Netflix’s The Witcher is based on not only the game franchise but the original book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. So, it comes as no surprise that the country has decided to dedicate some extremely old trees to the franchise.
The Polish city of Ostrołęka has decided to name several trees in honor of the much-loved fantasy series after the council approved the move.
Six trees have been named after characters from The Witcher. The author who created the much-loved series gives his support for the decision and also allowed the usage of the names chosen from The Witcher.
The Witcher Trees project
According to The Gamer, the naming of the ancient trees came about thanks to “The Witcher Tree” project. The Ostrołęka city council approved the project after its youth initiative proposed it back in November 2020.
All of these trees were declared monuments back in 2008 but were only approved for the Witcher treatment on 25 March 2021.
Six centuries-old oaks were named as well as one ancient ash tree.
The ash was named after the higher vampire called Regis. He not only featured in the book series but in the expansion pack for the game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The remaining oak trees were named as follows.
- Geralt of Rivia
- Yennefer of Vengerberg
- Triss Merigold
- Cirilla (Ciri)
- Vesemir
- Dandelion (Jaskier)
Not everyone was happy with the Witcher-inspired names
Nineteen council members voted on the project and, of these, most thought the names chosen from the popular franchise were a good choice.
However, some were not in agreeance with using the names from the popular series.
Two members actually decided to abstain from voting, and one, in particular, was very vocal as to why they disagreed.
Ryszard Żukowski, from the Law and Justice Party, spoke by saying that the names selected for the trees were “not Polish by origin.” He also stated that they should not be named after “wizards and rats.”
He then doubled down on his statements and added that the trees selected were male in designation and should not be given female names such as Yennefer, Triss, and Cirilla because of this.
However, because only two members objected to the project, the city council decided to go ahead with the proposal. The hope now is that The Witcher Trees project will draw fans of the franchise to the area and boost tourism.
The TV adaptation of The Witcher is currently streaming on Netflix, with Season 2 set to drop on December 17.