# Mother Sereda — Jurgen character guide

> Mother Sereda in Jurgen by James Branch Cabell.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Sereda, Mother

**First appearance:** 0007-iii-the-garden-between-dawn-and-sunrise

## Snapshot

A wrinkled, bright-eyed old woman in blue who bleaches the color out of all things and takes the shine off every Wednesday in a man's life.

## Who they are

Mother Sereda lives in a chill stone house with a yardstick, a pair of scales, and caged birds, and she bleaches the cloths that Clotho spun and Lachesis wove until nothing remains but dishclouts. She recognizes Jurgen's glittering shirt, and she tells him plainly that in time she will bleach that too. She is the Léshy power that nibbles and devastates, and her meeting with Jurgen sets the rueful, elegiac undertone beneath all his later adventures.

## Relationships

### [Jurgen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters/jurgen)

_psychological_

Mother Sereda is a personification of Wednesday, a cryptic figure who manipulates Jurgen's journey through time.

### [Jurgen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters/jurgen)

_psychological_

Mother Sereda is a personification of Wednesday, a cryptic figure who manipulates Jurgen's journey through time.

### [Jurgen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters/jurgen)

_psychological_

Mother Sereda is a personification of Wednesday, a cryptic figure who manipulates Jurgen's journey through time.

## In the story

### [A Foreword: Which Asserts Nothing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/a-foreword-which-asserts-nothing)

Mentioned in scholarly interpretations as a symbol of mediocrity and compromise.

### [VI: Showing That Sereda Is Feminine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/vi-showing-that-sereda-is-feminine)

The Léshy of Wednesday, who bleaches color and life from things; she is flattered by Jurgen's song and grants him a gift.

### [XI: Appearance of the Duke of Logreus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xi-appearance-of-the-duke-of-logreus)

Referenced by Jurgen as the one he flattered to obtain his youthful appearance.

### [XIV: Preliminary Tactics of Duke Jurgen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xiv-preliminary-tactics-of-duke-jurgen)

Mentioned as being greatly impressed by young Duke Jurgen's erudition, along with the courtiers of Gogyrvan Gawr.

### [XXIII: Shortcomings of Prince Jurgen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxiii-shortcomings-of-prince-jurgen)

Referenced by Jurgen in his explanation to Anaïtis about the Moon's honor.

### [XXVIII: Of Compromises in Leukê](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxviii-of-compromises-in-leuk)

Appears in a frightening procession through the forest, crowned and drawn by lions, attended by howling devotees.

### [XLIII: Postures Before a Shadow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xliii-postures-before-a-shadow)

Confronts Jurgen, discusses the meaning of life and the nature of her shadow, and retracts the youth she gave him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters/mother_sereda
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters