Summary
The latestThe Witcherbook has at last revealed Geralt of Rivia’s year of birth: 1211. The protagonist ofThe Witcherseries hence turned out to be much younger than some fans were suspecting.
Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski has consistently written Geralt as an experienced monster hunter ever since his first short story starring the now-famous witcher, published in 1986. But none ofThe Witcherbooksor short stories have ever spelled out his exact year of birth untilRozdroże kruków(Crossroads of Ravens), which came out in Poland on June 21, 2025.
As reported byRedanian Intelligence,Crossroads of Ravensreveals Geralt was born in 1211. This would make him around 37 at the start ofThe Last Wish—the first novel in Sapkowski’s saga—and approximately 57 by the time of the series' chronological conclusion depicted inThe Lady of the Lake. As forCrossroads of Ravens,the newThe Witcherbook follows a teenage Geralt, as it’s set in 1229, just after the monster hunter completes his training at Kaer Morhen.
Geralt Is Implied to Be Much Older in The Witcher Games
CD Projekt Red’s hit games based on Sapkowski’s books imply that Geralt is much older than in the novels. E.g., Vesemir suggests thatGeralt is close to a century old inThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Since CDPR’s RPG trilogy exists in its own universe,Crossroads of Ravensdoesn’t retcon Geralt’s age from the games. Another difference between the game and the book universe concerns the age gap between Geralt and Yennefer. In the games, Yennefer is implied to be only slightly older than Geralt. In the books, she is 38 years older than the monster hunter.
1248
37
1250
39
1262
51
1267
56
1268
57
1229
18
Netflix’sThe Witcherseriesalso has a different timeline, as it depicts Yennefer’s year of birth as 1192, making her 18 years younger than her book version. Meanwhile, the show version of Geralt was born in 1160, so he’s approximately 106 years old in the Season 3 finale. The lore of the franchise implies that a century-old witcher is something akin to a middle-aged human. E.g., by the timeThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunttakes place, Vesemir is implied to be close to 200 years old, thus boasting the title of the oldest living witcher. Due to the nature of their profession, witchers don’t usually die of old age, a sentiment that’s frequently repeated throughout CDPR’s RPGs.
While Sapkowski has not ruled out writing moreThe Witcherbooks, he has repeatedly stated he has no intentions of taking Geralt’s story any further thanThe Lady of the Lake—originally released in 1999—did. As forCrossroads of Ravens, the English version of the book following a teenage Geralt is presently planned to be released in early 2025.
Source:Screen Rant
The Witcher
The Witcher is a 3D action RPG series developed by CD Projekt Red featuring the exploits of Geralt of Rivia. Steeped in fantasy, The Witcher series is based on the books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.
