A list of ingredients from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild turned up in John Boyne’s novel The Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom. Contemporary reports traced the apparent mix-up to a Google search for red-dye ingredients—but Boyne reportedly said he could not recall exactly how he found the list.
What Zelda recipe appeared in the novel?
The recipe was the game’s combination for making red dye: apple, spicy pepper, Hylian shroom, sunshroom, ruby, fire keese wing and a red lizalfos tail. Those unmistakably fantastical names made the list stand out when it appeared in a passage involving poison in Boyne’s novel, as reported by GameSpot on August 3, 2020.
These are fictional items from Breath of the Wild, not ingredients from an authenticated historical dye formula. Their appearance in a poisoning scene also does not establish that any real-world substances are toxic.
How did the game ingredients get into the book?
GameSpot and ComicBook.com reported that writer Dana Schwartz connected the recipe to a Google search for ingredients used to dye clothes. The accounts say Boyne found a Breath of the Wild dye guide while looking for that information.
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In a response quoted by Gamereactor on August 5, 2020, Boyne said: “I don’t remember but I must have just Googled it.” He also joked, “Note to self: never talk about poisons in a novel again.” Both quotations are reproduced in secondary news coverage.
That explanation is Boyne’s reported, amused account—not a precise recollection of which search result he used or how the ingredients entered the manuscript. The reports establish the anecdote; they do not independently document the original novel passage or the underlying social-media posts.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Was the reference necessarily an accidental mistake?
GameSpot noted a different possible reading from reviewer Jonathan McAloon: the conspicuous game reference might function deliberately, unsettling the book’s historical credibility. The novel is described in that coverage as a story that moves across eras, rather than straightforward historical fiction.
That interpretation is worth distinguishing from Boyne’s reported response. The available accounts present his explanation as a likely Google-search mishap, while also noting that a reader could see a literary purpose in the anachronism. They do not settle authorial intent beyond what Boyne reportedly said.
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What the story does—and does not—show
- The book: The Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom by John Boyne.
- The game connection: the recognizable list matches Breath of the Wild’s red-dye recipe, according to GameSpot.
- The reported route: a search for clothing-dye ingredients apparently led Boyne to a game guide, though he reportedly did not remember the details.
- The limit: the fictional ingredient list is not evidence of historical textile practice or real-world poison knowledge.
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