Maerad

Maerad is the principal character of the first two books of Pellinor: The Gift / The Naming, and The Riddle by the fantasy writer Alison Croggon.

Birth and early life

Maerad was born into the Inner Circle of the School of Pellinor, the daughter of the first Bard, Milana, and her husband, Dorn, a member of the nomadic Pilanel race. She is a member of the House of Karn, which was virtually destroyed in the sack of Pellinor. As they attempted escape, the young Maerad and her mother were betrayed by the corrupt Enkir, later first Bard of Norloch and were sold into slavery to the petty feudal tyrant Gilman. Though thought to have perished along with Dorn, her brother Cai survived and was stolen by Bards who have turned from the Light, known as Hulls, the undead servants of the Nameless One, Sharma, who seeks to keep the Treesong split and hidden from the Elementals.

In the belief that Cai was in fact thought to be the Foretold, he was taken by the Hulls (whom he refers to as Black Bards) to an orphanage, where they attempted to corrupt him to the Dark. They changed Cai's name to Hem, to better reflect his new life in the North, as this is a common name amongst the Pilani.

The Gift / The Naming

Meanwhile, Maerad and her mother lived at Gilman's Cot, as slaves. Weakened by her broken spirit, Milana died before Maerad reached puberty, and she lived alone, fulfilling her duties from then onwards. Though she was a vulnerable girl, she appears to have managed to avoid the more harsh and degrading punishments meted out to female slaves as even as an untrained Bard she was considered to be witch-like and capable of placing the "evil eye" on those who sought to treat her roughly. When Cadvan of Lirigon - who, we learn from an early stage, has a partiality to mushrooms - came through the Cot, ensorcelled in a glimmerspell to hide him, Maerad saw him, and he realised that she was an untrained Bard. He agreed to assist her escape from Gilman and took her to the School of Innail, where Maerad learns of her heritage for the first time and begins her training in Bardic studies. She is also loved by Dernhil of Gent, a scholar, who subsequently voluntarily sacrifices his life to ensure Hulls in the service of Enkir are unable to pursue Cadvan and Maerad out of Innail.

During Cadvan and Maerad's journey to the Annaren capital, Norloch, they enter the realm of Ardina, an Elemental being who rules the idyllic forest-realm of Rachida, and learn of Maerad's Elemental blood. Upon their exit from Rachida, they rescue a small boy named Hem as he seeks to hide from Hulls in the Valverras waste who had murdered the Pilani travellers who had rescued him. After much talk, they realise they are brother and sister, and that they belong to the illustrious house of Pellinor.

With the assistance of Dernhil's research, Cadvan uncovers Maerad's destiny as the Foretold One: she who will wrest the Treesong back into the Light and worst the Nameless One even in his greatest uprising. It is in the city of Norloch Cadvan's mentor, Nelac confirms this to be the case as he initiates Maerad as a full Bard, whereupon her truename is revealed to be that prophecised, Elednor, the Fire-Lily of Edil-Amarandh. It is here that Maerad also encounters Enkir, now first bard of Norloch and is forced to flee with Cadvan to the Island nation of Thorold. She also comes into the speech which allows her to converse fully with other Bards and animals, including her horse, Imi and Cadvan's stallion, Darsor.

The Riddle

Further signs are given in Thorold that something is wrong at the heart of the Light, when the Rite of Renewal nearly fails and is only completed at the timely intervention of Cadvan and that Maerad's role in this is more complicated than that of a normal Bard. We are also given the first inidcation that she is susceptible to the temptations of the Dark and she is warned that her greatest danger may be to herself. We are also told of the split-song and how the Treesong was split by Sharma, the Nameless One in his attempt to become immortal in a similar manner to the Elementals, who owned the Treesong. In order to prevail against the Dark and the Nameless, Cadvan and Maerad must journey north to uncover the secret of the Treesong.

Surviving an attack at sea by a Stormdog, a weather creature created by the Winterking Arkan, the journey North sees a deterioration in the relationship between Cadvan and Maerad. This is further exacerbated when She accidentally kills Ilar of Desor, a bard who attempts to take them into custody after they are named as outlaws by Enkir. This is taken by Cadvan to be a sign of Maerad's inner, human Darkness and a result of her wild, amoral elemental powers, and when they are attacked in the mountain passes by the servants of the Winterking, Maerad is distressed to find she is no longer able to join her own power to that of Cadvan, which seemingly results in his death in an avalanche (in fact Darsor has saved both Cadvan and himself by bolting into a cave in the side of the mountain).

Rescued by Ardina, the dying Maerad is tended by Mirka, a mountain woman and a member of the Pilani. Upon her recovery Maerad journeys to the Pilani capital, Murask where she is introduced to more long-lost family, Sirkana their leader, who is revealed to be her Father's twin sister, and her cousin, Dharin. Dharin is tasked with taking Maerad to the Fire Islands to consult the Wise Kindred regarding the Treesong. Following her meeting with their Singer, she is captured by Jusaack raiders, in the service of an Elemental, the Winterking Arkan, and taken to his stronghold, Arkan-da, where she is enchanted and kept beneath his sway, as he thinks to keep her with him, forever enchanted to be his Queen. Though he is in some ways cold and cruel, Maerad find the Elemental part of her attracted to Arkan, and her hatred of him is tempered when she discovers he has been betrayed by the Nameless and does not consider himself Sharma's ally. In her conversations with the Winterking she learns that her lyre, which belonged to her mother Milana, bears runes which form one half of the treesong. Although Arkan can tell her what they mean, he is unable to reveal the music of the Treesong. It is believed that Sharma, the nameless, has the other half of the song in his domain of Den Raven in the south.

Ardina helps Maerad to escape in the form of a Wolf, which she transforms into using her Elemental powers, simulataneously creating a semblance of herself to confuse Arkan. Together they escape the fury of Arkan who unleashes a terrible storm upon them, and journey with a wolf pack to the Annaren border. Still in wolf form, she is drawn back to the destroyed city of Pellinor where she finds Cadvan and Darsor camping among the ruins, having been told by Ardina to await her return there. She assumes human form again - much to Cadvan's surprise, and they resume their quest.

Since the third book in the series, The Crow, deals with Hem's journey to the south with the Bard Saliman, we expect to take up Maerad's story once more in the final instalment, The Singing.

Appearance

Maerad is of average height. Unlike her brother, Hem, she is more Annaren than Pilani in appearance, with Pale skin, long black hair and blue eyes. She is roughly 16-17 years of age.

Since her kidnap and capture by the Winterking in the events of The Riddle, she has only one and a half fingers and a thumb on her left hand, the result of frostbite in the frozen wastes of Zmarkan.

Powers and Abilities

Some members of the House of Karn have Elidhu blood, and as such their skill, proficiency and raw power at Bardic Magic and Magery is extremely high. The power of Pellinor allows Maerad to have incredible strength at magery, and she has used her skills in several feats. She has:

• Created a living lion from a rock (never before done by a mortal)
• Held up against an attack from a pure Elidhu, the Landrost
• Aided in the creation of powerful magics that was impossible before her arrival,
• Seen through the Illusory Veil cast by the Arkan, the Winterking Elidhu,
• Located her brother Hem in the Valverras Waste
• Killed a Kulag, and
• Simultaeneously defeated several Hulls, wers, and a Wight of the Abyss single-handedly.
• She can also speak Annaren, and both the Speech, and the language of the Elidhu.
• Under the encouragement of Ardina, she has also learnt to alter her shape, spending several days as a member of a Wolf Pack in order to escape from the Winterking.

Possessions

Due to her period as a slave, Maerad owns very few possessions. What she does have are kept in her travelling pack and include:

• A mystical Lyre, thought to be Dhyllic ware created by Nelsor of Afinil. This is inscribed with ancient Runes which form one half of the Treesong.
• A book of poems given to her by Dernhil of Gent
• Ring given to her by Ardina [elidhu]
• Prior to her imprisonment in Arkan-da, her sword and helm.
• A coat of chainmail.
• A set of Elidhu pipes.
• A healing stone given to her by Silvia, a bard of the school Innail
• A small statue of a cat she found among the reckage of the Pilanel travelling group where she first found her brother, Hem.

Links

Author's website