The Hexer

The Hexer or the Witcher (Polish: Wied?min) is a character created by Andrzej Sapkowski. Hexers appear in Sapkowski's Hexer cycle, comprising two short story collections and five novels. The novels sometimes wrongly described as the Hexer Saga (Saga o wied?minie), where the correct over-title is Blood of the Elves. The stories and novels have been translated into Czech, Slovak, German, Russian, Lithuanian, French and Spanish. English translation of The Final Wish short story collection is going to be published by Gollancz in 2006.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hexers are professional monster killers who receive special training and preparation. They are sterile mutants with supernatural abilities. During their training they are also taught to suppress their feelings, which leads many people to believe that they have no emotions. Geralt, the central character in Sapkowski's stories, is one of the best hexers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Alternatively, the word warlock has been used informally in English translations, while witcher, being a new word in English (as wied?min is in Polish) describes better the spirit of Geralt's profession. Witcher is also used by the makers of a computer game based on the books. Sapkowski himself prefers the translation hexer.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Polish: Polish () may refer to:...

Andrzej Sapkowski: Andrzej Sapkowski, born June 21, 1948 in Lodz, is a Polish fantasy writer. Sapkowski studied economics and worked as a businessman before becoming well known as a writer. His first short story, The Hexer (Wied?min), was published in Fantastyka, Poland's leading fantasy literary magazine, in 1986 an...

Gollancz: Gollancz (from Polish towns Go?a?cz (Gollantsch, or Schwertburg), near W?growiec, Posen district or Go?a?cz Pomorski(-a) (Glausee) near Trzebiat?w, Pomerania) refers to:...