The secret of the cult meme "Minted coin": What and how much you need to pay the Witcher

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

At the end of last year, the long-awaited fantasy series The Witcher, based on the books of Andrzej Sapkowski, was released by Netfix. The movie saga itself caused a flurry of so conflicting assessments from critics and viewers that it is difficult for a person who has not watched the film to figure it out. The most important discovery of the series was not even that Superman plays the Witcher and not horrible what kind of tolerant elves, but the incredibly obsessive song "Pay the Witcher with a minted coin." Why the Witcher needs to be paid with a coin, and even a minted one, we will figure it out together with hundreds of musicians who have decided to unanimously ask for minted coins this winter.

The Polish writer who gave the world The Witcher Saga didn't want to sell the rights to Netfix. Anyway, to anyone else. According to Sapkovsky, everyone who approached him with this question was completely frivolous people. The writer did not want to give away his favorite brainchild for any price. But Netfix convinced Pan Andrzej of the seriousness of their intentions and filmed the first season of the series, which they already managed to renew for the second season. Because despite the contradictory assessments, one cannot deny his deafening success.

The Witcher Saga is a fantasy series. The action of this cycle takes place in a fantastic parallel universe, somewhat similar to Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages. The main character of the story is the witcher Geralt. He acquired his magical abilities as a result of a mutation. The work of Geralt's life was the fight against various-sized evil spirits. This is both a good deed and a good income. The Witcher wanders around the world, killing monsters for money, while not forgetting about love. Sometimes customers try to deceive Geralt. Problems with this help him to solve his constant companion - the bard Buttercup, but more on that later.

Sapkowski did not interfere with the flight of the scriptwriters' fantasy. His opinion was in the firm belief that each artist has his own vision and the writer did not want to influence this creative process at all. Pan Andrzej himself says: “I never interfere in other people's creativity, I do not adjust it to my vision, I do not insist on anything and I do not fight for anything. My principle is this: when necessary, I give advice."

The writer does not hide his surprise at the style of reading his work by the scriptwriters and director of The Witcher. Sapkowski delicately kept silent about the shortcomings. "I am used to seeing only letters and working only with letters. When I look at the visualization of my work, be it comics, games or films, they often surprise me. Basically, of course, I am very pleased. And in general, I must be an idiot, to talk about some flaws when my name appears in the credits."

When asked about his expectations for the second season, and for the franchise as a whole, the 71-year-old writer joked with a quote from his colleague Joe Abercrombie: “Life is, in fact, complete shit. It is best to keep your expectations low. Maybe you you will be pleasantly surprised."

The performers of the main roles Henry Cavill, aka Geralt and Joey Batey, aka Buttercup, could not imagine what the filming of the series would actually turn out to be for them. Buttercup's eerily sticky song has become a mega-popular meme. Internet users happily use her text to create funny pictures, and representatives of various musical directions en masse record covers on it.

But Joey Baty is no longer funny. The actor admits that he is already just sick of “Minted Coin.” “This is the most annoying thing I've ever heard. It clings immediately and forever. Then you go around and hum it all the time. I could not get her out of my head for eight whole months. Now I do not want to hear it or perform it."

The song was originally called "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher". There, of course, there were no "minted" coins. In the Russian translation, this expression appeared to preserve the poetic size and, in fact, for the sake of a catchphrase. The English version has also become a very common popular meme. The author of the song, bard Dandelion, is an incredibly chatty womanizer who followed Geralt, personally appointing himself as his closest friend. Bard composed ballads about the witcher, not distinguished by a particular beauty of the style and poetic grace, praising his many exploits. The ballads fulfilled their advertising task - Geralt of Rivia became famous throughout the continent.

Very interesting is the fact that "Pay the Witcher with a minted coin" can be safely called twice a Russian folk song. It was written by a graduate of Gnesinka, Sonya Belousova, and one of the covers was recorded by the Omsk Russian Folk Choir. This song just sticks tightly. Thousands of memes, mostly related to pay. And every time, as soon as you start thinking: “Well, that's for sure. Well, how long can you?”- something new appears and this song is with you again!

If you are a fan of the fantasy genre, read our article. the mystery of the double P and other little-known facts about Game of Thrones father George R. R. Martin.