Cart and Cwidder (UK)

by Diana Wynne Jones

  Spring floods, as a result of the snow melting in central Dalemark, are extensive even in modern times. In the uncontrolled River of prehistoric times there was always much flooding, which not only devastated homes but also brought fertile silt, driftwood and fish. This violent mixture of destruction and benevolence caused many people to regard the River as a god.

  Square rigging, the old type of sail which is simply a sheet of canvas hung between two yards across the mast and swivelled at both ends to catch the wind. South Dalemark very early gave this up in favour of the far more efficient fore-and-aft-rigged triangular sail, but the North still clung to the old rig right up to the reign of Amil the Great, when Ynen Navisson reorganised all shipping to form his fleet.

  Square-topped pillar, a waist-high primitive altar only found in the Holy Islands.

  Squarks, Lawschool slang meaning “being too bumptious”.

  Stair, Lord of Adenmouth in North Dalemark, a confirmed alcoholic.

  Stapled, Lawschool slang meaning “to be posted on a notice board as a wrongdoer”. Any pupil who was stapled lost certain privileges for a month.

  Steam organ, at Hannart in North Dalemark, a huge music-making machine built into the side of the mountain, operating like a church organ but powered by steam. It was said to have been the brainchild of the Adon and brought sightseers to Hannart from the moment it was built. It is clear that the people of the Adon’s time knew all about steam power two centuries before the industrial revolution but considered it only worthwhile for providing entertainment.

  Stirring, Holy Islands dialect for rowing a boat.

  Stork, the totem standard of the King of prehistoric Dalemark, where birds had a significance and potency which it is now hard to define. No one but the King or his accredited agents dared carry the Stork. Thus the people of Shelling knew at once that the messengers were there by royal decree.

  Surnam, Lawschool slang for the one who spearheads an attack at grittling.

  Sweetheart, a black cat rescued from an island by the children of Closti the Clam on their journey up the great River.

  Sweetrush, a pet name for Tanaqui the weaver.

  Talismans, charms for keeping the soul in the body made for King Hern’s army by Tanamil the Piper. Many centuries later Dalemark people still call pebbles found with a chance pattern of cross-hatching piper’s pieces.

  Tally, the Lawschool term for its list of prizes.

  Tan, a particle added to the front of a personal name to mean “the younger”, as in Tanabrid, Tankol, Tanamil, et cetera.

  Tanabrid, the daughter of the Adon by his second wife, Manaliabrid of the Undying, who married the Lord of Kredindale after the death of the Adon.

  Tan Adon, Young Lord, one of the names for Tanamil the Piper.

  Tanamil, one of the elder Undying, whose name means “younger brother” or “younger river”. It is said that Tanamil was enslaved by Cenblith at the same time as the One and forced to create the Red River. There are many legends about him, some of which confuse him with Tanamoril, the mage-musician. Tanamil, however, is earlier than Tanamoril, for he is said to have played a major part in King Hern’s defeat of Kankredin, after which he is said to have gone to the Holy Islands, where he can sometimes be heard playing his pipes at sunset.

  Tanamoril

  1. Moril’s full second name. He was called after his famous ancestor.

  2. The name taken by Mage Mallard in his earliest disguise as a minstrel. Under this name he assisted Enblith the Fair to become Queen because, according to some stories, she was his daughter.

  3. The name means “youngest brother” and also refers to both Mallard’s and Moril’s position in their families.

  Tanaqui

  1. The second daughter of Closti the Clam and Anoreth of the Undying. She was a skilled weaver who made the two spellcoats which were dug up from the hillside above Hannart in North Dalemark. Her name is a punning one, meaning both “scented rushes” and “younger sister”. There has been speculation as to whether Tanaqui is herself of the Undying and, if so, is to be identified with Cennoreth the Weaver, but this is probably without foundation: Tanaqui was plainly a real person. See also Weaving.

  2. The scented rushes that are nowadays rare, growing only in certain habitats in North Dalemark.

  Tankol, otherwise known as Young Kol, head foreman of the mineworkers at Kredindale in North Dalemark.

  Tannoreth Palace, built by Amil the Great in Kernsburgh at the start of his reign, to Amil’s own design, and still the royal palace although the present monarch seldom lives there. Amil appears to have invented the name Tannoreth himself (as he invented so many other things in the course of his long reign). It means, if anything, “the younger Noreth”.

  Tanoreth, the “young bound One”, a name for Tanamil the Piper.

  Tears, a potent magic. When Mitt weeps on an image of Libby Beer, he unknowingly invokes her protection.

  Termath, the southernmost port in South Dalemark, the seat of the Earl of Dermath.

  “The year’s luck to you”, the ritual greeting between Holanders on the day of the Sea Festival.

  “This is my will”, a form of words used by a dying King to name the next King. These words had the force of law. King Hern, having named his son Closti as King, is said to have continued, “and it is my will that I name all Kings after you”.

  Tholian, the name of several earls of the South Dales. After the last Tholian perished in an abortive invasion of the North a year or so before the Great Uprising, the name was discarded as unlucky.

  “To tide swimming …”, the ancient charm of invocation to the Earth Shaker and She Who Raised the Islands, spoken as part of the Holand Sea Festival. Any who doubt that this is indeed a charm should note that the words Go now and return sevenfold are thrice repeated in it.

  Trase, Lawschool slang for a team attack at grittling.

  Trethers, Lawschool slang for roll call, for which all pupils had to be present to answer their names.

  Tross, one of the largest of the Holy Islands.

  Trossaver, one of the Holy Islands, held to be the most beautiful.

  Tulfa, the Southern spelling of Tulfer Island.

  Tulfer Island, a large island some eight leagues off the coast of Dropwater in North Dalemark, closely allied to Hannart by marriage.

  Undying, immortals. There are three kinds:

  1. The gods and closely related spirits of prehistoric Dalemark, whose images were kept in niches by the hearth and worshipped and placated daily.

  2. The Elder Undying, who had the status of gods and whose souls were supposed to be enmeshed in the land. They were worshipped in numerous rituals throughout Dalemark which still remain as fragmentary customs and superstitions, particularly in the North. Though there never was any organised religion and only a few buildings were dedicated to the Undying, it is clear that everyone in early historic times, from the King downwards, joined in rituals of worship or invocation to the Undying at certain times of the year. The Elder Undying can be distinguished by their ritualised names e.g. the One, whose names are not to be spoken; the Weaver of Fates et cetera.

  3. People who live for ever. There seems to be a gene of true immortality in the blood of Dalemark. Such people – for instance, Tanamoril or Manaliabrid – are born rarely, possibly one every three or four centuries, but do seem to exist. They nearly always possess unusual powers or abilities and often claim descent from the Elder Undying. It has been said that these immortals are the same as the Elder Undying, except that the Elder Undying unwisely allowed themselves to be bound into godhead by mortals wishing to worship them, but there is no proof of this theory.

  Undying at Midsummer, a very ancient tune of invocation to the One at the time of his greatest power.

  Updale, a small village in the centre of the second Upland, north of Neathdale in South Dalemark.

  Uplands, the most northerly section of South Dalemark. The land here rises in three steep escarpments to meet the mountains of
the North.

  Virtue, power, life force, or magic.

  Wailers, mourners, women who traditionally sit over a dead person making sounds of grief. The sounds have strict rules, which have to be learnt. Wailers are usually elderly women or those without children who have had time to learn the rules.

  Wanderer, the one of the Undying who walks the green roads of North Dalemark, keeping them in good repair. He is the patron of all travellers and invoked even in the South at the start of a journey.

  Warden of the Holy Islands, the title bestowed on Hildrida Navissdaughter by Amil the Great.

  Warm Springs, mentioned in the spellcoats, halfway along the southern stretch of the great River and certainly of volcanic origin. Dalemark lies across two tectonic plates, and the land has always been prone to earthquakes and volcanic upheavals. Most historians believe that the shaking of the land by the One was in fact caused by the colliding of the two continental plates. There is evidence in Markind of a much earlier upheaval accompanied by massive volcanic activity.

  Wars in Dalemark were frequent, but three only need concern us:

  1. The prehistoric invasion by Heathens from Haligland.

  2. The Adon’s wars when the Adon claimed the crown, one of the few civil conflicts in which earls from both North and South appeared on either side.

  3. The Great Uprising, when Amil the Great took the crown, which ended in the establishment of modern Dalemark as one kingdom.

  Watersmeet, in the prehistoric Riverlands, the junction where the Red River flowed into the great River.

  Waystone, a flat, round stone with a hole in the middle, set up on its narrow edge to mark the start of a green road in North Dalemark. It was the custom to touch the waystone for luck at the start of a journey.

  Waywold, the earldom next door to Holand on the south coast of South Dalemark.

  Weaver, the lady of the Undying who weaves the fates and fortunes of mortals. She is said by some to be the same as the witch Cennoreth.

  The Weaver’s Song, a well-known nursery song that may originally have been an invocation to the Weaver.

  Weaving was always to some extent a magical skill and not simply to do with making cloth. In early historical times each pattern woven was held to have significance. Note that Tanaqui takes it for granted that whatever she weaves will contain at least some words, usually at the hem or wrists of the garment, but quite often in bands throughout. See also Words.

  “Welcome aboard, Old Ammet, sir!”, the traditional greeting from the crew that found Old Ammet floating in the sea, showing respect proper to one of the Undying.

  Wend Orilson, assistant curator at the Tannoreth Palace in Kernsburgh, who claims to be one of the Undying.

  West Pool, the second harbour of Holand in South Dalemark, shallower than the main harbour and protected by walls and gates, where the rich have always kept their pleasure boats. Harbour dues here are very high.

  Wheatsheaf, the flagship of the Holy Islands fleet.

  Wheatsheaf crest, the badge of Holand in South Dalemark, much feared in the time of Earl Hadd, when Harchad Haddsson gave each of his paid spies a small gold button stamped with this crest.

  “Wider than the world, or small as in a nut”, a quotation from a song by the Adon, sung by Kialan on the road north. The song is called Truth and, at one level, describes the working of the cwidder bequeathed to Moril Clennensson.

  Wind’s Road

  1. An archaic term for the sea, used in spells and invocations.

  2. The name of the yacht in which Mitt and his friends escaped north.

  Wine, made all over South Dalemark. The best vintages, red and white, are from Canderack, and the worst from Holand, and there are one or two superb reds from Andmark. The Holy Islands make a strange sparkling white and a brandy so good only earls can afford it. Apart from this, everywhere north of Markind tends to make cider instead and distill from it the spirits called gley. The main drink of the North is beer, except in Dropwater, where they make a sort of plum brandy.

  Winthrough, Lawschool slang for a scholarship student.

  Wittess, one of the Holy Islands, low and green.

  Words, a term used by Tanaqui and Kankredin for the clusters of woven signs in the spellcoats which only the learnt or the initiated could read in the cloth. These signs not only formed words in the normal sense but were also potent ingredients of a mage-weaver’s spell.

  Wren, the headman of an unknown village in prehistoric Dalemark who led his people northwards, fleeing from Kankredin. He was the first man to swear allegiance to King Hern.

  Yeddersay, one of the outer ring of the Holy Islands.

  Ynen, son of Navis Haddsson, who became Amil the Great’s admiral in chief. Ynen not only experimented with steamships but built the conventional navy up to the extent that Dalemark quickly became an important sea power.

  Ynynen, the lesser of the Earth Shaker’s two Great Names. Readers are strongly advised not to say this name beside the sea or in a boat.

  Young One, the red clay image of a smiling young man which the family of Closti the Clam kept in one of their fireside niches reserved for the Undying.

  Zara, the sister of Closti the Clam, who was to have married Zwitt, the headman of Shelling, if Closti had not jilted Zwitt’s sister. Zara was then forced to marry Kestrel or remain a spinster. Zara never forgave Closti or his family for this, though she seems to have retained a strong fondness for Zwitt.

  Zwitt, the headman of Shelling beside the great River of prehistoric Dalemark. When Zwitt was young, he was betrothed to Closti the Clam’s sister Zara, while Closti was betrothed to Zwitt’s sister. Closti, however, fell in love with Anoreth and married her instead. Zwitt, in revenge, refused to marry Zara. This caused continuing bad blood between Zwitt and Closti’s family.

  Read more from Diana Wynne Jones

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  The Dalemark Quartet

  Aileen is convinced she’ll never become as magical as her Aunt Beck. But when her Wise Woman aunt is set a seemingly impossible rescue mission, Aileen soon realises she might be more special than she at first thought …

  The Chrestomanci series

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  About the Author

  Diana Wynne Jones’s first children’s book was published in 1973. Her magical, funny adventures have enthralled children and adults ever since, and she has inspired many of today’s children’s and fantasy authors. Among Diana’s best-loved books for older children are the Chrestomanci series and the Howl books. Her novel Howl’s Moving Castle was made into an award-winning film. She was described by Neil Gaiman as "the best children’s writer of the last forty years".

  Books by Diana Wynne Jones

  Chrestomanci Series

  Charmed Life

  The Magicians of Caprona

  Witch Week

  The Lives of Christopher Chant

  Mixed Magics

  Conrad’s Fate

  The Pinhoe Egg

  Howl Series

  Howl’s Moving Castle

  Castle in the Air

  House of Many Ways

  The Dalemark Quartet

  Cart and Cwidder

  Drowned Ammet

  The Spellcoats

  The Crown of Dalemark

  Archer’s Goon

  Black Maria

  Dogsbody

  Eight Days of Luke

  Enchanted Glass

  The Homeward Bounders

  The Merlin Conspiracy

  Deep Secret

  The Dark Lord of Derkholm

  Year of the Griffin

  The Ogre Downstairs

  Power of Three

  A Tale of Time City

  Wilkin’s Tooth

  The Game

  The Islands of Chaldea (with Ursula Jones)

  For older readers


  Fire and Hemlock

  Hexwood

  The Time of the Ghost

  For younger readers

  Wild Robert

  Earwig and the Witch

  Vile Visitors

  Freaky Families

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