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Having read the novel recently (a very fun read) I thought I\'d come and drop a bit of an explanation for the best track off one of the all time best metal albums.\n\nThe song actually differs a fair bit from the original novel. The five in-universe magics are Thaumaturgy, Alchemy, Magic, Sorcery, and Wizardry. Each possess their own disciplines, rules, and cultural significance. Dave replaces Thaumaturgy with "Thermatology", which works for the rhythm of the song and isn\'t too far off, as Thaumaturgy is written to coincide with the laws of thermodynamics. He names the other four, but I have no idea how far up his ass he had to reach to pull Electricity out of it. Onto the novel\'s story.\n\nThe novel follows a journeyman Thaumaturge named Alodar, who seeks to redeem his father\'s, a former lord\'s, glory. He quests through the land of Procolon, learning important lessons along with a new discipline of magic in each part of the book.\n\nThe first lines, \n"Bestow upon me knowledge\nWizard, all-knowing, all-wise"\nmay reference a part of the book near the end, the Wizard, wherein Alodar learns the art of Wizardry from an elderly, wise Wizard named Handar.\n\nThe next few lines of the song seem to meld together a few portions of the book.\n"I want to rule my kingdom\nMake sweet the breeze, not once defiled" seems to reference Alodar\'s quest. He wants to become a suitor of Queen Vendora in order to restore his family\'s name to glory.\n\n"Dethrone the evil prince\'s iron fists in velvet gloves of sin" is an interesting case. There are other suitors, one of which wheres red gloves, but he is not evil. It may refer to the demon prince Alodar battles at the finale of the book. Funnily enough, The Iron Fist is actually a fortress in which the first chapter is set.\n\n"Parade the grey-robed monks, the vestal virgins\nAnd wheel the wyvern\'s in" Seems to reference various performances of rituals by magicians, as the craft is known to have extensively complex rituals , including mathematics. Oddly, the grey robes are associated with Sorcery, although they aren\'t known to use wyverns like a magician would. These may be separate lyrics, it\'s hard to tell with this writing.\n\n"Let me be the protege of five magics" refers to Alodar\'s entire quest, obviously. The process of which is described in \n"Give me alchemy!\nGive me sorcery!\nGive me wizardry!\nThermatology!\nElectricity!\n\nMagic if you please\nMaster all of these"\n\nThe next line, \n"Bring him to his knees" references the final battle between Alodar and the demon prince, Elezar, the One Who Dazzles. In Wizardry, the art of summoning and controlling demons, the main rule is that the wizard must mentally dominate a demon, lest they be dominated by the demon. One must control the other. Alodar must master all five magics in order to have the will and abilities to conquer a demon prince, the highest form of demon. And that he does, because\n"I master five magics"\n\n"Possessed with hellish torment\nI master magics "5"\nHunting the abyss lord\nOnly one will stay alive" \nThe echoing voice sung here is likely that of Elezar, as Alodar and Elezar are both within each other\'s minds battling for dominance. The "abyss lord" likely refers to Elezar as well, since he had to be summoned from the realm of demons. The final line, "only one will stay alive", is an extreme representation of the rule of one vs the other of Wizardry.\n\nThe final two lines, \n"He who lives by the sword will surely also die\nHe who lives in sin will surely live the lie" \ndon\'t particularly line up with anything I can think of. Alodar does learn swordsmanship from a master swordsman named Cedric, but neither of them perish. The final line may be a reference to how Alodar was the only "good" suitor of Queen Vendora, as the others were greedy and/or braggarts.\n\nIn the end, he doesn\'t even marry the queen, but rather her counselwoman Aerial. But thus concludes the journey of Alodar, who has become the Archimage, Master of the Five Magics. The series, written by Lyndon Hardy, is currently on it\'s sixth book, "Double Magic." As of this comment, I\'m currently on book #4, "The Archimage\'s Fourth Daughter". It\'s a very interesting series if you\'re interested in fantasy novels with some science and logic thrown in. Anyways, this song fucking rocks and so does this album ???????????? |
