A Pilgrimage into Magic by Clifford Simak, Summary

This 1975 novel combines themes of knightly quests with the concept of parallel dimensions. The plot centers on a group of companions’ quest through forbidden lands to a secret center of ancient wisdom. This book is a classic example of the author’s fusion of fairy tale folklore and fantastical speculation.

Theft of the manuscript and escape from Wyalusing

In the Wyalusing University library, a young scholar named Mark Cornwall removes a hidden parchment from the binding of an ancient tome. This text contains evidence of surviving Ancients. An envious monk named Oswald watches the scholar from the darkness.

Later, Oliver, the attic goblin, sneaks into Mark’s poor little room. The young visitor warns the scholar of the monk’s treachery. Oliver offers to fabricate a forgery, with a fictitious story about a distant library in the Desolate Land. Hiding the genuine document in his boot, Cornwall leaves the city with a merchant’s caravan. Brother Oswald sells the information to Inquisition spy Laurence Beckett. On the cobblestones at night, an unknown assailant fatally stabs the monk in the throat.

Meeting in the Borderland

In the swamps at the edge of human domain, a measured life unfolds. The swamp dweller, Jib, takes a custom-forged axe from the dwarven blacksmith, Plaxi. The traveler then hurries to the cave of a decrepit hermit healer. The old man dies in the presence of the forest visitor. Before his death, the righteous man asks for a book of healing recipes and a smooth stone cleaver to be delivered to the Bishop of the Tower.

The return journey brings a terrible discovery for the swamp dweller. In a forest clearing, Beckett’s bandits massacre a merchant caravan. Jib uses an axe to rescue the seriously wounded Mark Cornwall from a pack of wolves. On Old Drood’s raft, the rescued man is given hot broth to drink. Cornwall reveals to Jib the secret of the Latin manuscript. The friends decide to travel northwest together. They are joined by the woodsman Hal and his tame Raccoon, the goblin Oliver, and the dwarf Plaxy, who has given Mark an enchanted sword.

The Battle at the Inn and the Watchtower

An autumn downpour forces the squad to seek dry shelter. In the stable of a roadside inn, the friends encounter an orphan named Mary hiding. The girl has escaped from her cruel owners. That night, Beckett’s mercenaries burst into the stable. A brutal fight ensues in the darkness. A raccoon latches onto its enemy’s face. Mark resorts to pitchforks and blades. A couple of hours later, the squad disappears into the thicket. In the morning, Hal sees only the ashes of the inn and the innkeeper’s body hanging from an oak tree branch.

The travelers reach an ancient Tower at a river ford. An old bishop generously treats the guests to a dinner. The priest recognizes a stone hatchet as a genuine Ancient weapon. Mary decides to cross the river with everyone else. She vaguely remembers her early childhood in magical lands. Plaxy also agrees to continue the journey.

The Desert Edge and the Messenger from Another World

On the opposite bank of the valley, a wild, rolling landscape stretches. Mary easily plucks a meter-long, twisted unicorn horn from the trunk of a mighty oak tree. The artifact yields to the pure-hearted girl’s hands. Hellhounds stalk the pilgrims. At night, the Dark Piper plays an eerie melody, tossing the severed head of a horseman onto the bonfire. Ahead of the travelers lies a rocky amphitheater. The ground there is strewn with the bodies of Beckett’s mercenaries, torn to pieces by clawed beasts.

On the hill, the group is met by a certain Alexander Jones. This strange man, dressed in white, rides a rattling moped and takes pictures with a camera. Jones explains to Cornwall the hypothesis of reality’s divergence into the world of magic and the world of machine technology. That night, the dogs drive the mutilated Beckett to the camp. The former inquisitor begs for death as the lacerations on his body heal under the watchful eye of the ferocious pack.

The Witch’s House and the Cannibal’s Tea Party

The pilgrims approach a dilapidated two-story building near a stone bridge. A hunched witch presides over the house. The old woman claims Mary. Then the witch transforms Beckett, who crawls up to her, into an obedient lapdog.

A gelatinous, gigantic ogre emerges from a hole beneath the boulders. The brute fondly remembers Mary’s parents. The couple once crossed the plain peacefully, unarmed. The ogre treats the travelers to tea. In Jones’s tent, Mark and Mary declare their love. Goblin Oliver sternly reminds the girl to preserve her virginity for the sake of protecting the unicorn’s horn.

The Chaos Beast’s Castle and the Birth of the Robot

The pilgrims approach the citadel across the barren Scorched Plain. A pack of dogs and a four-meter-tall giant block their way. Mark swings his sword. The weapon flies through the air, slicing through the giant’s throat.

A protective fog billows from the gates. Creatures led by mutants nicknamed Fox, Frog, and Fatty have taken refuge inside the castle. The owners tell of the death of the Beast of Chaos, which fell from the sky. The monsters ask for a valuable item to be retrieved from a rotting crypt.

Mark descends on a rope, choking on the stench. Mary follows him down onto the seat. Protected by the power of the horn, she hooks the three-legged metal creature.

The creature is dragged outside. The machine is nicknamed the Tin Bucket. At night, fiery disks flare in the sky. The bucket gestures for the squad to flee. Five glowing wheels turn the citadel walls to stone dust. The frightened horses, laden with supplies, disappear into the darkness.

In the Neanderthal caves

Left without supplies, the squad marches toward the Misty Mountains. Tin Bucket carries heavy bundles on his newly sprouted tentacles and amusingly plays with Raccoon.

At a mountain pass, travelers encounter a band of primitive hunters in skins. The ancients are carrying the carcass of a captured horned demon. Jones is discovered trapped by the savages. The American has fallen into a trap, lured by the sight of a naked bait tied to an oak tree. Tin Bucket de-energizes the light fence.

In the cave, a chieftain named Old Man declares the return of the axe a sign of a broken friendship. The hunter Crooked Bear stabs the chieftain in the back with a spear and demands he hand over the guests’ magical items. Tin Bucket ejects dozens of flexible tentacles. The robot takes the spears from the savages, throws Jones’s rifle into the fire pit, grabs the roasted carcass of the bear, and leads the pilgrims back to the trail.

Battle in the Gorge and the Ghost Army

The gorge at the mouth of the mountains turns into a narrow stone corridor. A flock of harpies, with bird-like bodies and skulls for faces, swoops down on the pilgrims. Hal fires arrows one after another. Plaxy and Oliver pelt the flying creatures with rocks. Jones receives a deep claw wound to his shoulder.

The Gossip takes the ancient stone axe from Bucket. The beggar wanderer begins to sing a loud song. Hundreds of mighty ghostly warriors from a distant era emerge from the shadows. The visions send the harpies fleeing in panic. The party emerges onto a wide, green meadow.

University of Three Worlds

A white architectural complex rises ahead. Guests are greeted by the brownie Nimblefingers and a mist-shrouded, hooded Guardian. The being turns out to be a galactic observer-thinker.

The Guardian reveals the truth about the universe. Earthly reality once split into three branches. The first gave birth to the magic of the Deserted Edge. The second developed Jones’s machines. The third branch nurtured the morality and humanism of Mary’s parents.

The university is gathering the legacy of three civilizations to create a new, harmonious culture. Mary’s parents returned to their home world, certain of their daughter’s death.

The wanderers’ paths diverge. Jones takes Jib, Hal, Raccoon, and Plaxy on his car to return to the swamps and mines through parallel space. Gossip carries the unicorn’s horn back to the treasured oak tree. Mark Cornwall and Mary remain in the great library forever.