Precinct the First: The Catacomb Way
In which we discover:
the various roots of the Labyrinth, both etymological, and mythological
a brief revelation of previous guardians of the Labyrinth
an heroic episode featuring one Jareth, Goblin King.
The amorphous nature of the Labyrinth, shifting here and there and everywhere, has its roots by necessity in several places. It means the stepped passageways and under-cities of mighty Knossos, in the ephemeral but true twistings of the mandalas laid with precise care on the mudflats of the Ganges, and the convoluted contemplations of those crusaders who wished to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem but had to console themselves, by necessity, with walking on their knees a spiral path in their gardens. Here presented is one such route and meaning of the Labyrinth, that most famous one.
The Labyrinth lies underground but others might say the Labyrinth itself is the Underground, part and parcel of that kingdom which lies unnoticed by the greater part of the human population. In ancient days, there was a great Serpent (for clarity's sake, not the serpent of Eden but perhaps a second cousin twice removed and certainly related to the poison-toothed creature which gnawed the Tree Yggdrasil, and the Delphic Oracle's pet snake).
In brief, a Serpent, whose purpose in life was the same sort of purpose of any other mythological snake-creature: to traverse between what is and what is not. This particular Serpent, the serpent of the Labyrinth, twined itself back and forth between the mortal world and the other worlds; the interstitial space of its passages became, in time, a mirrored honeycomb of interlaced passages. Holes soon developed, and people and dreams and ideas and bottlecaps and shoelaces and anything and everything not carefully monitored fell through. Not that the Serpent cared. The brief space between what was known (because the second a person fell through, that which had previously been within the realm of the mysterious became part of the real) and that which was unknown grew quite large. Like worms through a carcass, the Serpent had worn through that middle realm until it was full hollow: a kingdom waiting for the idea of a king, a place of wisdom and clarity wanting an interpreter.
Some things which were lost were retrieved, and some other things, not wishing to be retrieved, fell still further. In any event, most of the holes eventually healed themselves and the Serpent, distracted and bemused by the too-large and too-real space opening up between Mystery and Reality, retreated further into the depths of the unknown. Also, it was a little pissed off that people kept trying to give it a name or ask it questions without giving equal measure back.
But the signs of its presence remained. The bedrock of land above it was laced with the signs of its passage, outcroppings of stone and rock worn smooth by regular travel. And underneath the illusory skin of the "ground" of the Underground, interlaced and tubular tunnels growing less connected, less visible, less benign if a brave traveler chose to go deeper.
This was the easiest way into the Labyrinth in elder days though, as we shall immediately discover, not the easiest way out.
In those days, various beings, attempting to prove their wisdom and fitness, would enter into the Labyrinth and there have congress with the Serpent. These battles rarely ended in a satisfactory manner for the interlopers, usually finding themselves wise only by incorporation with the Serpent: in short, being eaten. One interlude in particular is of interest for readers here, that being the contest of strength between the Serpent and he who is known now to all educated parties as Jareth, Goblin King.
In those days, mind, he was not a king.
He was one of those unfortunate fallen, through the sunny and bright lands and painfully drawn, like iron to a magnet, down into the dark and serpentine tunnels of the Underground.
"Best me in combat," the Serpent hissed to him, "And we shall tell you much to your advantage. Falter, and you are mine."
As the challenged, the not-yet-Goblin-King had the right to choice of weapons. And since he was young and not very strong, but had sharp wits and a poetic mouth, he chose a contest of riddles.
"Let us begin," said the Serpent.
"It is greater than God and more evil than the devil. The poor have it, the rich need it and if you eat it you'll die."
"Nothing," replied Jareth. "Nothing is greater, nothing more evil, the poor have nothing and the rich eat nothing. If you eat nothing, you die. But I don't intend to become nothing, though there seems to be copious amounts of it here. My turn:
My life can be measured in hours,
I serve by being devoured.
Thin, I am quick
Fat, I am slow
Wind is my foe."
"A candle," said the serpent. And as it said so, Jareth drew one forth and lit it, casting weird light on the tunnels below. This was a clever trick, to make substantial something out of the Serpent's pendulous answers. In those days, Jareth was clever but not necessarily wise.
The serpent asked, "Say my name and I disappear. What am I?"
"Silence," answered Jareth. "Some say it's golden, but I disagree. And you can't win with cojuring silence, or you'll lose this game--riddles must be answered. Now attemt this:
At the sound of me, men may dream
Or stamp their feet
At the sound of me, women may laugh
Or sometimes weep."
"Music," murmured the serpent. Jareth laughed and there were golden notes in that laugh, and riddles became lyrics.
This continued for some time. At the turn of every question, Jareth was able to invoke some item to his aid, so at the end of the course, he was well-dressed, well-fed, warm, and strong, and the labyrinthine sub-Underground echoed with bursts of music, a cheerful place instead of a daunting one.
These are the natures of the last two riddles.
The serpent asked:
"Until I am measured
I am not known,
Yet how you miss me
When I have flown."
"Time," laughed Jareth. "And it's high time I left you and your fine company, and you will know it when I ask you this last riddle: The more I take, the more I leave behind."
The serpent was caught off guard. This was a riddle it did not understand. But although it could be cruel, it was no cheat, and it invited the young biped to take the tunnel to the left, where he should come out again where he had arrived.
"Give us the answer," it demanded of him.
Jareth lowered his candle, showing the earth disturbed by his feet. "Footsteps." A trail of them. I may sometime return. When I do, matters will play out differently."
The goblins and the device together known as "The Cleaners" were established in the first year of Jareth Goblin King's rule. Some academics insist that The Cleaners are simply there to make gravy hash out of unwise travelers, but others are persuaded that the purpose of The Cleaners is manifold: that the Goblin King himself is afraid of some great creature which may still inhabit the twining tunnels of the sub-Labyrinth, that something dangerous might still be down there.