- Lord Gro
In
Eric Rücker Eddison 'shigh fantasy - "The Worm Ouroboros " - Lord Gro is one of the important secondary characters. Unlike the other figures, Lord Gro switches sides; first he is an advisor toWitchland , later he is an ally ofDemonland .Lord Gro is described as follows:
Lord Gro is originally from Goblinland and is the foster-brother of King
Gaslark before they have a falling-out. Lord Gro is a famous explorer and wrote a book about his travels throughImpland .Lord Juss says of Gro:Lord Gro provides crucial aid to King
Gorice XII ofWitchland when he summons the magic which carriesGoldry Bluszco away. When LordCorund leads the army of Witchland against the Demonland expedition, Lord Gro is the chief advisor to Corund (and strongly urges Corund to commit treachery under the flag of truce, something Corund refuses to do).He acts as an advisor and trusted messenger to the King regarding the campaign in
Demonland . While in Demonland he meets and falls in love withBrandoch Daha 's sister, theLady Mevrian . Because of his love, he betrays the Witchland army and helps Mevrian escape fromCorinius after Corinius captures her brother's castle of Krothering. Lady Mevrian is very thankful to Lord Gro but does not seem to love him (see page 294). For the rest of the book Lord Gro supports the forces of Demonland but none of the other Demonlords trust him.In the final battle he kills soldiers on both sides (Witch and Demon) and is killed by
Lord Spitfire (page 366).Lord Gro is the most complex of the characters in the book and, as Lord Juss notes, he seems to favor the losing side in a conflict. In the early drawings of Eddison (done when Eddison was just 10 years old), Lord Gro is a much more heroic and active figure. In all the drawings he is on the side of the Demons. However, even at this early stage in the story's development, Lord Gro was more nuanced than the other characters (he is show stabbing one of his enemies in the back in one picture, in another he is shown shooting his former accomplice). (See footnote #9 for Chapter 2 by Paul Edmund Thomas).Fact|date=October 2007
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