The Incomplete Enchanter by Fletcher Pratt
"The Incomplete Enchanter" is a fantasy novel that follows the adventures of Harold Shea, a psychologist who yearns for adventure and is intrigued by the concept of parallel worlds. The story begins when Shea, inspired by his superior Dr. Reed Chalmers' theories on alternate realities, decides to test these ideas himself. His journey takes him through various mythological landscapes, starting with a treacherous encounter in a frozen wasteland from Norse mythology, where he teams up with gods Thor and Loki to recover Thor's hammer.
As the narrative progresses, Shea navigates through the realms of classic literature, including Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" and Ludovico Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso." Throughout his escapades, he learns the principles of magic that govern these worlds, which differ significantly from his own reality. He faces various challenges, including rescuing beloved characters from enchantments and managing the peculiar consequences of his newfound magical abilities.
The story combines elements of comedy, adventure, and romance, showcasing Shea's growth as he confronts the struggles of love and loyalty, particularly regarding his wife Belphebe. Ultimately, "The Incomplete Enchanter" weaves together the threads of mythology and literature, creating a rich tapestry of fantastical experiences that appeal to readers interested in escapism and the exploration of literary traditions.
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The Incomplete Enchanter
First published:The Incomplete Enchanter (1941; includes “The Roaring Trumpet,” serial form, Unknown, 1940, and “The Mathematics of Magic,” serial form, Unknown, 1940), The Castle of Iron (1950; serial form, Unknown, 1941; first two books published as The Complete Enchanter: The Magical Misadventures of Harold Shea, 1975), The Wall of Serpents (1960; includes “The Wall of Serpents,” serial form, 1953, and The Green Magician; published with the previous material as The Intrepid Enchanter, 1988, and as The Complete Compleat Enchanter, 1989), and The Green Magician (1954)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Fantasy—heroic fantasy
Time of work: The 1940s and medieval times
Locale: Garaden, Ohio, and various mythological places
The Plot
Harold Shea, a psychologist for the Garaden Institute in Ohio, hungers for travel and adventure. His coworkers tease him about the activities he takes up and subsequently drops, such as fencing and horseback riding. None of them satisfies his longing.
Sheas superior, Dr. Reed Chalmers, has hypothesized the existence of parallel worlds that can be reached by people who can attune themselves to receive a different series of impressions of reality. These parallel worlds have been made known to humankind through such classic works of literature as Edmund Spensers The Faerie Queene (1590 and 1596). The possibility of travel to these other worlds captures Sheas imagination, and in a rash moment, he puts Chalmers hypothesis to the test.
Aiming for the lush green fields of the Ireland of Cuchulainn and Queen Maev, Shea ends up instead in the snowy, frozen wasteland of Scandinavian myth in the first story of the series, “The Roaring Trumpet.” There, Shea embarks on a quest with the Norse gods Thor and Loki to recover Thors great hammer from the giants. The hammer is needed in the coming legendary battle, the Ragnarök. Although Shea, a mere mortal, proves useful in recovering it, he and another god, Heimdall, are taken prisoner. Shea again proves his worth by escaping with Heimdall from the giants dungeon by the use of psychology—a foreign concept to the gods—and magic. At the Gates of Hell, however, as Heimdall blows his trumpet, signaling the beginning of the battle, Shea is thrust back into his own world.
In this first adventure, Shea discovers the secrets of travel to parallel universes. He discovers, much to his dismay, that his modern tools, such as a Colt .38 revolver, a flashlight, and a box of matches, do not function there. Instead, he finds that his fencing lessons stand him in good stead. Magic works because the parallel worlds are governed by a set of natural laws different from those of Sheas world. As Shea masters the fixed principles of magic for the time and place in which he finds himself, he gains the ability to cast spells, many of them with comic results.
In “The Mathematics of Magic,” Dr. Chalmers accompanies Shea to the land of The Faerie Queene, where both men meet and fall in love with beautiful but quite different women. The object of Sheas desire is an independent woodswoman named Belphebe. The more mature Chalmers, however, becomes smitten with a fragile young thing, Florimel, who is merely a magical creation made from snow. After many sword fights and magical incantations, Shea once again is blasted back to his own universe, but this time with Belphebe in tow. Chalmers remains behind.
As The Castle of Iron begins, Shea and Belphebe are husband and wife and living in Ohio. Belphebe mysteriously disappears during a picnic. Shea, his colleagues Walter Bayard and Vaclav Polacek, and a police officer named Pete Brodsky are snatched during an interrogation into the disappearance. They land in Samuel Taylor Coleridges Xanadu, where they are force-fed milk and honey by beautiful women. Before they know what is happening, Shea and Vaclav then appear in the world of Ludovico Ariostos Orlando Furioso (1516), where Chalmers fills them in.
Chalmers seeks Sheas help in freeing Florimel from her enchantment and admits that he accidentally brought Belphebe to this world, where she lost her memory and believes that she is now a woman called Belphegor. Apparently, Spenser based The Faerie Queene on Ari-ostos Orlando Furioso, so there are many similarities between the worlds of these two works. Shea agrees to help Chalmers render Florimel a human, all the while keeping her out of the lecherous hands of the magician Atlantès. He also must find and woo back his beloved Belphebe. At the novels end, Shea and Belphebe return to Ohio, Chalmers and Vaclav remain in the world of Orlando Furioso, and Bayard and Brodsky are stuck in Xanadu.
In “The Wall of Serpents,” Shea and Belphebe travel to the world of the Finnish epic The Kalevala in search of a magician powerful enough to retrieve Bayard and Brodsky from Xanadu. This accomplished, the foursome become involved in master magician Lemminkainens revenge plot against a neighboring family and barely escape death by transporting, accidentally, to the land of Irish myth, the land Shea had tried to find on his first venture. Thus the last story, The Green Magician, finds Shea, Belphebe, and Brodsky working for Cuchulainn in his fight against Queen Maev and the Connachta in exchange for passage via a magician back to Garaden, Ohio. The threesome finally returns to Ohio.