''The Worm and the Ring'' is a 1960

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by English novelist

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, d ...

, drawing on his time as a teacher at Banbury Grammar School,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, England, in the early 1950s. It is Burgess's version of the

Ring Cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...

. The Dragon pub in the novel corresponds to the worm and a purloined diary to the ring.

Characters

( Wagnerian equivalents in brackets) *Woolton, the school principal (

Wotan (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelun ...

) *Frederica, Woolton's wife ( Fricka) *Lodge ( Loge) *Albert Rich, a student at the school (

Alberich In German heroic legend, Alberich () is a dwarf. He features most prominently in the poems ''Nibelungenlied'' and ''Ortnit''. He also features in the Old Norse collection of German legends called the Thidreksaga under the name Alfrikr. His name me ...

) *three female students (the

Rhinemaidens The Rhinemaidens are the three water-nymphs (''Rheintöchter'' or "Rhine daughters") who appear in Richard Wagner's opera cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. Their individual names are Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde (Floßhilde), although the ...

) *Linda (Woglinde, one of the Rhinemaidens)

Libel action and revised edition

The novel was withdrawn from circulation following a libel action by Gwendoline Bustin, the secretary of Banbury Grammar School, where Burgess had taught in the early 1950s. Several characters were recognisable as figures from the school, but only Miss Bustin, later Lady Mayoress of Banbury, objected. Heinemann agreed to "amend all unsold copies of the book" (''The Times'', 25 October 1962) but actually pulped them. A revised edition of the novel, with the libellous elements removed, was published in 1970.

References

Novels by Anthony Burgess 1960 British novels Novels set in Oxfordshire Recalled publications Völsung cycle Heinemann (publisher) books {{1960s-novel-stub