Myth: (Norse) Idunn (“active in love”) is the wife of Bragi (god of poetry) and the goddess who guards the golden apples of youth for the gods. I am unable to find a mention of her having a sister.
Indign the duke of northernmost Celidon, who owned Bluestone Castle (I, chap. 2, 25). The Osterling pirates killed him and razed the castle. His badge is the blue boar (26).
At first he is the most likely candidate for the phantom knight that Able sees upon drinking the water at Bluestone Island. Presumably the ghost would be a sign that Able should avenge his death and perhaps even take his place as local castle lord.
Onomastics: while there is a hint of indigo, a shade of blue, in his name, indign [in-DINE] is an obscure word meaning “unbecoming; undignified; disgraceful” (Mrs. Byrne’s).
Ironmouth one of Smiler’s knights, a Dragon Warrior (II, chap. 38, 452).
Irring a big river in Celidon (I, chap. 10, 75).
Onomastics: perhaps from the German irren (to wander).
Irringsmouth Indign’s town, a northern port where the Irring empties into the sea (I, chap. 2, 26). The Osterlings had burned a lot of it.
Isle of Glas not really an island; rather, the top of the tower Setr built in Aelfrice (I, chap. 22, 140). There are trees and grass on it, and a pool that leads to Aelfrice. The durian fruit found growing here suggests that the island is located close to the equator.
Able climbs up the first time from Aelfrice. Later Vil, Toug, Etela, and Lynnet walk there by accident in the weird fog in Jotunland, but Able sees “another” with them, probably Mag (II, chap. 26, 316).
A generation earlier it has been a Siren Shoal, a private feeding area of Garsecg, stocked with beautiful women he had kidnapped, but when Able visits, it is long deserted. Later a bitter Able tells the Kingsdoom pages about Glas—that the women died, killed by one another or the seamen they tricked, until the last one took poison (II, chap. 35, 418).
Jer the leader of the outlaw gang near Glennidam (I, chap. 12, 86).
Onomastics: (German) nickname of Jerry, “mighty spearman.”
Jotunhome the secret country of the Angrborn women (II, chap. 16, 181). The land of the giantesses.
Myth: (Norse) Jotunheim, realm of the giants.
Jotunland the Angrborn country, north of the Mountains of Mice (I, chap. 13, 93). The land of the giants.
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Kei one of Arnthor’s knights (II, chap. 31, 372). A fine jouster, he was champion of the year before. Able bests him, but they break six lances before Kei’s mount goes down. Later he is chosen as the third champion in the three fights against Smiler’s Dragon Warriors. He is killed by Ironmouth (II, chap. 38, 454).
Arthuriana: Kei (Caei, Keu, Kay, Cayous) is Arthur’s seneschal (a type of high-powered bailiff, steward, or majordomo). He is a ubiquitous character in Arthurian romance but never a major one.
Kelpies Sea Aelf girls (I, chap. 21, 136).
Kerl the first mate on the Western Trader (I, chap. 16, 109). He becomes captain after Able disappears into the sea and is still captain three years later when Able reappears (I, chap. 28, 174).
Onomastics: close to the Greek Keril meaning “lordly”; close to churl, “freeman, one without rank.”
Khazneh a city of the Osterlings, located in or just beyond the Mountains of the Sun (II, chap. 11, 126). Woddet takes part in looting it in a raid that comes before the Battle of Five Fates.
Onomastics: (Arabic) “The Treasury,” one of the most elaborate temple tombs in the ancient city of Petra, located in a rugged canyon of Jordan. As with most of the other buildings in this town, it is carved out of a sandstone rock face.
Khimairae Fire Aelf transformed into human-sized, winged dragons (I, chap. 23, 143), they are guardians of Glas, both the tower and the isle (I, chap. 22, 140).
Myth: (Greek) chimaerae, plural of chimaera, a shape-shifting, fire-breathing monster, often depicted as having the body of a lioness, with a tail ending in a serpent head, and the head of a goat coming out of its spine, in addition to the head of a lion.
Kingsdoom a seaport, the capital of Celidon (I, chap. 31, 196). Thortower, Arnthor’s castle, is located in the middle of the city (II, chap. 28, 348).
Kirsten a beloved servant who died when Lynnet was fourteen years old (II, chap. 22, 260).
Onomastics: Dutch/Norwegian form of Christiana. In Celidon, this might have a pre-Christian meaning of “anointed one.”
Kleos the second world, above Skai, where Michael lives (I, chap. 44, 275). Parka is said to come from Kleos, and Lothur might have, too. See cosmology.
Able writes, “I said [to Escan] that someday I would like to go to Kleos, the world above Skai; but it would be years before I tried” (II, chap. 35, 424).
Knight of the Sun the second knight to fight Able at the mountain pass (II, chap. 11, 120). He is Woddet in disguise.
knights Agr?, Arn?, Branne of Broadford, Erac, Galaad, Gamuret, Garvaon, Gawain, Gerrune, Hermad, Hunbalt, Kei, Lamwell of Chaus, Leort, Llwch, Lud, Manasen, Marc, Nopel, Nytir of Fairhall, Oriel Owan, Ravd of Redhall, Rober of Greenglory, Sabel, Skoll, Svon, Swit, Toug, Vidare, Woddet.
Knights of Eterne the phantom knights include Hunbalt and Skoll. At times there are eight; at other times there are more.
Kulili the person responsible for the Aelf (I, glossary). She knit herself out of worms, meaning she could unravel and scatter, making her hard to catch. Kulili is a composite of many individuals, or as Able puts it, “Kulili’s the group mind of creatures who are largely unaware of their individual existences” (II, chap. 4, 46).
The Sea Aelf hope Able will fight her for them (I, chap. 21, 134). Kulili says the world known as Aelfrice was hers before there were any Aelf. She created Aelf to protect her forest. But they chased her from the land into the water, then from the water into the depths (I, chap. 27, 171).
Kulili looks like the statue “more beautiful than woman” Able sees on the Isle of Glas (I, chap. 27, 171). The White Dragon, first seen (II, chap. 26, 315), is identified as Kulili later in the same chapter (324). Able tells Arnthor, “The Most High God placed a numerous folk called Kulili. As we reverence the Overcyns, so Kulili was to reverence us, and did, and was revered by the dragons of Muspel” (II, chap. 33, 397). So it would seem that the dragon-form is revered by the dragons, and the woman-form is the reflection of her reverence for humans.
Myth: (Sumerian) a type of dragon, later a merman. Kulili portrayed as a dragon symbolizes chaos, but as a fishman, he symbolizes the forerunner of the Abgal (a group of water creatures).
Kyot see names on the wind.
Lady, the a woman of the Overcyn, the Valfather’s youngest daughter (I, chap. 2, 26), his most important daughter (I, chap. 21, 133). “No one is supposed to use her name in ordinary talk, so they say ‘the Lady’ instead” (I, glossary). The crescent moon is her bow (I, chap. 21, 132). Her perfume is lilac (II, chap. 10, 110). In Skai, Able was on loan to her for a time. Able tells Mani about her cats.
Myth: (Norse) Freyja (meaning “Lady”). She was born of the Vanir gods rather than the Æsir, daughter of Njord and possibly Nerthus. A goddess of love and death, she receives half of the knights the Valkyrie bring to Asgard. She is represented as riding in a chariot drawn by two cats.
Laemphalt the name Toug gave to the white stallion Beel had given to Able (II, chap. 3, 36).
Onomastics: perhaps Latin “white neck” (laem = throat, gullet; phal = shining, white).
lamiae plural of lamia.
Myth: (Greek) vampiric half-woman, half-serpent monster who devours children.
Lamwell of Chaus a queen’s house knight who is the second to lose to Able at halberts (II, chap. 30, 369). He is one of the five bravest knights at Thortower (II, chap. 32, 391). He comes to Redhall with news from King Arnthor in the south
, in need of every man (II, chap. 36, 435). See also chaus.
Arthuriana: Sir Lamwell is a 16th century lay (song form of Northern Europe) surviving in three fragments, thought to be derived from a Middle English translation of Marie de France’s Lanval. Lamwell is the hero of an “otherworld” adventure: he leaves Arthur’s court after being treated unjustly and finds love with a fairy lady who swears him to secrecy.
Leesha Lynnet’s sister who died in childbirth (II, chap. 22, 260).
Onomastics: (Latin) “joy,” from Lecia, short form of Leticia. Or perhaps a child’s form of the Old German name Alicia, “noble, exalted.”
Commentary: the names in this family all start with L: their mother is Lis; their father is Leifer. In Arthuriana, the sister of Lynette is Lyones.
Leifr, Lord Lynnet’s father, slain by the Frost Giants who stormed Goldenlawn (II, chap. 22, 260). She sees him in the Room of Lost Love.
Onomastics: (Old Norse) “descendant, heir.”
Leort the Knight of the Leopards (II, chap. 9, 96). He is the first knight to challenge Able at the pass. Travelling with him are a herald, a squire, two pages, men at arms, and seven manservants. His father owns Sandhill Castle. Mani notes his shield is “tastefully ornamented with spotted cats” (II, chap. 19, 218), and his pennon has seven leopards (II, chap. 11, 120). He is 24 years old but had been knighted at 19, which was considered early (II, chap. 9, 101).
Onomastics: it certainly looks like leo (lion), just like leopard (a portmanteau word combining leo the lion with pard the panther, to describe an animal thought by the ancients to be a hybrid). On the other hand, one source links it to Albert, a German name meaning “all bright/famous.”
Ler an Overcyn (II, chap. 7, 76). Able calls him “the sort of friend you do not have to talk to, and some people thought we were brothers” (II, glossary).
Myth: (Celtic) the Irish form of “sea,” a god known as Lir, Llyr, and Lear.
Lis, Lady Lynnet’s mother, Etela’s grandmother (II, chap. 22, 260). Met in Room of Lost Love (II, chap. 22, 260), later met in the flesh (II, chap. 27, 337).
Onomastics: (Irish) “lis” is a word for a hill fort (along with rath, dun, and cashel); in this regard, see duns.
Llwch a powerful knight of the Valfather who unseated Able at a joust in Skai (II, chap. 9, 96). “They said his sword leaped like fire, and it was true” (II, glossary).
Arthuriana: a legendary Welsh figure who bore a flaming sword as he led King Arthur through the dim otherworld.
Logi the giant smith who owns many human slaves, including Alca, Etela, Gif, Lynnet, Rowd, Sceef, and Vil (II, chap. 16, 186). Met chasing Toug (II, chap. 17, 192). He grabs Toug, then Org grapples with Logi. Toug helps kill him.
Myth: (Norse) “flame,” the giant competitor who beat Loki in an eating contest.
Loth the dead knight Morcaine reanimated to be her champion. In life, his manor was Northolding, and his shield showed a black elk on a white field (II, chap. 32, 389). Able gave his sword to Wistan.
Onomastics: a surname of unknown meaning; English word for “unwillingness,” “reluctance,” or “strongly opposed.” In this sense, see indign.
Lothur the Valfather’s youngest son (II, glossary), or he was of a group that left Kleos (II, chap. 4, 48). Lothur fathered children upon Angr, the Angrborn (48; met in II, chap. 37, 446). Able calls him great prince of light, prince of fire (447).
Myth: (Norse) Lothur is another name for Odin’s brother Ve, who is sometimes conflated with Odin’s son Loki, the fire spirit and mischief-maker among the Æsir.
Lothurlings the people west of the sea (I, chap. 15, 106). The Lothurling flag is a red and black dragon (likely Grengarm) on a wheaten field (II, chap. 38, 455). Presumably the Western Trader crosses the ocean to visit their shores, or at least the islands in between.
The Lothurlings are analogous to the Chinese. Able’s sword-like mace Sword Breaker, said to be a weapon of the Lothurlings, turns out to be based on a real class of weapons from China. Lothurling characters include Smiler, Stonebowl, and Ironmouth. They call their nation “Realm of the Dragon.” Their warrior prince is “Son of the Dragon.” The people are “Children of the Dragon.” Grengarm is the dragon, and it seems likely that Lothur is “the Fox” (II, chap. 37, 449).
Lud one of Marder’s knights, he was badly wounded when they jumped Able (I, chap. 33, 204).
Onomastics: (English) mythic name.
Lut the smith who forged Battlemaid (I, chap. 4, 42).
Myth: (Norse) “stooped,” one of the children of Thrall and Thyr. Together Lut and his siblings are the progenitors of the race of slaves. Or Lut is a giant slain by Thor.
Lynnet Etela’s mother, a tall woman (II, chap. 21, 241; met in II, chap. 17, 191; named in II, chap. 21, 252). Leesha was her sister and Kirsten was probably a beloved servant who died. Her house’s motto is “marigolds and manticores” (as “manticores and marigolds” II, chap. 17, 195; II, chap. 21, 244). She says there was a ghost where she used to live and he took care of the house but not the people (II, chap. 17, 196). Thiazi says a terrible rage burns in her (II, chap. 21, 257). She is frightening, whipping the eyes of giants, when she shouts her motto. In the Room of Lost Loves she revisits Goldenlawn (II, chap. 22, 259).
Arthuriana: a character who first appears in Malory’s “Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney” where she comes to Arthur’s court to find a champion to rescue her sister, Lyones.
Onomastics: Lynet means “bird” (Anglo-Saxon), “grace” (Celtic), “mild” (Latin); Lynnette means “little lion” (French).
Mag Bold Berthold’s mother, whom he says died before Able was weaned (I, chap. 3, 34). Her husband was Black Berthold, headman of their village. A dragon, probably Setr, took her to the Isle of Glas and made her act as a Siren to lure men to their death (II, chap. 22, 264). She grew old there. Knowing that the khimairae would eat her, she caught Setr’s poison in a cup, used it as ink to write the letter with a quill, and then drank the remaining poison.
Able sees her in the Room of Lost Love (II, chap. 22, 263). After he tells her about how the children of Aelf become their kings and queens, she says, “You were a king to me, and to your father and your brother also” (265), a strangely Aelf-like attitude.
Mag’s ghost rides off of the Isle of Glas with Lynnet. She talks to Able of “her girlhood in America, how she met my father, and how they came to wed” (II, chap. 27, 335). This seems to refer to Mr. Ormsby, but it more likely refers to Black Berthold.
Myth: close to (Irish) Maga, daughter of the love god Aonghus Og, who wed Ross the Red.
Commentary: Mag is somehow connected to Arthur Ormsby’s mother in such a way that she is either the same woman or a twin living in Mythgarthr. Mag came from Earth and took the name (or was given the name) Mag. Mag married Black Berthold and had two sons, first Bold Berthold and then the real Able, at about the same time in her life as her Earth counterpart had two sons, first Ben and then Arthur.
It seems that Mag is either a “serial mom” who had two boys on Earth and then two boys in Mythgarthr, or she is a clone of an Earth girl, that is, a girl who came from Earth to Mythgarthr and left behind a spirit-twin of herself in the same way that Escan leaves a reflection behind in Aelfrice.
Mag seems to have had a childhood as an American girl. Let’s say that at the age of ten she read Tolkien, Baum, or some other fantasy author that provided her entry into Mythgarthr and/or Aelfrice, rather like an Alice in Wonderland or a Dorthy in Oz. (There is a somewhat guarded reference to movie The Wizard of Oz in the text; there is also a line about “where is the dream my mother had?”) This works for serial mom and clone mom. Mag has some strangely Aelf-like notions, and maybe she picked them up vacationing.
But what if the girl started out in Aelfrice? If she’s an Aelf, then there is all that trouble with her reality being unstable on higher levels (i.e., Disiri’s problem). On the other hand, the possibility that the girl is the human daughter of King Weland raises all sorts of interesting details. Wh
en Weland was usurped, this hypothetical daughter might have escaped to another world: America. And then when that situation became less than ideal, she bolted again to Mythgarthr. This would be a serial mom.
This theory would cover her Aelf-culture side: having lived in Aelfrice during her early childhood, she would be in a perfect position to adopt some Aelf attitudes as her own. It would also explain why the usurpers Setr and Grengarm would be so interested in her: her sons would be rightful heirs to the Fire Aelf throne. In this way she wouldn’t be just another pretty face; she would be the key to the kingdom.
It might also be a hint as to why she would gravitate towards hardware/smith husbands (Mr. Ormsby certainly, Black Berthold maybe).
It would shed some light on the Isle of Glas, which initially seems to be a Siren Shoal that has been allowed to fall into disrepair for some reason. But if Mag was key to the kingdom, and Mag refused to marry Setr (just as in the story told by Sha), then it seems fitting that the Isle of Glas was built to be a prison of torment created expressly for her confinement, abandoned after her death.
magic helm part of Able’s loot from Jotunland (II, chap. 28, 350), it was a gift from the giantess Borda (II, chap. 30, 365). The view of Uri and Gylf seems to show things as they really are (365).
Magneis the charger Marder gave to Able (I, chap. 45, 279).
Onomastics: (Latin) “mighty, great” (plural form), used for “mighty kings,” for example. There is also a surname.
Manasen one of Arnthor’s own knights. He and Erac escort Able to the dungeon (II, chap. 33, 398).
Arthuriana: Manassen of Gaul, one of Arthur’s knights. A friend accused Manassen of sleeping with his wife, and in revenge bound him and threw him down a well to drown. Manassen was saved by Morgan le Fay, who rescued him because he was the cousin of her dead lover, Accalon of Gaul. After drowning his former friend, Manassen delivered a threatening message to Arthur from Morgan.
The Wizard Knight Companion Page 5