Blood of Elves is the first novel in Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher saga, but it is the third book in the series, following the short story collections The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny. Originally published in Polish in 1994, Blood of Elves was first translated into English in 2008 by Danusia Stok. This study guide uses the first trade paperback edition of that translation, published by Orbit in 2017. Several plot elements and character relationships in Blood of Elves inspired the second season of Netflix’s The Witcher series, starring Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, and Freya Allen as Cirilla (Ciri).

The novel is deeply invested in themes of Monstrosity, Identity and Belonging, Family Relationships, and Racial Tensions between Humans and Nonhumans. These thematic elements, as well as the presence of magic and a medieval-inspired setting, place the novel firmly in the fantasy genre; however, Sapkowski upturns some of the genre’s most common tropes, expanding the bounds of traditional fantasy.

Content Warning: This guide contains references to torture, wartime violence, and genocide/ethnic cleansing.

Plot Summary

Princess Ciri (first introduced in The Last Wish) has a nightmare about the kingdom of Nilfgaard’s conquest of Cintra, her home kingdom, which resulted in the deaths of her entire family. The massacre took place about a year before Blood of Elves begins (it is first mentioned in Sword of Destiny); after escaping, Ciri wandered in the woods, staying with various people until Geralt—an infamous witcher (a monster hunter with supernatural abilities)—stumbled upon her. The two knew one another, in part because Geralt had invoked the “Law of Surprise” to claim the then-unborn Ciri after saving her father’s life. Now Geralt intends to take Ciri to train as a witcher, and he comforts her when she wakes. They are camped in the woods on their way to Kaer Morhen, the witcher stronghold in the mountains of Kaedwen. Two weeks later, they arrive, and Geralt introduces Ciri to more witchers: Vesemir, Lambert, Eskel, and Coën.

A year later, a bard and friend of Geralt named Dandelion performs a concert at the great oak Bleobheris, a site protected by druids. A debate breaks out about whether the bard’s songs regarding Geralt, the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (first introduced in The Last Wish), and Ciri are true, as well as whether there will be another war between the southern empire Nilfgaard and the Northern Kingdoms (of which Cintra is one). Unseen, Dandelion slips away to a brothel in a nearby town. The brothel owner introduces Dandelion to Rience, a mage, whose questions about Geralt and Ciri make Dandelion suspicious. He tries to flee, but Rience captures and almost tortures Dandelion for information before Yennefer—a sorceress who surreptitiously followed Rience—intervenes. She kills Rience’s men and burns Rience’s face with magic fire. Rience escapes through a portal. Yennefer urges Dandelion to stop performing the song about Ciri and tells him Dijkstra, a master spy, needs Dandelion to report soon. Yennefer, who was once Geralt’s lover, thanks Dandelion for being Geralt’s friend.

Around this time, a young sorceress named Triss Merigold arrives at Kaer Morhen to help the witchers with Ciri. Triss worries that the witchers want her help subjecting Ciri to the Trial of Grasses, the mutations that all witchers undergo as children to gain their enhanced abilities. In reality, the all-male witchers do not know how to raise a young girl, especially one who occasionally goes into prophetic trances. Triss also hopes to rekindle her former affair with Geralt, but he resists her advances. Triss realizes Ciri is a Source: a person with powerful but nearly uncontrollable magical potential. Triss helps the witchers better understand Ciri—to pause her training when Ciri menstruates and to decrease the herbs they give her so they won’t adversely affect her hormones.

While at Kaer Morhen, Triss gives Ciri an elixir, triggering a prophetic trance during which Triss forms a psychic connection with Ciri. A mysterious voice speaks to them in the Elder Speech (the language of the elves who were once the region’s dominant race), but the voice’s identity is concealed behind so many magic barriers that Triss, exhausted, is ejected from Ciri’s mind. As springtime approaches, Triss teaches Ciri the Elder Speech and helps her embrace her femininity. Geralt helps Ciri overcome her fear of the Pendulum, a training course obstacle she struggles with for months. At Triss’s advice, Geralt writes to Yennefer, a more powerful sorceress, to ask for help with Ciri.

In the spring, Geralt, Ciri, and Triss leave Kaer Morhen for the Temple of Melitele in Ellander, where Ciri will study with the head priestess. On the road, Triss falls ill and cannot ride her horse. They come upon a caravan led by Yarpen Zigrin, an old friend of Geralt’s, and he agrees to let them join the group until Triss is better. Yarpen, a dwarf, argues with Geralt about the racial tension between humans and nonhumans and whether one can stay neutral in the face of injustice. Yarpen’s caravan includes several human soldiers on a secret mission carrying special cargo for King Henselt of Kaedwen (one of the Northern Kingdoms). Their route leads them into known Scoia’tael territory. The Scoia’tael (“squirrels” in Elder Speech) are groups of nonhumans, mainly elves, who engage in guerilla warfare against humans. Yarpen believes the Scoia’taels are unknowingly being fed propaganda by Nilfgaard.

While scouting ahead, Ciri hides to avoid a procession of elves. Geralt shows her that the elves were visiting the ruins of Shaerrawedd. He explains that Aelirenn, the White Rose of Shaerrawedd, led an army in the elves’ last great war against humans. All of Aelirenn’s forces died in battle, causing the decline of the elven population; only young elves are fertile, and nearly all the young elves were in the army. A white rosebush at the ruins symbolizes Aelirenn and her army’s bravery but also a long history of violence and grief. Ciri plucks a rose as a remembrance and then has a vision of the caravan under attack. They rush back to help.

The Scoia’taels Ciri saw in the woods attack Yarpen’s caravan. Ciri pulls Triss to safety and is nearly killed by a young elf. The elf becomes distracted by the white rose pinned to Ciri’s shirt, and Geralt kills the elf. After the Scoia’taels are defeated, Yarpen realizes the “special cargo” spilled from the overturned wagons is ordinary rocks. The dying Kaedwenian commander tells Yarpen the mission was a trap to test the dwarves’ loyalty to humans. Yarpen is saddened by the unnecessary deaths of his men, the humans, and the Scoia’tael elves. Geralt places Ciri’s white rose, now bloodied, on a dead elf’s body and asks forgiveness.

Several months later, Geralt accepts a contract from a barge company in Oxenfurt in Redania (another Northern Kingdom). A monster in the harbor has been attacking the cargo barges. Geralt debates the monster’s taxonomy with another passenger, Linus Pitt, a professor of natural history at the university in Oxenfurt. Geralt reads a letter from Ciri about her progress at the Temple and a letter from Yennefer in which the sorceress agrees to help Ciri. Geralt learns from a Redanian customs officer that Rience is looking for him. The monster attacks the barge at the same moment a Temerian ship arrives to arrest Geralt for harboring Ciri (Rience has placed a bounty on them). One of the Temerian officers falls overboard with a young boy; Geralt saves the boy and wounds the monster, but the officer is killed.

Meanwhile, Dandelion travels to the university at Oxenfurt. He meets Shani, a medical student, and asks for her help locating Geralt. After, Dandelion walks into an alley and is confronted by two spies, who take him to see Dijkstra and Philippa Eilhart. Dijkstra is the head of Redania’s intelligence service, and Philippa is King Vizimir of Redania’s court mage. They press Dandelion for information about Geralt, but Dandelion reveals nothing. Later, Dandelion goes to where Geralt is staying, finding Geralt and Shani in bed together. As they discuss sneaking Geralt out of the city, Philippa arrives in the form of an owl. Geralt says he tailed Rience to Oxenfurt and took the barge contract specifically to lure him out. Shani claims to know who Rience is and how to find him.

At a secret meeting in Hagge, Northern rulers meet to discuss Nilfgaard, the Scoia’taels, and the rumors of Ciri’s survival. They agree to try a false flag operation so they can get the Brotherhood of Sorcerers (a political organization of mages) to support an attack on Nilfgaard. They decide to eliminate the Scoia’taels, even if it means treating all nonhumans as suspects. Lastly, they argue who should marry Ciri to get legitimate control of Cintra, but since they cannot agree, they decide that if Ciri is alive, the best solution is to kill her.

Marshal Menno Coehoorn brings news about the kings’ meeting to Emperor Emhyr of Nilfgaard. The Emperor tells Coehoorn to make sure the Brotherhood learns about the meeting, and he issues new orders for Rience: Kill Geralt immediately, but do not harm Yennefer. Emhyr speaks to a young knight in black armor, saying it is time for him to correct his failure in Cintra two years ago. Meanwhile, three members of the Brotherhood—Vilgefortz, Tissaia, and Artaud—agree to call a meeting of all court mages to plan how to convince their kings to avoid another war with Nilfgaard. Tissaia sees several things hidden in Vilgefortz’s workshop that make her suspicious the mage is searching for Yennefer.

Ciri, who has now been at the Temple for some time, wakes from a dream in which she saw Geralt, Shani, and Dandelion walking in Oxenfurt and discussing Rience. Ciri overhears a heated conversation in the next room between Yennefer and Mother Nenneke; the latter accuses Yennefer of being irresponsible and heartless. Ciri goes back to sleep and dreams of Yennefer leading her down a hallway through many doors.

Meanwhile, Shani leads Geralt, Dandelion, and Philippa to a reclusive man named Myhrman, and they use an amulet Rience left Myhrman to summon the mage. Geralt nearly defeats Rience but is badly wounded. Rience escapes through another portal.

Ciri recalls first meeting Yennefer at the Temple and how they did not like each other. Through their lessons and conversations, they have grown closer. Ciri struggled with magic at first, but Yennefer reassured Ciri of her abilities. Yennefer induced a couple of trances, and after one vision, Ciri woke in pain and called Yennefer “mama.” Later, Ciri accidentally drew too much energy from a strong magical pocket in the earth and fainted; Yennefer comforted her and called her “daughter.”

In the present, Ciri and Yennefer prepare to leave the Temple. Other young novices gossip about another war between Nilfgaard and the Northern kingdoms, and Ciri is troubled. She asks Jarre, a young scribe, what he thinks about the political developments. Jarre tries to kiss her, and Ciri rejects him. Later, Yennefer reminds Ciri to be careful around Jarre since he is smart enough to figure out who she really is. Ciri and Yennefer reminisce about their time together, and in the morning, they leave the Temple.