Fire and stone

Fire and Stone , the first volume of the eight-volume Highland saga , is a novel by Diana Gabaldon that was published in New York in 1991 under the English title Outlander .

The Englishwoman Claire, married to an English professor, leaps back in time in 1946 . In 1743 she met and fell in love with her second husband, the blue-eyed, red-haired Scot Jamie.

time and place

After her leap in time, Claire lived through the years 1743 and 1744 in Scotland near Inverness and in northern France in the Abbey of Ste. Anne de Beaupré. The time traveler remains until the end of the novel in the 18th century.

Claire gets into a conflict between Anglican England and Catholic Scotland. The Scot Jamie, a Catholic and Jacobite , joins the pretender Charles Edward Stuart , who is still revered by the Scots as Bonnie Prince Charlie. The prince is preparing from France to fight the British King George II. With Claire's knowledge of the Battle of Culloden and its aftermath, Jamie Charles tries to stop Stuart.

characters

20th century

Claire Elisabeth Beauchamp Randall Fraser (also: Sassenach [Scottish: derogatory for English, but also: stranger]), English, born on October 20, 1918.

Frank (lin) Wolverton Randall , Englishman, professor, amateur genealogist , Claire's husband in the 20th century.

18th century

James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser , called Jamie (aka MacTavish ), Scot, born May 1, 1721, husband of Claire in the 18th century.

Jenny Murray , b. Fraser, Scot, Jamie's sister.

Ian Murray , Scot, Jenny's husband.

Murtagh FitzGibbons Fraser , Scot, Jamie's godfather, finds Claire on Fairy Hill after her time jump(see below).

Jonathan Wolverton Randall , called Black Jack , English, born September 3, 1705, died April 16, 1746, captain of the 8th Dragoon Regiment stationed at Fort William, Sr. Majesty, an ancestor of Claire's 20th century husband Frank Randall.

Colum ban Campbell MacKenzie , Scot, chief of the MacKenzie clan , lord of Leoch Castle.

Dougal MacKenzie , Scot, Colums brother.

Geillis Duncan , herbalist , witch .

Arthur Duncan , Scot, Geillis' husband.

Sir Marcus MacRannoch , Scotsman, Jamie's Liberator.

content

The magical stone circle

Claire marries the four-year-old Highlander Jamie six weeks after stepping into the stone circle picking wildflowers on the Scottish fairy hill Craigh na Dun and being catapulted 200 years back . The Catholic- Gaelic wedding takes place in the same church in the highlands near Inverness, where Claire married her first husband, the Englishman Frank, in 200 years. In the stone circle - in which druidic rituals are still performed - there was a rift in time , and the flower-picking Claire was brought back from 1945 to the middle of the 18th century. Claire has been with Jamie since her second marriage (see “Captain Randall” section below). At first, the couple stayed with Jamie's relatives at Leoch Castle. The castle is 30 miles north of Bargrennan at the foot of Ben Aden. Claire, who has many years of experience as a nurse - she cared for the wounded during World War II - quickly made a name for herself at the castle as a Beaton, ie sorceress or healer. Jamie's two uncles, the lord of the castle Colum and his brother Dougal , treat Claire politely, but secretly consider that the beautiful young Englishwoman could be a spy for the enemy English. Since Claire wants to return to Frank in the 20th century, she whispers to the MacKenzie clan that she is on her way to France and wants to continue. In reality, she wants to go up to Craigh na Dun to repeat the fatal leap in time in the opposite direction - back to the future, as it were. Jamie thwarts Claire's attempt to escape from the castle.

Captain Randall

Dougal brings Claire to the British garrison Fort William . There he hands it over to Captain Randall . Jamie is not allowed to be seen at the fort, where he was ostracized for theft and whipped by Randall. In addition, Jamie is still wanted by the English as a cattle thief. The most likely true reason for the flogging of Jamie is not revealed until much later: when Randall tried to rape Jamie's virgin sister Jenny years ago , she laughed at the captain for his obvious impotence .

Claire notices striking similarities between Frank and his ancestor Randall. Randall thinks Claire is a spy - albeit a French one - and hits her in the pit of the stomach. Dougal takes Claire back with him and forces the couple to marry. The quick marriage is necessary so that the English Claire becomes a Scot and can thus be withdrawn from Randall's convenient access. Randall wants to interrogate Claire again. Dougal is probably in such a hurry with the wedding because the MacKenzies want to eliminate Jamie as a potential clan leader. Claire, give in to infatuation and get married. Jamie confesses to Claire on their wedding night that he married her too because he wanted to protect her from Randall. Only at the end of the novel does Claire learn that Jamie married her out of love.

On the renewed escape to Fairy Hill, Claire falls back into the clutches of Randall. When the captain in Fort William tries to do violence to her, she is freed by Jamie. Claire learns from Jamie that Randall is homosexual . Randall had offered Jamie a reprieve, just before the second whipping, in case he allowed him to sexually abuse him.

witchcraft

Since Claire knows the course of history from 1743, she cannot contain herself and expresses herself prophetically at various points in the book, e.g. B. she announces to Jamie that the English will defeat the Scottish clans in the Battle of Culloden . Many Scots will die. So there is no way Jamie should go to Culloden on April 16, 1746. Sometimes, when the first-person narrator wants to change the course of the story (e.g. Randall's future fatherhood), the fantasy writer almost gets tangled in logic .

In addition to Claire, Geillis Duncan practices near Leoch Castle as the second herbalist in a village. Claire visits her occasionally. On one of those occasions, Claire makes a fatal mistake. Together with Geillis she goes to the Croich Gorm mountain , a fairy seat , where she touches a changeling and is observed. Both women are imprisoned and charged as witches. At first, Jamie can't help this time. He is now far from Dougal, who was banished by Colum, when he learned that Geillis and Dougal had a love and a child together. It seems that Geillis has no chance of avoiding death by fire . She poisoned her husband Arthur with arsenic after she was impregnated by Dougal. As a Jacobite, Geillis supported Prince Charles from the House of Stuart , the Bonnie Prince Charlie to whom Jamie is actually attached. Geillis used to want Colum as a man. However, its legs are crippled and in such a case a woman's weapons are ineffective. So she settled for Dougal. It looks bad for Claire too. A carter says that the Englishwoman conjured up the water horse from Evil Loch . However, during her flogging, Claire is rescued by Jamie, the rushing witchman , and kidnapped to Lallybroch , Jamie's ancestral home.

Claire receives news of Geillis' alleged death by fire along with two encrypted messages from those sentenced to death. Claire interprets them as follows:

1. On the fairy hill Craigh na Dun it is possible to jump forward in time (Claire doesn't jump out of love for Jamie).

2. Geillis has also made the leap in time - but 23 years later than Claire.

Ste. Anne de Beaupré

A tenant betrays Jamie, his master, to the English. The Glen-Elrive patrol takes Jamie behind the thick walls of Wentworth Prison. There he is tortured almost to death by Randall and raped several times. With the help of Murtagh, Sir Marcus MacRannoch and his wife, Claire frees the prisoner. The couple manage to escape to France. There it is in the Abbey of Ste. Anne de Beaupré taken in by monks. Jamie receives the best of care, but apart from the physical mutilations caused by the torture, there is also the far more serious psychological injury . The monks see no other way out - Jamie receives the final unction . But Jamie recovers through a trick by Claire. Recovery continues. Eventually, the couple indulge in the joys of physical love. Claire confesses to Jamie that he is pregnant with her.

Jamie had previously lived in France for three years and speaks several languages. Claire traveled widely with her uncle as a child. The couple now want to try their luck in Paris.

Television series

On August 9, 2014, the US pay-TV channel starz started an implementation of the Highland saga as a television series under the title Outlander .

expenditure

Cover of Blanvalet (2004)

Text output

Diana Gabaldon: Outlander . Delacore Press 1991, American original edition.
Diana Gabaldon: Outlander. A novel . New Edition. Delta Trade Press, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-385-31995-9 .
Diana Gabaldon: Fire and Stone. Roman ("Outlander"). Blanvalet Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-7645-0155-6 ,
- German first edition, abridged translation by Elfriede Fuchs and Maya Ubik, at least 9 editions.
Diana Gabaldon: Fire and Stone. Novel . Goldmann, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-442-43772-5 .
Diana Gabaldon: Outlander Fire and Stone. Novel . Knaur, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-426-51802-1
- complete new translation by Barbara Schnell, April 2015

Audio book

Diana Gabaldon: Fire and Stone. Audio book . Random House Audio, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-8289-7472-4 (6 CDs, read by Daniela Hoffmann ).

Graphic novel

Fire and stone. A love in the highlands . Blanvalet, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-7645-0422-9 .

Sequels

2. Vol. The borrowed time ("Dragonfly in Amber" 1992). Blanvalet Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-7645-0702-0 .
3rd vol. Ferne Ufer ("Voyager" 1994). Blanvalet Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-7645-0727-6 .
4th vol. The call of the drum ("Drums of Autumn" 1997). Blanvalet Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-7645-0046-8 .
5th Vol. The Flaming Cross ("The Fiery Cross" 2001). Blanvalet Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7645-0056-5 .
6. Vol. A Breath of Snow and Ashes ( "A Breath of Snow and Ashes" 2005). Blanvalet Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7645-0057-3 .
7th vol. Echo of Hope (“An Echo in the Bone” 2009). Blanvalet Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-7645-0303-1 .
8th vol. A shadow of betrayal and love ("Written in My Own Heart's Blood" 2014). ISBN 978-3-7645-0304-8 .