“Rare Species” | Around The Table: The Lore, Culture, and History Behind The Witcher
The world of Andrzej Sapkowski and Netflix’s The Witcher draws inspiration from real life history, folklore, and culture.
Join Alyssa from GoodMorhen, the host and producer of Breakfast in Beauclair, and Witcher content creators Anita and Karolina of Witcher Kitchen, Brett from Whispers of Oxenfurt, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, Cyprian from Berlin, and Lars from Witcherflix in this episode as they share facts and tidbits about doppelgänger folklore in Ireland, Sapkowski's "The Eternal Flame" and "Sword of Destiny", the inspiration for our Zerrikanian warriors, Polish cuisine, and the Polish tale of Smok Wawelski, the Wawel Dragon from Kraków.
Transcript
ALYSSA: What does The Witcher’s lore say about dopplers and Zerrikanian warriors? Which famous Polish legend inspired an excitable side character in Andrzej Sapkowski’s golden dragon hunt? Welcome to Breakfast in Beauclair’s “Around The Table,” a segment where we go around the Beauclair breakfast table with other Witcher content creators sharing facts and tidbits about the production and real life history, folklore, and culture behind an episode of Netflix’s The Witcher. This week we’re diving into Episode 106, “Rare Species”.
CHARLOTTE: Hey everybody, this is Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye. So, we’ll gloss over the decision to throw a doppelgänger in here with some folklore. I have a lot of Irish heritage and in Irish folklore, a doppelgänger is called a fetch. A fetch is a supernatural double or an apparition of a living person. The sighting of a fetch is regarded as an ill omen, usually for impending death. But if the double appears in the morning, rather than the evening, it is a sign that you will live a long life.
BRETT: Woah, those dopplers sure are evil! But are all of them? Maybe in the show—that has yet to be determined. In the short story, “[The] Eternal Flame”—which should be known as “Doppler Shenanigans”—Geralt gets caught up in a web of deceit, backstabbing, and shrewd business acumen. Dopplers here are persecuted, mainly by the head of Novigrad’s secret service, and they actually come off as pretty meek. Definitely not the portrayal from the show. One doppler actually takes on the appearance of Geralt and they fight each other, leading to some self-reflection from the witcher.
ANITA: The Witcher book and, as a result, also the series, combine references to European culture, sometimes even from particular regions. It’s similar with the food presented in the universe: we have a wide range of food that Geralt can taste, from simple meals in taverns to magnificent banquets at castles. And this way, also Polish cuisine is smuggled there. For example, in the episode with the golden dragon, where Geralt sits in the inn along with Borch Three Jackdaws. We cannot see exactly the feast scene, but if it would be more expanded in accordance with books and all the mentioned dishes there, we would have a meal characteristic for Poland called Log Drivers' Soup. In the English version, we have just the description of the soup, but the name is related to raftsmen culture from Polish lands. It means a transport of things by the Vistula river to Gdańsk for sale and it is one of the few accents in the Witcher typical for Polish cuisine. The same applies to crayfish in butter mentioned in the book. Now not so popular, but in the past, when there were plenty of crayfish in Polish ponds, it was the common meal on the Polish tables. We hope to see more culinary motifs in the next season of Netflix series, as the food plays a significant role in the Witcher’s universe!
LARS: Hey, it’s Lars from Witcherflix. Did you know: it’s no surprise that Borch Three Jackdaws aka Villentretenmerth had chosen two Zerrikanian warriors as his companions. Not only because they are famous for their fighting skills, Zerrikanians have a very special bond with dragons. According to the short story collection, The Sword of Destiny, they are known to worship dragons and they build dragon-shaped altars, where they make sacrifices. This country even got its name from another legendary golden dragon called Zerrikanterment, who, according to legend, created a barrier protecting Zerrikania from outsiders by burning forests at the borders and turning them into deserts and wastelands.
CYPRIAN: Zerrikanian warrior women and dryads: both share common historical inspiration with the mythological Amazons in our world, that being Scythian warrior women. The Scythians were an ancient nomadic people in the Eurasian steppe lands of today’s Ukraine, Russia, and the Caucasus. Recent finds of Scythian graves of women paint an interesting picture: their remains show tattoos and changes in bone structure heavily associated with a life in a saddle. What’s more, just like graves of the male warriors, theirs were filled with their swords and bows, as the Scythians fought mostly as horse archers. Our best guess is that the tale of the Amazon warrior derived from Greek veterans’ tales of these bow-wielding, horse-riding women of the steppe.
KAROLINA: What does the dragon from Sapkowski's books have to do with the ones from the Polish legends? Well, a lot, but the connections are not very positive, cause they are related to ways of killing the creature. When the dragon appeared in Barefield, the locals decided to get rid of it at all costs, taking into account various ways. The clever originator turned out to be a shoemaker, Sheepbagger, who made a poisoned sheep and placed it among a herd of real animals. The dragon took the bait and, in convulsions, flew away from Barefield. This method for the dragon resembles the Polish legend about the Wawel Dragon from Krakow, who terrorized the people, forcing them to give sacrifices. None of the knights managed to defeat it, but a local shoemaker came with the idea to stuff the ram with sulfur and placed it in front of the dragon's lair. Sounds similar right? And how did the story of Krakow's dragon end? The hungry monster ate the poisoned animal, felt great pain and a burning sensation in his throat. So, he began to drink water from the river... until it burst!
ALYSSA: Thanks for sharing breakfast with us in this installment of “Around The Table.” The Witcher Universe has so much to uncover! Let us know in the comments below what you found interesting from today’s segment and if you have something new to share with our hanza about this episode. We’ll see you after the next episode of Breakfast in Beauclair.