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Simon, Jane, and Barney, enlisted by their mysterious great-uncle, arrive in a small coastal town to recover a priceless golden grail stolen by the forces of evil--Dark. They are not at first aware of the strange powers of another boy brought to help, Will Stanton--nor of the sinister significance of the Greenwitch, an image of leaves and branches that for centuries has been cast into the sea for good luck in fishing and harvest. Their search for the grail sets into motion a series of events show more that, at their climax, bring forth a gift that, for a time at least, will keep the Dark from rising. show less

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Simon, Jane and Barney Drew, the three siblings who found King Arthur's lost chalice and saved it from the Dark in Over Sea, Under Stone, and Will Stanton, the youngest of the Old Ones whose quest to assemble the six signs of power was told in The Dark Is Rising, come together in this third installment of Susan Cooper's five volume The Dark Is Rising sequence. Once more in the small Cornish fishing village of Trewissick, the Drew siblings adjust to Will's presence, which they find unwelcome, and all four, along with Merriman, search for the chalice found in the first book, which has now been stolen by agents of the Dark. As Simon and Barney contend with a nasty painter who is talented, but clearly of the Dark, Jane witnesses the show more creation of the Greenwitch—a figure made at night by the women of the village, created by bonfire out of branches, and launched into the sea at dawn by the fisherman of the village. An offering to Tethys, the ruler of the sea, the Greenwitch is a creature of the Wild Magic, and although neither of the Light nor Dark, it has a role to play in their struggle, a role shaped by Jane's compassion, and an unexpected wish...

A slim 147 pages, this middle point in Cooper's series is a brief but powerful turning point in the story, and has always had a special charm for me. The characters from the first two books are brought together, creating some interesting tension, but the real focus here is on the eponymous Greenwitch, and on the forces of the Wild Magic, which are powerful, but which stand outside the struggle between Light and Dark, good and evil. It has always seemed to me that the Wild Magic is meant to represent the power and enchantment of nature—chaotic, sometimes destructive, sometimes nourishing—and that, of all the kinds of magic presented in the series, it is most closely associated with humanity. While Old Ones are presented as predestined champions of the Light, just as the agents of the Dark are predestined partisans for their side, humans can go either way, depending upon their choices. Not possessing magic of their own, they are nevertheless part of nature, and therefore part of the Wild Magic. It is this, I think, that gives Jane the ability to connect with the Greenwitch, and to win from it the needed manuscript, when the far more powerful Old Ones cannot do so. She is able to show compassion, and (most importantly) fellow-feeling—she identifies with the Greenwitch, and wishes it well, rather than demanding something of it—and this works a magic of its own.

Whether this interpretation is the one Cooper intended, I could not say, but it has always made The Greenwitch a most powerful book for me, despite its brevity, and the fact that less seems to happen in it, than in previous installments of the series. Of course, I also love it because it has that strong sense of place to be found in Cooper's other books, and an eldritch sense of enchantment that is very gripping. I recommend it strongly to fantasy fans, although the first two books must be read first, I think, for a proper appreciation of the story.
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Greenwitch always had a special place in my heart, perhaps not quite my favourite book in the Dark is Rising Sequence, but it has something the others don't. Jane, Simon and Barney meet Will Stanton for the first time. Will's an Old One of the Light, the others aren't. Will's one of the in-crowd, full of secret knowledge and magic and authority. The kids generally go along with this a bit too meekly for my liking, but in Greenwitch there's a spiky bit of resentment and irritation.

The grail recovered by the kids in Over Sea Under Stone has been stolen, and Merry brings the kids and, through some Old One machinations, Will Stanton, to Cornwall on the eve of the ancient ceremony of the Greenwitch. Only Jane can attend the actual ceremony show more of the making of the Greenwitch, and it's her wish that makes all the difference - the Dark is after something, and it needs the Grail, and it needs Barney, and it needs the Greenwitch, but the Greenwitch is Wild Magic and not to be ordered about by Light or Dark, resulting in unpredictable and dangerous forces unleashed in a small seaside town.

Fantastic writing creates a wonderful atmosphere, and it's a terrific story full of folklore and a sense of deep dark magics, even if the Old Ones are an awfully smug lot. Jane is really at the heart of the book, for all that they keep trying to sideline her for the stranger bits, and she's much more interesting and engaging.
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[I wrote this review in 2008]

**Third in The Dark is Rising Series**

The Dark is Rising is a wonderful classic fantasy series, and 'Greenwitch' (Book 3) brings together the characters from Books 1 and 2, as the powers of the Light continue on their quest to overcome the Dark.

The Drew children, Simon, Jane and Barney, central to the story in 'Over Sea Under Stone' (Book 1) come back into the plot, returning to Trewissick with their Great Uncle Merry for a week of their Easter Holidays. They are on a mission to recover the celtic golden chalice they found in Book 1 and presented to a museum for safe-keeping. The chalice has been stolen and Great Uncle Merry (Gumerry) believes they can help to find it. In 'Greenwitch' their characters are show more better developed than in the first book, bringing out distinctive individual characteristics for each of the children.

Also on his way down to Trewissick for his holidays is Will Stanton, the Sign-Seeker and youngest of the Old Ones, guardians of the Light in Book 2. Will's Uncle Bill is taking him on his holidays with an old friend of his, Merriman Lyon... Merriman, or Merry has brought all of the children together for the first time as they each have unique skills to help with the recovering of the chalice and the fight against the powers of the Dark. Jane, in particular, as she is invited to watch the local women of the village construct the magical Greenwith as an offering to the sea, makes a wish which becomes important to the Old Ones in their struggles against the Dark....

Not as good as Book 2, but 'Greenwitch' is essential in bringing together the two plot lines established in Books 1 and 2, and is a key part of The Dark is Rising series. A great series for all ages.
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Probably the weakest of the Dark is Rising Sequence so far. Cooper's prose remains lovely and strong, and it's nice to see some character development--and a little less focus on the boys--in Jane's storyline. However, the marriage between the Drews' story and Will's is, so far, an awkward one. The characterization of Merrimen as both lovable "Gumerry" and an Old One just feels . . . weird, and like the Drews boys, I found Will's solemn, somewhat flat presence grating, especially in contrast to the more faceted and boisterous Drews children. His strength in The Dark Is Rising was his realistic doubt and uncertainty, and here he's a cipher--frustrating! This is undoubtedly a key stepping stone in the series, but it wouldn't stand well on show more its own. show less
And thus ends the third book in the Dark is Rising series: Greenwitch. In a way, although this is the shortest book out of the five in the series, this book is also one of the books that I enjoy the most and have always remembered the most. It smooths into the gaping space and distance the first two books had from each other and melds them simultaneously and with such naturalness that you barely even notice that it's done before you've gotten to the end of the book and are wishing--eagerly and impatiently--for more. I tell you: with each book I read of this series, I gain more and more respect for the author, Susan Cooper. The difficulty of doing what she accomplishes in this series with the naturalness of breathing is hard to take for show more granted when you're reading this series the second time around and have the chance to actually sit back and look over its progression in awe of how well it's all put together. Her writing, if it was to be described in a few of words, would be multilayered, intricate, and seamless. If you've even dabbled in the series' first two books so far, you'd absolutely have picked up on that before even coming to Greenwitch. Her talent, like her creativity, speaks for itself.

To change the subject a little bit, lets move on to the characters. This time around, we've got probably one of the MOST exciting things yet! This is the first time in this series that our first two books MIX! We get not only Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew--our heroes from Over Sea, Under Stone--but we ALSO have Will Stanton from The Dark is Rising join us as well! ...all... in one... book!!! I don't know how thrilled you are with that, but I was PSYCHED!!!! I flipped out! I was so eager! AUGH!
Continuing on though, I still find it surprising to me that each time I read more of this series, the amount that I enjoy reading things from Simon, Jane, and Barney's perspectives is probably one of the things that sticks out to me most. In the midst of all this magical element, they're the one constant that I can rely on, and I can't deny that I love each and every single one of those three. Their reactions, their efforts, their thoughts and opinions are a constant delight to me! It's not that I don't like Will. I find him a reassurance, and a constant source of insight throughout any book that he's involved in. But there's a charm that comes with normal people being involved with supernatural things that really draws me close to the other three children. Just reading their conversations and the way their minds work both together and apart is a pleasure in and of itself. Few things can beat that, in my opinion. Reading their interactions is a part of the books that I relish! I hope I'm not the only one who feels that way. *Chuckles* But if I am, that won't change a thing of how I feel about them.

I don't have much else to say about this little bridge of a book. I am happy that it was included in the series, because it's more necessary than anyone can quite imagine at first glance. It bridges book one and book two, and it connects the first part of this epic quest with the second part that we're about to move into in the reading of The Grey King. Without this book here, everything would be in discord, and a lot of what's to happen next wouldn't be half as much fun or as exciting as it's going to get. And if the entire point is to enjoy what you read, then thank you, Susan Cooper, for this interlude!

On a final note, Greenwitch also did a spectacular job of portraying the personalities even further of the kids that we've come to love and look forward to adventuring with. Will was seen a lot more from an outside perspective, and his eager, good-willed, but gentle and kind nature showed through in a way that we perhaps didn't get a chance to really see in the midst of all the chaos in The Dark is Rising. Likewise, we got to see another side of Simon and Barney in Greenwitch, when for the first time they have someone else introduced into their midst--not a girl, but a boy to challenge their superiority as the men in the group of kids on this quest. In addition to that, we're beginning to see the parts of importance that everyone played is also going 'round to Barney, the youngest, who played a bigger role this time around and developed or showed us gifts that we didn't think we'd be seeing in him. I think it was Jane, however, who won me over with her understanding and empathy in this book. She shows more of it later on, I believe, if I'm remembering correctly across the decade I haven't read this series. But it was her selfless and loving desires, even in the midst of strange and frightening wonders, that won my heart in a way few do. She was amazing, even though what she did might seem so very small or simple. But isn't that the greatest part? How she, just a girl, normal and magicless, was able to change the path of this quest with just her own smallest actions. That is what makes this book so magical, and perhaps why I love the Drew kids even more than I can say.

With all these thoughts done, I think I'll wrap it up just about now, and continue on with the reading. *Smiles and waves curtly* I'll see you all in The Grey King. I'm rushing forward to it... to meet someone I've dreamed about for ten long years, and who has never quite left me... since the first time I met him. And that... is enough to sway any man.

I hope you join me.
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The Drew children, Simon, Jane and Barney, are united with Will Stanton in a quest to draw magic from the Greenwitch, an image of leaves and branches that for centuries has been cast into the sea for good luck. Really enjoyed this installment because the characters get to be real people who get jealous and angry at things that children get jealous and angry about, rather than being idealized and uber-clever children as happens quite often in YA of this kind. I also really liked that unassuming Jane gets to play such a huge part - girl power!
The third book in the sequence and the one that finally unites the main protagonists of the first two books, the Drewe siblings and the last of the old ones, Will Stanton, as they work with Merriman Lyon try to recover the Grail which has been stolen from the British Museum. The relationship between the 4 children is at the heart of the book. I love the relationship between the Drewe siblings, which feels very real, and the resentment and mistrust that Simon and Barney feel towards Will as an interloper. It's particularly lovely that Jane is the focus of the plot as she develops a bond with the Greenwitch and slowly becomes close to Will. In The Dark is Rising Will's journey was to understand and achieve his potential as an Old One and show more now we really get and understanding just what it means for him to be the last of the Old Ones as well as an 11 year old boy when Jane asks him 'You aren't quite like the rest of us, are you?'. Wonderful and I'm really looking forward to the next book in the sequence. show less

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Author Information

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41+ Works 44,961 Members
Susan Cooper was born in Buckinghamshire, England in May of 1935. She attended Slough Grammar School, and then went on to Somerville College and Oxford. She was the first woman to ever edit the University Magazine, the Cherwell. She graduated from Oxford with an MA in English and went to work for London's The Sunday Times as a reporter on the show more Atticus Column for Ian Flemming. She evenutally made it to features writer, during which time she wrote her first book, "Mandrake," a science fiction story for adults. Soon after the publication of "Mandrake," Cooper wrote the children's story "Over Sea, Under Stone" for a publishing house competition. It would later become the first of a five book series she would become famous for. She left England in 1963 to marry an American professor. Once there, she wrote two more books for adults, "Behind the Golden Gate" a study of America, and "Portrait of an Author" the biography of J. B. Priestley. In 1970, Cooper published "Dawn of Fear" an almost entirely autobiographical book about growing up as a child during the war. Even though Cooper wrote "Over Sea, Under Stone" as a entry for a publishing house competittion, she did not know at the time that it would be the first of her most famous copilation, "The Dark is Rising Series." In 1973 she wrote the second in the five book series, entitled "The Dark is Rising," published more than ten years after the first. In1974, Cooper published Greenwitch, book three, and book four, "The Grey King" a year later. "The Grey King" won the Newberry Medal in 1976. "Silver on the Tree" was the fifth and last book published, completing the series in 1977. After completing the "Dark is Rising" series, Cooper turned to writing for the theater, learning the style from Urjo Kareda at Tarragon Theatres in Toronto. She wrote for Jack Langstaff's "Revels." Her first major play was called "Foxfire," which was written in coolaboration with Hume Cronyn. The play eventually went to Broadway in 1983 and starred Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, who won a Tony for her performance. Cooper then began working on "Seaward," but was interrupted by Jane Fonda, who wanted her to write the screenplay for Harriet Arnow's "The Dollmaker." She wrote the adaptation with Cronyn and won a Humanitas Award for it, while Jane Fonda won the Best Actress Emmy for her role. Cooper also got an Emmy nomination for her adaptation of "Foxfire" for television. "To Dance with the White Dog," a made for tv movie, was the last collaboration of Cooper, Cronyn and Tandy, Tandy having died in '94. IN the '80's and '90's, Cooper wrote the text for many children's picture books such as, "Jethro and the Jumbie" and "Danny and the Kings." 1993 marked her return to the Children's Book List with "The Boggart" and int's follow up "The Boggart and the Monster" in 1997. In 1996, Cooper published a collection of essays on children's literature entitled, "Dreams and Wishes." Over the course of her career, Cooper has written for newspapers, books for children and adults, screen[plays for television and cinema, and a Broadwat play. Today, she lectures on children's literture and continues to write. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Some Editions

Dillon, Julie (Cover artist)
Heslop, Michael (Illustrator)
Jennings, Alex (Narrator)
Pekkanen, Panu (Translator)
Rikman, Kristiina (Translator)
Westrup, Jadwiga P. (Translator)

Awards and Honors

Series

Belongs to Publisher Series

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title*
Greenwitch
Original title
Greenwitch
Original publication date
1974
People/Characters
Barnabas "Barney" Drew; Jane Drew; Simon Drew; the Greenwitch; Merriman "Great-uncle Merry, Gummery" Lyon; the painter of the Dark (show all 17); Mrs. Penhallow; Raq, Welsh collie; Rufus, Irish setter; Alice Stanton; Bill Stanton; Fran Stanton; Roger Stanton; Will Stanton; Tethys, the Lady of the Sea; Captain Toms; Merlin
Important places
British Museum, London, England, UK; Buckinghamshire, England, UK; Trewissick, Cornwall, England, UK
Dedication
For Kate
First words
Only one newspaper carried the story in detail, under the headline: Treasures Stolen From Museum.
Quotations
When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back;
Three from the circle, three from the track;
Wood, bronze, iron; water, fire, stone;
Five will return, and one go alone.

Iron for the birthday, bronze carrie... (show all)d long;
Wood from the burning, stone out of song;
Fire in the candle-ring, water from the thaw;
Six Signs the circle, and the grail gone before.

Fire on the mountain shall find the harp of gold
Played to wake the Sleepers, oldest of the old;
Power from the green witch, lost beneath the sea;
All shall find the light at last, silver on the tree.
On the day of the dead, when the year too dies,
Must the youngest open the oldest hills
Through the door of the birds, where the breeze breaks.
There fire shall fly from the raven boy,
And the silver eyes that see... (show all) the wind,
And the light shall have the harp of gold.

By the pleasant lake the Sleepers lie,
On Cadfan’s Way where the kestrels call;
Though grim from the Grey King shadows fall,
Yet singing the golden harp shall guide
To break their sleep and bid them ride.

When light from the lost land shall return,
Six Sleepers shall ride, six Signs shall burn,
And where the midsummer tree grows tall
By Pendragon’s sword the Dark shall fall.

Y maent yr mynyddoedd yn canu,
ac y mae’r arglwyddes yn dod.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And everywhere a great smell of the sea.
Original language
English
Disambiguation notice
This LT work, Greenwitch, is Book 3 (of 5 Books) in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence. Please distinguish it from other single titles in the series, and from any combination(s) of part or all of the se... (show all)ries. Thank you.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Fantasy, Kids, Tween
DDC/MDS
823.914Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-1901-19991945-1999
LCC
PZ7 .C7878 .GLanguage and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresJuvenile belles lettres
BISAC

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ISBNs
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