Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Vinculus, a street magician, talks his way into Norrell’s London library where Norrell is reading Lanchester’s The Language of Birds, an old book full of talk about the Raven King and his ravens. Norrell is offended by Vinculus’s brand of magic and scolds him because “[b]ooks and papers are the basis of good scholarship” and are the precise tools needed to put magic “on the same footing as the other disciplines” (129).

Vinculus scorns Norrell. He also delivers a prophecy about a king who will call on all the natural forces of England to crush his enemies. The prophecy is also about “a nameless slave” (130) who will wear a crown and become king. Vinculus tells Norrell that there will be two magicians in England: one who hates the Raven King and one who wants to see the Raven King. One will lose his most precious thing to another. The first king will be in the hands of dishonest people, while the second will wander, looking for a “dark tower” (132). Norrell notices a “curving mark of a vivid blue, not unlike the upward stroke of a pen” (131) on Vinculus’s chest during the encounter. Norrell has his servants throw Vinculus out.