Polish city names historic trees after characters from The Witcher

To honor the home-grown Witcher series, a city in Poland has named several centuries-old trees after characters like Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg, and others.

The Witcher has caught on in the U.S., thanks to the Witcher video games by CD Projekt Red and more recently the Netflix series starring Henry Cavill as professional monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. But both of those things are based on The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski, who is celebrated most fervently in his home country of Poland, where he’s read widely.

In fact, The Witcher is so popular over there that the small city of Ostroleka has named seven centuries-old trees — six English oaks and one ash — after characters from the series in order to raise their profile and preserve them as “natural monuments,” according to Gaming Bible. The oaks are now named after Geralt of Rivia, Cirilla, Yennefer of Vengerberg, Vesemir, Triss Merigold, and Dandelion (Jaskier in the Netflix show). The ash is named after Regis, a barber-surgeon and vampire.

The idea was presented by the city’s youth council, who “wanted to honor a world-famous work that brought fame to Polish culture and literature.” Seventeen of the 19 city council members voted in favor of the idea, although two abstained. One, Ryszard Zukowski, took issue with these names not being Polish names, and opined that trees should not be named after fictional “wizards and rats.” He also argued that names like Triss and Yennefer should not be given to male trees, accusing the other council members of indulging in “political correctness.”

Sapkowski drew deeply on Polish folklore to write his books, and has personally given his approval to the proposal. There’s little question that The Witcher books have generated history in Polish folklore around the globe. I think it’s a fun idea. For Zukowski, I recommend some deep breaths and a glass of water.

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h/t ComicBook