Location in The Oz Series
great forest
Also known as the great forest.
The vast, dark forest through which the road of yellow brick passes on the way from the Munchkin farm country toward the Emerald City. Its trees grow so big and close together that their branches meet over the road and shut out the daylight. The travelers sleep in a log cottage there, find and free the rusted Tin Woodman (who had stood in these woods for more than a year), and meet the Cowardly Lion, who bounds out of its depths; deep growls of wild beasts sound among its trees, two great rocky gulfs cut across the road, and the monstrous Kalidahs live in its farther reaches. The party traverses it from chapter 4 until they emerge at the broad river in chapter 7, rejoicing to leave the many dangers they had met in its gloomy shades.
Appears in 3 chapters, first in chapter 4, last in chapter 57.
What the story establishes
| Acoustics and tone | Ominous and hushed: few birds sing in the gloom, deep growls come from wild animals hidden among the trees, and strange noises from the depths — Kalidah country — keep the travelers' hearts beating fast. |
| Appearance | Trees so big and close together that their branches meet over the road of yellow brick, shutting out the daylight; beneath them the way is dark, the bricks covered with dried branches and dead leaves, and beyond the first gulf the woods grow thicker, dark and gloomy. (as of ch. 4) |
| Controlled by | In the age before Oz ruled the land it was the home of the free Winged Monkeys, who lived there flying from tree to tree without calling anybody master. (as of ch. 14) |
| Physical constraints | Darkness under the canopy blinds travelers of flesh at night; thick-grown trees and branches block the road until chopped through; and two great rock-bottomed gulfs cut across the road, too steep to climb and passable only by the Lion's leaps or a felled-tree bridge. |
Relationships
- located in ← Kalidahs ch. 7The monstrous Kalidahs live in the deep, gloomy part of the great forest beyond the first gulf, the region the Lion fears most; two of them attack the party there and are dashed into the second gulf.
- rules ← Cowardly Lion ch. 57The Cowardly Lion rules the great forest as the King of Beasts, a dominion he held even before he learned of Ozma's return to the throne of Oz.
- contains ← Land of Oz ch. 4The great forest is a wild region of the Land of Oz: the road of yellow brick from the Munchkin country to the Emerald City runs straight through it, and the travelers must traverse it on their journey.
- located in ← Cowardly Lion (ended) ch. 6–7The great forest is the Cowardly Lion's home territory — he bounds out of it onto the road, and all the other animals in the forest expect him to be brave as King of Beasts; he leaves it with the party when they reach the broad river in chapter 7.
- located in ← Dorothy's Traveling Party (ended) ch. 6–7The traveling party (formed as a full company when the Cowardly Lion joined) journeys through the great dark forest along the yellow brick road, camping there and surviving its gulfs and Kalidahs, until they emerge at the broad river in chapter 7.
- located in ← Tin Woodman (ended) ch. 5–7The Tin Woodman lived and worked in the great forest, where his cottage stands and where he stood rusted solid for more than a year until Dorothy oiled his joints; he leaves the forest with the party when they reach the broad river in chapter 7.
- located in ← Dorothy's Traveling Party (ended) ch. 4–7Dorothy's traveling party journeyed through the great forest for several days (chapters 4-7), sheltering in the woodland cottage, gaining the Tin Woodman and the Lion there, and surviving the gulfs and the Kalidahs before emerging at the broad river.
From the text
They found the forest very thick on this side, and it looked dark and gloomy.Chapter 7
See great forest chapter by chapter in the interactive codex →