contents | previous | next | index

Chapter 4 - Where Was Castle Black in Dragon?

The chapters in Dragon take place immediately after Taltos (the interludes take place after Yendi), so I'd say Castle Black is in the exact same place as it was in Taltos.

At this time, there does not appear to be a village beneath Castle Black

[From Castle Black] I risked a look down. There were trees below me that looked like miniature bushes, and the two roads and one stream were lines of brown and blue respectively, meeting and crossing and running almost parallel to form a design that, if I tried, I could convince myself was a mark in some runic alphabet. Maybe it was a symbol that told the castle, "Don't fall down." That was a comforting thought. (Dragon, Chapter 1)

when I believe there should be one

We stood in the courtyard of Castle Black, which floated above a small village about 175 miles northeast of Adrilankha. (Yendi, Chapter 14)

although there is a river, which matches The Lord of Castle Black:

The distance from [the future home of Castle Black] to Dzur Mountain was not long--only some forty or forty-five miles ... the battlefield was some forty or forty-five miles south of [Dzur Mountain], fought in the most part along a small stream called Lostoar Brook, which ran generally east to west near to the southern border of the Southmoor County ... the stream was creeping generally southward [into the county of Iadam] (The Lord of Castle Black, Chapter 50)

On the other hand, the river in The Lord of Castle Black was moving southward. No speed is given for this southward migration, so it's unclear if the river under it in that novel should have moved a significant distance within 240 years.

This suggests that Castle Black might have moved. However, it is also possible that Vlad simply ignores the village below in his narration.

Philip Hart pointed out that this passage in Dragon:

[From Castle Black] I risked a look down. There were trees below me that looked like miniature bushes, and the two roads and one stream were lines of brown and blue respectively, meeting and crossing and running almost parallel to form a design that, if I tried, I could convince myself was a mark in some runic alphabet. Maybe it was a symbol that told the castle, "Don't fall down." That was a comforting thought. (Dragon, Chapter 1)

suggests that Castle Black is not capable of movement:

And note that on pg 21 (ppb) of _Dragon_ Vlad is teleported to CB and looks down (which I have trouble believing) while recovering. The landscape he sees appears to possibly represent a rune; he speculates it might be telling the castle not to fall. I think the landscape information might be echoed elsewhere - anyway this passage seems to suggest Vlad believes the castle is sessile, as it were.

contents | previous | next | index

Questions? Comments? Please contact me at dragaera [at] bryann.net.