Riddley Walker Annotations - User contributions [en]

A 177 3

2026-03-25T07:16:47Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|177|3}} "In my head I wer singing .... hard as I cud hoaping he wunt lissen nothing only that"
Catchy songs as a defense against mind-reading are a staple of science fiction, dating back to Alfred Bester's ''[[w:The Demolished Man|The Demolished Man]]''.

[[Category:Chapter 16]]

A 175 30

2026-03-25T07:15:59Z

Eli Bishop: link update

* {{PP|175|30}} "the Ardships no {{Ix|eyes}} face staring like a blyn {{Ix|owl}}"
Hoban's interest in Middle Eastern mysticism—and the many mentions of {{Ix|shadder|shadows}} in this scene—make this possibly a reference to ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130327163706/http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/BlindOwl/blindowl.html The Blind Owl]'' by Sadeq Hedayat (1938). This famous work of modern Iranian fiction is a hallucinatory and violent allegory of spiritual conflict. At a pivotal moment just before a murder, Hedayat's narrator says this: "I was talking to myself with immobile lips and with an inaudible voice .... In front of the smoking tallow burner, my shadow ... was mutely cast on the wall. My shadow was more profound and exact than my real being .... At this moment I resembled an owl. .... Perhaps the owl, too, is sick and because of the sickness it thinks as I do."

[[Category:Chapter 16]]

A 165 18

2026-03-25T07:14:53Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|165|18}} "that face with the vines and leaves growing out of the mouf"

[[File:Cryptvines.jpg|thumb|320px||left|link=]]
A [[w:Green_Man|Green Man]], and although Riddley doesn't say so, there are several stone carvings very much like this in the cathedral (as well as other styles of Green Man without the vines). In fact, one of the columns with the zig-zag pattern mentioned above is topped with a design of startled-looking, rather [[Chapter 1|lion-like]] heads disgorging thick curling vines, shown in this drawing.

[[Category:Chapter 15]]

A 129 10

2026-03-25T07:13:09Z

Eli Bishop: link update

* {{PP|129|10}} "The wife is the sof and the sweet you see which is took off by the sharp and the salty"
Goodparley is now talking alchemical allegory. Medieval European alchemists were looking for the Philosopher's Stone rather than the {{Ix|1 Big 1}}, but their methods and language are the same: poetic stories about a character's spiritual quest are believed to illustrate physical processes, and vice versa. (The allegories were also meant to hide the alchemist's secrets from a casual reader; here are some [https://web.archive.org/web/20120214021102/http://www.levity.com/alchemy/allegory.html examples] of alchemical writing.) And, as occasionally happened with medieval alchemy, Goodparley's questionable reasoning has arrived at results that are not entirely untrue. The puns in this section are fast and furious: ''assits'' = acids, ''catwl twis'' = catalyst, ''res and due'' = residue, ''new clear'' = nuclear, ''break and thru the barren year'' = break through the barrier. {{By|EB}}

According to alchemists, all metals were made from {{Ix|three}} elements: sulphur, salt, and quicksilver. {{By|RG}}

Hoban comments via email: "In ''[[Related works#Pilgermann|Pilgermann]]'', Bembel Rudzuk mentions the alchemy of Abraham's going into the furnace and coming out again and on the opposite page he points out the "wind alchemy" of the sails of the dhow. I think elsewhere I've cited the hot and the dry and the cold and the wet but I don't remember where. I read [[w:Fulcanelli|Fulcanelli]] on alchemy and it comes up here and there in my writing." {{By|RH}}

[[Category:Chapter 14]]

A 85 32

2026-03-25T07:11:26Z

Eli Bishop: link update

* {{PP|85|32}} "The Lissener and the Other Voyce Owl of the Worl"
This story slightly recalls an American Indian myth in which Owl tries to maintain a permanent night by repeating the word "dark," while Rabbit repeats the word "light." Eventually Owl slips up and daylight is allowed to exist. [https://web.archive.org/web/20050216120830/http://www.menominee.edu/culturemain/originday.html Here] is a version that is attributed to the Menominee tribe, but similar stories are reported throughout North America. {{By|EB}}

The owl is an age-old symbol seemingly derived, in European myth, from the Etruscans. The Grey Hooded Owl is always in the background of Etruscan art, as a kind of "seeing eye" from the realms of the spirit. This has carried over to traditional Italian witchcraft, Stregha, where the Grey Owl is the symbol of La Streghoneria. {{By|SF}} And owls, like lions and seagulls, recur throughout Hoban's books: they are spirit harbingers in {{Bibliocite|Pilgermann}} and {{Bibliocite|Fremder}}, and there is a more cheerful (but still carnivorous) owl with a repetition compulsion in Hoban's children's story "The Marzipan Pig." {{By|EB}}

[[Category:Chapter 11]]

A 56 22

2026-03-25T07:08:53Z

Eli Bishop: link update

* {{PP|56|22}} "when [[Littl Salting]] {{Ix|Fents}} got largent in by [[Dog Et]] {{Ix|Form}}"

[[File:mapdetail2.jpg|frame|right|link=Map of Inland|map detail: Littl Salting, Dog Et, How, and Crippel the Farn]] As seen earlier, farm communities have begun to displace hunter-gatherers, with aggressive support from the government.

See Littl Salting and Dog Et in [[Places]].

{{Ix|Salt}} and {{Ix|savor}} are recurring images throughout the book. Littl Salting's name is particularly appropriate to the novel due to the three alternate definitions for salting [https://web.archive.org/web/20240206152100/https://faculty.humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/spinningweb/riddley3.html cited] by {{By|BJB}}: "1. Wet land that is very close to the sea, so can be flooded by salt water. 2. A labor union tactic used to organize a union ... labor union members (salts) hire on at a non-union business. 3. Colloquial name for a kind of land scam where minerals or other resources are scattered on a piece of property so they can be 'discovered' by a prospective buyer."

[[Category:Chapter 9]]

A 38 14

2026-03-25T07:06:57Z

Eli Bishop: link update

* {{PP|38|14}} "2 cuts hash and 50 rizlas each"
The other common currency besides {{Ix|iron}}: cannabis and cigarette papers (Rizla is the most popular British brand of rolling papers). It's not clear how the latter are manufactured in a pre-industrial setting.

(Ironically, Rizla is a word from {{Ix|Outland}}: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rizla Lacroix Fils] was the original manufacturer, and riz = rice[paper], thus Riz La. Thanks to {{By|SF}}.)

[[Category:Chapter 7]]

Contributors

2026-03-25T06:45:23Z

Eli Bishop: link update

If you would like to be on this list, see [[#Participating|below]].

{|
|{{Contrib|AP}}
|'''Anne Percoco''' is an artist and archaeology enthusiast living in New Jersey. Her past projects include an exhibit of Late Information Age artifacts. http://annepercoco.com/
|{{A|24|22}}
|-
|{{Contrib|BF}}
|'''Brian Fone'''
|{{A|96|28}}, [[heads]], [[numbers]]
|-
|{{Contrib|BJB}}
|'''Barbara J. Becker''' is a retired historian who taught the history of science at the University of California, Irvine. One of her university courses used ''RW'' as a central text, and required students to learn a preindustrial weaving technique. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240206152111/http://faculty.humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/SpinningWeb/week1.html (syllabus)]
|{{A|56|22}}, {{A|60|6}}, {{A|75|32}}, {{A|99|7}}, {{A|104|24}}, {{A|175|34}}, {{A|187|21}}, [[Frogs Legs]], [[Pig Sweet]], [[Stickit Flats]], [[Roger Bacon]]
|-
|{{Contrib|BW}}
|'''Ben Wolfson'''
|{{A|1|1}}, {{A|28|29}}, {{A|176|2}}, [[Diana and Aunty]]
|-
|{{Contrib|CB}}
|British New Zealand resident '''Chris Bell''' is a writer and magazine editor, author of ''The Bumper Book of Lies''. He played bass guitar live for British rock/pop acts including Freur, whose song "Matters of the Heart [Hart uv the Wud]" was inspired by ''RW'', and currently records electronic music as wordsSHIFTminds. https://wordsshiftminds.bandcamp.com/
|{{A|75|6}}
|-
|{{Contrib|DA}}
| '''Dave Awl''' is a poet, playwright, actor, and former member of the Chicago theatre group The Neo-Futurists. His poetry and dramatic monologues are collected in the book ''What the Sea Means''. Awl's site Ocelot Factory includes the exhaustive Hoban reference, The Head of Orpheus. http://www.ocelotfactory.com
|{{A|89|4}}
|-
|{{Contrib|DO}}
| '''Davis Oldham'''
|
|-
|{{Contrib|DR}}
| '''Dave Robinson''' is a folk musician from way back in the coffeehouses of San Diego and now teaches English at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California. He is married with two kids, and he is dog frendy.
|{{A|48|3}}
|-
|{{Contrib|DS}}
| '''Duane Spurlock''' is a professional writer, dedicated reader, and proprietor of The Pulp Rack web site, devoted to the pop culture fiction of the 20th Century. https://pulprack.blogspot.com/
|
|-
|{{Contrib|EB}}
| Sometime cartoonist '''Eli Bishop''' maintains these annotations and other curiosities online. He first read ''RW'' at age 12, and thought it was weird and scary. http://www.errorbar.net
|
|-
|{{Contrib|EE}}
| This denotes information taken from the appendices to the ''RW'' [[Editions|Expanded Edition]] from Indiana University Press.
|{{A|9|14}}, {{A|16|11}}, {{A|27|13}}, {{A|28|10}}, {{A|28|12}}, {{A|31|16}}, {{A|37|21}}, {{A|89|4}}, {{A|103|19}}, {{A|137|30}}, [[Good Shoar]]
|-
|{{Contrib|GW}}
| '''Graeme Wend-Walker''' teaches English literature at Texas State University, and is the author of ''Russell Hoban: Faithful to the Strange''. [https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/russell-hoban (publisher's page)]
|{{A|4|18}}, {{A|43|3}}, {{A|75|6}}
|-
|{{Contrib|H}}
| '''Hugh''' (last name unknown, from the ''Kraken'' mailing list)
|{{A|9|8}}
|-
|{{Contrib|JC}}
|'''Joe Corneli'''
|{{A|48|3}}
|-
|{{Contrib|LF}}
|'''Lucy Ferriss''' is the author of ''The Lost Daughter'' and other novels, and writer-in-residence emerita at Trinity College, Hartford, CT. http://lucyferriss.com
|[[Related works#Cloud Atlas|Cloud Atlas]]
|-
|{{Contrib|MG}}
|'''Mark Gaultier'''
|{{A|29|5}}
|-
|{{Contrib|MJ}}
|'''Mick James'''
|[[Harts Ease]], [[Horny Boy]], [[Inland]]
|-
|{{Contrib|MWS}}
|'''Mariane W. Schaum''' has been teaching ''RW'' since 1983, using carefully hoarded old copies when it was out of print.
|{{A|32|11}}, {{A|119|6}}
|-
|{{Contrib|MW}}
|'''Matthew Weber'''
|
|-
|{{Contrib|PAM}}
|'''P.A. Morbid''' performs in the English band Killy Dog Box.
|{{A|35|27}}, {{A|68|34}}
|-
|{{Contrib|RC}}
|'''Roland Clare'''
|{{A|4|20}}
|-
|{{Contrib|RG}}
|'''Ray Girvan'''
|{{A|4|18}}, {{A|4|20}}, {{A|10|31}}, {{A|67|31}}, {{A|119|6}}, {{A|129|10}}, {{A|198|30}}, {{A|210|15}}, [[A20]], [[Bollock Stoans]], [[Inland]]
|-
|{{Contrib|RH}}
|'''Russell Hoban''' - these are comments Hoban made via email, either on the ''Kraken'' mailing list or in personal correspondence with Eli Bishop.
|{{A|2|3}}, [[Chapter 6]], {{A|75|6}}, {{A|100|10}}, {{A|129|10}}, {{A|160|3}}, [[Fathers Ham]], [[Good Shoar]], [[Rose & Power]], [[sheela-na-gig]]
|-
|{{Contrib|SF}}
|'''Sophia Fabre'''
|{{A|38|14}}, {{A|85|32}}, [[Fathers Ham]]
|-
|{{Contrib|SLK}}
|'''Sarah Larratt Keefer''' was a Full Professor of English Literature at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, where she taught ''RW'' as part of her History of the English Language course. [https://www.trentu.ca/news/story/25/03/04/trent-university-mourns-the-passing-of-professor-emeritus-sarah-keefer (obituary)]
|{{A|5|31}}, {{A|16|11}}, {{A|201|8}}, [[sheela-na-gig]]
|-
|{{Contrib|SW}}
|'''Simon Watkins'''
|{{A|28|10}}, {{A|105|4}}, {{A|176|2}}
|-
|{{Contrib|TH}}
|'''Tim Haillay'''
|[[Bollock Stoans]], [[Brabbas Horn]], [[Crippel the Farn]], [[Good Mercy]], [[Harts Ease]], [[How]], [[Littl Salting]], [[Moal Arse]], [[Monkeys Whoar Town]], [[Nellys Bum]], [[Reakys Over]], [[Roaming Rune]], [[Rose & Power]], [[Sel Out]], [[The Warnings]], [[Widders Dump]]
|-
|{{Contrib|ZG}}
|'''Zoe Gilbert''' is a novelist and librettist based in Kent. https://zoegilbert.com/
|{{A|4|18}}
|}

=== Participating ===
Although this site is no longer updated very often, it's always a work in progress. If you're curious whether anything's changed recently, see [[About#Changes_worth_mentioning|About]].

Please email [http://www.errorbar.net/contact Eli Bishop] with questions or suggestions. There's a lot to write about in this book, and many people will have thoughts about the same things; please don't feel bad if I don't use your comment or if I paraphrase it or use someone else's version. If people have different opinions on the meaning of something, I'll try to include them all, within reason.

<blockquote>
''"you myt terpit your way but Iwl terpit my way and parbly my waywl be the Rightway wunt you say"''
</blockquote>

Related works

2026-03-25T06:41:41Z

Eli Bishop: /* The Golden Bough */

Books and other works that meet at some point with ''Riddley Walker''. __NOTOC__

== fiction by Hoban ==

=== ''Fremder'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1996). Surreal science-fiction mystery in which a technology for space travel has bizarre consequences. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/fremder.html more])

=== ''Kleinzeit'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1974). Comedic fantasy about hospitals, the creative force, and Orpheus in the subway. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/kleinz.html more])

=== ''The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1973). Hoban's first non-children's novel, about a young man's coming of age, an absent father, and an archetypal lion. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/lion.html more])

=== ''The Medusa Frequency'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1987). Fantasy comedy in which a heartbroken novelist encounters the {{Ix|heads|head}} of Orpheus. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/medusa.html more])

=== ''Pilgermann'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1983). Hoban described this novel as continuing the "action" of ''Riddley Walker'' metaphorically, though it is not a sequel, but rather the dark philosophical journey of a 12th-century German Jew caught up in the Crusades and the siege of Antioch. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/pilgerm.html more])

=== ''Turtle Diary'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1975). Urban realistic novel about two lonely adults wanting to release sea turtles from the zoo. One kind of sea turtle is called a Ridley. ([http://www.errorbar.net/nits/Turtle_Diary annotations for ''Turtle Diary''])

== fiction by others ==

=== ''Doctor Mirabilis'' ===
By James Blish (1964). Historical novel about the life of [[Roger Bacon]], touching upon some of the same themes as ''RW'' and ''[[#A Canticle for Leibowitz|Canticle]]'', e.g., the nature of knowledge and orthodoxy in a preindustrial world, intuition and misreading as tools of discovery, and [[gunpowder]]. Out of print.

=== ''Mr. Punch'' ===
By Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (Vertigo/DC Comics, 1994). Dark comic-book novella about a boy's encounter with Punch showmen and other shady characters at a seaside arcade. Includes several typical Punch vignettes alarmingly depicted in McKean's haunting mixed-media style. ([https://www.dc.com/graphic-novels/mr-punch publisher's page])

=== ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' ===
By Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1959). Early classic of the "post-holocaust" subgenre of science fiction, with many parallels to ''RW'', though entirely different in style. Thousands of years after a nuclear war, Catholic monasteries preserve scraps of knowledge from the past, and a martyred nuclear scientist has become a myth-figure. As civilization re-emerges, it quickly rediscovers the technology of destruction and the cycle begins again. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110815134934/http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/science_fiction/canticle.html more])

=== ''Cloud Atlas'' ===
By David Mitchell (Random House, 2004). Part science fiction and part historical novel, ranging from the 19th century to the distant future. In [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/feb/05/featuresreviews.guardianreview27 an essay] originally written for the 2005 Russell Hoban Soam-Poasyum, Mitchell cited ''RW'' as an inspiration for the "Sloosha's Crossin'" section of the novel. {{By|LF}}

== nonfiction ==

=== ''Russell Hoban/Forty Years: Essays on His Writing for Children'' ===
Edited by [https://www.russellhoban.org/news/in-memoriam-dr-alida-allison-russell-hoban-scholar Alida Allison] (Garland Publishing, 2000). Literary analysis of Hoban's children's books from many angles, teasing out themes that have also featured in his work for adults including ''RW''. Out of print, available as an ebook for [http://www.amazon.com/Russell-Hoban-Forty-Years-Literature-ebook/dp/B00JKEYKX0/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid= Kindle] or [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/russell-hoban-forty-years-alida-allison/1113996488?ean=9781135674458 Nook].

=== ''A Mouthful of Air'' ===
By Anthony Burgess (William Morrow, 1992). An overview of linguistics—aimed at a general audience, but still extremely thorough—discussing how English has evolved, and how words and dialects evolve in general. Particularly valuable for its exploration of the tension between structure and ambiguity (which ''Riddley Walker'' puts to such good use), and for its reminder that the idea of "standard" English hides a great deal of regional variation and history. At least two of Burgess's novels, ''A Clockwork Orange'' and ''Nothing Like the Sun'', are written in invented or borrowed dialects, and he treats the subject with passion and wit.

=== ''The Golden Bough'' ===
By James Frazer (Touchstone, 1996; originally published 1922). Probably the best-known modern work of comparative mythology, describing recurring patterns of religious practice such as sacrificial kingship, sacred marriage and resurrection myths. Frazer has since come under fire for misconstruing or exaggerating his sources to suit his overall thesis of the pagan roots of Christianity, and for his (typically for the time) condescending remarks about "savage" cultures; but the book is still extremely influential, especially on the modern "neo-pagan" movement. ([https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3623 full text online] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20260211133754/https://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/paganism.htm an argumentative essay])

=== ''Russell Hoban: Faithful to the Strange'' ===
By [[Contributors#GW|Graeme Wend-Walker]] (McFarland Books, 2025). A wide-ranging critical consideration of Hoban's whole literary career, highlighting the common themes in his works, how his approach to them changed over time, and his views on creativity and consciousness.

=== ''Through the Narrow Gate'' ===
By Christine Wilkie (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1989). A short academic study of Hoban's early novels through the mid-1980s (''The Mouse and His Child'', ''The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz'', ''Kleinzeit'', ''Turtle Diary'', ''Riddley Walker'', ''Pilgermann'', and ''The Medusa Frequency''). It is concerned primarily with archetypes and Jungian theory/depth psychology as they appear in Hoban's work. One chapter focuses on ''Riddley Walker'', another on the experimental play that was based on the novel and that had some input from Hoban. {{By|DS}}

== Other ==

=== ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' ===
1985 science-fiction film directed by George Miller, set in a barbaric post-nuclear-war world, where a wandering hero (Mel Gibson) takes up with a band of wild children—who speak in an invented slang and are waiting for a messiah called "Mr. Walker"—against the corrupt government of "Auntie Entity" (Tina Turner). Besides the names, there is an obvious (if clumsy) Hoban homage in a scene where the children narrate their myths using a "{{Ix|tel}}"—in this case, a broken television.

Also, the energy source for Auntie's city is {{Ix|pig shit}}.

=== Current 93 ===
This English "apocalyptic folk" band led by David Tibet—described by {{By|MW}} as "an interesting group, though not everyone's cup of tea"—has numerous RW references in their lyrics: their song "The Blue Gates of Death" incorporates a rhyme from the book, another song is titled "In the Heart of the Wood and What I Found There", and the album ''Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre'' cites the [[Eustace|St. Eustace]] story. ([http://www.brainwashed.com/c93/ more])

=== Clutch ===
U.S. rock/blues/metal band whose song "Rapture of Riddley Walker" (on ''From Beale Street to Oblivion'', 2007) deploys an assortment of Hobanic terms within what is otherwise a pretty standard lyric of grandiose despair. Good music though.

Related works

2026-03-25T06:40:05Z

Eli Bishop: /* A Canticle for Leibowitz */ link update

Books and other works that meet at some point with ''Riddley Walker''. __NOTOC__

== fiction by Hoban ==

=== ''Fremder'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1996). Surreal science-fiction mystery in which a technology for space travel has bizarre consequences. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/fremder.html more])

=== ''Kleinzeit'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1974). Comedic fantasy about hospitals, the creative force, and Orpheus in the subway. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/kleinz.html more])

=== ''The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1973). Hoban's first non-children's novel, about a young man's coming of age, an absent father, and an archetypal lion. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/lion.html more])

=== ''The Medusa Frequency'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1987). Fantasy comedy in which a heartbroken novelist encounters the {{Ix|heads|head}} of Orpheus. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/medusa.html more])

=== ''Pilgermann'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1983). Hoban described this novel as continuing the "action" of ''Riddley Walker'' metaphorically, though it is not a sequel, but rather the dark philosophical journey of a 12th-century German Jew caught up in the Crusades and the siege of Antioch. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/pilgerm.html more])

=== ''Turtle Diary'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1975). Urban realistic novel about two lonely adults wanting to release sea turtles from the zoo. One kind of sea turtle is called a Ridley. ([http://www.errorbar.net/nits/Turtle_Diary annotations for ''Turtle Diary''])

== fiction by others ==

=== ''Doctor Mirabilis'' ===
By James Blish (1964). Historical novel about the life of [[Roger Bacon]], touching upon some of the same themes as ''RW'' and ''[[#A Canticle for Leibowitz|Canticle]]'', e.g., the nature of knowledge and orthodoxy in a preindustrial world, intuition and misreading as tools of discovery, and [[gunpowder]]. Out of print.

=== ''Mr. Punch'' ===
By Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (Vertigo/DC Comics, 1994). Dark comic-book novella about a boy's encounter with Punch showmen and other shady characters at a seaside arcade. Includes several typical Punch vignettes alarmingly depicted in McKean's haunting mixed-media style. ([https://www.dc.com/graphic-novels/mr-punch publisher's page])

=== ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' ===
By Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1959). Early classic of the "post-holocaust" subgenre of science fiction, with many parallels to ''RW'', though entirely different in style. Thousands of years after a nuclear war, Catholic monasteries preserve scraps of knowledge from the past, and a martyred nuclear scientist has become a myth-figure. As civilization re-emerges, it quickly rediscovers the technology of destruction and the cycle begins again. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110815134934/http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/science_fiction/canticle.html more])

=== ''Cloud Atlas'' ===
By David Mitchell (Random House, 2004). Part science fiction and part historical novel, ranging from the 19th century to the distant future. In [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/feb/05/featuresreviews.guardianreview27 an essay] originally written for the 2005 Russell Hoban Soam-Poasyum, Mitchell cited ''RW'' as an inspiration for the "Sloosha's Crossin'" section of the novel. {{By|LF}}

== nonfiction ==

=== ''Russell Hoban/Forty Years: Essays on His Writing for Children'' ===
Edited by [https://www.russellhoban.org/news/in-memoriam-dr-alida-allison-russell-hoban-scholar Alida Allison] (Garland Publishing, 2000). Literary analysis of Hoban's children's books from many angles, teasing out themes that have also featured in his work for adults including ''RW''. Out of print, available as an ebook for [http://www.amazon.com/Russell-Hoban-Forty-Years-Literature-ebook/dp/B00JKEYKX0/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid= Kindle] or [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/russell-hoban-forty-years-alida-allison/1113996488?ean=9781135674458 Nook].

=== ''A Mouthful of Air'' ===
By Anthony Burgess (William Morrow, 1992). An overview of linguistics—aimed at a general audience, but still extremely thorough—discussing how English has evolved, and how words and dialects evolve in general. Particularly valuable for its exploration of the tension between structure and ambiguity (which ''Riddley Walker'' puts to such good use), and for its reminder that the idea of "standard" English hides a great deal of regional variation and history. At least two of Burgess's novels, ''A Clockwork Orange'' and ''Nothing Like the Sun'', are written in invented or borrowed dialects, and he treats the subject with passion and wit.

=== ''The Golden Bough'' ===
By James Frazer (Touchstone, 1996; originally published 1922). Probably the best-known modern work of comparative mythology, describing recurring patterns of religious practice such as sacrificial kingship, sacred marriage and resurrection myths. Frazer has since come under fire for misconstruing or exaggerating his sources to suit his overall thesis of the pagan roots of Christianity, and for his (typically for the time) condescending remarks about "savage" cultures; but the book is still extremely influential, especially on the modern "neo-pagan" movement. ([http://users.compaqnet.be/cn111132/Frazer/ abridged edition online] and [http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/paganism.htm an argumentative essay])

=== ''Russell Hoban: Faithful to the Strange'' ===
By [[Contributors#GW|Graeme Wend-Walker]] (McFarland Books, 2025). A wide-ranging critical consideration of Hoban's whole literary career, highlighting the common themes in his works, how his approach to them changed over time, and his views on creativity and consciousness.

=== ''Through the Narrow Gate'' ===
By Christine Wilkie (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1989). A short academic study of Hoban's early novels through the mid-1980s (''The Mouse and His Child'', ''The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz'', ''Kleinzeit'', ''Turtle Diary'', ''Riddley Walker'', ''Pilgermann'', and ''The Medusa Frequency''). It is concerned primarily with archetypes and Jungian theory/depth psychology as they appear in Hoban's work. One chapter focuses on ''Riddley Walker'', another on the experimental play that was based on the novel and that had some input from Hoban. {{By|DS}}

== Other ==

=== ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' ===
1985 science-fiction film directed by George Miller, set in a barbaric post-nuclear-war world, where a wandering hero (Mel Gibson) takes up with a band of wild children—who speak in an invented slang and are waiting for a messiah called "Mr. Walker"—against the corrupt government of "Auntie Entity" (Tina Turner). Besides the names, there is an obvious (if clumsy) Hoban homage in a scene where the children narrate their myths using a "{{Ix|tel}}"—in this case, a broken television.

Also, the energy source for Auntie's city is {{Ix|pig shit}}.

=== Current 93 ===
This English "apocalyptic folk" band led by David Tibet—described by {{By|MW}} as "an interesting group, though not everyone's cup of tea"—has numerous RW references in their lyrics: their song "The Blue Gates of Death" incorporates a rhyme from the book, another song is titled "In the Heart of the Wood and What I Found There", and the album ''Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre'' cites the [[Eustace|St. Eustace]] story. ([http://www.brainwashed.com/c93/ more])

=== Clutch ===
U.S. rock/blues/metal band whose song "Rapture of Riddley Walker" (on ''From Beale Street to Oblivion'', 2007) deploys an assortment of Hobanic terms within what is otherwise a pretty standard lyric of grandiose despair. Good music though.

Related works

2026-03-25T06:39:00Z

Eli Bishop: /* Mr. Punch */ link update

Books and other works that meet at some point with ''Riddley Walker''. __NOTOC__

== fiction by Hoban ==

=== ''Fremder'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1996). Surreal science-fiction mystery in which a technology for space travel has bizarre consequences. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/fremder.html more])

=== ''Kleinzeit'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1974). Comedic fantasy about hospitals, the creative force, and Orpheus in the subway. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/kleinz.html more])

=== ''The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1973). Hoban's first non-children's novel, about a young man's coming of age, an absent father, and an archetypal lion. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/lion.html more])

=== ''The Medusa Frequency'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1987). Fantasy comedy in which a heartbroken novelist encounters the {{Ix|heads|head}} of Orpheus. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/medusa.html more])

=== ''Pilgermann'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1983). Hoban described this novel as continuing the "action" of ''Riddley Walker'' metaphorically, though it is not a sequel, but rather the dark philosophical journey of a 12th-century German Jew caught up in the Crusades and the siege of Antioch. ([http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/pilgerm.html more])

=== ''Turtle Diary'' ===
By Russell Hoban (1975). Urban realistic novel about two lonely adults wanting to release sea turtles from the zoo. One kind of sea turtle is called a Ridley. ([http://www.errorbar.net/nits/Turtle_Diary annotations for ''Turtle Diary''])

== fiction by others ==

=== ''Doctor Mirabilis'' ===
By James Blish (1964). Historical novel about the life of [[Roger Bacon]], touching upon some of the same themes as ''RW'' and ''[[#A Canticle for Leibowitz|Canticle]]'', e.g., the nature of knowledge and orthodoxy in a preindustrial world, intuition and misreading as tools of discovery, and [[gunpowder]]. Out of print.

=== ''Mr. Punch'' ===
By Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (Vertigo/DC Comics, 1994). Dark comic-book novella about a boy's encounter with Punch showmen and other shady characters at a seaside arcade. Includes several typical Punch vignettes alarmingly depicted in McKean's haunting mixed-media style. ([https://www.dc.com/graphic-novels/mr-punch publisher's page])

=== ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' ===
By Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1959). Early classic of the "post-holocaust" subgenre of science fiction, with many parallels to ''RW'', though entirely different in style. Thousands of years after a nuclear war, Catholic monasteries preserve scraps of knowledge from the past, and a martyred nuclear scientist has become a myth-figure. As civilization re-emerges, it quickly rediscovers the technology of destruction and the cycle begins again. ([http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/science_fiction/canticle.html more])

=== ''Cloud Atlas'' ===
By David Mitchell (Random House, 2004). Part science fiction and part historical novel, ranging from the 19th century to the distant future. In [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/feb/05/featuresreviews.guardianreview27 an essay] originally written for the 2005 Russell Hoban Soam-Poasyum, Mitchell cited ''RW'' as an inspiration for the "Sloosha's Crossin'" section of the novel. {{By|LF}}

== nonfiction ==

=== ''Russell Hoban/Forty Years: Essays on His Writing for Children'' ===
Edited by [https://www.russellhoban.org/news/in-memoriam-dr-alida-allison-russell-hoban-scholar Alida Allison] (Garland Publishing, 2000). Literary analysis of Hoban's children's books from many angles, teasing out themes that have also featured in his work for adults including ''RW''. Out of print, available as an ebook for [http://www.amazon.com/Russell-Hoban-Forty-Years-Literature-ebook/dp/B00JKEYKX0/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid= Kindle] or [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/russell-hoban-forty-years-alida-allison/1113996488?ean=9781135674458 Nook].

=== ''A Mouthful of Air'' ===
By Anthony Burgess (William Morrow, 1992). An overview of linguistics—aimed at a general audience, but still extremely thorough—discussing how English has evolved, and how words and dialects evolve in general. Particularly valuable for its exploration of the tension between structure and ambiguity (which ''Riddley Walker'' puts to such good use), and for its reminder that the idea of "standard" English hides a great deal of regional variation and history. At least two of Burgess's novels, ''A Clockwork Orange'' and ''Nothing Like the Sun'', are written in invented or borrowed dialects, and he treats the subject with passion and wit.

=== ''The Golden Bough'' ===
By James Frazer (Touchstone, 1996; originally published 1922). Probably the best-known modern work of comparative mythology, describing recurring patterns of religious practice such as sacrificial kingship, sacred marriage and resurrection myths. Frazer has since come under fire for misconstruing or exaggerating his sources to suit his overall thesis of the pagan roots of Christianity, and for his (typically for the time) condescending remarks about "savage" cultures; but the book is still extremely influential, especially on the modern "neo-pagan" movement. ([http://users.compaqnet.be/cn111132/Frazer/ abridged edition online] and [http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/paganism.htm an argumentative essay])

=== ''Russell Hoban: Faithful to the Strange'' ===
By [[Contributors#GW|Graeme Wend-Walker]] (McFarland Books, 2025). A wide-ranging critical consideration of Hoban's whole literary career, highlighting the common themes in his works, how his approach to them changed over time, and his views on creativity and consciousness.

=== ''Through the Narrow Gate'' ===
By Christine Wilkie (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1989). A short academic study of Hoban's early novels through the mid-1980s (''The Mouse and His Child'', ''The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz'', ''Kleinzeit'', ''Turtle Diary'', ''Riddley Walker'', ''Pilgermann'', and ''The Medusa Frequency''). It is concerned primarily with archetypes and Jungian theory/depth psychology as they appear in Hoban's work. One chapter focuses on ''Riddley Walker'', another on the experimental play that was based on the novel and that had some input from Hoban. {{By|DS}}

== Other ==

=== ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' ===
1985 science-fiction film directed by George Miller, set in a barbaric post-nuclear-war world, where a wandering hero (Mel Gibson) takes up with a band of wild children—who speak in an invented slang and are waiting for a messiah called "Mr. Walker"—against the corrupt government of "Auntie Entity" (Tina Turner). Besides the names, there is an obvious (if clumsy) Hoban homage in a scene where the children narrate their myths using a "{{Ix|tel}}"—in this case, a broken television.

Also, the energy source for Auntie's city is {{Ix|pig shit}}.

=== Current 93 ===
This English "apocalyptic folk" band led by David Tibet—described by {{By|MW}} as "an interesting group, though not everyone's cup of tea"—has numerous RW references in their lyrics: their song "The Blue Gates of Death" incorporates a rhyme from the book, another song is titled "In the Heart of the Wood and What I Found There", and the album ''Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre'' cites the [[Eustace|St. Eustace]] story. ([http://www.brainwashed.com/c93/ more])

=== Clutch ===
U.S. rock/blues/metal band whose song "Rapture of Riddley Walker" (on ''From Beale Street to Oblivion'', 2007) deploys an assortment of Hobanic terms within what is otherwise a pretty standard lyric of grandiose despair. Good music though.

Mr Clevvers Roaling Place

2026-03-25T06:37:13Z

Eli Bishop: link updates

[[File:Trough.jpg|frame||420x235px|right|link=]]
This is what is now called the '''Devil's Kneading Trough''', in the [[How|Wye]] Downs. It is a combe (or coombe—originally a Welsh word, ''cwm''), carved out of the chalk hills by the flow of mud and water as the ground froze and thawed during a glacial period. But, as with [https://web.archive.org/web/20160315063614/http://www.unmuseum.org/devtowergeo.htm other] [https://web.archive.org/web/20060422084354/http://www.aypwip.net/germany/03Teufelstisch.html dramatic] [https://web.archive.org/web/20250311213220/https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/devils-slide/ rock] [https://web.archive.org/web/20221110023437/https://rainton.com/fun/australia/jes_outback/?page=devils_marbles formations] around the world, it's natural to suspect that it was sculpted by someone with a strange sense of humor. Photo by {{By|BJB}}.

''(27, {{Ixp|113|35}}-114)''

Good Shoar

2026-03-25T06:33:48Z

Eli Bishop: link update

Besides appearing in "[[Fools Circel 9wys]]", Good Shoar plays no role in the story, but Hoban explained it in his afterword: "Good Shoar is '''Deal''', where I paid a boatman to take me out to the Goodwin Sands." {{By|EE}} He later elaborated via email: "It is that part of the shore facing the sands where the town of Deal now stands. At one time in the dim and unrecorded past of Riddley's people there were rites there and possibly human sacrifice although I didn't develop this in the final version. The name Good Shoar is propitiatory, like calling the [https://web.archive.org/web/20040118121345/http://herkos.artsfac.csuohio.edu/homyth/myths/Erinyes.html Erinyes] the Eumenides. The Goodwin Sands rise and sink regularly and (I seem to remember reading) have sometimes brought up things long-hidden." {{By|RH}}

A20

2026-03-25T06:32:03Z

Eli Bishop: link update

[[File:A20.jpg|frame|thumb|320x213px|left|link=|A view down the A20 near Sellindge, 2002 {{By|EB}}]]
The '''A20''' connects [[Fork Stoan|Folkestone]] and [[Bernt Arse|Ashford]]. The "A" roads are national routes or what would be called state roads in the U.S., though the A20 is not one of the larger ones, having just two lanes. The route from Ashford to Folkestone is far from a straight line, as you can see on Riddley's map: the A20 meanders over hills and around farms—crossing and recrossing the straight 6-lane express monster of the M20.

One might ask why Riddley did not take the M20; there's no sign of the M roads on the map, and Riddley doesn't mention encountering any ruined overpasses. Either the M20 was built after 1980, or Hoban wished it out of existence for understandable aesthetic reasons. {{By|EB}}

[[File:A20b.jpg|frame|thumb|320x213px|right|link=|Approaching the outskirts of Folkestone {{By|EB}}]] (Probably a bit of both. The [https://web.archive.org/web/20250317141941/https://www.roads.org.uk/motorway/m20 CBRD Motorway Database] gives a timeline: the Ashford-Folkestone section was opened in 1981, but it would have been visibly under construction in 1980. {{By|RG}})

''({{Ixp|94|8}})''

Links

2026-03-25T06:28:33Z

Eli Bishop: /* Other */

=== On Riddley Walker and Russell Hoban ===
;[http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/1975.html 1975] - Russell Hoban (1992)
: An essay by Hoban on how he began the book. {{By|DA}}
;[http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/cowart1.html The Terror of History] - David Cowart (1989)
: An essay on the treatment of history and myth in ''RW''.
;[https://online.ucpress.edu/sfs/article-abstract/27/Part%203%20(82)/391/209180/Dialect-Grapholect-and-Story-Russell-Hoban-s?redirectedFrom=PDF Dialect, Grapholect, and Story: Russell Hoban's ''Riddley Walker'' as Science Fiction]
: A scholarly essay by R.D. Mullen, posthumously published in ''Science Fiction Studies'' #82 in 2000. This is nominally an argument about whether the novel is a good example of the science fiction genre, and whether Hoban's world-building decisions make sense—but Mullen also discusses the linguistic aspect very thoroughly, breaking down elements of spelling, syntax, etc. in detail. The page also includes responses from other ''Science Fiction Studies'' authors with some quibbles about Mullen's analysis. ''(access to article is limited, may require university account)''
;[https://aeusoes1.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-language-of-riddley-walker.html The Language of Riddley Walker] ([https://aeusoes1.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-language-of-riddley-walker.html part 1], [https://aeusoes1.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-language-of-riddley-walker-part-2.html part 2])
: A pair of blog posts by "AE" analyzing Hoban's choices of spelling, vocabulary, and punctuation in ''RW''. Part 1 is largely an aesthetic argument for why AE dislikes Hoban's choices and wishes the whole book had been written differently, but part 2 eventually takes a more objective approach and breaks down the differences from "Standard English" in linguistic terms ("back vowels", "reduction of posttonic o", etc.).
;[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44312324 "Hoap of a Tree" in ''Riddley Walker'']
: Essay by David Huisman, published in ''Christianity and Literature'' in 1994. Huisman discusses the role of religion and mythology in ''RW'', their relation to personal morality, parallels to how the early Christian church adapted traditions from the more distant past, and evolving interpretations of the [[A_165_18|Green Man]]. (He also unfortunately jumps to some unsupported conclusions about the meaning of certain [[A_28_12|days]] and [[A_125_15|years]], but these don't detract from the main points.)
;[http://www.spoonbill.org/hoban/riddley.html Riddley Walker Concordance]
: A very detailed database for finding words and phrases in several editions of the book.
;[http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/index.html The Head of Orpheus] and [http://www.russellhoban.org RussellHoban.org]
: Comprehensive Hoban reference sites.

=== Other ===
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20100719192044/http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/projects/71/29 Where London Stood] ''(archived)''
: A survey of fictional depictions of the ruin of civilization, 18th century to present, by archaeologist David Platt.

Sheela-na-gig

2026-03-25T06:26:40Z

Eli Bishop: /* See also */ dead link

[[File:Sheela.jpg|frame|right]]
An instantly recognizable type of small female stone figure characterized by a short rounded body, a wide-eyed expression, and a giant vulva held open with both hands. These are found all over England and Ireland; the name is thought to come from Gaelic. One might not expect to find them adorning Christian churches, but they do show up (especially in Norman-built churches) though many have been removed -- they are no longer as common as the less conspicuous Green Man.

It is unknown whether the sheela-na-gig represents a goddess or class of goddesses, or the general idea of fertility or sex or good luck (not as simple as one might expect, since many of them are made to look very old and slightly hostile), or something else entirely. If she were part of a pantheon or a zodiac, one might expect to find other recognizable characters in the same style but there are none. Enthusiastic neo-pagans have taken this as evidence that primitive Celts and Europeans worshiped a single mother goddess.

There is an obvious reference to the squat shape of sheela-na-gigs in Chapter 15 when Riddley refers to "[[A_159_28|dollys]]" and draws [[A_160_3|their outline]]. Riddley never mentions a connection between these fertility figures and the sexually voracious death-hag {{Ix|Aunty}}, but it is possible to imagine them devouring as well as nurturing. {{By|EB}}

(Note, however: "An Anglo-Saxonist archaeologist friend of mine has done a lot of research on the sheela-na-gigs and they ''aren't'' all 'dolly-shaped'; in fact there's one on the door of one of the [men's, oddly enough] lavatories at University College, University of Toronto." {{By|SLK}})

== See also ==
;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheela_Na_Gig Wikipedia: Sheela Na Gig]

Heads

2026-03-25T06:26:08Z

Eli Bishop: /* See also */

Riddley's people follow a timeless human tradition of displaying their enemies' severed {{Ix|heads}} on a stick, not only as a warning to others but as a source of mystical knowledge.

Perhaps the best-known talking head was Orpheus: after he was pulled apart, his head washed up on the island of Lesvos, where in some versions of the story it continued to sing and delivered prophecies. However, Orpheus is not a typical case in that his head was not removed for this specific purpose, but became an oracle for reasons of its own (in fact, Apollo had to tell it to stop).

More commonly, heads are preserved because someone is after information from the departed spirits. In Voudon and other African traditions, a spirit can be consulted either through a prepared skull or an artificial construct into which the spirit is placed. Closer to home for Riddley, the Celts identified the head with the soul and prized the heads of their own ancestors as well as those of their foes; possessing a head implied possessing the strength and wisdom of the deceased. The deathless head of [[Bran|Bran the Blessed]] not only protected his country from harm, but entertained dinner guests for eighty years.

In Christian legend, John the Baptist is sometimes said to have continued his prophetic career after his decapitation; the Knights Templar were accused of worshiping a head called Baphomet, which some said was actually the Baptist. Visitors to the [http://www.newyouth.com/archives/imagegallery/marx/karlmarxgravebw.html tomb of Karl Marx] at Highgate may feel a similar principle is at work.

Artificial speaking heads are a later development, and not nearly as popular; of course they are not as easy to get, but there may also be a natural suspicion of the idea of artificial intelligence. [[Roger Bacon]] and the medieval magician Albertus Magnus were accused of building intelligent heads. Only in modern science fiction do we see the idea of connecting heads to machines, such as the [[A_47_13|iron hat]] that {{Ix|Eusa}} unwisely puts on. {{By|EB}}

The best-known oracular head in modern literature belongs to the pig in William Golding's ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954). Golding's novel, like Hoban's, features children in a possibly post-apocalyptic setting; its descent into savage ritual begins with the children sharpening a pole. {{By|BF}}

Heads also play a major role in Hoban's other novels: {{Bibliocite|Pilgermann}} (the tax collector and several hundred Turks and Crusaders, decapitated); {{Bibliocite|Kleinzeit}} and {{Bibliocite|The Medusa Frequency}} (Orpheus, decapitated; Medusa and the Kraken as snaky heads); {{Bibliocite|Fremder}} (Fremder's father, his head accidentally teleported across the galaxy). {{By|EB}}

== See also ==
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20150523133820/http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20020930/severed_head.shtml The Severed Head in Fact and Fiction] ''(archived)''

Gunpowder

2026-03-25T06:25:52Z

Eli Bishop: /* See also */

Mixing {{Ix|Salt 4|sulfur}}, {{Ix|Saul & Peter|saltpeter}}, and {{Ix|charcoal}} makes a black explosive powder. This was likely known at least a thousand years ago, although projectile weapons were a late development; early explosives were used for fireworks. [[Roger Bacon]] is often credited with rediscovering gunpowder in Europe, or possibly borrowing it from Middle Eastern sources, in the 13th century; the German monk Berthold Schwartz experimented with it slightly later.

Once you know the ratio of ingredients, black powder is very easy (though [[A_207_29|dangerous]]) to produce. But the ingredients would not be easily available to everyone in a preindustrial society in Europe. Sulfur has to be mined (mostly in Italy); saltpeter can be mined, and can also be manufactured by composting, but the latter method was not generally known in the Middle Ages. So, for a while, it seemed that rulers had a chance of keeping a lid on the ultimate weapon. Nevertheless the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 (still commemorated in England on Guy Fawkes Day) managed to smuggle nearly two tons of powder for a failed attempt to blow up the government.

In modern times, gunpowder is still made using basically the same formula, but amateur demolitionists and terrorists are more likely to use ammonium nitrate-based explosives, such as the one used in the Oklahoma City bombing. Ammonium nitrate produces a more powerful explosion than saltpeter, and is widely available in fertilizers and thus nearly impossible to regulate. {{By|EB}}

== See also ==

;[https://web.archive.org/web/20120517110847/http://riv.co.nz/rnza/hist/gun/gunpdr.htm New Zealand Artillery Association: Gunpowder] ''(archived)''
: historical notes
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20030212073800/http://cator.hsc.edu/~kmd/caveman/projects/gunpowder/ Caveman to Chemist] ''(archived)''
: do it yourself

Eustace

2026-03-25T06:25:34Z

Eli Bishop: /* See also */

This legendary 2nd-century Christian martyr's story is told in [[Chapter 14]]. Also known as Eustatius or Eustachio, he reportedly began as a Roman soldier named Placidus, who converted to Christianity after seeing a vision of Christ between the antlers of a stag. He was then tested by the loss of his family in a series of tragic misadventures (including losing his sons to a {{Ix|wolf}} and a [[Chapter 1|lion]] while trying to cross a river), but they were restored to him and he achieved honor in the Roman army before being martyred for his faith. He is a patron saint of hunters[[#footnote|*]].

However, the entire story may be apocryphal, and Eustace is not recognized by the Anglican nor the Catholic Church. There are many unrelated saints of the same name: Eustace of Vilna, Eustathius Bishop of Antioch, Eustace of Luxeuil, etc.

The vision of the stag is commonly thought to be a borrowing from pre-Christian mythology. In Celtic myth, a white stag appears when the hero is called to a quest, or has entered a magical or forbidden realm. In the Welsh Mabinogion, the prince Pwyll accidentally trespasses on a hunt led by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arawn Arawn], lord of the underworld, who is hunting a white stag; Arawn's hunting hounds also pursue the souls of the damned.

Hungarian legend includes a mystical stag, son of a horned doe who carries the sun between her horns. In an origin myth of the Huns and Magyars, the ''Legend of the Hind'', a king goes on a hunt for this doe accompanied by his twin sons, who are separated from their father along the way.

* The stag-and-cross logo on Jägermeister liqueur (Jäger means hunter) is not actually a reference to Eustace, but to Saint Hubert, whose conversion story is identical and was probably borrowed from the earlier legend.

== Mural at Canterbury ==
[[File:Eustace-mural.jpg|center|frame|link=|photo by Eli Bishop, 2005]]
The Eustace painting in Canterbury Cathedral, by an unknown artist from about 1480 AD, is on a wall panel about nine feet high in the north choir—hard to see well from below, with its patchy colors in dim light, but still strikingly detailed.

[[File:Eustace-stag.jpg|frame|left|link=||photo by Eli Bishop, 2005]]
The story starts at the bottom, and ends at the top with the martyrdom in the brazen bull. At left is a detail from the beginning, showing Eustace's vision of a miniature Christ.

At the dead center of the painting is Eustace standing in water, as his sons are carried away on either side by a wolf and a lion—shown below in a somewhat clearer redrawn version of the painting by E.W. Tristram, which is on display on the facing wall.
 
Hoban writes in his afterword: "Eustace is all alone in the middle of the river, hoping for better times. Seeing him for the first time that day in 1974 I had a strong fellow-feeling." {{By|EE}}
[[File:Eustace-sons.jpg|frame|center|link=||photo by Eli Bishop, 2005]]

== See also ==
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040905/https://www.catholic-forum.com/SAINTS/golden298.htm Story from ''The Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints'' (1275)] ''(archived)''
:earliest known reference
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20120714071043/http://www.medart.pitt.edu/texts/saints/Jameson/AJ-SLA-Eustace.html Story from ''Sacred and Legendary Art'', 1911] ''(archived)''
: "there is nothing in this legendary romance to recommend it"
;[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09128a.htm Legends of the Saints]
: essay on the gray area between hagiography and myth
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20210306172251/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/490043 ''St. Eustachius'' by Anselm Kiefer] ''(archived)''
:done in 1974, the same year Hoban encountered the painting in Canterbury {{By|DO}}
;[https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=12862 St. Eustace's Well]
:this is right next to [[How]] Fents

Bran

2026-03-25T06:24:45Z

Eli Bishop:

Bran the Blessed (Bendigeid Vran) is a king and demigod in British legend. After his sister Branwen marries the king of Ireland, their mistrustful relatives cause war between the nations; just when peace is at hand, his half-brother throws Branwen's son Gwern into a bonfire where he is consumed. In the battle that follows, Bran loses most of his followers (they have been killed before and were always revived using his magic [[A_200_15|iron cauldron]], but the betrayer has destroyed the cauldron by casting his impure self into it). Sacrificing himself to redeem the kingdom, Bran persuades his men to cut off his {{Ix|heads|head}}, which doesn't die; they travel with it for many years and bury it in London, this charm bringing peace to the island.

Bran is identified with the {{Ix|alder}} tree; Gwern's name means "alder," and the topmost branch of an alder is called "the singing head of Bran." {{By|EB}}

== See also ==
;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bran_the_Blessed Wikipedia: Bran the Blessed]
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20120113212419/http://www.british-trees.com/treeguide/alder/Alder British Trees: Alder] ''(archived)''

Punch and Judy

2026-03-25T06:24:25Z

Eli Bishop: /* See also */ link update

Probably the most violent form of ''live'' entertainment enjoyed by children today, Punch and Judy puppet shows are a 300-year-old English tradition with roots in Italian ''commedia''. Mr. Punch is a hunchbacked and henpecked husband who, in the course of each show, tricks and kills all of the other characters, including his wife Judy, their baby, Jack Ketch the hangman and various other authority figures, the (now omitted) black servant Jim Crow, a dragon or crocodile, a ghost, and the Devil. Besides his hump, his big hooked nose (in ''commedia'' this is a sign of sexual gusto), and his striped club, Punch has a distinctively garbled voice made by talking through a "swazzle." After each of his crimes, he cries "That's the way to do it!"; when the Devil has been done away with, Punch exults to the audience: "The Devil is dead! Now everyone can do as he likes!"

The show is done by a single puppeteer concealed in a "{{Ix|fit up|fit-up}}" (self-contained stage), with an assistant who introduces the show, banters with Punch, and engages the audience to play along at certain points (e.g., to warn him—always too late—when Punch is about to do something bad). Some Punch shows also feature a trained dog. The workings of a fictional Punch show can be seen in the eponymous [[Related works#Mr. Punch|comic book]] by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean.

The Punch and Judy routines in ''Riddley Walker'' are partly based on Russell Hoban's observation of the famous "Professor" (Punch showman) Percy Press and his son Percy Press II. The senior Press died in 1980, the year ''RW'' was first published; in the afterword to the Expanded Edition and in the essay "[http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/1975.html 1975]," Hoban quotes him as saying, "Punch is [[A_131_3|so old he can't die]]. He's a law unto himself."

Within the framework of ''RW'', Punch also serves as a foil to several recurrent characters and themes. Where [[Eustace]] eternally tries and fails to save his family, Punch eternally destroys his. Punch, Judy ("Pooty") and the baby, like the trio in "[[A_2_7|Hart of the Wood]]," are a doomed "nuclear family" with a child who will never grow up. And, per Hoban (in his public discussion of the book in 1990), Punch is further identified with the {{Ix|numbers|number 3}} due to the three fingers that operate the puppet. {{By|EB}}

== See also ==
; [https://web.archive.org/web/20190319064832/http://www.punchandjudy.com/home.htm punchandjudy.com] ''(archived)''

Heads

2026-03-25T06:22:40Z

Eli Bishop: /* See also */ link update

Gunpowder

2026-03-25T06:21:50Z

Eli Bishop:

Mixing {{Ix|Salt 4|sulfur}}, {{Ix|Saul & Peter|saltpeter}}, and {{Ix|charcoal}} makes a black explosive powder. This was likely known at least a thousand years ago, although projectile weapons were a late development; early explosives were used for fireworks. [[Roger Bacon]] is often credited with rediscovering gunpowder in Europe, or possibly borrowing it from Middle Eastern sources, in the 13th century; the German monk Berthold Schwartz experimented with it slightly later.

Once you know the ratio of ingredients, black powder is very easy (though [[A_207_29|dangerous]]) to produce. But the ingredients would not be easily available to everyone in a preindustrial society in Europe. Sulfur has to be mined (mostly in Italy); saltpeter can be mined, and can also be manufactured by composting, but the latter method was not generally known in the Middle Ages. So, for a while, it seemed that rulers had a chance of keeping a lid on the ultimate weapon. Nevertheless the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 (still commemorated in England on Guy Fawkes Day) managed to smuggle nearly two tons of powder for a failed attempt to blow up the government.

In modern times, gunpowder is still made using basically the same formula, but amateur demolitionists and terrorists are more likely to use ammonium nitrate-based explosives, such as the one used in the Oklahoma City bombing. Ammonium nitrate produces a more powerful explosion than saltpeter, and is widely available in fertilizers and thus nearly impossible to regulate. {{By|EB}}

== See also ==

;[https://web.archive.org/web/20120517110847/http://riv.co.nz/rnza/hist/gun/gunpdr.htm New Zealand Artillery Association: Gunpowder]
: historical notes
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20030212073800/http://cator.hsc.edu/~kmd/caveman/projects/gunpowder/ Caveman to Chemist]
: do it yourself

Bran

2026-03-25T06:18:15Z

Eli Bishop: link update

Eustace

2026-03-25T06:16:36Z

Eli Bishop: link updates

This legendary 2nd-century Christian martyr's story is told in [[Chapter 14]]. Also known as Eustatius or Eustachio, he reportedly began as a Roman soldier named Placidus, who converted to Christianity after seeing a vision of Christ between the antlers of a stag. He was then tested by the loss of his family in a series of tragic misadventures (including losing his sons to a {{Ix|wolf}} and a [[Chapter 1|lion]] while trying to cross a river), but they were restored to him and he achieved honor in the Roman army before being martyred for his faith. He is a patron saint of hunters[[#footnote|*]].

However, the entire story may be apocryphal, and Eustace is not recognized by the Anglican nor the Catholic Church. There are many unrelated saints of the same name: Eustace of Vilna, Eustathius Bishop of Antioch, Eustace of Luxeuil, etc.

The vision of the stag is commonly thought to be a borrowing from pre-Christian mythology. In Celtic myth, a white stag appears when the hero is called to a quest, or has entered a magical or forbidden realm. In the Welsh Mabinogion, the prince Pwyll accidentally trespasses on a hunt led by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arawn Arawn], lord of the underworld, who is hunting a white stag; Arawn's hunting hounds also pursue the souls of the damned.

Hungarian legend includes a mystical stag, son of a horned doe who carries the sun between her horns. In an origin myth of the Huns and Magyars, the ''Legend of the Hind'', a king goes on a hunt for this doe accompanied by his twin sons, who are separated from their father along the way.

* The stag-and-cross logo on Jägermeister liqueur (Jäger means hunter) is not actually a reference to Eustace, but to Saint Hubert, whose conversion story is identical and was probably borrowed from the earlier legend.

== Mural at Canterbury ==
[[File:Eustace-mural.jpg|center|frame|link=|photo by Eli Bishop, 2005]]
The Eustace painting in Canterbury Cathedral, by an unknown artist from about 1480 AD, is on a wall panel about nine feet high in the north choir—hard to see well from below, with its patchy colors in dim light, but still strikingly detailed.

[[File:Eustace-stag.jpg|frame|left|link=||photo by Eli Bishop, 2005]]
The story starts at the bottom, and ends at the top with the martyrdom in the brazen bull. At left is a detail from the beginning, showing Eustace's vision of a miniature Christ.

At the dead center of the painting is Eustace standing in water, as his sons are carried away on either side by a wolf and a lion—shown below in a somewhat clearer redrawn version of the painting by E.W. Tristram, which is on display on the facing wall.
 
Hoban writes in his afterword: "Eustace is all alone in the middle of the river, hoping for better times. Seeing him for the first time that day in 1974 I had a strong fellow-feeling." {{By|EE}}
[[File:Eustace-sons.jpg|frame|center|link=||photo by Eli Bishop, 2005]]

== See also ==
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040905/https://www.catholic-forum.com/SAINTS/golden298.htm Story from ''The Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints'' (1275)]
:earliest known reference
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20120714071043/http://www.medart.pitt.edu/texts/saints/Jameson/AJ-SLA-Eustace.html Story from ''Sacred and Legendary Art'', 1911]
: "there is nothing in this legendary romance to recommend it"
;[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09128a.htm Legends of the Saints]
: essay on the gray area between hagiography and myth
;[https://web.archive.org/web/20210306172251/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/490043 ''St. Eustachius'' by Anselm Kiefer] :done in 1974, the same year Hoban encountered the painting in Canterbury {{By|DO}}
;[https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=12862 St. Eustace's Well]
:this is right next to [[How]] Fents

Index

2026-03-24T06:36:06Z

Eli Bishop:

This is a list of appearances of various words, phrases, characters and themes in ''Riddley Walker''. Page numbers are from the [[Editions|Expanded Edition]]. Some page numbers are links to the [[annotations]].

When the spelling of a word in the book is only slightly altered, this list uses the standard spelling instead. The "Riddleyspeak" spelling is shown for words and phrases that may be particularly hard to decipher or that don't have a single direct translation. These will generally have at least one linked annotation about their meanings, so you can use the index and the annotations together as a glossary.

== A ==

;{{Ixn|Abel}}, see Goodparley, Abel
;{{Ixn|Addom}}, or Littl Shyning Man, 40-41, 51, 53, 100, 146, 149, 152, 158, 166, 183, 188, 192
: in {{Ix|Eusa Story}}, [[Chapter 6|30-36]], 144
: in {{Ix|Eusa show}}, 49-50, 58, 206
: {{Ix|Goodparley, Abel|Goodparley}} as, 113, 130, 175
;{{Ixn|alder}}, {{Ixp|1|29}}, 4, 150, 170, 184, 186, 207
: aulder kincher, {{Ixp|4|18}}, 207
: see also [[Bran|notes on Bran]]
;{{Ixn|Ardship (of Cambry)}}, [[A_5_2_a|5]], 79-81, 143, 166, 173-178, 186, 198-200
: hereditary role, 80, 84, 122
: your own, 98-99, 158
: see also {{Ix|Lissener}}
----
;{{Ixn|arga warga}}, {{Ixp|16|11}}, 20, 56, 76, 92, 93, 111, 120, 135, 149
;{{Ixn|arms}}, {{Ixp|25|23}}, {{Ixp|31|16}}, {{Ixp|32|7}}, 130, 146, 174
;{{Ixn|arper sit}}, 69, {{Ixp|176|2}}, 179
;{{Ixn|arrows}}, 67-68, {{Ixp|105|4}}
;{{Ixn|Aunty}}, [[A_3_4_a|3]], {{Ixp|24|22}}, 68, {{Ixp|79|27}}, 90-93, 98
: see also [[Diana and Aunty|notes on Diana and Aunty]]
;{{Ixn|axel rating}}, {{Ixp|90|7}}, 96

== B ==

;{{Ixn|back way back}}, 17, 20, 46-47, 78, 91, 125
;{{Ixn|Bad Time}}, {{Ixp|2|17}}, 24, 33, 46, 50, 52, 81, 91, 121, 125, 196, 209, 211
;{{Ixn|bailey}}, {{Ixp|210|15}}
;{{Ixn|balls}}, {{Ixp|34|8}}, 48, 67, 98, 127, 172, 206, 213
;{{Ixn|belly}}, 42, 55, 180-181, 203
;{{Ixn|Belnot}}, see {{Ix|Phist, Belnot}}
;{{Ixn|Bessup, Reckman}}, {{Ixp|12|2}}-13, 15, 22
;{{Ixn|Big Man}}, {{Ixp|9|14}}, 30, 56, 60, 93, 190, 209, 214, 219
;{{Ixn|Big Old Father}}, {{Ixp|158|33}}
;{{Ixn|Big 2}}, {{Ixp|28|10}}, 38, 55
----
;{{Ixn|birth}}, 7, 19, 79, 101, 131, 158, 159
;{{Ixn|blips}}, blipful, {{Ixp|13|21}}, 21, 23, 31, 40-41, 43, 80, 89, 96, 120, 124, 128, 180, 202
;{{Ixn|Blobs yer nunkel}}, {{Ixp|89|4}}
;{{Ixn|boats}}, 33, 58, 103-105, 183, 203
: in the air, 19, 23, 30, 41, 48, 100, {{Ixp|125|15}}, 199
;{{Ixn|boy}}, 33, 103, 130, 141, 150, 153, 185
: sexual role, {{Ixp|142|14}}, {{Ixp|158|33}}
;{{Ixn|Brooder}}, see {{Ix|Walker, Brooder}}
;{{Ixn|burning}}, 2, 4, [[Chapter 4|22]], 69, 91, 130, 148, 161
;{{Ixn|bytin}}, bit, {{Ixp|31|5}}, 101

== C ==

;{{Ixn|cannibalism}}, {{Ixp|3|28}}, 32-33, 136
;{{Ixn|capitalized words}}, see:
: {{Ix|Bad Time}}
: {{Ix|Big Old Father}}
: {{Ix|Inner G}}
: {{Ix|Luck}}
: {{Ix|Master Chaynjis}}
: {{Ix|No.}}
: {{Ix|1 Big 1}}
: {{Ix|1 Littl 1}}
: {{Ix|Plomercy}}
: {{Ix|Power}}
: {{Ix|Trubba}}
;{{Ixn|Chalker}}, see {{Ix|Marchman, Chalker}}
;{{Ixn|charcoal}}, {{Ixp|2|3}}, 4, 186, {{Ixp|189|17}}
: see also [[charcoal|notes on charcoal]]
;{{Ixn|charcoal burners}}, {{Ixp|1|29}}, 151, 153, 184-191, 196, 200
;{{Ixn|chemistery and fizzics}}, 127-129, 144-145, 155, 201, 205
;{{Ixn|chopping}}, {{Ixp|5|13}}, {{Ixp|79|27}}, 178
----
;{{Ixn|clever}}, cleverness, 3-4, 13, 18, 25, 30, 80-81, 91, 118, 188, 211
: see also {{Ix|Mr Clevver}}
;{{Ixn|cloth}}, 4, 44, 56, 61-62, 167, 173, 187, 204
;{{Ixn|cock}}, {{Ixp|34|8}}, 68, 159, 192, 206, 213
;{{Ixn|comping station}}, {{Ixp|11|33}}, 15
;{{Ixn|connexion}}, {{Ixp|12|2}}, 22, 24, 38, 42-43, 55-56, 62, 63, 108, 128, 140, 166, 204
;{{Ixn|connexion man}}, {{Ixp|12|2}}, 14, 22, 29, 38, 41-42, 53, 204, 214
;{{Ixn|cow shit}}, 14, 38, 60, 64, 74, 94, 98
;{{Ixn|crooked}}, crookedness, 19, {{Ixp|72|31}}, {{Ixp|80|26}}-81, 174, 191, {{Ixp|215|17}}, 209, 212, 219-220
;{{Ixn|crow}}, 10, 27, 125, 154-155, 207
;{{Ixn|Crunchman}}, Fister, 9, 63-66, 68, 71, 89, 114
;{{Ixn|cunt}}, 17, 145, 159

== D ==

;{{Ixn|datter}}, 48, 156, {{Ixp|202|32}}, 207, 210, 219
;{{Ixn|deacon terminations}}, {{Ixp|141|22}}
;{{Ixn|dead towns}}, {{Ixp|14|23}}, 17, 96, 121, 157, 159
: see also [[places]]
;{{Ixn|Deaper}}, see {{Ix|Flinter, Deaper}}
----
;{{Ixn|deaths}}
: wild boar, [[Chapter 1|1]]
: child, {{Ixp|3|28}}
: {{Ix|Walker, Brooder|Brooder Walker}}, [[Chapter 2|10]], 15
: stillborn baby, 12
: spotted dog, 13
: Riddley's mother, 15
: Follery Digman, 21
: {{Ix|Addom}}, 32
: people of [[Littl Salting]], 56
: {{Ix|Potter|Durster Potter}}, 67
: Keaper, 77
: {{Ix|Eusa}}, {{Ixp|81|36}}, 121
: seagull, 83
: bloke who got on top of {{Ix|Aunty}}, 93
: Riddley's old friends, 97
: man in boat, 104
: Goodparley's family, 131
: {{Ix|Pooty}}, baby, {{Ix|Jack Ketch}}, {{Ix|Mr On the Levvil}}, 136-138
: {{Ix|Phist, Belnot|Phist}}, 147
: {{Ix|Granser}} and {{Ix|Goodparley, Abel|Goodparley}}, 194
: {{Ix|Lissener}} and {{Ix|Eusa folk}}, 200
;{{Ixn|Drop John}}, {{Ixp|137|30}}, 139
;{{Ixn|Durster}}, see {{Ix|Potter, Durster}}
;{{Ixn|dyers}}, {{Ixp|4|27}}, 153, 188-190, 200

== E ==

;{{Ixn|E qwations}}, {{Ixp|48|20}}, 143
;{{Ixn|Elswint, Lorna}}, {{Ixp|5|31}}-7, 16-{{Ixp|17|14}}, 20-21, 22-23, 62-63, 66, 69, 120
;{{Ixn|Empy, Straiter}}, {{Ixp|9|14}}, 12-13, 54-55, 60, 65
;{{Ixn|Erny}}, see {{Ix|Orfing, Erny}}
;{{Ixn|Eusa}}, 20, [[Chapter 6|30-36]], 44-53, 81-83, 179-181, 208, 211-214
;{{Ixn|Eusa folk}}, {{Ixp|80|26}}, 96, 107, 157, 160, 174, 177-178, 183, 192-193, 199-200
;{{Ixn|Eusa show}}, 37, 43, 82, 208, 213
;{{Ixn|Eusa Story}}, see {{Ix|stories}}
;{{Ixn|Eustace}}, 123-124, 127
: see also [[Eustace|notes on St. Eustace]]
----
;{{Ixn|eye holes}}, 6, 14
;{{Ixn|eyes}}
: boar's, 4
: rolling, 14, 113
: dog's, 18, 67, 69, 72, 83, 170, 196
: goat's, 18, 86
: {{Ix|Phist, Belnot|Phist}}'s, {{Ixp|26|25}}
: {{Ix|Goodparley, Abel|Goodparley}}'s, {{Ixp|29|1}}, 41, 84, 100, 117, 169, 178
: {{Ix|Eusa}}'s, 34
: {{Ix|Crunchman, Fister|Fister}}'s, {{Ixp|64|3}}
: {{Ix|Lissener}}'s, 76, {{Ixp|175|30}}
: seagull's, {{Ixp|83|17}}
: all of us, 94
: {{Ix|Greanvine}}'s, 165
: of {{Ix|Eusa folk}}, 174
: {{Ix|Orfing, Erny|Orfing}}'s, 177
: loss of, {{Ix|30|23}} (note), 178

== F ==
;{{Ixn|farring seakert tryer}}, {{Ixp|201|8}}
;{{Ixn|fents}}, 14, {{Ixp|15|8}}, 18, 55, 131, 141, {{Ixp|200|32}}
;{{Ixn|fidelity}}, {{Ixp|124|32}}
;{{Ixn|fire}}, flames, 2-4, 17, 22, 23, 30, 44, {{Ixp|48|3}}-49, 51, 54-55, 61, 70, 76, 136
;{{Ixn|1st knowing}}, 18, 22, 25, 69
;{{Ixn|fissional seakerts}}, {{Ixp|193|28}}, 201
;{{Ixn|Fister}}, see {{Ix|Crunchman, Fister}}
;{{Ixn|fit up}}, {{Ixp|28|35}}, 37-38, 44, 109, 117, 132, 168, 181, 195, 204, 206
----
;{{Ixn|fizzics}}, see {{Ix|chemistery and fizzics}}
;{{Ixn|Flinter, Deaper}}, 213-214, 219
;{{Ixn|Flinter, Rightway}}, 208-215, 219
;{{Ixn|foller}} (follow), 31, 65, 99, 104, {{Ixp|137|30}}, 139, 151
;{{Ixn|Folleree and Folleroo}}, 16, 21, {{Ixp|30|23}}-32, 34, 143, 149, 206
;{{Ixn|Fools Circel 9wys}}, see {{Ix|songs}}
;{{Ixn|foraging}}, 8, 18, {{Ix|39|1}}, 55, 65, 70, 102
;{{Ixn|forms}}, {{Ixp|4|27}}, {{Ixp|18|33}}, 39, 70, 131, 141, 154, 203

== G ==
;{{Ixn|gether}} (gather, together), 84, 94, 107, 114, 177, 199
;{{Ixn|girzel}} (drizzle), 1, 96, 113, 185
;{{Ixn|Goodparley, Abel}}, {{Ixp|28|10}}, 37-42, 54-55, {{Ixp|66|29}}, 78-79, 84, 117-133, 140-148, 153, 169-171, 174-194, 198, 201, 207, 209
: see also {{Ix|Pry Mincer}}
----
;{{Ixn|Granser}}, {{Ixp|131|3}}-132, 140-142, 158, 182-194
;{{Ixn|Greanvine}}, {{Ixp|165|18}}, {{Ixp|167|36}}, 172, 176, 192, 197-198
;{{Ixn|grooling and smarling}}, 86, 131, 154, 157
;{{Ixn|gygers}}, {{Ixp|31|1}}

== H ==
;{{Ixn|hart}} (hart/heart/hearth)
: of the wood, for {{Ix|charcoal}}, {{Ixp|1|29}}, 146, 150, 153, 166, 187
: of the Wood, {{Ixp|2|7}}, 95, 164
: of the Wud (in [[Eusa Story]]), 2, [[Eusa Story|31]], 53, 127, 157, 166, 182
: of child, 3, 161, 184, 189
: of the {{Ix|stone}}, 30, 101, 157, 164
: {{Ix|Eusa}}'s, 51
: yours, {{Ixp|94|34}}
: {{Ix|Phist, Belnot|Phist}}'s, 149
: {{Ix|Orfing, Erny|Orfing}}'s, 198
;{{Ixn|hash}}, {{Ixp|38|14}}, 104, 109, 213
----
;{{Ixn|heads}}
: on {{Ix|pole|poles}}, {{Ixp|4|31}}, 16, 79, 144, 194, 209-210
: {{Ix|Eusa}}'s, 27, {{Ixp|47|13}}-49, 47-49, 61-62, 64, 82, 95, {{Ixp|122|5}}, 143, 166
: {{Ix|Addom}}'s, {{Ixp|34|8}}
: looking a head, {{Ixp|38|32}}
: main part, {{Ixp|45|19}}
: {{Ix|Potter, Durster|Durster}}'s, 68
: {{Ix|Inland}}, {{Ixp|121|33}}, 203
: {{Ix|Granser}}'s, 194, 207, 209
: of figures, 204
: see also [[heads|notes on heads]]
;{{Ixn|healf}}, {{Ixp|141|22}}, 185
;{{Ixn|helping the qwirys}}, 78-{{Ixp|79|26}}, 83, 126, 200-201
;{{Ixn|hevvy}} (heavy), 5, 9, 47-48, 53
: hevvyness, 11, 61, 145, 182
: hevvys (men), {{Ixp|9|12}}, 14, 28, 33, 37, 39, 55, 64-65, 77-78, 82, 102, 117, 142, 146-147, 174, 177, 181, 200-202, 211
;{{Ixn|hump}}, 10, 65, {{Ixp|72|31}}, 98, 129, 151, 182, 185, 215

== I ==
;{{Ixn|idea}}
: of us, 7, 117
: of {{Ix|Addom}}, 34, 40
: of {{Ix|Eusa}}, 35-36, 144
: of this writing, 117
: of music, 167
: of {{Ix|alder|aulder kincher}}, 207
----
;{{Ixn|inner}}
: fearents, 46
: G, {{Ixp|90|7}}
: acting, {{Ixp|107|29}}
;{{Ixn|input}}, 47-48, 92
;{{Ixn|insterment}}, 88
;{{Ixn|iron}}, {{Ixp|2|3}}, 4, 8, 11-{{Ixp|12|2}}, 17, 19, {{Ixp|24|22}}, 38, {{Ixp|47|13}}, 56, 68, {{Ixp|81|36}}, 95, 117, {{Ixp|200|15}}

== J ==
;{{Ixn|judgd men}}, {{Ixp|8|16}}, {{Ixp|210|15}}, 212
----
;{{Ixn|juicy}}, 82, 91-92, 142, 159, 169

== K ==
;{{Ixn|Ketch, Jack}}, {{Ixp|136|30}}
-----
;{{Ixn|kids}}, 5, 16, 37, 44, 55, 63, 72, 75, 85, 97, 103, 121, 219

== L ==
;{{Ixn|laughing}}, 10, 11, 59, 85-86, 92, 113, 141, 152, 167
;{{Ixn|Lissener}}, {{Ixp|85|32}}-86, 88-90, 94-112, 150, 156-157, 169
: see also {{Ix|Ardship of Cambry}}
;{{Ixn|listening}}, 17, 86-87, 100-101, 104, 106, 109, 174, 176-178, 193, 194
----
;{{Ixn|Littl Shyning Man}}, see {{Ix|Addom}}
;{{Ixn|Loakel Tharty}}, {{Ixp|136|30}}
;{{Ixn|Lorna}}, see {{Ix|Elswint, Lorna}}
;{{Ixn|Luck}}, {{Ixp|5|31}}, 13, 33, 76, 91, 110, 210, 215
: see also {{Ix|syn|Bad Luck go a way syn}}

== M ==
;{{Ixn|machines}}, 8, 19, 30, 99-100, 200
;{{Ixn|many cools}}, {{Ixp|31|2}}, {{Ixp|95|13}}, 107, 126, 163, 199
;{{Ixn|Marchman, Chalker}}, 9, 11, 26, 73
;{{Ixn|Master Chaynjis}}, 19, 22, [[Eusa Story|32]], 35-36, 83-84, 161, 191
;{{Ixn|meat}}, {{Ixp|3|28}}, 5, 38, 153-154, 196, 209, 213
;{{Ixn|memberment}}, 6, 19, 39, 50, 53, {{Ixp|69|4}}, 80-81, 84, 90, 128, 146, 151, 181, 190, 204
;{{Ixn|mending}}, see {{Ix|spare the mending}}
----
;{{Ixn|Mincery}}, {{Ixp|27|13}}, 28, 41, 51, 78, 114, 125-126, 132, 153, {{Ixp|176|2}}, 179, 191, 202
;{{Ixn|moon}}, 6, 9, 17, 22, 101, 144, 160, 196-197
: full, 4, 13-14, 16, 65, 67, 79, 101, 141, 189
;{{Ixn|Moon Sow}}, 5, 205
;{{Ixn|mort}}, {{Ixp|187|21}}
;{{Ixn|Mr Clevver}}, 30, 20, 46-49, 57-59, 113-114, 137, 206-207
: see also {{Ix|Mr Clevvers Roaling Place}}
;{{Ixn|Mr On the Levvil}}, {{Ixp|137|30}}-{{Ixp|138|35}}

== N ==
;{{Ixn|name}}, naming, {{Ixp|1|1}}, {{Ixp|8|12}}, 47, 49, 127, 141
;{{Ixn|nertial}}, {{Ixp|199|34}}
;{{Ixn|night}}, 4, 13, 17, 18-19, 33, 54, 85, 88, 104, 144-145, 160, 198
;{{Ixn|nindicater}} (indicator), 13, 25, 115, 215
;{{Ixn|9wys}}, [[Fools Circel 9wys|5]], 79-80, 89, 121, 177, 186
----
;{{Ixn|No.}} (number)
: '''''1''''', see {{Ix|1 Big 1}}
: '''''1st''''', see {{Ix|1st knowing}}
: '''''2''''', {{Ixp|28|10}}, {{Ixp|30|23}}, {{Ixp|32|11}}, 141
: '''''3''''', 13, {{Ixp|43|3}}, {{Ixp|189|17}}, {{Ix|s-Punch|notes on Punch}}
: '''''9''''', see {{Ix|9wys}}, {{Ix|30:23|30 (note)}}
: '''''12''''', {{Ixp|1|1}}, {{Ixp|8|16}}, {{Ix|n-eusa-story|31}}, 79, 84, 122, 141
: '''''33''''', 15, {{Ix|n-eusa-story|36}}
: of the rainbow, {{Ixp|19|13}}, {{Ixp|48|3}}-49
: of the sun and {{Ix|moon}}, 19
: of the {{Ix|Master Chaynjis}}, 27, 32, 36, 83
: of the {{Ix|1 Big 1}}, 30-32, 83, 141, 143
: all or nothing, {{Ixp|32|11}}
: of the crucified Saviour, 127-128
: of the {{Ix|1 Littl 1}}, 200
;{{Ixn|number creaper}}, 17, {{Ixp|75|6}}, 157

== O ==
;{{Ixn|oansome}} (lonesome), 6, 48, 58-59, 67, 94, 98, 107, 111, 142, 194, 203
;{{Ixn|offering}}, 1, 12, 23, {{Ixp|28|10}} (note)
;{{Ixn|on or off}}, {{Ixp|55|26}}
;{{Ixn|1 Big 1}}, {{Ixp|19|27}}, 20, 30-{{Ixp|33|4}}, 81, 83-84, 141, 143, 152, 155, 161, 166, 188, 206, 209
;{{Ixn|1 Littl 1}}, 188-189, 191, 199, 201, 206, 209-210
----
;{{Ixn|Orfing, Erny}}, {{Ixp|28|10}}-{{Ixp|29|5}}, 37-42, 44-53, 54-55, 57, 118, 169, 174-181, 183, 192, 197-203, 209-211, 214-216
: see also {{Ix|Wes Mincer}}
;{{Ixn|Outland}}, {{Ixp|56|26}}, 131
: see also {{Ix|Inland}}
;{{Ixn|owl}}, {{Ix|n-owl|85}}, 109, {{Ixp|175|30}}

== P ==
;{{Ixn|partickler tracks}} (particle/particular), {{Ixp|30|18}}
;{{Ixn|party cools}} (particles), 95, 107, 126, 163, 199
;{{Ixn|Phist, Belnot}}, 26-{{Ixp|27|13}}, 73, 110-111, 114, 117-120, 146-148, 166, 183
;{{Ixn|picture}}
: on the wind, 19, 30, 100, 199
: of a legend, 124-125
: of yourself, 164
: of {{Ix|Goodparley}}, 169-170
: of {{Ix|Pooty}}, 216
;{{Ixn|pigeons}}, 28, 145
;{{Ixn|pigs}}
: wild boar, 1
: Big Boar and {{Ix|Moon Sow}}, 5
: eating people, 33
: hamlets, 126-127
: {{Ix|Pooty}} and baby, 134-135, 205
;{{Ixn|pig shit}}, {{Ixp|115|37}}, 146, 150, 166, 189-190
;{{Ixn|pirntowt}} (printout), 89, 171, 202, 210
;{{Ixn|Plomercy}}, {{Ixp|13|14}}, 66, 179
;{{Ixn|poasyum}}, {{Ixp|107|18}}, 199
;{{Ixn|pole}}, 1, {{Ixp|4|31}}, [[Fools Circel 9wys|5]], 60, 68, 194, 209-210
;{{Ixn|poison}}, 32-33, 125
----
;{{Ixn|political/legal terms}}, see:
: {{Ix|bailey}}
: {{Ix|comping station}}
: {{Ix|farring seakert tryer}}
: {{Ix|fissional seakerts}}
: {{Ix|judgd men}}
: {{Ix|helping the qwirys}}
: {{Ix|Loakel Tharty}}
: national {{Ix|healf|healfing}}
: {{Ix|Pry Mincer}}
: {{Ix|regenneril guvner men}}
: {{Ix|revver newit}}
: {{Ix|sess men}}
: {{Ix|shadder|shadder mincer}}
: {{Ix|stablisht men}}
: {{Ix|Wes Mincer}}
;{{Ixn|pong}}, 56, 74, {{Ixp|75|2}}, 77, 96, 99, 109, 113, {{Ixp|115|37}}, 160, 216
;{{Ixn|Pooty}}, 133-139, 198, 205, 216-218
;{{Ixn|Potter, Durster}}, 54, 65-69, 90
;{{Ixn|Power}}, {{Ixp|19|13}}, 22, {{Ixp|78|9}}, {{Ixp|80|26}}, 84, 90, 99-101, 105, 130, 143, 152, 155-{{Ixp|158|33}}, 161-163, 166-[[Chapter 15|167]], 180, 183, 192, 197, 199
;{{Ixn|Power Leat}}, {{Ixp|78|9}}, 80, 110
;{{Ixn|Power Ring}}, {{Ixp|19|27}}, 20, {{Ixp|33|4}}, {{Ixp|80|26}}, 155-156, 158, 162, 166, 197
;{{Ixn|progam}} (program), 47-48, 74, 85, 95, 107, 111, 117, 130, 150, 166, 178, 182, {{Ixp|211|22}}
;{{Ixn|Punch}}, {{Ixp|131|3}}-140, 168, 172, 198, 205, 212, 214-220
: see also [[Punch and Judy|notes on Punch and Judy]]
;{{Ixn|Puter Leat}}, {{Ixp|78|9}}, 80, 95, 199
;{{Ixn|Pry Mincer}}, {{Ixp|28|10}}, 54, {{Ixp|56|33}}, {{Ixp|66|29}}, 126, 137, 150, 152, 178-180, 183-184, 200, 202, 208

== Q ==
;{{Ixn|qwanter}}, {{Ixp|48|3}}-49
;{{Ixn|qwations}}, see {{Ix|E qwations}}
----
;{{Ixn|qwirys}}, see {{Ix|helping the qwirys}}

== R ==
;{{Ixn|rain}}, 1, 4, 37, 54-56, 61, 71-72, 77, 85, 88, 94, 99, 113, 173, 184
;{{Ixn|Reckman}}, see {{Ix|Bessup, Reckman}}
;{{Ixn|red cord}}, {{Ixp|67|31}}, 78
;{{Ixn|reddy}}, {{Ixp|2|3}}, 8, 47
;{{Ixn|regenneril guvner men}}, {{Ixp|202|30}}, 213, 219
;{{Ixn|reqwyrt}} (required), {{Ixp|1|6}}, 36, 44, 214
;{{Ixn|revver newit}}, {{Ixp|28|12}}
----
;{{Ixn|Ring Ditch}}, {{Ixp|19|27}}, {{Ixp|155|16}}
;{{Ixn|Rightway}}, see {{Ix|Flinter, Rightway}}
;{{Ixn|river}}, 1, 34, 123-124, 143-144, 177, 182, 191, 194
;{{Ixn|rizlas}}, {{Ixp|38|14}}, 104, 213
;{{Ixn|road}}, 10, 28, 44, 50, 53, 69, 94, 105, 141, 154, 173, 182, 214, 219
: curse roads, {{Ixp|41|6}}
;{{Ixn|rumpa}}, {{Ixp|37|21}}-38, 67

== S ==
;{{Ixn|Salt 4}}, 84, {{Ixp|119|6}}, 127, 143
;{{Ixn|salting}}, 56-60, 128
;{{Ixn|sarvering gallack seas}}, {{Ixp|22|12}}, 48, 95, 199
;{{Ixn|Saul & Peter}}, {{Ixp|187|21}}, 189, 193
;{{Ixn|savor}}, 60, 128
;{{Ixn|scanful}}, 46, 61
;{{Ixn|scar}}, 29, 37-38, 42, 63, 180, 188
;{{Ixn|senter}} (center), 77, 78, 84, {{Ixp|89|14}}, 97, 98, 106, 145, [[Chapter 15|Ch. 15 (note)]], {{Ixp|159|6}}, 196-197
;{{Ixn|sess men}}, {{Ixp|28|12}}
;{{Ixn|shadder}} (shadow), 7, 56, 99, 135, 160, 173-175, 180
: white shadows, 16, {{Ixp|76|10}}, 98, {{Ixp|159|6}}, 127, 168, 212
: Shadder Mincer, {{Ixp|176|2}}, 180, 201, 208
;{{Ixn|shapes}}
: of {{Ix|night}}, 17
: of {{Ix|EUSA|EUSA}}S HEAD IS DREAMING US, 61-62
;{{Ixn|sharna pax}}, [[Fools Circel 9wys|5]], 79, 177
;{{Ixn|shining}}, 32, 100, 127, 129, 159-160, 177, 197
: see also {{Ix|Addom}}
;{{Ixn|Shoaring, Coxin}}, 69, 71
;{{Ixn|Shorsday}}, {{Ixp|28|12}}
;{{Ixn|sickness}}, 15, 19
;{{Ixn|silence}}, 23, 54, 56, 83, {{Ixp|85|35}}-86, 97, 100, 113, 170, 181, 184, 196, 212, 215
;{{Ixn|smoke}}, 1, 33, 109, 130-131, 150, 153, 160, 194
;{{Ixn|smoking}}
: cannabis, {{Ixp|5|18}}, 38, 193
----
;{{Ixn|songs}}
: "Seed of the littl", 4
: Fools Circel 9wys, [[Fools Circel 9wys|5]], 79-80, 89, 121, 177, 186
: "When the {{Ix|Moon Sow}}", 5
: "Gone ter morrer here to day", 9
: "London Town is drownt this day", {{Ixp|9|29}}
: "Ful of the {{Ix|Moon}} Ful of the Moon", 16
: "Gennl men wil do it front to back", 17
: "Sarvering Gallack Seas", {{Ixp|22|12}}
: "I am the man", 57
: "Riddley Walker wernt no talker", 63
: "1 to live and 1 to dy 2 boys gone", 108
: "{{Ix|Drop John}} the Foller Man", 139
: "When the yeller boy fynds the {{Ix|pig shit}}", 150
: "When the other brother come", 152
: "Wewl make such a noys", 154, 193
: "Whatwl we take", 178
: "{{Ix|Mort}} your clof with {{Ix|Saul & Peter|Saul & Peter}}", 186
: "There wer a littl babby", 217
: "Riddley Walkers ben to show", 219
;{{Ixn|spare the mending}}, {{Ixp|119|13}}, 129, 143
;{{Ixn|spelling}}, {{Ixp|29|9}}, 126, 182, 205
;{{Ixn|stablisht men}}, {{Ixp|46|19}}
;{{Ixn|starving}}, 2, 19
;{{Ixn|stone}}, 6, 7, 17, 32, {{Ixp|35|27}}, 77, 157, 172
: {{Ix|hart|heart}} of, 30, 101
: dancing in, {{Ixp|30|18}}
: door of, 30
: stoned (with {{Ix|hash}}), 39
: bag of stones, 104, 118, 147, 176, 192
: stoned (with stones), 121-122
: trees, {{Ixp|161|15}}
: {{Ix|stories|story}} about, {{Ix|n-stoan|163}}-164
: faces, 210
: see also [[Fork Stoan]]
;{{Ixn|stories}}, {{Ixp|17|14}}, 93-94
: "{{Ix|Hart}} of the Wood", {{Ixp|2|7}}
: "Why the Dog Wont Show Its {{Ix|Eyes}}", {{Ixp|17|17}}
: "Eusa Story", 2, 20, 21, 29, [[Eusa Story|30-36]], 51, 122, 197
: "The {{Ix|Lissener}} and the Other Voyce {{Ix|Owl}} of the World", {{Ixp|85|32}}
: "The Bloak As Got On Top of {{Ix|Aunty}}", 90
: "Stoan", {{Ixp|163|11}}
;{{Ixn|Straiter}}, see {{Ix|Empy, Straiter}}
;{{Ixn|sturgling}} (struggling), 8, 95
;{{Ixn|swimming}}, 34, {{Ixp|122|5}}
;{{Ixn|syn}} (sign), {{Ixp|13|21}}, 69, 124
: thumbs up, 26
: of "dansing on {{Ix|partickler tracks}}", 30
: Bad {{Ix|Luck}} go a way, {{Ixp|68|34}}, 76, 141, 155
: peeing on a tree, 132, 151

== T ==
;{{Ixn|technological terms}}, see:
: {{Ix|axel rating}}
: {{Ix|blips}}
: {{Ix|bytin}}
: {{Ix|chemistery and fizzics}}
: {{Ix|datter}}
: {{Ix|E qwations}}
: {{Ix|fissional seakerts}}
: {{Ix|gygers}}
: {{Ix|inner|inner acting}}
: {{Ix|inner|inner fearents}}
: {{Ix|inner|Inner G}}
: {{Ix|input}}
: {{Ix|insterment}}
: {{Ix|on or off}}
: {{Ix|partickler tracks}}
: {{Ix|pirntowt}}
: {{Ix|progam}}
: {{Ix|Salt 4}}
: {{Ix|spare the mending}}
: {{Ix|total and done}}
: {{Ix|tryl narrer}}
----
;{{Ixn|tel}} (tell)
: of boar's head, [[Fools Circel 9wys|5]]
: for Riddley, 7
: at {{Ix|Brooder}}'s {{Ix|burning}}, 23
: command to Addom, 32
: at {{Ix|Durster}}'s burning, 69
: of {{Ix|Eusa}}'s {{Ix|head}}, 82
: {{Ix|Lissener}}'s, 98
: of {{Ix|Granser}}'s head, 194-195
: of Granser and {{Ix|Goodparley}}, 211
;{{Ixn|tel woman}}, 4, 13, 20
;{{Ixn|terpitation}}, {{Ixp|41|6}}
;{{Ixn|thine}}, {{Ixp|22|24}}, 69
;{{Ixn|total and done}}, [[A_3_4_b|3]]
;{{Ixn|tree}}, {{Ixp|1|29}}-2, {{Ixp|30|23}} (note), 66, 131-132, 172
: world, {{Ixp|85|33}}-86
: hang, 136-137
: {{Ix|stone}}, {{Ixp|161|15}}
: hope of, 169-171, 175, 197, [[Job]]
: see also {{Ix|alder}}
;{{Ixn|Trubba}} (trouble), 91, 119, 123, 130, 146, 153
: not, 37, 64, 66, 71, 81, 83, 115, 129, 132, 198, 208-209
;{{Ixn|tryl narrer}}, {{Ixp|119|13}}, 129, 143

== V ==
;{{Ixn|vack your wayt}}, [[Fools Circel 9wys|5]], 53, 105, 147, 200

== W ==
;{{Ixn|waking}}, 6, 34, 39, 63, {{Ixp|94|34}}, 147
;{{Ixn|Walker, Brooder}}, 11, 15, 22, 55, 127-128
;{{Ixn|wayt}}, see {{Ix|vack your wayt}}
----
;{{Ixn|Wes Mincer}}, {{Ixp|28|10}}, 54, 200
;{{Ixn|wolf}}, {{Ixp|16|11}} (note), {{Ix|24|22}} (note), [[Eustace|notes on Eustace]]
;{{Ixn|woom}} (womb), 7, 145, 159-161, {{Ixp|168|16}}, 197
;{{Ixn|wotcher}}, {{Ixp|37|27}}, 38, 60, 213

== Z ==
;{{Ixn|zanting}} (dancing), zantigen, 16, {{Ixp|37|21}}-38, 112, 133, 151, 155, 179, 189, 215

A 18 33

2026-03-24T03:37:07Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|18|33}} "they wernt moving on the lan no mor they startit in to form it"
Here is an explicit parallel between Riddley's time and our own distant past: the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural one. Riddley himself lives in a {{Ix|fents}} (fence), a temporary settlement of hunters which cooperates with the nearby {{Ix|forms|form}} (farm), but we will see signs that the farmers are gaining the upper hand, with encouragement from the powers that be. So it isn't surprising that Riddley regards farming as a corrupting influence. But the story makes a more specific point: technology and a technocratic mode of thought are part of a desire for security which can become desperate.

[[Category:Chapter 3]]

A 79 26

2026-03-20T23:43:27Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|79|26}} "1st the easy askings then its {{Ix|helping the qwirys}}"
Torture. In the UK, "helping the police with their inquiries" is the standard euphemism for describing a suspect who has been arrested and is being interrogated, whether or not this help is being given willingly. In Inland, police brutality is taken for granted.

Inquiry, or the search for information, is generally considered bad luck in this book; the sound of the word (if "qwiry" follows the British pronunciation of "inquiry" then it rhymes with "wiry", not "weary") also recalls the theme of what is {{Ix|reqwyrt|required}}.

[[Category:Chapter 11]]

A 79 26

2026-03-20T23:42:48Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|79|26}} "1st the easy askings then its {{Ix|helping the qwirys}}"
Torture. In the UK, "helping the police with their inquiries" is the standard euphemism for describing a suspect who has been arrested and is being interrogated, whether or not this help is being given willingly. In Inland, police brutality is taken for granted.

Inquiry, or the search for information, is generally considered bad luck in this book; the sound of the word (in the UK, "inquiry" is always pronounced to rhyme with "wiry", not "weary") also recalls the theme of what is {{Ix|reqwyrt|required}}.

[[Category:Chapter 11]]

A 168 16

2026-03-18T07:06:43Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|168|16}} "Becaws a woman is a wooman aint she. Shes the 1 with the woom"
Another use of deliberately false etymology. ''Woman'' really comes from the Old English ''wifman'' (wife-man or female-person), while ''womb'' comes from an unrelated word for belly, but it's plausible for Riddley to jump to this conclusion.

[[Category:Chapter 15]]

A 119 6

2026-03-18T06:58:55Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|119|6}} "the yellerboy stoan the Salt 4"
Sulfur—which is not found in England; the nearest source for it would be southern Europe. {{By|EB}}

Sulfur was viewed as male (hence a yellow {{Ix|boy}}) in the [[A_129_10|alchemical system]]. {{By|RG}}

In ''RW'', the rediscovery of sulfur is part of Goodparley's quest for forgotten knowledge. {{By|EB}} Back in the 20th century, however, Russell Hoban might also have had in mind the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I and II) between the US and the Soviet Union. SALT I lasted from November 1969 to May 1972, and led to the ABM treaty signed by President Nixon and General Secretary Brezhnev. SALT II negotiations began in November 1972; two years later, President Ford and Brezhnev agreed to the basic provisions of a new treaty, and SALT II was signed by President Carter and Brezhnev in 1979. Hoban began ''RW'' in March 1974 and finished it in November 1979. There was much talk of "Salt 2" in the air during those years; perhaps he thought that the SALT talks would continue—SALT III, SALT IV—but fail to prevent the Berstyn Fyr. The SALT II treaty was not ratified because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and in 1986 President Reagan said the US would make decisions about strategic weapons in light of the threat posed by Soviet forces rather than by the terms of the SALT treaty. It seems that all SALT IV means, in Riddley's time and ours, is sulfur. {{By|MWS}}

[[Category:Chapter 14]]

A 79 26

2026-03-18T06:57:08Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|79|26}} "1st the easy askings then its {{Ix|helping the qwirys}}"
Torture. In the UK, "helping the police with their inquiries" is the standard euphemism for describing a suspect who has been arrested and is being interrogated, whether or not this help is being given willingly. In Inland, police brutality is taken for granted.

Note that inquiry, or the search for information, is generally considered bad luck in this book; and the sound of the word also recalls the theme of what is {{Ix|reqwyrt|required}}.

[[Category:Chapter 11]]

A 69 4

2026-03-18T06:56:08Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|69|4}} "keap it in memberment"
Remember it (after Durster has just been dismembered).

[[Category:Chapter 10]]

A 28 12

2026-03-18T06:53:15Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|28|12}} "they all ready ben Shorsday Week with the sess men which they revver newit the fraction for the Ram"
''Shorsday'' is the shortest day of the year; ''sess men'' = assessment, ''revver newit'' = renew/revenue—tax collection for the Ram. {{By|EE}}

This passage led to some confusion about the timeline of ''RW'' for at least one scholar: David Huisman, in his essay [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44312324 "'Hoap of a Tree' in ''Riddley Walker''"], stated that "the events of the novel occur during Lent—between 'Shorsday Week' and 'Rising'", which seems to mean that he assumed "Rising" was Easter and "Shorsday" was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday Shrove Tuesday]. But in context (even if Hoban hadn't later clarified that Shorsday is definitely the winter solstice), that reading isn't plausible: even if one assumed that the novel took place over a month or two in the spring, which there's no clear evidence of, there would be no reason to think that Shorsday was very recent or that Rising is very soon. Riddley is just saying that Shorsday was the last time Goodparley and Orfing had been through the area, and that their regular schedule wouldn't have brought them back around until Rising. For two itinerant puppeteers traveling on foot while also running the rest of Inland, it's hard to imagine that their regular schedule would have taken them to an unremarkable settlement like [[How]] twice in six weeks.

[[Category:Chapter 5]]

A 10 31

2026-03-18T06:49:08Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|10|31}} "Heard it and the news of 10"
Heard it on the ten o'clock news—a reference to a specific programme, ''News at Ten'', on the British ITV channel. {{By|RG}})

[[Category:Chapter 2]]

A 9 12

2026-03-18T06:48:28Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|9|12}} "our hardes {{Ix|hevvy}} {{Ix|Crunchman, Fister|Fister Crunchman}}"
"Heavy" in the sense of a big strong person.

[[Category:Chapter 2]]

A 9 8

2026-03-18T06:47:57Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|9|8}} "a 16 man treadl crane with 2 weals"
[[File:crane-rome-small.jpg|frame|left|link=|1st-century Roman crane with a single wheel {{By|BJB}}]]
In a treadwheel crane, people walk on the inside of a large wheel (think of a hamster wheel) and the weight of their bodies provides the lifting force. The extra large version described here also has several workers walking the opposite way on the top of each wheel. Treadwheel cranes have been used in England since Roman times.

An earlier version of this note suggested that the crane had no brake and relied on the walkers' weight to keep the load from falling. {{By|H}} replies:

: I believe this is not quite right, that it actually does have brakes on the wheels but that they failed because the load was too heavy and the mechanism broke. The brakes are referred to as "stoppers" and are probably like the [http://www.technologystudent.com/cams/ratch1.htm ratchet mechanism] in a clock, with the stopper being the pawl. On page 11 [after the accident], Fister says 'That load wer too much for that weal ... it wer the stoppers coming luce and the weal took charge.'

[[File:crane-bruges-small.jpg|frame|right|link=|Medieval Belgian 2-wheel crane {{By|BJB}}]]
: The use of two stoppers per wheel would either be simply for more strength, to prevent just this from happening, or alternately having each of the two per wheel engage in an alternating fashion so that the wheel won't have as far to turn and won't build up as much momentum if it does start to turn backwards, also to keep it from failing. With these large loads and a crane built, I assume, out of wood, the working parts would have to be large for strength. This means using larger teeth on the ratchet wheel, and therefore possibly requiring the latter of these two configurations. Either way, when Riddley tripped and knocked over the others working his wheel the stoppers had to take the strain, which they failed to do, causing all the force to be held by the other wheel, and then it too failed. It is a small point, but might be significant because it permits Riddley to be absolved of any blame in the accident, at least by Fister and Straiter Empy. Chalker Marchman's reply puts the blame on the men ... though of course the management would want to avoid blame.

[[Category:Chapter 2]]

A 9 8

2026-03-18T06:46:57Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|9|8}} "a 16 man treadl crane with 2 weals"
[[File:crane-rome-small.jpg|frame|left|link=|1st-century Roman crane with a single wheel {{By|BJB}}]]
In a treadwheel crane, people walk on the inside of a large wheel (think of a hamster wheel) and the weight of their bodies provides the lifting force. The extra large version described here also has several workers walking the opposite way on the top of each wheel. Treadwheel cranes have been used in England since Roman times.

An earlier version of this note suggested that the crane had no brake and relied on the walkers' weight to keep the load from falling. {{By|H}} replies: "I believe this is not quite right, that it actually does have brakes on the wheels but that they failed because the load was too heavy and the mechanism broke. The brakes are referred to as "stoppers" and are probably like the [http://www.technologystudent.com/cams/ratch1.htm ratchet mechanism] in a clock, with the stopper being the pawl. On page 11 [after the accident], Fister says 'That load wer too much for that weal ... it wer the stoppers coming luce and the weal took charge.'

[[File:crane-bruges-small.jpg|frame|right|link=|Medieval Belgian 2-wheel crane {{By|BJB}}]]
The use of two stoppers per wheel would either be simply for more strength, to prevent just this from happening, or alternately having each of the two per wheel engage in an alternating fashion so that the wheel won't have as far to turn and won't build up as much momentum if it does start to turn backwards, also to keep it from failing. With these large loads and a crane built, I assume, out of wood, the working parts would have to be large for strength. This means using larger teeth on the ratchet wheel, and therefore possibly requiring the latter of these two configurations. Either way, when Riddley tripped and knocked over the others working his wheel the stoppers had to take the strain, which they failed to do, causing all the force to be held by the other wheel, and then it too failed. It is a small point, but might be significant because it permits Riddley to be absolved of any blame in the accident, at least by Fister and Straiter Empy. Chalker Marchman's reply puts the blame on the men ... though of course the management would want to avoid blame."

[[Category:Chapter 2]]

A 9 8

2026-03-18T06:46:11Z

Eli Bishop: crane detail

* {{PP|9|8}} "a 16 man treadl crane with 2 weals"
[[File:crane-rome-small.jpg|frame|left|link=|1st-century Roman crane with a single wheel {{By|BJB}}]]
In a treadwheel crane, people walk on the inside of a large wheel (think of a hamster wheel) and the weight of their bodies provides the lifting force. In the large version described here, each of the wheels also has several workers walking on top of it in the opposite direction. Treadwheel cranes have been used in England since Roman times.

An earlier version of this note suggested that the crane had no brake and relied on the walkers' weight to keep the load from falling. {{By|H}} replies: "I believe this is not quite right, that it actually does have brakes on the wheels but that they failed because the load was too heavy and the mechanism broke. The brakes are referred to as "stoppers" and are probably like the [http://www.technologystudent.com/cams/ratch1.htm ratchet mechanism] in a clock, with the stopper being the pawl. On page 11 [after the accident], Fister says 'That load wer too much for that weal ... it wer the stoppers coming luce and the weal took charge.'

[[File:crane-bruges-small.jpg|frame|right|link=|Medieval Belgian 2-wheel crane {{By|BJB}}]]
The use of two stoppers per wheel would either be simply for more strength, to prevent just this from happening, or alternately having each of the two per wheel engage in an alternating fashion so that the wheel won't have as far to turn and won't build up as much momentum if it does start to turn backwards, also to keep it from failing. With these large loads and a crane built, I assume, out of wood, the working parts would have to be large for strength. This means using larger teeth on the ratchet wheel, and therefore possibly requiring the latter of these two configurations. Either way, when Riddley tripped and knocked over the others working his wheel the stoppers had to take the strain, which they failed to do, causing all the force to be held by the other wheel, and then it too failed. It is a small point, but might be significant because it permits Riddley to be absolved of any blame in the accident, at least by Fister and Straiter Empy. Chalker Marchman's reply puts the blame on the men ... though of course the management would want to avoid blame."

[[Category:Chapter 2]]

A 8 12

2026-03-18T06:43:43Z

Eli Bishop:

* {{PP|8|12}} "I were the loan of my {{Ix|name}}"
I was the only one left with my name (''loan'' is used elsewhere to mean ''alone''); or, my name was loaned to me.

[[Category:Chapter 2]]

About this site

2026-03-18T06:38:03Z

Eli Bishop: archive link for Some Other World

These annotation pages are maintained and edited by [http://www.errorbar.net/ Eli Bishop], who wrote about three quarters of the text. Other contributors are listed on the [[contributors]] page and are identified in the text by their initials.

This site, of course, does not contain the full text of ''Riddley Walker'' itself—which is copyrighted by Russell Hoban—but only excerpts as needed for context and commentary.

The index section was inspired by [https://web.archive.org/web/20190214014721/https://brtom.org/tttc/tttc1.html Some Other World], an extremely thorough and entertaining index compiled by Tom Murphy's literature class for the Tim O'Brien novel ''The Things They Carried''.

If you also like reading obsessive annotations of other books (including Hoban's ''Turtle Diary''), you may like my [http://www.errorbar.net/nits/ Nitbar].

The software is [http://www.mediawiki.org/ MediaWiki] with various customizations.

The entire contents of this site are copyrighted by the respective authors or, where not otherwise indicated, by Eli Bishop.

== Changes worth mentioning ==

{{:Changelog}}

About this site

2026-03-18T06:35:41Z

Eli Bishop:

These annotation pages are maintained and edited by [http://www.errorbar.net/ Eli Bishop], who wrote about three quarters of the text. Other contributors are listed on the [[contributors]] page and are identified in the text by their initials.

This site, of course, does not contain the full text of ''Riddley Walker'' itself—which is copyrighted by Russell Hoban—but only excerpts as needed for context and commentary.

The index section was inspired by [http://www.brtom.org/tttc/tttc1.html Some Other World], an extremely thorough and entertaining index compiled by Tom Murphy's literature class for the Tim O'Brien novel ''The Things They Carried''.

If you also like reading obsessive annotations of other books (including Hoban's ''Turtle Diary''), you may like my [http://www.errorbar.net/nits/ Nitbar].

The software is [http://www.mediawiki.org/ MediaWiki] with various customizations.

The entire contents of this site are copyrighted by the respective authors or, where not otherwise indicated, by Eli Bishop.

== Changes worth mentioning ==

{{:Changelog}}

Changelog

2026-03-18T06:33:21Z

Eli Bishop:

This is a summary that leaves out many copyedits and link updates; it's mainly just for people who might wonder if they've missed any content since last time. For a full list of every edit that was made in the last 90 days, you can view the [http://www.errorbar.net/rw/Special:RecentChanges?hidebots=1&limit=250&days=90&enhanced=1&urlversion=2 recent changes report].

'''Mar. 2026:''' Added Polish translation and ISBN links in [[editions]]

'''Feb. 2026:''' Updated [[contributors]] to reflect the passing of {{By|SLK}} among other things; note on ☰ trigram from {{By|GW}} in {{A|43|3}}; {{By|GW}}'s book in [[related works|bibliography]] (and reorganized list of books); Huisman essay and AE blog post in [[links]]; notes on Huisman's errors in {{A|28|12}} and {{A|125|15}} (thanks to Sanem Erdem for bringing up the question of Shorsday); general fixing of stale links; added this change list to About page

'''Sept. 2025:''' Erlkönig note by {{By|ZG}} in {{A|4|18}}; updated [[Harts Ease]] with better explanation of the Beowulf theory and a link to an argument against it

'''Apr. 2024:''' R.D. Mullen essay in [[links]]

'''July 2022:''' More about red thread in {{A|67|31}}

'''Dec. 2021:''' Updated [[links]] to reflect the passing of Alida Allison

'''Nov. 2021:''' More editions and translations in [[editions]]; Jess Zimmerman note/link in [[Widders Bel]]

'''Aug. 2017:''' Fidget Wonkham-Strong in {{A|47|13}}

'''July 2014:''' ''What Does It Do and How Does It Work?'' in {{A|8|19}}

'''Nov. 2013:''' Penguin 2010 edition, audiobook, e-book, stage adptations, and ''Enig Marcheur'' in [[editions]]; ''Cloud Atlas'' in [[related works|bibliography]]

'''2013:''' Reimplemented the site using MediaWiki; edit history is harder to follow before this

'''Dec. 2011:''' Updated home page to reflect the passing of Russell Hoban

'''2010:''' Moved the whole thing into [http://errorbar.net errorbar.net] from my old website "Graphesthesia"

'''2005-2007:''' About half a dozen updates per year, but slowing down

'''2004:''' Many new notes by [[contributors]] from the Kraken mailing list, especially {{By|BJB}} who provided all the map images and other material from her curriculum

'''2002:''' Added chapter annotations and index; got some feedback from {{By|RH}}

'''Dec. 2001:''' First draft of the site, with semi-random glossary and subject entries; there's a brief explanation of how it came about in [https://russellhoban.org/resources/riddley-walker-panel-february-2025-transcript/ this 2025 panel discussion]

Editions

2026-03-18T06:31:29Z

Eli Bishop: /* Translations */

__NOTOC__
== Print ==

UK: Jonathan Cape, Ltd. (1980) First UK edition. 220 pp., hardcover. {{ISBN|0224018515|9780224018517}}

US: Summit Books/Simon & Schuster (1980) First US edition. 220 pp., hardcover. {{ISBN| 0253212340|9780253212344}}

US: Picador (1982) 214 pp., paperback. {{ISBN|0330266454|9780330266451}}

US: Washington Square Press (1982) 220 pp., paperback. {{ISBN|0671451189|9780671451189}}

US: Indiana University Press (1998) "Expanded Edition." 256 pp., paperback. Includes an afterword by Hoban; excerpts from a considerably different early draft of the novel; a brief glossary; black & white reproduction of ''The Legend of St. Eustace''; and two sketches of Punch by Hoban. {{ISBN|0253212340|9780253212344}}

UK: Bloomsbury (2002) 256 pp., paperback. Same as Expanded Edition plus an introduction by Will Self. {{ISBN|074755904X|9780747559047}}

UK: Gollancz (2012) "SF Masterworks" series. 256 pp., hardcover. Same as Expanded Edition plus introduction by Adam Roberts and additional afterword by David Mitchell. {{ISBN|0575119519|9780575119512}}

[http://www.foliosociety.com/book/RDW/riddley-walker UK: The Folio Society (2017)] Limited edition. 288 pp., clothbound. Illustrations by Quentin Blake, essays by Blake and Rowan Williams.

UK: Penguin Classics (2021) "Penguin Modern Classics" series. 272 pp., paperback. {{ISBN|0241485754|9780241485750}}

== E-books ==

[http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/russell+hoban/riddley+walker+28ebook29/9209713/ Waterstones.com] (EPUB DRM)—same content as Bloomsbury edition

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Riddley-Walker-ebook/dp/B007RMEDEI/ref=sr_1_2 Amazon.co.uk] (Kindle)—same content as Bloomsbury edition

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321234/riddley-walker/9780141995427.html Penguin Classics]—same content as Penguin Modern Classics paperback edition

== Audiobooks ==

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321234/riddley-walker/9780241525135.html Penguin Classics (2021)]—read by Richard Pearce. 515 minutes.

== Translations ==

In Catalan: ''Dudo Errante''. Spain: [http://www.editorialberenice.com Editorial Berenice], 2005. Translation by David Cruz and María Luisa Pascual. Introductions by Javier Fernández, Russell Hoban, and the translators. {{ISBN|8493446602|9788493446604}}

In French: ''Enig Marcheur''. Cenon, France: [https://monsieurtoussaintlouverture.com/ Monsieur Toussaint Louverture], 2012. Translation by Nicolas Richard. Preface by Will Self (translation of his preface from the Bloomsbury edition); afterword by Hoban (translation of his afterword from the Bloomsbury and Expanded editions). {{ISBN|2381960422|9782381960425}}

In Polish: ''Riddley Walker''. [https://wydawnictwo.artrage.pl/products/riddley-walker Artrage], 2026. Translation by Piotr Siemion. {{ISBN|9788368295719}}

== Other ==

''Riddley Walker'' has been adapted twice for the stage, but neither script has been published.

Adaptation by Russell Hoban: produced by the Royal Exchange Theatre (Manchester, England) in 1986; Chocolate Bayou Theatre (Houston, TX, US) in 1987; and Red Kettle Theatre Company (Waterford, Ireland) in 2007.

Adaptation by Connor Hopkins in conjunction with Hoban: produced by Trouble Puppet (Austin, TX, US) in 2011.

Editions

2026-03-18T06:29:02Z

Eli Bishop: /* Translations */ ISBNs

__NOTOC__
== Print ==

UK: Jonathan Cape, Ltd. (1980) First UK edition. 220 pp., hardcover. {{ISBN|0224018515|9780224018517}}

US: Summit Books/Simon & Schuster (1980) First US edition. 220 pp., hardcover. {{ISBN| 0253212340|9780253212344}}

US: Picador (1982) 214 pp., paperback. {{ISBN|0330266454|9780330266451}}

US: Washington Square Press (1982) 220 pp., paperback. {{ISBN|0671451189|9780671451189}}

US: Indiana University Press (1998) "Expanded Edition." 256 pp., paperback. Includes an afterword by Hoban; excerpts from a considerably different early draft of the novel; a brief glossary; black & white reproduction of ''The Legend of St. Eustace''; and two sketches of Punch by Hoban. {{ISBN|0253212340|9780253212344}}

UK: Bloomsbury (2002) 256 pp., paperback. Same as Expanded Edition plus an introduction by Will Self. {{ISBN|074755904X|9780747559047}}

UK: Gollancz (2012) "SF Masterworks" series. 256 pp., hardcover. Same as Expanded Edition plus introduction by Adam Roberts and additional afterword by David Mitchell. {{ISBN|0575119519|9780575119512}}

[http://www.foliosociety.com/book/RDW/riddley-walker UK: The Folio Society (2017)] Limited edition. 288 pp., clothbound. Illustrations by Quentin Blake, essays by Blake and Rowan Williams.

UK: Penguin Classics (2021) "Penguin Modern Classics" series. 272 pp., paperback. {{ISBN|0241485754|9780241485750}}

== E-books ==

[http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/russell+hoban/riddley+walker+28ebook29/9209713/ Waterstones.com] (EPUB DRM)—same content as Bloomsbury edition

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Riddley-Walker-ebook/dp/B007RMEDEI/ref=sr_1_2 Amazon.co.uk] (Kindle)—same content as Bloomsbury edition

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321234/riddley-walker/9780141995427.html Penguin Classics]—same content as Penguin Modern Classics paperback edition

== Audiobooks ==

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321234/riddley-walker/9780241525135.html Penguin Classics (2021)]—read by Richard Pearce. 515 minutes.

== Translations ==

In Catalan: ''Dudo Errante''. Spain: [http://www.editorialberenice.com Editorial Berenice], 2005. Translation by David Cruz and María Luisa Pascual. Introductions by Javier Fernández, Russell Hoban, and the translators. {{ISBN|8493446602|9788493446604}}

In French: ''Enig Marcheur''. Cenon, France: [https://monsieurtoussaintlouverture.com/ Monsieur Toussaint Louverture], 2012. Translation by Nicolas Richard. Preface by Will Self (translation of his preface from the Bloomsbury edition); afterword by Hoban (translation of his afterword from the Bloomsbury and Expanded editions). {{ISBN|2381960422| 9782381960425}}

In Polish: ''Riddley Walker''. [https://wydawnictwo.artrage.pl/products/riddley-walker Artrage], 2026. Translation by Piotr Siemion. {{ISBN|9788368295719}}

== Other ==

''Riddley Walker'' has been adapted twice for the stage, but neither script has been published.

Adaptation by Russell Hoban: produced by the Royal Exchange Theatre (Manchester, England) in 1986; Chocolate Bayou Theatre (Houston, TX, US) in 1987; and Red Kettle Theatre Company (Waterford, Ireland) in 2007.

Adaptation by Connor Hopkins in conjunction with Hoban: produced by Trouble Puppet (Austin, TX, US) in 2011.

Editions

2026-03-18T06:25:52Z

Eli Bishop: ISBNs

__NOTOC__
== Print ==

UK: Jonathan Cape, Ltd. (1980) First UK edition. 220 pp., hardcover. {{ISBN|0224018515|9780224018517}}

US: Summit Books/Simon & Schuster (1980) First US edition. 220 pp., hardcover. {{ISBN| 0253212340|9780253212344}}

US: Picador (1982) 214 pp., paperback. {{ISBN|0330266454|9780330266451}}

US: Washington Square Press (1982) 220 pp., paperback. {{ISBN|0671451189|9780671451189}}

US: Indiana University Press (1998) "Expanded Edition." 256 pp., paperback. Includes an afterword by Hoban; excerpts from a considerably different early draft of the novel; a brief glossary; black & white reproduction of ''The Legend of St. Eustace''; and two sketches of Punch by Hoban. {{ISBN|0253212340|9780253212344}}

UK: Bloomsbury (2002) 256 pp., paperback. Same as Expanded Edition plus an introduction by Will Self. {{ISBN|074755904X|9780747559047}}

UK: Gollancz (2012) "SF Masterworks" series. 256 pp., hardcover. Same as Expanded Edition plus introduction by Adam Roberts and additional afterword by David Mitchell. {{ISBN|0575119519|9780575119512}}

[http://www.foliosociety.com/book/RDW/riddley-walker UK: The Folio Society (2017)] Limited edition. 288 pp., clothbound. Illustrations by Quentin Blake, essays by Blake and Rowan Williams.

UK: Penguin Classics (2021) "Penguin Modern Classics" series. 272 pp., paperback. {{ISBN|0241485754|9780241485750}}

== E-books ==

[http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/russell+hoban/riddley+walker+28ebook29/9209713/ Waterstones.com] (EPUB DRM)—same content as Bloomsbury edition

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Riddley-Walker-ebook/dp/B007RMEDEI/ref=sr_1_2 Amazon.co.uk] (Kindle)—same content as Bloomsbury edition

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321234/riddley-walker/9780141995427.html Penguin Classics]—same content as Penguin Modern Classics paperback edition

== Audiobooks ==

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321234/riddley-walker/9780241525135.html Penguin Classics (2021)]—read by Richard Pearce. 515 minutes.

== Translations ==

In Catalan: ''Dudo Errante''. Spain: [http://www.editorialberenice.com Editorial Berenice], 2005. Translation by David Cruz and María Luisa Pascual. Introductions by Javier Fernández, Russell Hoban, and the translators.

In French: ''Enig Marcheur''. Cenon, France: [https://monsieurtoussaintlouverture.com/ Monsieur Toussaint Louverture], 2012. Translation by Nicolas Richard. Preface by Will Self (translation of his preface from the Bloomsbury edition); afterword by Hoban (translation of his afterword from the Bloomsbury and Expanded editions).

In Polish: ''Riddley Walker''. [https://wydawnictwo.artrage.pl/products/riddley-walker Artrage], 2026. Translation by Piotr Siemion.

== Other ==

''Riddley Walker'' has been adapted twice for the stage, but neither script has been published.

Adaptation by Russell Hoban: produced by the Royal Exchange Theatre (Manchester, England) in 1986; Chocolate Bayou Theatre (Houston, TX, US) in 1987; and Red Kettle Theatre Company (Waterford, Ireland) in 2007.

Adaptation by Connor Hopkins in conjunction with Hoban: produced by Trouble Puppet (Austin, TX, US) in 2011.

Template:ISBN

2026-03-18T06:17:47Z

Eli Bishop:

[[Special:BookSources/{{{1}}}|ISBN {{{1}}}]]{{#if:{{{2|}}}|/[[Special:BookSources/{{{2}}}|{{{2}}}]]|}}

Template:ISBN

2026-03-18T06:14:59Z

Eli Bishop: Created page with "ISBN {{{1}}}"

[[Special:BookSources/{{{1}}}|ISBN {{{1}}}]]

Project:Book sources

2026-03-18T06:14:04Z

Eli Bishop: Created page with "== Booksellers == * [//www.alibris.com/stores/powells2/search?mtype=&searchtype=isbn&searchquery=MAGICNUMBER Find this book] new or used at [//powells.com Powell's] in Portlan..."

== Booksellers ==
* [//www.alibris.com/stores/powells2/search?mtype=&searchtype=isbn&searchquery=MAGICNUMBER Find this book] new or used at [//powells.com Powell's] in Portland
* [http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=MAGICNUMBER Find this book] used at [//www.abebooks.com AbeBooks.com]

(Sorry no links to Amazon here, I don't like them, it's easy enough to search for books there anyway.)

== Online databases ==
* [//www.worldcat.org/search?qt=wikipedia&q=isbn%3AMAGICNUMBER Find this book] at [http://www.worldcat.org WorldCat] free online catalog of the world's libraries
* [http://www.goodreads.com/search/search?search_type=books&search%5Bquery%5D=MAGICNUMBER Find this book] at [http://www.goodreads.com Goodreads] personal library catalog
* [http://www.librarything.com/isbn/MAGICNUMBER Find this book] at [http://www.librarything.com LibraryThing] personal library catalog

Editions

2026-03-18T06:04:17Z

Eli Bishop: /* Translations */ +Polish

__NOTOC__
== Print ==

[http://www.russellhoban.org/edition/riddley-walker-novel-1980-jonathan-cape-1980 UK: Jonathan Cape, Ltd. (1980)] First UK edition. 220 pp., hardcover.

US: Summit Books/Simon & Schuster (1980) First US edition. 220 pp., hardcover.

[http://www.russellhoban.org/edition/riddley-walker-novel-1980-picador-1982 US: Picador (1982)] 214 pp., paperback.

US: Washington Square Press (1982) 220 pp., paperback.

[http://www.russellhoban.org/edition/riddley-walker-novel-1980-indiana-university-press-1998 US: Indiana University Press (1998)] "Expanded Edition." 256 pp., paperback. Includes an afterword by Hoban; excerpts from a considerably different early draft of the novel; a brief glossary; black & white reproduction of ''The Legend of St. Eustace''; and two sketches of Punch by Hoban.

[http://www.russellhoban.org/edition/riddley-walker-novel-1980-bloomsbury-2002 UK: Bloomsbury (2002)] 256 pp., paperback. Same as Expanded Edition plus an introduction by Will Self.

[http://www.russellhoban.org/edition/riddley-walker-novel-1980-gollancz-2012 UK: Gollancz (2012)] "SF Masterworks" series. 256 pp., hardcover. Same as Expanded Edition plus introduction by Adam Roberts and additional afterword by David Mitchell.

[http://www.foliosociety.com/book/RDW/riddley-walker UK: The Folio Society (2017)] Limited edition. 288 pp., clothbound. Illustrations by Quentin Blake, essays by Blake and Rowan Williams.

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321/321234/riddley-walker/9780241485750.html UK: Penguin Classics (2021)] "Penguin Modern Classics" series. 272 pp., paperback.

== E-books ==

[http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/russell+hoban/riddley+walker+28ebook29/9209713/ Waterstones.com] (EPUB DRM)—same content as Bloomsbury edition

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Riddley-Walker-ebook/dp/B007RMEDEI/ref=sr_1_2 Amazon.co.uk] (Kindle)—same content as Bloomsbury edition

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321234/riddley-walker/9780141995427.html Penguin Classics]—same content as Penguin Modern Classics paperback edition

== Audiobooks ==

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321234/riddley-walker/9780241525135.html Penguin Classics (2021)]—read by Richard Pearce. 515 minutes.

== Translations ==

In Catalan: ''Dudo Errante''. Spain: [http://www.editorialberenice.com Editorial Berenice], 2005. Translation by David Cruz and María Luisa Pascual. Introductions by Javier Fernández, Russell Hoban, and the translators.

In French: ''Enig Marcheur''. Cenon, France: [https://monsieurtoussaintlouverture.com/ Monsieur Toussaint Louverture], 2012. Translation by Nicolas Richard. Preface by Will Self (translation of his preface from the Bloomsbury edition); afterword by Hoban (translation of his afterword from the Bloomsbury and Expanded editions).

In Polish: ''Riddley Walker''. [https://wydawnictwo.artrage.pl/products/riddley-walker Artrage], 2026. Translation by Piotr Siemion.

== Other ==

''Riddley Walker'' has been adapted twice for the stage, but neither script has been published.

Adaptation by Russell Hoban: produced by the Royal Exchange Theatre (Manchester, England) in 1986; Chocolate Bayou Theatre (Houston, TX, US) in 1987; and Red Kettle Theatre Company (Waterford, Ireland) in 2007.

Adaptation by Connor Hopkins in conjunction with Hoban: produced by Trouble Puppet (Austin, TX, US) in 2011.