Theology, Religion and The Witcher
How does theology and religious ideology enter our political struggles?
Much can be learned about this from the popular world of The Witcher, says AUT Senior Lecturer Yael Cameron – co-editor, with Dr Jonathan Hoskin, of a new book Theology, Religion and The Witcher: Gods and Golden Dragons.
The Witcher was created by Polish salesman Andrezj Sapkowski in 1986 as a short story for a fantasy magazine, but it is now better known as a hugely successful role-playing game and Netflix series.
The image of the brawny, white-haired Geralt of Rivia, The Witcher, is iconic, known for his monster-hunting, magic, and morose aspect on life, and his ability to charm sorceresses.
Dr Cameron says that what is less well-known is how much The Witcher draws on ideas about God, religion, morality, ideology, faith, and ethics to layer its complex geo-political world.
“Like The Witcher, we live within a complex array of politics and problems, wars and crises, driven by powerful ideas which are informed to a greater or lesser extent by religion,” Dr Cameron says.
“The Witcher shows how religious ideology can enter into contemporary political struggle and play out in the form of violence, oppression and persecution but also in covert forms like propaganda, the scapegoating of minorities, xenophobia, racism, modern-day witch hunts, religious justifications for colonisation, and the hunting of species to extinction and the seeming ambivalent destruction of ecologies.”
Dr Cameron says the idea behind the book sprang from questions around the power of popular fantasy to reveal the workings of religious ideology in the real world.
“We hope that it might offer the space for discussion and reflection on contemporary issues that are growing increasingly urgent.”
The book’s 10 chapters are written by academics from different institutions, including some from AUT. They explore topics such as the clash between science and religion, links between religion and politics, religious notions of destiny and how to identify a real monster.
Dr Cameron and AUT Senior Lecturer Eunice Gaerlan in their chapter write about the marginalization of the culture and spirituality of tribal women in The Witcher, and how it mirrors the persecution of tribal priestesses in the Philippines at the time of Spanish colonisation.
Other chapters consider the treatment of rare species, fertility and faith, gender and pre-Christian spiritualities, and the representation of disability.
How we treat nature
In her chapter, AUT Lecturer Joanna Pascoe looks at the treatment of rare species in both The Witcher and on our planet.
In the episode Rare Species from season one of the Netflix series, “a rare shape-shifting golden dragon inspires care and love towards our endurance”, Dr Pascoe says.
“Through the alliance of humans and nonhumans, Rare Species explores hopepunk actions towards transformation, stoic ongoing-ness and hopeful collective action – despite a sense of existential end-of-times, to trust in a bigger picture that we cannot yet see.”
How we see older women
AUT Lecturer Tof Eklund draws out underlying themes of goddess worship and the divine crone in the RPG computer game Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales.
“Maidens are full of youthful potential, and mothers have their hands full caring for everyone – but what do crones do?” Dr Eklund says.
“Thronebreaker is a tale of Queen Meve fighting to save her land and reclaim her throne. But it is also, and just as importantly, a story about life after motherhood and the conflict between two radically different views of older women.”
To those that betray her, Queen Meve is seen as used up – no longer sexually attractive nor capable of bearing and raising heirs.
But, Dr Eklund says, she is offered a pagan alternative: leave behind motherhood and embrace a new role as a crone judging the lives of men who thought themselves above judgment.
“As a Crone of Judgment, Meve can overcome both her foes and her fear that she was a bad mother; she can reconcile with or imprison her traitorous son, become feared or loved by her people, and leave behind romance or find a new one.”