Corwin of Amber

Corwin, a Prince of Amber, is the main character in the first five books of Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. He is the son of Oberon and Faiella and father of Merlin, the main character in the last five books. Corwin and his family spend a great deal of their time plotting against one another, and they thrive on intrigue and politics. The primary focus of their conspiracies is the throne of Amber.

Corwin is the eldest heir to the throne with a legitimate claim. His older brother Eric, while born to the same mother, is technically a bastard because at that time Oberon and Faiella were unmarried. All other older siblings are either excluded on other technicalities or dead, although Corwin commented that his eldest brother Benedict would be unchallenged if he wished to take the throne. It should be noted that the matter of succession is hotly contested within the family, particularly during the prolonged absence of Oberon, and that the version above is Corwin's self-serving interpretation.

Corwin has dark hair and green eyes. His colours are black and silver (alternately gray), and his symbol is a silver rose. Corwin's favoured weapon is his sword Grayswandir, and his use of magic is extremely limited. Some of his siblings exceed him in skill at arms (Benedict), strength (Gérard), and magic (Brand, Fiona, Bleys), but Corwin is an innovator and a quick thinker. He is also boasts remarkable regeneration abilities, even among his siblings. While Corwin possesses a personal code of honor, this does not extend to "courtly virtue", and he is willing to employ subterfuge to defeat an opponent.

Overview

Centuries before the opening of Nine Princes in Amber, while their father Oberon was still ruling in Amber, Corwin fought a duel (or, as Corwin referred to it later, "a simultaneous decision to murder each other") with Eric and nearly died. Eric, fearing their father's wrath, dumped Corwin in Elizabethan England during the time of the black plague. Corwin recovered from the plague, but he suffered brain damage causing amnesia. He proceeded to live out several hundred years of Earth's history as a soldier of fortune until the 1970s, when he was in a car accident and confined to a clinic. Waking with no memories at all, Corwin escapes and makes contact with his family, using them to return to Amber and finally regain his past.

Once Corwin's memory returns, we learn that he is far from saintly. Like his siblings, he has created his own kingdom in Shadow to rule, calling it Avalon, and in doing so has cast shadows of himself and his kingdom around. While the original Avalon has been destroyed, in the shadow Avalons his name is reviled for cruelty and arrogance. As Benedict says of the Avalon that he has adopted, acting as Lord Protector, "young boys are not named Corwin here, nor am I brother to anyone of that name". Even in Lorraine, the shadow of a shadow where he first encounters the forces of Chaos, he is remembered as a tyrant and butcher. It seems that his centuries on Earth have somehow mellowed his character, if not his ambition.

For an in-depth plot summary of Corwin's adventures following his time in the clinic, see Nine Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, and The Courts of Chaos.

Grayswandir

Grayswandir is Corwin's sword, also known as the Night Blade; its twin is Brand's Werewindle, the Day Sword. Both Grayswandir and Werewindle are inscribed with portions of the Pattern of Amber; this makes them particularly effective against creatures of Chaos. In addition, Grayswandir has one magical property that makes it particularly useful: Corwin can call it by creating a Shadow where he wills it to exist. Unlike a normal blade, Grayswandir can also harm apparitions, and allows Corwin to speak to the shades in Tir'Na'Nogoth.

In the Amber short story Hall of Mirrors, Corwin revealed that Grayswandir and Werewindle were transformed spikards. Spikards are rings of power that existed before Amber, and possibly even Chaos, were created; they allow the bearer to tap into the raw power of the Amber universe. While the spikard may give immense power, in the Merlin cycle, Merlin's step-brother Mandor speaks about a price to be paid when using the spikards, and this may explain why neither Brand nor Corwin used them during the Patternfall war.

Corwin's Pattern

In The Courts of Chaos, Corwin inscribed a new Pattern after he incorrectly concluded Oberon's attempt to repair the Primal Pattern had failed. He created his pattern in a Shadow originally resembling the nearby Courts of Chaos; when his Pattern was complete, it brought a measure of order to that Shadow. Corwin's Pattern created an additional emblem of Order, upsetting the balance of power between the original Pattern and the weakened Logrus of Chaos.

Corwin's Pattern is somewhat different from the original Primal Pattern and the copies of it. Notably, it feels more benevolent than Amber's Pattern and its Shadow copies; this is theorized to be a result of Corwin's mellowed personality and his experiences in Paris, France, which he drew on while creating his Pattern. Corwin's Pattern treats its Pattern ghosts as helpers rather than expendable tools.

Chronicles of Amber in Popular Culture

Grayswandir appears as a powerful artifact silver saber in the game NetHack. It protects its wielder from hallucination.