Clifford Simak’s "The Enchanted Pilgrimage" Summary

The plot combines elements of traditional fairy tales with the science fiction concept of multiple parallel Earths and cosmic civilizations. Clifford Simak’s novel was published in 1975.

The Manuscript and the Escape from Wailusing

In the quiet of Wylusing University’s library, penniless student Mark Cornwell retrieves an ancient parchment bound in the leather of Taylor’s travel journal. The document contains information about the mysterious Old Ones. The monk Oswald watches the young man from the shadows of the bookshelves, hoping to profitably sell the secret to the inquisitor Laurence Beckett.

A goblin from the rafters, Oliver, warns the student of imminent death. That night, in a cold attic, they create a forged manuscript, inscribing it with a legend about a Place of Knowledge in the distant Wild Lands. Oswald is soon found in a dark alley with his throat slit. Mark leaves the university town with a merchant’s wagon train.

Allies from the swamps and forest hills

A merchant caravan perishes under the arrows of mercenaries on a forest road. A swamp dweller named Jib rescues the wounded Mark from a wolf’s jaws with a sharp iron axe. The day before, Jib had visited a dying hermit in a cave. Before his death, the elder gave the swamp dweller an ancient, smooth stone axe and instructed him to take the relic to the bishop at the Border Tower.

The fugitives are joined by Hol of Hollow Tree and his pet Raccoon. The blacksmith Snively gives Mark an enchanted sword forged from a rare ore vein. Goblin Oliver leaves the university rafters for a long quest.

An autumn storm drives travelers into the hayloft of a roadside inn. A young kitchen maid, Mary, is hiding there, having escaped from her cruel masters. That night, Beckett’s men break into the stable. In the ensuing melee, Raccoon grapples with his enemy, and Mark wields a heavy pitchfork. The inn burns to the ground, the innkeeper finds himself hanging from an oak tree, and Mary flees with her troop.

Border Tower and the rider on the iron horse

In the old fortress, the Bishop of the Tower generously treats the guests to roast meat. The priest confirms the stone axe’s origins with the Ancients and blesses the travelers to return the artifact to its owners. The blacksmith Snively catches up with the party at the river. The group crosses the ford and enters the Wildlands.

Mary easily plucks a three-foot unicorn horn from the trunk of a centuries-old oak tree. At dusk, Bromley the bridge troll, remembering the girl’s childhood games, comes to the campfire. Suddenly, the wild howl of the Dark Trumpeter rings out, foreshadowing death, and a severed head rolls toward the fire.

In the morning, the pilgrims pass a ravine littered with the mangled bodies of Beckett’s men. At the crest of the hill, Alexander Jones, dressed in a white suit, meets the travelers. The stranger sits atop a rumbling, two-wheeled motorized vehicle. Jones escorts the group to his tents, treats them to ale, and shows them color photographs. The traveler explains that he has come from a parallel world of machines and factories, where magic has been completely forgotten.

At night, a pack of Cerberuses chases a naked, tortured Beckett down the road. The former inquisitor, in agony, begs for a merciful death. Mark draws his blade, but Jones, with a precise blow from his fist, knocks the scientist to the grass, saving him from the monsters’ slaughter.

The Witch’s House and the Crypt of the Beast of Chaos

Near the stone bridge stands the dilapidated two-story house where Mary spent her childhood. A hunchbacked witch serves tea to her guests and talks confusedly about the orphan’s parents. Beckett, the surviving boy, arrives. The witch casts a spell, transforming the inquisitor into a submissive four-legged servant. A toad-like ogre, dwelling in a rocky burrow, recalls the girl’s father and mother, who wandered unencumbered into the desert.

Jones suddenly disappears along with some of his equipment. The squad continues on foot across the dry dunes of the Scorched Plain. The crenellated walls of the Beast of Chaos’s castle loom ahead. A pack of Cerberi, led by a hulking giant, attempts to block their path. Mark swings his sword, the blade rips from his hands, and cleaves through the giant’s neck.

The fortress’s disfigured servants shelter the fugitives behind a thick blanket of fog. Creatures with frog-like and fox-like faces ask them to retrieve the legacy of the deceased alien Beast of Chaos from the crypt. The rotting mass fills the air with a noxious stench. Mark lowers himself into the hatch on a rope, but the raging slime repels him. Then Mary descends with a unicorn horn, pacifying the filth. Using an iron hook, the travelers pull out a cylindrical, three-legged metal creature with flexible tentacles — Tin.

At night, the space is shaken by the roar of fiery rings. The tin can furiously signals with its tentacles, urging the squad to flee outside. The horses tear off their loads and gallop away. The fiery rings unleash a barrage of lightning on the castle, reducing the ancient stronghold to dust.

Cave Hunters and the Harpy Attack

At the foot of the Misty Mountains, the travelers encounter bearded hunters clad in animal skins. The ancients carry the carcass of a horned, blue-skinned demon on a pole. Mark speaks to the savages in the dialect he learned. Hunter Broken Bear leads the party to the next trap.

Within the glowing triangle of the force field, Jones struggles, trapped, lured by the naked bait. Tin Can pulls out the trap’s stake and frees his captive. In the cave, the one-eyed Elder takes the return of his axe as a blood grudge. Broken Bear stabs the chieftain from behind with a spear and demands the strangers’ weapons. Tin Can suddenly snatches the spears from the savages, throws them into the ravine, hurls Jones’s gun, and carries off the roasted bear carcass for a hearty dinner.

On a mountain ledge, a flock of winged, sharp-clawed harpies attacks the travelers. Hol strikes the predators with well-aimed arrows, Mark wields his sword, and Jones crushes the monsters with a club. The wanderer Gossip arrives, tossing his stone axe into the air and singing a rhythmic song. The shadows of primeval giants rise along the cliffs, forcing the flying creatures to retreat.

The Temple of Knowledge and the Triple Alliance

Beyond the mountain range, a delicate, snow-white palace opens up before the pilgrims. A house spirit named Violin Fingers runs out to greet Mary. The guests are greeted by a disembodied figure in black robes — the Watchman, who calls himself a philosophical engineer of an ancient civilization.

Over a sumptuous table, the host reveals the secret of the universe. The Earth split twice, giving birth to three parallel realities: the world of Alexander Jones’s technology, the world of Mark Cornwell’s sorcery, and the world of pure humanity to which Mary’s parents returned. A guardian has guarded the sanctuary for centuries, striving to unite the experiences of three cultures into a common galactic synthesis. The Tin Can turns out to be an adapted cosmic descendant of the Beast of Chaos. The Gossip gives the stone axe to Jib as a fond memento, and takes the unicorn horn back for the oak tree.

Jones activates the interdimensional mechanism and takes Jib, Hal, Raccoon, and the blacksmith Snively back to their native swamps and mines. Mark Cornwell and Mary remain in the Place of Knowledge with Oliver and Tin, beginning the long work of studying the manuscripts.