The canonical body of Arthurian tales in our era goes back to the reworking of earlier legends and accounts often considered history by the authors of the High Middle Ages, in particular Chrétien de Troyes. Chrétien is the first known source we have for both Lancelot and Camelot; his French renderings of the original Celtic names are often still used as well. The chivalric version of Arthurian society created by the authors of the Middle Ages was reflected in the most influential work of Arthurian literature in English, Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur.
In this novel, I have tried to create a coherent whole out of scraps I discovered on the far side of the chivalric tradition. Not all of my plot threads are to be found there, however; for example, the Welsh Triads claim that Arthur had three wives, all named Gwenhwyfar. That would have been a bit much for my narrative, which is why I decided on two, one Gwenhwyfar and one Ginevra. I have also made use of less well-known tales from the continental tradition. The story of Cai and Arthur's son Loholt is derived from an anonymous French Arthurian romance of the thirteenth century, Perlesvaus. Here too, however, I have not followed the source religiously; instead, it served me as inspiration for an important twist in my own version of the events leading up to Camlann. One of my Clarion instructors, Paul Park, told us that when basing fiction on myths or legends or older works, make it your own. Over time, those words have become something of a mantra for me.
There will probably be any number of readers for whom I have made it too much my own. But I like to imagine that if there ever was a Britain in which a Dux Bellorum by the name of Arthur led men named Cador and Bedwyr and Cai to battle, it might even have been a little like the world I have created in Shadow of Stone.
I would like to thank the wonderful people who helped me in various stages during the creation of this book. My beta readers gave me excellent feedback on the first complete draft: Elisabeth Hartel, Katrin Somers, Britta Mack, Alex Mack, Debbie Ploss, Claudia Hagemann, Susanne Bosch-Abele, Anna Ivey, Beate Schütz, and Helen Moll. Tremendous fellow writers from the Villa Diodati workshop provided critiques of individual chapters and the outline: Aliette de Bodard, Nancy Fulda, Ralan Conley, Stephen Gaskell, Sara Genge, Jeff Spock, Floris Kleijne, Deanna Carlyle, and Rochita Loenen-Ruiz. Other critique partners who provided feedback include Pete Aldin, Tim Brommer, Phillip Spencer, Kathryn Allen, and Shiloh Carroll. Thanks also to my copy editor Lyn Worthen of Camden Park Press for being able to fit the final manuscript into her busy schedule. I want to thank you all for making Shadow of Stone a much stronger story than it would have been without your input. Finally, without the support in every phase and aspect of the writing from my husband Christian Schmidt, it is unlikely this book would ever have been written. Thank you again, my dear.
Glossary
Ard Ri - Irish High King
Atrium - The open central court in a Roman house
Ban file - Wise woman
Century - A group of originally 100 legionaries in the Roman army, later reduced to 80 men
Civitas (pl. Civitates) - Roman city with administrative function
Durotriges - A tribe of eastern Dumnonia; kingdom, Dortrig
Dux Bellorum - Leader of battles
Eriu - Ireland
Erainn - Irish
Feadh Ree - The oldest race in Ireland, the ones who were there before the arrival of the Gaels. Many of them have powers the Gaels do not possess, and as such, they enjoy great respect, even though the Gaels hold most of the political power now. People with blood of the Feadh Ree make up a large proportion of the druids and bards of the land.
Fianna - Powerful bands of warriors in old Ireland
Fili (plural filid) - Umbrella term for the wise men of Eriu (Ireland), including druids, bards, ollamh, and brehon
Garum - A salty fish sauce used for seasoning
Imbolc - Fertility festival celebrating the first signs of spring at the beginning of February
Laigin - The Gael tribes of the southeast, traditional enemies of the Ulaid.
Medb - Legendary Irish warrior queen
Morrigu - Celtic goddess of war and death
Ogham - Irish alphabet, scratched into wooden sticks or the edge of stone
Otherworld - The mysterious realm of the gods and the Feadh Ree, often seen as a paradise of eternal youth.
Patria - Fatherland
Principia - Headquarters in a Roman fort
Protector - Leader responsible for the defense of a particular region in Britain
Rath - A royal seat, usually a hill-fort with earthwork ramparts.
Romanitas - The spirit and ideals of Rome in everyday life; the advantages of a civilized Roman way of life
Samhain - Irish celebration bringing in the dark half of the year
Sidhe - "Of the hills"; another term for the Feadh Ree, emphasizing their dwellings in the magic hills that are often seen as doors to the Otherworld
Stola - A Roman women's garment
Torc - A circular neck or arm ring
Tuath - Tribe or sept (plural tuatha)
Tuatha Dé Danann - The tribes of the goddess Danu; the "political" organization of what is left of the Feadh Ree. While they hold only small, scattered seats between the areas held by the larger Gael tribes, their political clout is much more far-reaching as a result of the mythical place they have in the mind of the Gael people, their conquerors. (Short form: Tuatha Dé)
Ui Neill - The tribe which traces its descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages, Lóegaire's father.
Characters and Places
Main Characters
Yseult, once a princess in Eriu, is now a queen in Britain, regent for her son Kustennin since the death of her husband, Marcus Cunomorus.
Cador is one of the most important regional kings in Dumnonia. He has been good friends with Yseult for many years, and her son Kustennin is in fosterage with him.
Gawain, Arthur's nephew, is Yseult's lover. He has asked Yseult to marry him, but after the disaster of her first marriage and the trauma of Drystan's death, she never intends to marry again.
Other characters:
Agravaine (deceased) - Brother of Gawain, Gaheris and Gareth
Aircol - King in Demetia
Alun - Cador's steward
Ambrosius Aurelianus (went missing on a campaign in Gaul) - Former High King of Britain, Arthur's uncle and mentor
Anir - Arthur's bastard son by his mistress Indeg
Anna - Arthur's half-sister, mother of Medraut
Arthur - Dux Bellorum of Britain
Bedwyr - One of Arthur's most important military leaders and companions
Brangwyn - Yseult's cousin and best friend
Budic - A king of Armorica, married to Arthur's sister Anna
Cai - Arthur's Master of Horse and one of his most important companions
Caw - A former king of the north who rebelled one too many times and was sent to Armorica where he would cause fewer problems
Cerdic - Former Count of the Saxon Shore, now allied with the Saxons
Chlodovech - King of the Franks (original Germanic of Clovis)
Cwylli - Daughter of Labiane and Caw, older sister of Gildas, wife of Medraut
Drystan (deceased) - Was Yseult's lover. Killed by his father, Marcus Cunomorus
Enid - Cador's mother
Hengist - One of the Saxon kings in Ceint
Hoel - A king of Armorica, married to Arthur's mother, Ygerna
Honorius (deceased) - Former King of Gower
Gaheris - Brother of Gawain, Agravaine and Gareth
Gareth - Brother of Gawain, Agravaine and Gaheris
Gildas - Son of Cador's cousin Labiane and her husband Caw
Ginevra - Arthur's wife
Gurles - A minor regional king in Dumnonia
Gwythyr - One of the seven kings in Dumnonia and father of Ginevra (seat Celliwig)
Illtud - Priest at Dyn Tagell, formerly a prince and a warrior
Judual - Adopted son of Brangwyn and Kurvenal, bastard of Marc
us Cunomorus
Kurvenal - Was Drystan's man-at-arms and best friend, now in Arthur's service. Married to Yseult's cousin Brangwyn
Labiane - Cador's cousin, daughter of an Armorican king, married to Caw, mother of Cwylli and Gildas
Loholt - Son of Arthur and Ginevra
Lot (deceased) - Former King of the Gododdin, father of Gawain, Gaheris and Gareth
Marcus Cunomorus - (deceased) Former king of Dumnonia and husband of Yseult
Medraut - Arthur's nephew, son of his sister Anna and her husband Budic of Armorica
Melehan - Son of Medraut and Cwylli
Modrun - Daughter of Ambrosius Aurelianus, second wife of King Honorius of Gower, and cousin of Arthur
Morgawse (deceased) - Cousin of Modrun, wife of Lot, and mother of Agravaine, Gawain, Gaheris and Gareth
Myrddin - Arthur's advisor
Natanleod - Ruler in Calleva
Nimue - A member of the Old Race, lover of Myrddin and former lover of Medraut
Owain - King of Gwynedd (north Wales)
Uthyr - (deceased) Brother of Ambrosius Aurelianus and father of Arthur, who was conceived when he raped Ygerna
Vortigern - High King before Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ygerna - Mother of Arthur
Yseult the Wise - Kingmaker of Eriu, mother of Yseult the Fair
Places in Britain:
Abona - Sea Mills on the coast near Bristol
Aquae Sulis - Bath
Buellt - Kingdom in Mid Wales
Caer Baddon - Little Solsbury Hill northeast of Bath
Caer Camulodon - Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Caer Custoeint - Cadbury Camp west of Bristol
Caer Gwent - Caerwent, seat of Honorius, near Caer Leon
Caer Leon - Caerleon (present day Wales)
Caer Tamar - Plymouth
Calleva - Silchester
Ceint - Kent
Celliwig - Castle Killibury, Cornwall (northeast of Wadebridge)
Cerniw - Sub-kingdom of Dumnonia, roughly equivalent with Cornwall
Corinium - Cirencester
Demetia - Southwest Wales
Din Eidyn - Edinburgh
Dortrig - Sub-kingdom of Dumnonia, roughly equivalent with eastern Devon / western Somerset
Dumnonia - Present day Cornwall, Devon and Somerset
Durnovaria - Dorchester
Dyn Draithou - South Cadbury
Dyn Tagell - Tintagel
Eburacum - York
Elmet - Kingdom in what is now West Yorkshire
Erainn Sea - Irish Sea
Glevum - Gloucester
Gododdin - Southeast part of Scotland
Gower - Kingdom in South Wales
Gwynedd - Northwest Wales
Island of Vectis - Isle of Wight
Isca Dumnoniorum (Isca) - Exeter
Lansyen - Hill fort north of Fowey in Cornwall
Lindinis - Ilchester
Londinium - London
Moridunum - Carmarthen, Wales, civitas capital of Demetia
Mount of Frogs - Brent Knoll, hill-fort and beacon site in present-day Somerset (Dumnonia)
Powys - Kingdom in central Wales
Rheged - Kingdom in the area of northwest England and southwest Scotland
Sabrina - Severn (Estuary and river)
Uxelis - Launceston, Cornwall
Venedotia - Latin word for Gwynedd (Northwest Wales)
Venta / Venta Belgarum - Winchester
Verulamium - St. Albans
Voliba - Fowey, Cornwall
Ynys Witrin - Glastonbury
Ystrad Clud - Strathclyde
Places in Eriu (Ireland):
The five provinces of Eriu:
Laigin in the Southeast (contemporary Leinster)
Mumu in the Southwest
Connachta in the West
Ulaid in the North (contemporary Ulster)
Midhe in the central East
Ard Ladrann - Courtown Harbour near Gorey
Bend Atair - Dublin
Brega - A sub-province of Midhe, inland from the middle of Ireland on the east coast
Bruig na Boyne - Newgrange
Cashel - Cashel
Cruachu - Royal seat in Connachta (Rathcroghan, Roscommon)
Dun Ailinne - Near Kilcullen
Druim Dara - Kildare
Erain Sea - Irish Sea
Midhe - The middle of Eriu, an area surrounding present-day Dublin
Rath Inber - Arklow
Places in Armorica (Brittany) and Gaul (France):
Andecaves - Angers
Bro Leon - Province in the northwest part of Armorica
Caer Brioc (east of Leonis) - St. Brieuc
Diablintis - Jublains
Domnonia - Province in the northeast part of Armorica
Gwitreg - Vitré
Leonis - Seat of kings in Bro Leon (St. Pol de Leon)
Liger River - Loire
Parisius - Paris
Riedonum - Rennes
Sequana River - Seine
Turonorum - Tours
Vicenonia (river) - La Vilaine on the border to Brittany
Map of Fifth Century Britain and Ireland
About the author
A former assistant professor of English in the picturesque town of Freiburg on the edge of the Black Forest, Ruth Nestvold has given up theory for imagination. She has since replaced her university career with a small software localization business, and the Black Forest with the parrots of Bad Cannstatt, where she lives with her fantasy, her family, her books, and no cats in a house with a turret. Her fiction has appeared in numerous markets, including Asimov's, F&SF, Baen's Universe, Strange Horizons, Scifiction, and Gardner Dozois's Year's Best Science Fiction. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Tiptree, and Sturgeon Awards. In 2007, the Italian translation of her novella "Looking Through Lace" won the "Premio Italia" award for best international work. Her novel Yseult appeared in translation as Flamme und Harfe with the German imprint of Random House, Penhaligon, in 2009, and has since been translated into Dutch and Italian. She maintains a web site at http://www.ruthnestvold.com.
Connect with Ruth Nestvold online:
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Blog: http://ruthnestvold.wordpress.com/
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Did you enjoy Shadow of Stone? Check out some of my other ebooks!
Yseult
Never Ever After: Three Short Stories
Dragon Time and Other Stories
Looking Through Lace
The Future, Imperfect: Short Stories
Shadow of Stone (The Pendragon Chronicles) Page 54