Seven Days in New Crete
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Literature |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Founder | Robert Graves |
| Products | Speculative future-utopian novel |
Seven Days in New Crete, alternatively titled Watch the North Wind Rise, is a speculative future-utopian novel authored by Robert Graves and first released in 1949. The book explores themes also present in Graves' 1948 work, The White Goddess. According to biographer Martin Seymour-Smith, the narrative contains autobiographical elements reflecting Graves's experiences from 1929 through 1947.
Summary
The story unfolds in a future society established on Crete, where most technologies developed after the medieval era have been abandoned, and a religion centered on the Triple Goddess holds sway. The protagonist, Edward Venn-Thomas, a poet from the mid-20th century, is transported into this future by inhabitants of New Crete. The society is organized into five distinct classes: captains, recorders (scribes), commons, servants, and magicians or poets—the smallest group—each corresponding metaphorically to a finger on a hand. Villages differ in their marriage practices, ranging from monogamy to polyandry, worship unique local "godlings," and focus on particular crafts and foods, yet all communities uphold New Cretan principles and reverence for the Goddess.
This social order incorporates matriarchal traits; with poverty and currency eliminated, widespread discontent is rare. Warfare is limited to regulated single-day skirmishes between villages. At the heart of religious life are poet-magicians who venerate the Goddess in her three manifestations: Nimuë the maiden archer, Mari the mother figure, and Ana the hag—names that echo Christian saints Mary and Anne.
Male spiritual aspects are represented by competing twin demi-gods—the star-god ruling over the year's first half and the serpent-god presiding over the second—each vying for the Goddess's favor. Former fallen civilizations are symbolized by an anti-trinity of malevolent deities: Dobeis (embodying money and greed), Pill (representing theft and violence), and Machna (associated with science and mechanization devoid of soul).
The language spoken in New Crete is rooted in Catalan but incorporates elements from English, Slavic languages, and Celtic tongues. Writing holds sacred significance; paper is prohibited except for scribes and poet-magicians who possess literacy skills. Common communication relies on numerical tally marks, with formal reading and writing skills typically acquired only after retirement among other social groups.
Although displaced forward in time, Venn-Thomas remains located in southern France and finds his own era lacking compared to New Cretan society. He comes to understand that the Goddess has selected him to challenge a stagnant civilization that is losing its vitality. Over the course of seven days depicted in the novel, all five poet-magicians belonging to Horned Lamb’s "Magic House" either perish or are stripped of their roles.
In the concluding segment, Venn-Thomas travels to Dunrena, the capital city of the local kingdom, to observe a solemn biannual ritual involving the replacement of the king—a religiously charged theatrical ceremony culminating in a sacrificial rite reminiscent of those described in The Golden Bough. The narrative closes with Venn-Thomas releasing a transformative whirlwind heralding a new chapter in history; simultaneously, Sapphire—a young woman linked to him—returns through time to be reborn as his daughter.
Similar works
Poul Anderson's 1965 novel The Corridors of Time explores comparable themes to Graves' work by portraying a future matriarchal society governed by a Great Goddess faith, experienced through the eyes of a time traveler from our present era. Anderson’s story adopts a notably darker tone with more dystopian elements, resulting in an alternative ending.
See also
References
External links
- "Utopian and Fantastic Dualities in Robert Graves's Watch the North Wind Rise" by Robert H. Canary, published in Science Fiction Studies, Autumn 1974
- Entry on Robert Graves in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction