The Badger of Ghissi

The Badger of Ghissi
AuthorWolf von Niebelschütz
Original titleDie Kinder der Finsternis
TranslatorJune Barrows Mussey
LanguageGerman
PublisherDiederichs
Publication date
1959
Publication placeWest Germany
Published in English
1963
Pages545

The Badger of Ghissi (German: Die Kinder der Finsternis, lit.'The Children of Darkness') is a 1959 novel by the German writer Wolf von Niebelschütz. It is set in the 12th century and follows Barral, originally a shepherd in Provence and the lone survivor of a Saracen attack, whose talents eventually make him an influential political figure. The novel portrays the social strata of medieval Europe.[1][2]

Upon a republication in 2010, Jutta Ladwig of Literaturkritik.de wrote that the novel demands full attention and multiple sittings to allow its language to sink in. She wrote that it "51 years after its publication has lost nothing of its fascination and linguistic power".[3]

References

  1. ^ Das Jahr 1959 in der deutschsprachigen Literatur (in German). edition text + kritik. 2024. p. 365. ISBN 9783967076813.
  2. ^ Klimek, Sonja; Riedo, Dominik (2012). "Kelgurien und die Provence. Apotheose der Landschaft in Wolf von Niebelschütz' Roman Die Kinder der Finsternis (1959)". In Martin Huber, Christine Lubkoll, Steffen Martus and Yvonne Wübben (ed.). Literarische Räume: Architekturen – Ordnungen – Medien (in German). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. pp. 157–176. doi:10.1524/9783050059112.157.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  3. ^ Ladwig, Jutta (12 July 2010). "Eine Mär aus alter Zeit". Literaturkritik.de (in German). Retrieved 14 November 2025.