witch World (1965)
• Warlock of the Witch World (1967)
• Sorceress of the Witch World (1968)
  

Others

• Witch World: Swords and Spells (omnibus) (SFBC, 1987, contains Trey of Swords, Ware Hawk and The Gate of the Cat)
• Trey of Swords (1977)
• Ware Hawk (1983)
• The Gate of the Cat (1987)
  
• Ciara's Song (1998) with Lyn McConchie
• The Duke's Ballad (2005) with Lyn McConchie

High Hallack Cycle

• Year of the Unicorn (1965)
• The Jargoon Pard (1974; sequel to Year of the Unicorn)
• Spell of the Witch World (1972) collection of stories
• Gryphon Trilogy

• The Crystal Gryphon (1972)
• Gryphon in Glory (1981)
• Gryphon's Eyrie (1984) with A. C. Crispin

• Zarsthor's Bane (1978)
• Horn Crown (1981)
• Were-Wrath (1984) Very Rare - Only 177 Copies Printed (Reprinted in Wizards' Worlds, 1988)
• Songsmith (1992) with A. C. Crispin
• Silver May Tarnish (2005) with Lyn McConchie

The Turning

• Storms of Victory (omnibus) (1991, contains Port of Dead Ships by Andre Norton and Seakeep by P. M. Griffin)
• Flight of Vengeance (omnibus) (1992, contains Exile by Mary H. Schaub and Falcon Hope by P. M. Griffin)
• On Wings of Magic (omnibus) (1994, contains We the Women by Patricia Mathews and Falcon Magic by Sasha Miller)
• Secrets of the Witch World (omnibus) (2001, contains Key of the Keplain, The Magestone and The Warding of Witch World) - released as Digital Media Only
• The Key of the Keplian (1995) with Lyn McConchie
• The Magestone (1996) with Mary H. Schaub
• The Warding of Witch World (1996)

Short stories

(most are set in High Hallack)

• "Ully the Piper" (1970)
• "Amber out of Quayth" (1972)
• "Dragon Scale Silver" (1972)
• "Dream Smith" (1972)
• "Legacy from Sorn Fen" (1972)
• "The Toads of Grimmerdale" (1973)
• "Spider Silk" (1976)
• "Sword of Unbelief" (1977)
• "Falcon Blood" (1979)
• "Sand Sister" (1979)
• "Changeling" (1980)
• "Of the Shaping of Ulm's Heir" (1987)
• "The Way Wind" (1995)

Witch World Short Story Collections and Anthologies

• High Sorcery (1970) Collection of Stories (includes "Ully the Piper")
• Spell of the Witch World (1972) Collection of Stories (includes "Dragon Scale Silver", "Dream Smith", & "Amber out of Quayth")
• Lore of the Witch World (1980) Collection of Stories (includes "Spider Silk," "Sand Sister" [sic], "Falcon Blood," "Legacy from Sorn Fen," "Sword of Unbelief," "The Toads of Grimmerdale," & "Changeling")
• Tales of the Witch World 1 (1987) Collection of Stories edited - Andre Norton wrote Introduction & "Of the Shaping of Ulm's Heir"
• Tales of the Witch World 2 (1988) Collection of Stories edited - Andre Norton wrote Introduction
• Wizards' Worlds (1988) Collection of Stories (includes Novella "Were-Wrath" + "Falcon Blood", "The Toads of Grimmerdale", "Changeling", "Spider Silk", "Sword of Unbelief" & "Sand Sister")
• Four from the Witch World (1989) Collection of Stories edited - Andre Norton wrote Introduction
• Tales of the Witch World 3 (1990) Collection of Stories edited - Andre Norton wrote Introduction
• Sisters in Fantasy (1995) Collection of Stories (includes "The Way Wind")

See also

• GURPS Witch World

External links

• Andre Norton's account of how she wrote these stories.