I'm getting quite confused as to what really happened to Geralt before the storyline of the 'Witcher' games began. Maybe this has something to do with me not having read the novels, but I still want to clear this all up.

1. Geralt and Yennefer DIE in Rivia.

2. Ciri BRINGS THEM BACK TO LIFE (?) and takes the to the Isle of Avallach, where they live a happy life for some time - ALIVE (?)

3. The Wild Hunt attacks and kidnaps Yennefer. Geralt leaves the Isle of Avallach and chases them. He meets with Letho and the other Snake School Witchers and they confront the Wild Hunt.

4. Geralt makes a deal, joining the Wild Hunt's SPECTRAL Cavalcade, even though he is in physical form, and Yennefer is left with Letho.

5. Geralt somehow escapes/is booted from the Spectral Cavalcade, without any of his memories, and the game series begins.

Pretty much, my only big question is whether or not Ciri actually brought Geralt and Yennefer back to life before sending them to the Isle of Avallach, as before I had been under the impression that she had sent their corpses/spirits there.

But Geralt HAD to be alive on the Isle of Avallach, because immediately after Yennefer is taken away, he leaves the island, and the fact that he saves Letho and interacts with many people along the way is definite prove that he is alive.

He had mortal wound but he didn't die. Everyone thought that he is dead, because who could live with pierced heart? On the end of the book he woke up alive on the isle of Avalon.

Huh? I remember several Polish readers of the books saying that he was definitely dead at the end of the last book...

So I guess the part about the Isle of Avallach and the chase after the Wild Hunt was not in the books at all?

Oops didn't read Aver's post.

Well, so they didn't know The Legend of King Arthur. Scene of his "death" was reference to the Legend of King Arthur and they had (Arthur and Geralt) the same fate. Also as I said Geralt woke up bandaged (so the wound was real) on the Isle of Avalon and he was confused what happened but he was alive.

There was no scene about Wild Hunt in the books. It happened later.

In TW2, the isle of Avallach is suggested to be a world after this existence. A character alludes to this near the end of Chapter 1.

It could be but I don't think so. Geralt was bandaged there. You don't need bandages in afterlife, do you? ;)

For me it was just another world. Ciri (Ziri) can travel between worlds so it's good explanation.

But if Avallach is supposed to be Avalon: in the legend of King Arthur, this is where you go after death. Not bandaged and patched up, though.

Think of it as both. It's similar in Lord of the Rings with the elves. When they die they go to Valinor, but many also physically sail there to rejoin those that have gone before.

Also, in some versions of Avalon, there are living people there, though mostly priests. If Ceri resurrected them, they could have been alive and on Avalon. Since Ceri is a source, it is possible.

I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything in the game. It was not explained how Geralt left the hunt? And the fact that he left is the reason why the hunt dogs him through out TW1?

damn, I really should read the books. all this lore would make the game experience even better.

Avalon isn't where you go after death, thats just one interpretation. In most, Avalon was a magical island, a haven, where creatures of magic went to when the age of science began. Its the land of Oberon. It could be implied that in Tolkiens' folklore that this is the Land that the elves sail off to. But in legends regarding Avalon, its not the afterlife as the magical creatures did not need to die to enter, but a land that is either in another dimension or shrouded in magic so that Man could neither see nor enter because Man chose science over magic. Arthurian Legends on Avalon don't tend to differ from this....Arthur was supposed represent pure good, and thus his body was taken there upon his death.

Just my understanding of Avalon.

For me, I don't know the folklore behind Geralt, as this is my first experience. I didn't play 1 nor have I read the books. I assumed that Avallach was just some island at first, and I'll admit I'm a little confused with all the comparisons between the myths. I have to say Polish mythology isn't one with which I'm familiar, so I am starting to wonder was this based on polish myth or an author's interpretation of some other culture's myth or a mash of multiple myths.

Taking just what I've seen in this game, I presume that Geralt is the last surviving Vran (i've no idea what they look like), or from another world altogether. Is he the first witcher and this is why there is such reverence when the other witchers reference him? He often says he's not human but never mentions that he was never human.

Are the novels the same way, all about him recovering his memories or is his origin explained in them? And if you were to start reading the novels which one do you start with?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrzej_Sapkowski has a list of the books for you if you believe what you read from there. So far, only two are available in English, The Last Wish and Blood of Elves.

I am not an expert, but my understanding was not that Geralt is the first Witcher, but that for some unknown reason, His Trial of the Grasses went differently than that of the other Witchers, leaving him less able to stay uninvolved -- more likely to step his foot in it , as it were. I understood that the Vran were a completely different species, unrelated to human but with a Nordic flavor to their work, this could be completely wrong, however.

As for the mythological/legendary basis of the novels, I understood that Sapkowski re-worked/ borrowed heavily from both Polish and the surrounding area to create fantastic new versions of old stories. But I am limited by the English translations and hearsay from Polish friends. I thought the Wild Hunt was mostly something found in the games, but far less so in the novels. Again I could be way off, since I cannot read those myself.

I was wondering if I wanted to create a post similar to the beginning of yours, but you did a great job in that first paragraph, so I do not have to anymore.

As I gathered, Geralt was a perfectly mormal boy, but another witcher helped his father. As payment he wanted to have "that which you find upon returning home and don't expect". What the father didn't expect was that while he was away, his wife had bore a son. Some years later, the witcher came to his home and took little Geralt with him to become a witcher.

I don't know if it was because of his Trial of the Grasses, that went not exactly as expected (the white hair), that he retained more of his emotions than a witcher usually should have. I had the impression that Geralt was a little different from the start. At least the tv series implies that.

There is mention of the Wild Hunt in the second short story book, that one which wasn't published in English, Sword of Destiny (but we now have a fan translation, yay). Geralt tells Yennefer about the Wild Hunt in A Shard of Ice, I think. Maybe the Wild Hunt wasn't as prominently featured in the books, but taken up by CDPR as an interesting plot point, that has at least SOME root and mention in Sapkowskis world.