The Inverted Island of Oz

The Enchanted Island of Yew is a geographical reversal of Oz. Oz is an endorheic basin bounded by desert, but Yew is an island with central mountains. The central kingdom of Oz has an allegedly good ruler, who leaves the other realms alone for the most part. The Kingdom of Spor, in contrast, is feared among the inhabitants of the Island of Yew, and it is a good year when the locals are robbed only once by King Terribus and his Grey Men. Of the other four kingdoms, the western Kingdom of Auriel has a pleasant fairytale name, but the eastern Kingdom of Dawna and the southern kingdom of Plenta sound like matriarchal realms from a Golden Age Wonder Woman comic. The southern kingdom of Plenta naturally has another wise and beautiful sorceress. Then there is the northern Kingdom of Heg, which seems to be in a war between barons. The kingdom has names such as Baron Neggar of Merd which suggests a much more adult version later watered down for the consumption of children; whether this adult version originated with Baum or was adapted by him is not clear. The northern barons do not control the entire northern kingdom because there are at least two other rivals in the northern kingdom, unless Wul-Takim’s bandits control lands of King Terribus the way Lake Quad is in Emerald City territory rather than Quadling Country. The western kingdom is ruled by a sorcerer, Kwytoffle, while the eastern kingdom is dominated by the Red Rogue of Dawna. There is at least one other Kingdom within the western kingdom, the Kingdom of Twi, surrounded by a magical hedge – it isn’t called magical, but the kingdom seems much bigger on the inside. The only reason their neighbors have not invaded a land in such disarray is the fearsome reputation of the sorcerers of the Enchanted Isle of Yew. The residents of the island make no effort to disabuse their neighbors of this notion.

The portion of the northern kingdom where the book begins is the baronial territory that borders the northern coast. The castle of Baron Merd is set back from the water, while the Forest of Lurla where fairies live is behind the castle. The barony is sufficiently secure that the Baron’s daughter, Sesely, and her two attendants, Berna and Helda, can safely picnic in the forest. The three girls encounter a fairy, who has grown bored with immortality. Rather than spending a period doing good, a period doing mischief, and a period doing evil, this fairy, who avoids giving her fairy name, decides to spend a year as a mortal – with severe qualifications on the “mortal” designation. In this world, fairies can grant the wishes of mortals, but cannot make them fairies, nor can fairies make themselves mortal. The surprising reversal here is the reveal that mortals can wish for fairies to become mortal. Instead of the fairy granting the three girls their wishes, the girls can grant the fairy her wish. The fairy is fully aware of the foolishness of a woman who looks like a girl wandering a bandit-infested island, so she disguises herself as a male knight – a petite one, to be sure, but it is still a safer option. She dubs this persona Prince Marvel.

Prince Marvel’s first adventure takes him toward the center of the island, much like all adventures in Oz that don’t start in the Emerald City lead to it. The first challenge for Prince Marvel is the bandits of Wul-Takim. The bandits are so well known that they label their entrance without fear of reprisal. The child-sized Prince Marvel ignores the warnings and enters the cave, where he meets Nerle, the son of a local lord whom the bandits are holding for ransom.  Nerle, unlike many Baum characters, is not brimming with optimism; he is the sole character who is seeking misfortune and misery to the point that he does not care if he is impaled on the bandits’ swords. Prince Marvel is a hero and cannot allow this, so Nerle agrees to be rescued and accompany Prince Marvel as his squire so long as he can complain. When the bandits show up, Prince Marvel not only vanquishes them but turns them into his personal army. Although bandits are the bad guys in most tales, their moral compass operates more on might than dichotomous morality.

At this point, the name of Nerle’s father must be addressed. Nerle is Nerle, son of Neggar, the richest baron in the land. This wealth explains both the ability to survive the bandits’ depredations and the utility of Nerle as a hostage, even if Nerle himself has doubts about his rescue. Although the name could appear to be a joke in poor taste, especially with the previous Duke of Merd, one pronunciation of the name is close to Nagus, a title of exotic (to American) princes with fabulous wealth, while an alternate pronounciation suggests a connection with ‘negative’ and ‘nag’, the combination of which epitomizes Nerle’s terrible relationship with his dad (who, ironically, is not the one being negative). The name Nerle itself sounds like both a playground insult and a mispronunciation of ‘null’; neither of these associations improve the quality of this father-and-son relationship.

Prince Marvel’s next adventure leads him to the center of the island, the Kingdom of Spor, the domain of King Terribus. Terribus is the most formidable ruler on the island due to his nigh-impenetrable fortress. His appearance is terrible: it combines an actual trunk for a nose and an incredibly bizarre placement of his three (yes, three) eyes. Most three eyed creatures in fiction have a third eye above the conventional pair, or maybe three in a vertical row: King Terribus has three eyes arranged vertically on his forehead, crown, and back of his head. The reaction of “normal” people to his appearance has soured Terribus, so his servants, primarily giants, dwarves, and those known only as “Gray Men”, he sends out on raids, fear him as a monster. Prince Marvel, who has not given up his fairy talents, slips through the impregnable defenses and bests the giants and dwarves, but then must face a dragon. The dragon, as it transpires, has been poorly maintained. When the dragon is (literally) relit, it refuses to fight Prince Marvel allegedly on the grounds of professional courtesy, but also because it is old and hurts. Apparently berating your underlings does not create motivated living cavalry. Prince Marvel restores Terribus to a conventional human appearance on the condition that he cease his wickedness, which he does.

Prince Marvel and his retinue of Sesely, Wul-Takim and his bandits, and the Chronic Whinger of Yew head west to the Kingdom of Auriel, where a wicked wizard dwells. The wizard, Kwytoffle, turns any dissidents into insects. Nobody has seen this occur, but all of them have heard about it from someone else. This information arouses the suspicions of Prince Marvel. When Prince Marvel confronts Kwytoffle, the wizard has an extremely limited spell book (none of which are magic missile) and no ability whatsoever to transform people. This fraudulence is like that of the more famous Wizard, but Kwytoffle is more pathetic and does not come with his own balloon.

Within the Land of Auriel there is a magical exclave containing the Kingdom of Twi. Access to the kingdom is via a hedge borrowed from Sleeping Beauty. Between the raids of King Terribus, the bandits of Wul-Takim, and the perceived wizardry of Kwartoffle, the kingdom’s decision to hide is quite sensible. Prince Marvel and select members of his company penetrate the hedge to discover the terrifying secrets of Twi – it is not terrible puns; that’s just basic Baum.

The kingdom of Twi, which seems larger on the inside, is bathed in Twilight and operates on different rules than the lands outside the hedge. It is a topsy-turvy land, but the most important aspect of the kingdom is the Twinese government. Everything is doubled and each doublet always agrees. The double executive of Twi consists of the elderly male twins the Ki of Twi and the younger male twins the Ki Ki of Twi. On the rare occasion that the Ki of Twi and the Ki Ki of Twi disagree, the High Ki of Twi, a pair of young female twins adjudicate. This is not a traditional monarchy; the people, all of whom are also twins, chose a new Ki, Ki Ki, or Hi Ki from the general population. The Mikado-esque balance is overthrown when the latest dispute between Ki and Ki Ki results in the attempted kidnapping of the High Ki; this is only partially successful because the Ki gain the support of only half of the High Ki. This physical separation of the High Ki from themselves allows each to start developing individuality; both possess the same potential but are interested in different aspects of that potential. The Twinese government, like many governments in fiction, cannot sustain any minimal damage; in this case, the High Ki resigns and each individual chooses a different path in the wider realms of the Enchanted Island.

Prince Marvel and his retinue return to the northern Kingdom of Heg, where more disorder on the island has led to the death of Neggar as well as the father of Sesely’s companions. One half of the former High Ki becomes the Bandit Queen, but most of the protagonists travel to the eastern kingdom, the Kingdom of Dawna. There the principal reaver is the Red Rogue of Dawna, so named for his russet beard, but also illustrating that red does not always have a positive association in Baumian color theory. The Red Rogue, an onomastic predecessor of Roquat the Red, has an intimidating castle, but his main internal defense is not a prosaic tight stairwell, but rather mirrors which will steal your visible form and leave you invisible. This defense works well on all but the OP fairy Prince. Prince Marvel’s appearance is already an illusion, so the mirror cannot make him invisible. This adventure of the party capture and a sole protagonist rescuing them is the plot of the second half of Ozma of Oz, but it also indicates that Marvel’s personal integration is too strong. The Red Rogue is defeated by one of his own mirrors and remains there a long time.

Since the quest would not be complete without visiting all quadrants of Yew, the company travels south to the Kingdom of Plenta. This is the southern kingdom in a magical land in a Baum book, so naturally it is ruled by a wise, kind, and generous ruby-themed sorceress. This land is where the final party takes place. As a wise hobbit once remarked, a long time can pass without adventure in times of peace and do not make for exciting tales. Prince Marvel returns to the wood where she first descended, changes her horse back into a stag, himself back into a fairy, and departs. Nerle and Sesely get married; Sesely’s two friends come to live with them. The Red Rogue eventually escapes his mirror prison, only to find he has been forgotten in the manner of Curdy and Irene. He tries to scrape together a “gang,” but the residents of Yew who possess negotiable morals have less murderous ways to indulge their appetites. The Island of Yew has become civilized, less magical, less chaotic.

In each stage of Prince Marvel’s adventure, the land of Yew becomes progressively more integrated. The bandits retain their identity as powerful warriors but are still proud of the name bandit. The appearance of Terribus changes to eliminate his sensitivity, but he does not have to surrender his kingdom. Kwytoffle’s illusions are shattered, but the people of Auriel learn to trust their own logical faculties. The Kingdom of Twi is brought out of its isolationism. The defeat of the Red Rogue allows the people of Dawna to no longer be invisible in decision making. The entire lsland becomes developed, civilized to the extent that the Red Rogue no longer fits in the society.

The applicability of Prince Marvel to transgenderism is easy to see, although it is not perfect. Prince Marvel is never uncomfortable in their identity as a latter-day Britomart, nor are they truly human. Even in their temporarily mortal form, they retain fairy powers which make the quest perhaps a little too easy. The primary applicability is to Baum’s feminism, in which the authoritative feminine protagonist displays qualities more commonly associated with boys in order to restore order. The one realm of Yew in which no dramatic adventure occurs is the one ruled by Baum’s archetypical Ruby Sorceress, be it Glinda, Maetta, or any other.

The Enchanted Island of Yew is also a prototype for the sequel to the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Marvelous Land of Oz. Tip is the inverse of Prince Marvel in his transformation. He comes from the north to the center. He is an agent of change and picks up fantastic allies in the west. He faces a challenge from the west. Each adventure has a conclusion. Although the protagonist of the Enchanted Island of Yew does not remain on the isle, it is probably no coincidence that the next Oz book, featuring gender politics as well as other inversions, was called the Marvelous Land of Oz.