Bulwer-Lytton, Sir Edward

Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873) was a British politician and novelist. He coined a number of phrases that are still in use today; ‘the great unwashed’, ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ and ‘pursuit of the almighty dollar’. The last is from his 1871 science fiction novel, Vril: The Power of the Coming Race^[1336], which describes an underground race of superior beings with advanced powers.

I have been reminded by Ronan Coghlan that the beef extract, Bovril, developed in the 1870s, had used ‘vril’ as part of its name to imply ‘bull-power’!

He was adopted by English Rosicrucians as their ‘Grand Patron’. The influence of Bulwer-Lytton extended to Helena Blavatsky who “compared Vril with the sidereal force of the Atlanteans, called Mash-Mak.” ^(e)

William Scott-Elliott took Bulwer-Lytton’s ideas seriously and has shown their influence in his references to Atlantis. In the early part of the 20^th century, this fictional concept of vril was incorporated into esoteric Nazism, including the work of Brazilian right-winger, Gustavo Barosso.

Even today there is a so-called Church of Vrilology^(b), which includes belief in a Black Sea location for Atlantis!^(c)

On a lighter note, Bulwer-Lytton’s name has been given to a competition^(d) that “challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.” There have been many worthy winners.

^(b) Church of Vrilology, Robert Blumetti, Balder Rising, Baldur, Odin, Wotan, Woden, Vril (archive.org)  *

^(c) https://web.archive.org/web/20130108091223if_/http://www.vrilology.org/Atlantis_page.htm *

^(d) Home | The Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest (bulwer-lytton.com) *

^(e) Fortean Times No.303 July 2013 p.43