Introduction by Naomi Mitchison. The Corn King and the Spring Queen by Naomi Mitchison, set more than two thousand years ago on the tranquil and fertile shores of the Black Sea, tells stories of ancient civilizations where tenderness, beauty, and love compete with cruelty and black magic. Erif Der, a young witch, is forced by her father to marry his powerful rival, Tarrik the Corn King, and thus becomes the Spring Queen. Obliged by her father, she uses her magical spells to try to break Tarrik's power. But one night, Tarrik saves Sphaerus, a Greek philosopher, from a shipwreck. Sphaerus, in turn, saves Tarrik from almost certain death and thus breaks the curse that had bound him. And so begins for Tarrik a quest - a fantastic journey of discovery that will bring him new knowledge and reunite him with the beautiful Spring Queen.