"The Disk" is a 1975 short story written by
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
writer
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...
. It appears in the collection ''
The Book of Sand
"The Book of Sand" () is a 1975 short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges about the discovery of a book with infinite pages. It has parallels to the same author's 1949 story " The Zahir" (revised in 1974), continuing the theme of self-r ...
''.
Synopsis
The story deals with a woodcutter who lives in the midst of a deep wood in old England and who has never seen the sea. He tells the reader of the time a man appeared at his door and asked for lodging.
The woodcutter notes that the man was elderly, as the visitor referred to England as "Saxony" which was not in use at that time.
The next day the visitor wishes to leave. Before he does, he claims that he is a King and is descended from
Odin
Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
. He tells the woodcutter that he is exiled, but that he will always be a king because he holds the Disk of Odin.
The visitor claims the Disk of Odin is the sole thing in the world that has but one side. The visitor opens his hand and "shows" the disk. The woodcutter sees only an empty palm but when he touches it he feels a chill in his fingers and sees a flash. He lies that he has a full chest of gold and wants to trade it for the disk, but the visitor declines. When the visitor turns to leave, the woodcutter kills him with an axe and the visitor drops the disk face side down.
The woodcutter drags the visitor's body and throws it into the river. He then comes back and searches for the disk, which he never finds.
See also
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Bibliography of Jorge Luis Borges
This is a bibliography of works by Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet, and translator Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986).
Each year links to its corresponding "earin literature" article (for prose) or "earin poetry" article (for verse).
...
References
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1975 short stories
Short stories by Jorge Luis Borges
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