Border Legion

From The World of Shannara

The Border Legion is a legendary army that guards the country of Callahorn in the Southland.

Role in the Novels

The Sword of Shannara

In The Sword of Shannara, the Border Legion played a central role. They were the army that was tasked with stopping or slowing the Warlock Lord's army that was marching down upon them from the Northland.^[1] They met them first at the Mermiddon River, killing many trolls and others before they were forced to pull back to a small rise a couple hundred yards back.^[2] Balinor, the commander of the Border Legion,^[3] then decided to attempt an extremely difficult and unusual maneuver: he split his army into two and had them attack the flanks of the enemy as it was getting dark.^[4] The troops harassed the army's flanks until they brought them into a half-circle--then they feinted so that the two halves of the enemy met each other.^[4] Unfortunately for them, they thought that this was the enemy they had been pursuing for the better part of the night, and they immediately began attacking one another.^[5] The Border Legion then retreated back to Tyrsis and began making preparations for defending the city.^[6] They were eventually beaten back after much bloodshed and treachery^[7], but at their last stand,^[8] the army besieging Tyrsis apruptly stopped all hostilities^[9] after Shea Ohmsford defeated the Warlock Lord in the Northland.^[10]

The Elfstones of Shannara

See below for additional information

The Border Legion in its entirety does not play any role in this novel,^[11] but individual units of the Legion do, including the "Free Corps" and the "Old Guard", numbering 600^[11] and 250 ^[12] horse respectively.

The Free Corps

The Free Corps are the legendary^[13] shock unit^[14] of the Border Legion. They were formed about 30 years before the events of The Elfstones of Shannara.^[15] They are commanded by Stee Jans.^[11][16][17]

Role in The Elfstones of Shannara

The Free Corps was a unit quite similar to the French Foreign Legion.^[18] In Elfstones, they are described as follows:

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Being the "shock unit" of the Border Legion, the Free Corps has always had the highest casualty rate among all of the units of the Border Legion, ^[14] and this novel was no different:

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The Free Corps was also the linchpin of the forces who managed to keep Arborlon from the Demons long enough for Amberle Elessedil to return to become the Ellcrys, throwing the demons back into the Forbidding. ^[19]

Stee Jans, Commander

His role in Elfstones

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Stee Jans was the commander of the Free Corps. He was originally thought up by Terry Brooks to fill the same role as Balinor Buckhannah did in The Sword of Shannara.^[17] He fought alongside Eventine Elessedil^[20] and Ander Elessedil^[21] in different parts of the novel.

Biography

Pre-Elfstones and how he acquired his nickname

About ten years^[22] before the events of The Elfstones, Stee Jans acquired the nickname "Iron Man" after he and a patrol of 23 soldiers ran into a rear guard of several hundred Gnomes.

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This reputation stayed with him even as he rose up through the ranks of the Free Corps, eventually becoming its commander.^[23]

During Elfstones

In the book, Stee Jans led the Free Corps to Arborlon as part of the small contingent of men sent by Callahorn to aid the Elves.^[24] During the battle for Baen Draw, Stee came up with a plan to hold the pass, and in the subsequent battle, "[his] plan [was] successfully implemented and the Elves [were] able to hold the pass, which result[ed] in a large-scale loss of Demon life."^[25] After Kael Pindanon was slain, he was asked by Ander Elessedil to lead the army that had been assembled^[26] to slow down the Demons. During various battles of the novels, including the three day.^[25] siege of Arborlon, he performed many heroic acts, including the slaying of a massive lizard^[21] and a stand with his Free Corps that allowed everyone else to retreat to their last line of defense, the Gardens of Life:

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Post-Elfstones

Stee Jans was one of the very few members of the Free Corps to survive the War of the Forbidding.^[27] It is unknown if the Free Corps were reassembled before the Border Legion was disbanded after the events of The Wishsong of Shannara, but before his departure, Jans was offered the command in the Elven army by Ander Elessedil,^[28] now King of the Elves. Whether he accepted the command or remained with the Legion is unknown, but no known trace of his bloodline remains 300 years later when the Four Lands are threatened by the Shadowen. It is rumored that he may have later changed his identity, becoming a similar seemingly invincible warrior known as Garet Jax, but it does not seem to be true.^[29][30]

See also

• Free Corps

Sources

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References