Literary notes about magician (AI summary)
The term "magician" in literature has been used in a wide range of ways, from embodiments of mystical power and profound wisdom to figures of satire and even tragedy. In classic tales such as those in The Arabian Nights, magicians appear as both harbingers of destiny and dangerous foes, as seen when their foretold actions set significant events in motion ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5]). In contrast, authors like Kipling have portrayed magicians in a more whimsical, sometimes endearing light, addressing them as the "Eldest Magician" in narratives that mix charm with moral lessons ([6], [7], [8], [9], [10]). Historical and anthropological texts offer yet another perspective, where the magician is depicted as a pivotal cultural figure—sometimes healing, sometimes exacting retribution—thus bridging the realms of myth, ritual, and social order ([11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16]). Even in poetic epics like the Kalevala, the magician becomes an archetypal element, symbolizing transformative power embedded in mythic tradition ([17], [18], [19], [20], [21]). Overall, the word "magician" oscillates between a literal wielder of supernatural powers and a metaphor for the artist or societal leader, highlighting humanity’s long fascination with the mysterious and the extraordinary ([22], [23]).
- Aladdin told him what had happened, and showed him the dead body of the magician, that he might believe.
— from The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang - " Everything happened exactly as the young magician had foretold.
— from The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang - he said piteously; whereupon the magician said more kindly: "Fear nothing, but obey me.
— from The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang - On coming to the princess the magician offered up a prayer for her health and prosperity.
— from The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang - He then went to the dead magician, took the lamp out of his vest, and bade the genie carry the palace and all in it back to China.
— from The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang - Then the little girl-daughter put up her little soft brown arms with the beautiful white shell bracelets and said, ‘O Eldest Magician!
— from Just so stories by Rudyard Kipling - ‘Was that well done?’ said the Eldest Magician.
— from Just so stories by Rudyard Kipling - If she had spoken then, the Eldest Magician would have called me back, and all this would never have happened.
— from Just so stories by Rudyard Kipling - Launch your canoe and we will find out who is playing with the Sea,’ said the Eldest Magician.
— from Just so stories by Rudyard Kipling - And the Eldest Magician said, ‘How wise are little children who speak truth!
— from Just so stories by Rudyard Kipling - The prince pulled off the parrot’s second wing, and the magician’s left arm tumbled off.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - Thus beginning as little more than a simple conjurer, the medicine-man or magician tends to blossom out into a full-blown god and king in one.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - “As a matter of fact the magician is the man who has most power in his hands, and he is accustomed to receive presents instead of to give them.”
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - When a woman is in hard labour and cannot bring forth, they call in a magician to her aid.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - Hence the king, starting as a magician, tends gradually to exchange the practice of magic for the priestly functions of prayer and sacrifice.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - It is the magician’s duty to bring down misfortune and plagues on the enemies of his tribe, and to guard his own people against hostile magic.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - thy blood fills seven sea-boats, Eight of largest birchen vessels, Flowing from some hero's veinlets, From the wounds of some magician.
— from Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete - All are filled with awe and wonder, But the artist and magician.
— from Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete - Quick the maiden looked in wonder, in the snow beheld some foot-prints, Spake these words to the magician: Who again has crossed our pathway?"
— from Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete - Kullerwoinen, wild magician, Measures, on his journey homeward, Northland's far-extending borders, And the fertile plains of Pohya.
— from Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete - Wainamoinen, the magician, Then began his wondrous singing.
— from Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete - It is the magician's wand, by means of which he may summon into life whatever form and mould he pleases."
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - We rightly speak of the magic of art and compare the artist with a magician.
— from Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud