This story is the most sophisticated of William Morrisâs stories
in The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. The first two chapters, published in September, are similar to earlier stories, such as âGerthaâs
Loversâ and âSvend
and his Brethrenâ. Each of these stories has a
medieval setting, and focuses on family lineage and knightly heroism.
âThe Hollow Landâ, however, adds a moral ambiguity
absent from the earlier stories: the narrator asks, âHad our
house been the devilâs servants all along? I thought we were
Godâs servants.â (573). In the second part, published
in October, Morris takes the story in a different direction as the
narrator travels into âthe hollow land,â a sort of
purgatory. The closing chapters question divine judgment, redemption, and
the power of art.
Like many of the stories in the Magazine, âThe Hollow
Landâ shows the clear influence of
Maloryâs Morte dâArthur
, especially in the vocabulary Morris uses: words such as
âundernâ and âflatlingsâ give
the story an archaic tone, one not achieved in Morrisâs other
tales in the Magazine.
When Sydney Cockerell and Robert Proctor edited Morris's contributions to
The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine for republication, they used this story as the title of the
collection, The Hollow Land and Other Contributions to The Oxford
and Cambridge Magazine (LeMire).
This collection contains 2 texts and images, including:
The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine text
Scholarly Commentary
Guest Editor: PC Fleming
IntroductionÂ
This story is the most sophisticated of William Morrisâs stories in The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. The first two chapters, published in September, are similar to earlier stories, such as âGerthaâs Loversâ and âSvend and his Brethrenâ. Each of these stories has a medieval setting, and focuses on family lineage and knightly heroism. âThe Hollow Landâ, however, adds a moral ambiguity absent from the earlier stories: the narrator asks, âHad our house been the devilâs servants all along? I thought we were Godâs servants.â (573). In the second part, published in October, Morris takes the story in a different direction as the narrator travels into âthe hollow land,â a sort of purgatory. The closing chapters question divine judgment, redemption, and the power of art.
Like many of the stories in the Magazine, âThe Hollow Landâ shows the clear influence of Maloryâs Morte dâArthur , especially in the vocabulary Morris uses: words such as âundernâ and âflatlingsâ give the story an archaic tone, one not achieved in Morrisâs other tales in the Magazine.
When Sydney Cockerell and Robert Proctor edited Morris's contributions to The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine for republication, they used this story as the title of the collection, The Hollow Land and Other Contributions to The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine (LeMire).
Printing HistoryÂ
First printed in The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine ,1856, in two parts: the first part in September and the second part in October.