As a point of interest, the title of this book has its roots in the common practice of medieval cartographers; when a mapmaker had drawn upon all of his geographical knowledge, he would neatly letter across the void beyond: Here be dragons. I found the symbolism hard to resist, given how very little the English of the thirteenth century knew of Wales and the Welsh. Then, too, the national emblem of Wales is a winged red dragon, much like those heraldic dragons once emblazoned upon the banners of her princes.
S.K.P.
OCTOBER 1984
About the Author
Here Be Dragons is the first in the trilogy that continues with Falls the Shadow and concludes with The Reckoning. Sharon Kay Penman is also the author of The Sunne in Splendour, The Queen’s Man, and Cruel As the Grave, among other novels.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
HERE BE DRAGONS. Copyright © 1985 by Sharon Kay Penman. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Penman, Sharon Kay.
Here be dragons / Sharon Kay Penman.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-0-312-38245-2
1. Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, d. 1240—Fiction. 2. Plantagenet, House of—Fiction. 3. Kings and rulers—Fiction. 4. Great Britain—History—Plantagenets, 1154–1399—Fiction. 5. Wales—History—1063–1284—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3566.E474 H4 1985
813'.54—19
84023480
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