Greenwitch: The Dark is Rising #3 by Susan Cooper

Title: Greenwitch: The Dark is Rising #3
Author: Susan Cooper
Publication: Simon & Schuster, paperback, originally published 1974
Genre: Juvenile fantasy/series
Setting: Cornwall

Description: The gold chalice, known as the Trewissick Grail, that was found by Simon, Jane, and Barnabus Drew in Over Sea, Under Stone, has been stolen from the British Museum. Professor Merriman Lyon, sometimes known as Gumerry, finds the Drews in front of the empty case and asks them to help him recover the chalice. At the same time, Will Stanton, recently revealed as an old One in the fight between the Dark and the Light, is invited to go to Cornwall with an uncle who is traveling with Merriman. To succeed in reclaiming the chalice and its power, Will must team up with the somewhat jealous Drews to figure out how the stolen item is connected to the local legend of Greenwitch.

My Impression: Like many other readers, I noticed the difference in tone and style between the first two books in Cooper’s The Dark is Rising sequence – both very appealing and enjoyable, but the first is an adventure story reminiscent of Geoffrey Trease and the second is more like Tolkien. Cooper must have realized the juxtaposition would be challenging but she does not ignore it. She shows the Drew children are delighted to be asked to help recover the grail, which everyone knows has been snatched by their old adversaries, but they are somewhat suspicious of Will. The Drews sense he is more mature than they are and notice his relationship with Merriman is that of a peer. One gets the sense that Cooper has lost interest in Simon and Barnabus (Will has much more dimension as a character) but she sees potential in Jane, whose empathy enables her to communicate with the Greenwitch:

The huge leafy head turned towards her, and without a voice the Greenwitch spoke, spoke into her mind.

“I have a secret,” the Greenwitch said.

Jane felt the loneliness that she had felt in the thing up in the headland, in the beginning: the sorrow and emptiness. But through it she felt the Greenwitch clutching at something for comfort, like a child with a toy . . . . The living tower of branches bent towards her, nearer. “I have a secret, it is mine. Mine, mine. But I will show you. If you promise not to tell, not to tell.”

“I promise,” said Jane.

The making of the Greenwitch is an annual tradition carried out by the women of Trewissick as spring ends to celebrate summer and ensure healthy crops. Jane is invited by the housekeeper to join in the night of revelry. With a bonfire in the background, the women create a large shape framed with hawthorn branches and use rowan for its huge head. Jane feels deep pity for the sightless creature destined to be pushed off a cliff and, when encouraged by the women to make a wish, impulsively wishes the creature could be happy. This creates a weird bond between them that leads to the recovery of the grail.

Greenwitch is shorter than The Dark is Rising and mysterious in a different way. The making of the Greenwitch is more unnerving than terrifying as the local women invite Jane to participate in the all-night creation ritual because, although she is not local, they honor her for finding the grail on her previous visit. Cooper gives her only heroine the key role in recovering a manuscript that will unravel the secret of the grail. In an anniversary edition that has an introduction by Cooper, she writes that she received letters from readers eagerly asking her about the tradition of Greenwitch and where in Celtic folklore had she come across it – but she admits she completely made it up.  However, Trewissick is based on a real town, Mevagissey.

“Is the last part of the quest in Wales?”
“Yes.”
“Are we going to be part of it?”
Merriman said, “Wait and see.”

Unlike Barney, we know there are two more books! Stay tuned for more of AnnaBookBel’s group read of The Dark is Rising series.

Source: Personal copy.

Previous reviews:

Over Sea, Under Stone #1

The Dark is Rising #2

Victory (about Lord Nelson)