Paracosms
Exjuria, Tigrosylvania, Katzland and Belmonia (The Bus 4.49)
Welcome aboard The Bus!
The Stop
Paracosms are complexly detailed imaginary worlds that some children develop in middle childhood.1 Usually complete with their own geography, history, cultures and languages, interest in paracosms can last for a long period of time - for months, or even years. In some rare cases, they become ‘sophisticated realit[ies]’ remaining with their creators well into adulthood - and occasionally become the setting for famous works of literature.2
Because they are ‘so elaborate and inventive,’ it’s often assumed that paracosms are rare. However, a 2018 study by researchers at the University of Oregon showed they are more common than usually thought: around 17% of children interviewed described creating ‘imaginary worlds - places where, for example, people only read the books they have written themselves, cats fly, and inhabitants speak a [created] language.’ What the researchers also found striking was that children who create paracosms, rather than being considered unusual or ‘odd’, are in other ways just like their peers - they ‘do not stand out’, but are ‘similar … in verbal comprehension, working memory, and … creativity.’ However, where the creators of paracosms do stand out is in their enhanced ability for story telling: not only are the ‘narratives of their paracosms impressive,’ they tend to invent ‘more creative endings’ to a given story than those produced by children who had not designed a paracosm.3
The history of English literature is filled with writers who created paracosms, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s son, Hartley Coleridge (1796-1849), who invented the paracosm of Ejuxria, on which he would work for the rest of his life having, according to a biographer, never been able to ‘relinquish the keys to his personal paradise.’ Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859) and his older brother, William, invented two imaginary kingdoms - Gombroon and Tigrosylvania - which were constantly at war with one another, and the Brontë sisters - Charlotte (1816-1855), Emily (1818-1848) and Anne (1820-1849) - joined with their brother, Branwell (1817-1848), to create Great Glass Town and two offshoots - Gondal (Emily and Anne) and Angria (Charlotte and Branwell). In the case of the Brontës’ creation, these worlds formed the basis of Charlotte’s romance, High Life in Verdopolis.4
While most paracosms fade as a child matures, for some like Hartley Coleridge they remain a ‘favourite fantasy pastime’, while for others they become incorporated into the ‘way that they think about their life goals.’ As a result, paracosms that remain active after childhood are usually folded into their creator’s work, and for writers this means they often become the setting for narratives. The detailed worlds of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, C. S. Lewis’s Narnia and J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth are all examples of paracosms that remained with their creators long after childhood and, in these examples at least, became the setting for three beloved fictional worlds.
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to The Underground Clocks of Paris, a fascinating short (8:30) documentary about the extraordinary, ingenious network of underground pipes which kept 19th century Paris on perfect time - by using bursts of compressed air to keep thousands of clocks around the city synchronised to a central, master clock. Interesting for the engineering, but also for the way industrialisation led to the realisation of how important it was that everyone was able to be on time.
The Underground Clocks of Paris
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is one of the most famous - and enduring - paracosms: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955). Though published in three parts (The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954) and The Return of the King (1955)), Tolkien’s original intention was that it would be published as a single volume.
As a young teen Tolkien began inventing languages. When he later began imagining the people who spoke them, he created Middle-earth, a complex paracosm populated by multiple cultures with detailed histories, genealogies, and languages that, in the end, formed the backdrop for his epic high fantasy novel.
From the back: In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.
When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.
It’s quite the ride - and one I’ve loved since I first read it in the seventh grade. If you’ve read it before, I’d suggest reading it again, and if you haven’t, it’s worth a go. What I would suggest is that you read the book and not see the films so that you can define the world yourself and not the way Peter Jackson envisioned it. Which, while sufficient in many ways, pales in comparison to how I imagined it as a child.
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is a selection of five tracks about imaginary worlds: ‘Ramble On’ (Led Zeppelin, 1969), ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’ (The Flaming Lips, 2002), ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ (The Beatles, 1967), ‘The Big Rock Candy Mountain’ (Harry McClintock, 1928) and ‘Planet Telex’ (Radiohead, 1995). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from Hartley Coleridge’s Liberty (1833):
‘But what is Freedom? Rightly understood, A universal licence to be good.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
Roughly defined as the years between 6-12, the middle childhood years are those which ‘universally mark a distinctive period between major developmental transition points’. Essentially a relatively quiet interlude between the myriad challenges of early childhood and those accompanying the onset of puberty. For a more detailed explanation, see: Middle Childhood (NIH).
Until last Friday, I had no idea this word existed. But I did know about imaginary worlds, having created and maintained for a few years - in middle childhood - the secretive Kingdom of Katzland that was ruled by my cat, Sox, who’s regnal name for some reason long lost to history was Sox Ox Ollie I. Paracosms seem to run in the family, as the Belmonia listed in today’s subject line was one created by my uncle, Mike (of ‘Advent Gifts’ fame - see issues 2.20 and 4.21). I wasn’t sure of the name of his world, but a quick Whatsapp sorted it out: ‘The name of the nation I controlled was Belmonia … beautiful Belmonia with her villas amongst the golden spring where ‘life in itself is astonishing’’. There’s a reason we’ve both been drawn to fantasy fiction and philosophy …. Sources for today’s Stop include Paracosms in Middle Childhood, Childhood Paracosms and Paracosm (Wikipedia).
The earliest known example of a child who created a paracosm is Thomas Malkin (1795-1802), who’s father - after his son’s early death - published an account of the boy’s detailed creation of the civilisation of Alleston and the ‘series of stories set in and around’ it. A fully realised history including lists of 'remarkable events’, Allestonian music (including a comic opera), lists of men’s and women’s names, diagrams and maps were among some of the many components the boy had created before his death at seven.
Of course, it’s not just the English who have produced paracosms: the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and his sister created a complicated kingdom of squirrels, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his sister created Das Königreich Rücken (‘The Kingdom of Back’) which was populated entirely by children.
A Farewell to Paracosmic Paroxysms Past:
https://gvloewen.ca/fiction/the-kristen-seraphim-saga/