The Continent
Where the Conjunction’s scars run deep, magic bleeds into reality, and a witcher’s steel is the only law in the wilds.
The Continent is the fictional, medieval-inspired landmass on which The Witcher is set. In Sapkowski's stories the continent is unnamed; it was settled several thousand years earlier by elves from overseas, who encountered gnomes and dwarves there.
Quick Facts
- Primary inhabitants
- Humans
- Elves
- Dwarves
- Halflings
- Key regions
- Northern Realms, Nilfgaard, Skellige
Lore & Background
After a war between the elves and dwarves, the dwarves retreated into the mountains and the elves settled in the plains and forests. Human colonists arrived about five hundred years before the events of the stories, igniting a series of wars; the humans were victorious and became dominant, and the non-human races, now considered second-class citizens, often live in small ghettos within human settlements. Other races on the Continent are halflings and dryads, while werewolves and vampires appeared after a magical event known as the Conjunction of the Spheres.
Reader's Guide
The Continent can be divided into four regions. The Northern Kingdoms, where most of the saga occurs, include Aedirn, Cintra, Kaedwen, Redania and Temeria; the Nilfgaard Empire occupies most of the area south of them; and the eastern part, including the Korath Desert and Zerrikania, is largely unexplored. No official map has been released, but according to Sapkowski the existing fan maps are "mostly accurate".
More in World & Geography
Elsewhere in The Witcher
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