Is Voldemort Undead? or How to Lick a Lich

After some recent discussion I thought that I’d post about something that I’ve been thinking about since the end of Chamber of Secrets i.e. that Voldemort is a Lich-  a powerful wizard or magician who keeps themselves from destruction by hiding their soul in powerful magic items- though they must die to achieve this.

The word lich (lych) is  Old English for corpse and is a good visual description of the Lich.  It also points to the undead nature of the creature.

I first encountered liches in the Dungeons and Dragons game but, upon reflection, I realised that it is quite common in many fantasy milieu.  Tolkien certainly uses the idea in numerous ways.  Sauron embeds much of his power and essence into the ruling Ring and he cannot be destroyed while the Ring remains.  Similarly, the Nazgul cannot be destroyed while the Ring exists.  Their physical forms could be destroyed, as they were at the ford at Rivendell, but their quaking ghosts returned to their master to gain new forms.  Also, Bombadil tells Frodo that the magic that sustains a barrow wight could only be destroyed if the the barrow was broken and the treasure therein dispersed among anyone who wanted it.

H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E Howard (all friends and correspondents)all use the idea at times.  Howard’s Thulsa Doom is an immortal/undead sorcorer with a skull head, different from the Conan the Barbarian movie villian.  The movie Thulsa is apparently immortal, has a similar penchant for snakes that Voldemort has, but is ultimately slain by Conan.  The book/comic Thulsa Doom pops up numerous times even after having been, apparently, slain.  Lovecraft’s – The Thing on the Doorstep explores the idea of powerful wizard remaining deathless through the use of arcane magics, as do some of Smith’s stories.  Lovecraft also uses this idea to a degree in The Whisperer in Darkness where a man’s soul/mind is kept alive in a steel cannister; somehow removed from his dismembered body by alien arts, to voyage to other worlds.

The idea of a lich is present in Russian folklore in the form Koschei the Deathless- a powerful evil wizard who, according to the wiki entry:

cannot be killed by conventional means targeting his body. His soul is hidden separate from his body inside a needle, which is in an egg, which is in a duck, which is in a hare, which is in an iron chest(sometimes the chest is crystal and/or gold), which is buried under a green oak tree, which is on the island of Buyan, in the ocean. As long as his soul is safe, he cannot die. If the chest is dug up and opened, the hare will bolt away. If it is killed, the duck will emerge and try to fly off. Anyone possessing the egg has Koschei in their power. He begins to weaken, becomes sick and immediately loses the use of his magic. If the egg is tossed about, he likewise is flung around against his will. If the egg is broken (in some tales this must be done by specifically breaking it against Koschei’s forehead), Koschei will die.

The story of Koschei and how he has hidden his soul is full of alchemical imagry.  Just consider the elements and symbols represented by the egg, hare, duck, iron chest, oak tree, under the earth, island and ocean/water.

In Fantasy literature the item in which a lich hides his soul is called a phylactery.  This is completely analogous to the term Horcrux and fulfills the same purpose.  It may be an echo of the ancient Egyptian use of canopic jars to hold the viscera of their mummified owner for the afterlife.

I’ve been looking at my Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Ed. Monstrous Manual (1993)  and noting many similarities  Rowling’s Voldemort has with a lich.  The entry on Lich defines the creature as undead (is Voldmort undead?), of supra-genius intelligence and can only be damaged by magic or magical weapons.

The lich is, perhaps, the most powerful form of undead known to exist.  They seek to further their own power at all costs…

They were originally powerful wizards.

A lich is able to employ spells just as it did in life.  It still requires the use of its spell books, magical componants and similar objects.  It is important to note that liches have had a great deal of time to research and create new magical spells and objects.  Thus, adventurers should be prepared to face magic the likes of which they have never seen before when stalking a lich.

Defeating a lich in combat is difficult indeed, but actually managing to destroy the creature is harder still.  In all cases, a lich will protect itself from annihilation with the creation of a phylactory in which to store its life force.  In order to ensure the final destruction of a lich, its body must be wholly annihilated and its phylactory must be sought out and destroyed in some manner.  Since the lich will always take great care to see to it that its phylactory is well hidden and protected this can be an undertaking fully as daunting as the defeat of the lich in its physical form (think Dumbledore’s and Harry’s horcrux hunt and destruction).

A lich will make its home in some ominous fortified area, often a strong keep or vast subterranean crypt (big tick on Voldemort’s desire for Hogwarts).

…a lich will depend on its magical powers to accomplish its goals.  If this is not sufficient, however, the lich is quite capable of animating a force of undead troops to act on its behalf (inferi!).

The creature has no interest in good and evil… the creature will do whatever it must to further its own causes.

A lich can exist for centuries without change.  Its will drives it onwards to master new magics and harness mystical powers not available to it in its previous life.  Few liches call themselves by their old names when the years have drained the last vestiges of their humanity from them.  Instead they often adopt pseudonyms like “the Black Hand” or “the Forgotten King.”  (I Am Lord Voldemort)  Learning the true name of a lich is rumored to confer power over the creature.

In order to become a lich, the wizard must prepare its phylactory.  The phylactory, which can almost be any manner of object, must be of the finest craftsmanship and materials… Once this object is created, the would be lich must craft a potion of extreme toxicity… the potion is imbibed.  Rather than death, the potion causes the wizard to undergo a transformation into its new state. (Horcrux creation requires a murder, in this case its self-murder)

There you go.  If you ever run up against one make sure he reveals the whereabouts of his phylactory just before he delivers you a coup de grace.  Then get yourself rescued or have the lich distracted before the blow lands.  Telling one that their cod piece is untied always works.  Then get medieval on his rump.

I hope you might have been at least mildly interested in the above.  It was to me and I always enjoy leafing through my Monstrous Manual.  Beauty really is in the eye of a Beholder!

Tagged as: clark ashton smith, dumbledore, dungeons and dragons, Harry Potter, horcrux, howard, lich, Lovecraft, phalactery, voldmort