Frottica

Frottica is a small market town in the rural Gillikin region of Oz, best known as the childhood home of Glinda (then Galinda) of the Arduennas of the Uplands. It represents the provincial, sheltered gentry life that Glinda leaves behind when she travels to Shiz University, and later serves as a point of reference for her social identity and family connections.

Identity and Setting

Frottica is located in the Pertha Hills of Gillikin, a region of fox haunts, dripping dells, and secluded ancient pagan temples to Lurline. The town is described as a small market town, and Glinda's family home is there. The family continued to prefer rural Gillikin, with its fox haunts, its dripping dells, its secluded ancient pagan temples to Lurline. To them, Shiz was a distant urban threat, and even the convenience of rail transportation hadn't tempted them to risk all its complications, curiosities, and evil ways. Glinda was the first girl from the Pertha Hills to be accepted at Shiz University.

Role in Glinda's Early Life

Frottica is the setting of Glinda's upbringing. She was seventeen when she left for Shiz, and the whole town of Frottica had seen her off. Her family home is where her Ama Clutch served as her minder. Glinda's early social identity is tied to Frottica: she is "Galinda of the Arduennas of the Uplands," a designation she uses to assert her social standing. The town represents the provincial, sheltered life she initially seeks to escape, but also the social capital she draws upon.

Later References

Frottica is mentioned later in the narrative as a point of reference for Glinda's origins. When Glinda meets Fiyero in the Emerald City years later, she mentions that after graduation she would go back to Frottica and get married. This underscores how Frottica remains a touchstone for her identity, even as she moves into the wider world of Shiz and the Emerald City. The town is also mentioned in connection with the railway station at Frottica, where Ama Clutch stepped on a rusty nail, an event that had significant consequences for Glinda's rooming situation at Crage Hall.