Monk's Magic by Alexander de Comeau
Monk's Magic is a narrative set during the early Tudor period in England, focusing on Brother Dismas, a lay monk who has been granted permission by his abbot to explore magical arts and alchemy. His goal is to find an elixir for restoring the abbot's youth and health, leading him on a quest to locate magi with knowledge of such an elixir. Accompanied by companions Gabriel, who seeks his missing father, and healer Thomas Brackenridge, Dismas journeys to Germany, where he learns of the peril facing a young girl named Radegonde. As the story unfolds, Dismas discovers a dark plot involving a local baron and a sinister wizard, Albrecht, who aims to obtain the secret of life through horrific means. The tale culminates in Dismas confronting moral dilemmas about life, death, and sacrifice, especially as he seeks to rescue Radegonde from imminent danger. Ultimately, the narrative explores themes of ambition, the nature of immortality, and the complexities of human desires, leading to a resolution that challenges the characters' perceptions of power and consequence.
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Monk's Magic
First published: 1931
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy—high fantasy
Time of work: About 1490
Locale: England and Germany
The Plot
Brother Dismas, a lay brother in an unidentified order during the early Tudor period in England, has never taken priestly vows. His abbot has given him a dispensation to pursue the magical arts and alchemy in the hope that he can find an elixir to restore the abbot’s youth and good health. Dismas plans, with his abbot’s blessing, to locate magi who claimed in their writings to have found the elixir and to ask their help in reproducing it.
One of the magi, Lucius Germanicus, was last known to be living in Germany, and Brother Dismas travels there via London. In London, Dismas gains two companions: Gabriel, a youth of twenty, and Thomas Brackenridge, an English healer. Gabriel seeks his father, Ralph Terven, who traveled abroad several years earlier and has never returned, and Thomas is fleeing England after inflicting on a powerful nobleman a cure more painful than his illness. Ibrahim bin Judah, a Jewish magician, helps the trio escape across the English Channel. They travel by boat up the Rhine to Dachsenberg, where Germanicus is said to have lived, and rest in a tavern below the castle.
During the night, Gabriel is spirited away. Thomas explains that Ralph Terven had but one child, a daughter named Radegonde, and that the local baron has a predilection for innocent young girls. Dismas, innocent though he is, realizes that Gabriel had been Radegonde in disguise and that the girl is now in peril. He decides to rescue her, if he can. He achieves entry into the castle and is confronted by Albrecht, the son of Germanicus. Dismas is dismayed to learn that Germanicus died at the age of 119. Albrecht, however, claims to have found the secret of life. It lies, he says, in the last three drops of a virgin’s blood. Fortunately, the baron has a virgin locked up in a cell overlooking a sheer drop to the river. With Dismas as his assistant, the wizard determines to reach the girl before the baron deflowers her. He will then drain away her blood until only three drops are left. Dismas is horrified, but he pretends to assist the old man, hoping to find an opportunity for rescue.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the night, Radegonde makes a horrifying descent down the rock wall. She loses her grip and drops twenty feet to the river, where she is discovered the next morning by Gita, a peasant girl, who decides to assist the fugitive.
Dismas is persuaded by Albrecht to enter the realm of the dead, where he can determine for himself whether any of those who claimed to have used the elixir actually escaped death. The magus’ potion works, but Dismas is disappointed to learn that all of those he wishes to consult are in the netherworld, having failed. Albrecht learns during Dismas’ sojourn that the local coven of witches has captured Radegonde and Gita, and he orders a black Mass during which the virgin will be sacrificed. When Dismas reappears, he produces a talisman that is a token of power over all witches, barring their interference. Albrecht is stopped and dies in rage in the act of attempting to cut the girl’s throat.
Thomas finds Radegonde’s father, Terven, living nearby as a hermit and arranges a reunion. Radegonde persuades Dismas that he loves her, and they all return to London, where Thomas learns that the nobleman has recovered from his illness and credits Thomas with the cure. His friends’ fortunes restored, Dismas returns to his abbey to report his failure and resign his position. The abbot has sunk into senility, however, and Brother Nicholas, temporarily in charge, threatens to lock Dismas up unless the alchemist reveals his secret. Dismas disavows the elixir and suggests that the brother take the powerful talisman and call up the devil, who can grant immortality for the price of a soul.
In a curious epilogue, Brother Nicholas invokes the Prince of Darkness and offers him his soul, but the Black Prince refuses, saying that he is not what people make him to be. Nevertheless, although Nicholas has nothing to give in return, he will grant the monk’s request—eternal youth and life—until Nicholas grows tired of it. Dismas, however, orders his life as befits a man.