MAGIC 2 5 3

Duke' and chiefly associated with his roles in such classic westerns as Stagecoach (1939), Red River (1948), and The Searchers (1956). His persona was usually that of the tough, strong, solitary hero.

'Don't threaten me, McCraw,' Thayer growled. John Wayne impersonation.

SARA PARETSKY Indemnity Only, 1982

Magic

This theme comprises a selection of magicians, wizards, witches, and sor-

cerers. Some other instances of magic can be found within the themes

Disappearance and Absence and Invisibility.

Aladdin's lamp In a story in the Arabian Nights, the poor youth Aladdin discovers in a cave a magic lamp. When he rubs the lamp he summons a genie (or jinn), the 'slave of the lamp', who must do his bidding.

Circe In Greek mythology, Circe was a beautiful enchantress who lived on the island of Aeaea. When Odysseus visited the island on his return from the Trojan War, she turned his men into swine. Odysseus protected himself with the mythical herb moly and forced her to break the spell and restore his men to human form. • See special entry • ODYSSEUS on p. 283.

From the mountains comes the wind, bringing clear weather and falling temperatures. As a tribute to its dubious transforming powers it is called the Circe.

Oldie, 1992

Being pretty is no great matter. Any young lady with bright eyes and passable teeth can claim that much. Better to be clever, quick, and intrepid—to charm with your mind and enchant with your wit—in short, to be the one radiant Circe in a season of dreary Helens.

KATE ROSS Cut to the Quick, 1993

Candalf Gandalf is the white wizard in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy adventures The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-5). At the start of the latter he is described as an old man wearing a tall pointed hat and a long grey cloak, with 'a long white beard and bushy eyebrows that stuck out beyond the brim of his hat'. He is renowned for his spectacular firework displays.

Merlin In Arthurian legend, Merlin was a wizard who acted as counsellor to King Arthur. According to one version of the legend, he was imprisoned in an oak tree for eternity by Nimue, a woman to whom he had revealed the secrets of his craft.

Morgan le Fay In Arthurian legend, Morgan le Fay was the half-sister of King Arthur. A former pupil of Merlin, she was an enchantress, possessed of magical powers. After Arthur's final battle, Morgan le Fay transported him to Avalon. In some versions of the legend, she was hostile to Arthur and endeavoured to kill him.

MEDICINE 2 5 5

instructed in the art of medicine by the centaur Chiron. He was said to have been killed by Zeus after Hades had complained that Aesculapius' skills were keeping mortals from the underworld. After his death, he was honoured as the god of medicine and healing. He was represented holding a staff with a serpent wreathed around it, now the emblem of the medical profession.

Carl Moss might be willing to protect Merle with the mantle of Aesculapius, up to a point.

RAYMOND CHANDLER The High Window, 1943

I looked round you see but I said, Wilmot, I said, this anatomy is not for you. No indeed, you have not the stomach for it. In fact as I said at the time, I abandoned Aesculapius for the Muse. Have I not said so to you, Mr Talbot?

WILLIAM COLDING Rites ofPassage, 1980

Apollo Apollo was a Greek god, the son of Zeus and Leto and twin brother of Artemis. He was associated with the sun and a wide range of other attributes, including medicine. He was the father of Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing. • See special entry u APOLLO on p. 75.

He had only a nodding acquaintance with the Hippocratic oath, but was somehow aware that he was committed to Apollo the Healer to look upon his teacher in the art of medicine as one of his parents.

JOHN MORTIMER Paradise Postponed, 1985

Bethesda In the Bible, Bethesda was a pool in Jerusalem that was supposed to have healing powers. It was there that Jesus healed a paralytic 'who had been ill for thirty-eight years'. Knowing that the man had been lying by the pool for some time, Jesus asked whether he wanted to be healed. The sick man answered: 'I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me' (John 5: 7).

She has sent her here to be healed, even as the Jews of old sent their diseased to the troubled pool of Bethesda.

CHARLOTTE BRONTE Jane Eyre, 1847

The new-comer stepped forward like the quicker cripple at Bethesda, and entered in her stead.

THOMAS HARDY The Mayor of Casterbridge, 1886

Hippocrates Hippocrates (c.460-3 77 BC) is probably the most famous of all physicians, but in fact almost nothing is known about him. His name was attached to a body of ancient Greek medical writings which contained diverse opinions on the nature of illness and treatment. The Hippocratic oath, named after him, is an oath stating the duties of physicians, formerly taken by those taking up medical practice.

The renowned British Hippocrates of the Pestle and Mortar.

St Luke St Luke was an evangelist who is traditionally believed to be the author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He was a physician, thought to be the person referred to in Corinthians as 'Luke, the beloved physician' (Col. 4: 14).

2 5 6 MEMORY

Florence Nightingale An English nurse and medical reformer, Florence Nightingale (i820-1910) became famous during the Crimean War for improving sanitation and medical procedures, achieving a dramatic reduction in the mortality rate. She became known as the 'Lady of the Lamp' because of her nightly rounds of the wards carrying a lamp.

Every woman loves an invalid. I bring out the Florence Nightingale in them. MARCARET ATWOOD The Edible Woman, 1969

She got up, soaked a paper towel in warm water, came over and swabbed the wound. She poked around in one of the boxes and found sterile gauze, adhesive tape and hydrogen peroxide. Tending to me like Florence Nightingale, she bandaged the arm.

JONATHAN KELLERMAN When the Bough Breaks, 1992

Paracelsus Paracelsus (c.1493-1541) was a Swiss physician who introduced a more scientific approach to medicine and saw illness as having an external cause rather than arising as a result of an imbalance in the body's humours.

A recipe that an Indian taught me, in requital of some lessons of my own, that were as old as Paracelsus.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE The Scarlet Letter, 1850

Memory

This theme covers both memory and forgetfulness.

Alfred Alfred (849-99), generally known as Alfred the Great, was the king of Wessex 871-99, who led the Saxons to victory over Danish invaders. The most famous story associated with Alfred is the legend that, when in hiding in Somerset, he forgot to watch a peasant woman's cakes, as he had been asked to do, with the result that they burnt.

My word, Miriam! You're in for it this time. . . . You'd better be gone when his mother comes in. I know why King Alfred burned the cakes. Now I see it! 'Postle would fix up a tale about his work making him forget, if he thought it would wash. If that old woman had come in a bit sooner, she'd have boxed the brazen things' ears who made the oblivion, instead of poor Alfred's.

D. H. LAWRENCE 5o/75 and Lovers, 1913

Lethe In Greek mythology, Lethe was the river of forgetfulness, a river in the underworld, Hades, whose water when drunk made the souls of the dead forget their past life. • See special entry a HADES on p. 172.

Minds that have been unhinged from their old faith and love, have perhaps sought this Lethean influence of exile, in which the past becomes dreamy because its symbols have all vanished, and the present too is dreamy because it is linked with no memories.

CEORCE ELIOT Silas Marner, 1861

In his seven-year voyage on the waters of Lethe (the north island of New Zealand