Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
EPILOGUE
AFTERWORD
OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Ravens of Avalon
Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Ancestors of Avalon
Priestess of Avalon
Lady of Avalon
The Forest House
The Mists of Avalon
ROC
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First published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, December 2009
Copyright © The Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Trust and Diana L. Paxson, 2009
All rights reserved
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Paxson, Diana L.
Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword of Avalon/Diana L. Paxson.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-15194-5
1. Avalon (Legendary place)—Fiction. I. Bradley, Marion Zimmer. II. Title.
PS3566.A897M345 2009
813’.54—dc22 2009024978
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To Steve,
fellow forger of words.
NAMES IN THE STORY
PEOPLE
PEOPLE OF THE ISLAND OF THE MIGHTY
(Names in parenthesis are people dead before the story begins. Names in capital letters indicate main characters. A + marks figures known from legend.)
Acaimor—an Ai-Utu boy, one of Mikantor’s Companions
Adjonar—Ai-Zir, one of Mikantor’s Companions
Agraw—Cimara’s bridegroom
Alder—a girl of the Lake Village
Analina—a student at Avalon
Anaterve—a trader of Belerion, father of Analina
ANDERLE—Lady of Avalon
Badger—headman of the Lake Village
Beaver—a Lake Village boy, one of Mikantor’s Companions
Belkacem—priest and lore master at Avalon
Beniharen—an Ai-Ilf boy, one of Mikantor’s Companions
Chaoud—an Ai-Zir farmer
Cimara—princess and later queen of the Ai-Zir, Mikantor’s cousin
Curlew—a hunter, one of the moor folk of Belerion
Durrin—a priest and bard of Avalon, father of Tirilan
(Eilantha—temple name of Tiriki)
Ellet—a young priestess from the Ai-Giru
Eltan—king of the Ai-Ushen, brother of Ketaneket
Eltanor—a senior priest of Avalon
Eran—the smith at Avalon
GALID—a chieftain of the Amanhead clan of the Ai-Zir
Ganath—an Ai-Giru boy studying on Avalon and later a healer
Goosey and Gander—twin children of the Lake Village
Grebe—Mikantor’s foster brother, one of his Companions
Hino—Galid’s fool
Iftiken—king of the Ai-Giru
Irnana—cousin of Anderle, wife of Uldan and mother of Mikantor
Izri—one of Galid’s men
Kaisa-Zan—High Priestess of the Ai-Utu
Keddam—one of Galid’s warriors
Ketaneket—queen of the Ai-Ushen, sister of Eltan
Kiri—an old priestess
Larel—a priest of Avalon
Leka—High Priestess of the Ai-Akhsi
Linne—High Priestess of the Ai-Giru
Lycoren—a chieftain of the Ai-Akhsi
Lysandros—of Troian descent, one of Mikantor’s Companions
Menguellet—queen of the Ai-Akhsi
(Micail—Prince of Ahtarrath in the Sea Kingdoms, high priest of the Temple of Light, and later, of Avalon)
MIKANTOR (Woodpecker)—dispossessed prince of the Ai-Zir
Muddazakh—Galid’s champion
Nuya—High Priestess of the Ai-Zir
Olavi—High Priestess of the Ai-Siwanet
Orlai—a farmer of Azan
(Osinarmen—temple name of Micail)
Pelicar—Ai-Ilf, one of Mikantor’s Companions
Ramdane—one of Galid’s men
Redfern—Miko’s foster mother
Romen—Ai-Utu, one of Mikantor’s Companions
Rouikhed—an Ai-Akhsi boy trained at Avalon, one of Mikantor’s Companions
Saarin—High Priestess of the Ai-Ushen
Sakanor—King of the Ai-Utu
Shizuret—High Priestess of the Ai-Ilif
Soumer—one of Galid’s warriors
Squirrel—an old man of the elder folk of the Vale
Tanecar—son of Queen Ketaneket of the Ai-Ushen
Tegues—Ai-Giru, one of Mikantor’s Companions
(Tiriki—Princess of Ahtarrath, high priestess of Av
alon)
TIRILAN—Anderle’s daughter and heir
Ulansi—Ai-Zir, one of Mikantor’s Companions
Uldan—war leader of the Ai-Zir
Urtaya—queen of the Ai-Utu
Vole—a Lake Village boy studying on Avalon
Willow Woman—Badger’s mother, headwoman of the Lake Village
Zamara—queen of the Ai-Zir, sister of Uldan
PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE SEA AND NORTHERN LANDS
Aelfrix—a boy from the City of Circles
+(Agamemnon—King of Mycenae, victor of Troia)
Aiaison—eldest son of the King of Tiryns
+Aletes—great-grandson of Heracles and of Iolaos, leader of the Eraklidae attacking Korinthos
Bodovos the Bear—commander of the guard at the City of Circles
+(Brutus—a prince of Troia who emigrated with his followers to the Isle of the Mighty)
Buda—sister of Bodovos, mother of Aelfrix
+Doridas and Hyanthidas—Kings of Korinthos
+(Erakles [Heracles]—disinherited prince of Argos, hero, ancestor of the Eraklidae)
Katuerix—smith at Bhagodheunon
+(Klytemnaestra—wife, and murderer, of Agamemnon)
+Kresfontes—son of Aristomakhos, brother of Temenos and Aristo demos, great-great-grandson of Erakles, leader of the attack on Tiryns and Mykenae
Leta—daughter of Aletes
Lord Loutronix—Master of Dikes and Locks, City of Circles
Maglocunos—King of the Tuathadhoni
Melandros—chariot driver and lover of Aiaison
+(Menelaos [Menelaus]—King of Sparta, husband of Helena)
Naxomene—Queen of Tiryns
+(Odikeos [Odysseus]—king of the Ionian Isles, hero of Troia)
+(Orestes—son and avenger of Agamemnon, father of Tisamenos)
+(Persaios [Perseus]—heir of Tiryns and founder of Mykenae)
Phorkaon—King of Tiryns
Tanit—a slave girl in the service of Queen Naxomene
Thersander—a trader from Korinthos
+Tisamenos—King of Mycenae
Tuistos, Mannos and Sowela—priest-kings and -queen of the City of Circles
VELANTOS—bastard son of the King of Tiryns, a smith
POWERS
HONORED AT AVALON
Banur—the four-faced god, destroyer/preserver; ruler of Winter
Caratra—daughter or nurturing aspect of Ni-Terat, the Great Mother. Venus is Her star
Manoah—the Great Maker, Lord of the Day, identified with the Sun; ruler of Summer
Nar-Inabi—“Star-Shaper,” god of the night, the stars and the sea; ruler of Harvest time
Ni-Terat—Dark Mother of All, Veiled aspect of the Great Mother, goddess of the Earth; ruler of Planting time
HONORED BY THE TRIBES
“Achi”—Exalted or Enduring One, used as a title of respect or a name for the goddess of upwelling power
Achimaiek—“Grandmother,” Crone Face of the Goddess
The Chiding One—proto-goddess later called Ceridwen
Guayota—the Evil One, appears as a dog
Magek—the Sun god
HONORED IN THE LANDS OF THE MIDDLE SEA
Apollon—Apollo
Arei—Ares
Athana—Athena
Castor and Pollux—twin demigods, sons of Zeus (also the names given by Velantos to his war axes)
Diwaz—Zeus
Epaitios—Hephaestus
E-ra—Hera
Ereias—Hermes
Keraunos—Thunderer (Zeus)
Lady of the Doves—Aphrodite
Lady of the Forge—an aspect of Athena
Paion—Apollo
Posedaon Enesidaone (Earthshaker)—Poseidon
Potnia—“the Lady,” a general goddess-title
Potnia Theron—Lady of the Beasts, or Nature
PEOPLES
Ai-Akhsi—People of the Ram
Ai-Giru—People of the Frog
Ai-Ilf—People of the Boar
Ai-Siwanet—People of the Hawk
Ai-Ushen—People of the Wolf
Ai-Utu—People of the Hare
Ai-Zir—People of the Bull
Akhaeans—the people of the Peloponnese
Danaans—peoples of southern Greece
Dorians—peoples of northern Greece
Elder Folk—people of the oldest blood of the Island of the Mighty, now living on the edges of the arable land; includes the people of the Lake Village and the moors of Belerion
Eraklidae, Children of Erakles—the Dorians, said to be descended from the offspring of Heracles
The Tribes—dominant culture of the Island of the Mighty
Ti-Sahharin—the Sacred Sisters, priestesses to the tribes
Tuathadhoni—proto-Celtic people north of Danube Plain
PLACES
Aman river—the Avon that flows through Wiltshire and Dorset
Amanhead clanhold—Galid’s home
Akhaea—the Peloponnese and Central Greece
Akhsian—territory of the Ai-Akhsi—the Dales, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumbria
Argolid—the plain below Argos, including Mykenae and Tiryns
Azan—the “Bull-Pen,” territory of the five clans of the Ai-Zir—Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucester, Oxfordshire
Azan-Ylir—Center of Azan, hold of the Henge Plain clan—modern Amesbury
Barrow of the Three Queens—Three Spinsters’ dolmen, Devon
Belerion—an area in Utun—southern end of Cornwall
Bhagodheunon—Dun of the Beeches, near Wurzberg, Germany
Carn Ava clanhold—Avebury
City of Circles (old Zaiadan)—located between modern Heligoland and Eiderstedt on the Jutland coast
Girun—territory of the Ai-Giru—Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk (Anglia)
Gorsefield—Shovel Down, near Chagford, Devon
The Henge—Stonehenge
Hidden Realm—Faerie