Luggnagg Explained

Luggnagg
Source:Gulliver's Travels
Creator:Jonathan Swift
Genre:Satire
Blank Label:Motto
Blank Label1:Anthem
Locations:Traldragdubb or Trildrogdrib (capital)
Blank Label2:Language(s)
Ethnic Groups:Luggnaggians
Type:Monarchy
Blank Label3:Currency

Luggnagg is an island kingdom, one of the imaginary countries visited by Lemuel Gulliver in the 1726 satirical novel Gulliver's Travels by Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift.

Location

The location of Luggnagg is illustrated in both the text and the map at the beginning of part III of Gulliver's Travels, though they are not consistent with each other.According to the map, Luggnagg is southeast of Japan and southwest of Balnibarbi.[1] The book's text states that Luggnagg is located about one hundred leagues southeast of Japan, but northwest of Balnibarbi and gives its position as 29°N 140°E.[2] The page notes refer to Frederick Bracher's "Maps in Gulliver’s Travels" (1944–45),[3] which examines the problems raised by the maps in Gulliver's Travels, especially those accompanying Part III of the book. The map also shows the port of Maldonada in Luggnagg, and the island of Glubdubdrib to the southwest,[4] while the text is clear those places are in Balnibarbi.[5]

Description

It has two principal ports, Clumegnig on the southeast coast, which is visited by ships from Maldonada (the port city of Balnibarbi), and Glanguenstald in the southwest, which has commerce with Japan. The capital of Luggnagg is Traldragdubb (also pronounced Trildrogdrib).[6] [7] A sample of the language of Luggnagg is found in the book, on the occasion when Gulliver has an audience with Luggnagg's king, and is described as being very ugly and clumsy for Gulliver to pronounce.

Notable among the inhabitants of Luggnagg are the struldbrugs, unfortunates who are immortal but suffer the infirmities of old age.

See also

Further reading

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Gulliver's Travels (GT), part III, ch I: Oxford World Classic (OWC) p140
  2. GT pt III, ch 7: OWC p180
  3. GT, Notes: OWC p333
  4. GT pt III, ch 1: OWC p140
  5. GT pt III, ch 7: OWC p180
  6. Book: Manguel, Alberto . The Dictionary of Imaginary Places . Alberto Manguel . Guadalupi . Gianni . . San Diego . Newly updated and expanded . 2000 . 0-15-600872-6 . registration . 388–389.
  7. Book: DeGategno, Paul J. . Critical companion to Jonathan Swift: a literary reference to his life and works . R. Jay Stubblefield . . illustrated . 2006 . 0-8160-5093-7 . 193.