The Sword of Shannara
From The World of Shannara
| The Sword of Shannara | |
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| First hardcover edition (Random House) | |
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| Author: | Terry Brooks |
| Cover Artist: | The Brothers Hildebrandt |
| Series: | Original Shannara Trilogy |
| Genre(s): | Epic fantasy[1][2] |
| Publisher: | Ballantine/Del Rey |
| Publication date: | 1977 |
| Pages: | 726 pp |
| ISBN: | ISBN 0-345-24804-X (First edition) |
| Purchase: | Hardcover Softcover |
| Preceded By: | First King of Shannara |
| Followed by: | The Elfstones of Shannara |
The Sword of Shannara is a 1977 epic fantasy[1][2] novel by Terry Brooks. The first book of the Original Shannara Trilogy, it was followed by The Elfstones of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara. Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and historical adventure fiction, Brooks began writing the novel in 1967. He finished it seven years later; after being accepted for publication by Ballantine Books, it was used to launch the company's new subsidiary, Del Rey Books. Upon its release, The Sword of Shannara was a major success and the first fantasy paperback to appear on the New York Times bestseller list. Its success provided a major boost to the commercial expansion of the fantasy genre.
The Sword of Shannara interweaves two major plots into a fictional world called the Four Lands. One follows the protagonist Shea Ohmsford on his quest to obtain the Sword of Shannara and confront the Warlock Lord, the antagonist, with it, while the other shadows Prince Balinor Buckhannah's attempt to oust his insane brother Palance from the throne of Callahorn while Callahorn and its capital, Tyrsis, come under attack from the armies of the Warlock Lord. Throughout the novel, underlying themes of mundane heroism and nuclear holocaust appear.
The novel has received derision from critics who believe that Brooks derived too much of the novel from The Lord of the Rings. Some have accused him of lifting the entire plot and many of his characters directly from Lord of the Rings; others have regarded this more favorably, saying that all new writers, including Brooks, follow in these footsteps.
Contents |
Synopsis
History
The Sword of Shannara's events take place 2000 years[3] after an apocalypse has occurred: nuclear holocaust has wiped out most of the planet. During this time, Mankind mutated into several distinct races: Men, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Trolls, all named after creatures from "age-old" myths. Also, the Elves begin to emerge after having been in seclusion and hiding for centuries. The warring that caused the holocaust is referred to as the "Great Wars" throughout the novel. These wars rearranged the planet's geographical attributes and wiped out most life forms on Earth. As a result of the Great Wars, most advanced technology has been lost, thus most of the events in the Shannara series take place in a medieval setting. However, magic is also back into the world, rediscovered after the loss of the technology.
1000 years before The Sword of Shannara, an Elf named Galaphile gathered all of the people who still had some knowledge of the old world to Paranor in an attempt to bring peace and order to all of the races. They named themselves the First Council of Druids. However, a rogue Druid named Brona and a few followers left, taking the Ildatch with them; this magical tome had subverted their minds and had brought them under its control. 150 years later, Brona began the First War of the Races when he convinced all Men to attack the other races. He almost succeeded in seizing rule of the Four Lands, but the tide turned, and the war ended with his defeat and subsequent disappearance. The Druids divided the Four Lands among the races to reduce interracial tension, and then became reclusive, withdrawing to Paranor because of their shame at the betrayal by one of their own members.
Two and a half centuries after the First War of the Races, Brona returned as the Warlock Lord, now with Skull Bearers as his servants. Chronicled in the prequel novel First King of Shannara, the Second War of the Races began with the destruction of the Druid Order. A lone Druid, Bremen, then forged a magical talisman for the express purpose of destroying the Warlock Lord; it was given to the Elven King, Jerle Shannara. As it takes the form of a blade, the talisman was named the Sword of Shannara. It succeeded in banishing the Warlock Lord, though he was not killed, while his entire army was subsequently defeated by the combined armies of the Elves and Dwarves. Yet peace came at a high price, as interracial tension was renewed and the Druids had seemingly vanished from the land.
Plot summary
A Stranger Appears
The story starts out with Flick Ohmsford meeting the an ominous stranger on the road home to Shady Vale. The stranger accompanies Flick to the Ohmsford Inn. where he has dinner with Flick and Curzad Ohmsford. When Flick's adopted brother Shea showed up the stranger introduces himself as the Druid Allanon, and that he has come to Shady Vale for Shea. Allanon will say no more for the evening.
Around noon Allanon appears and begins to speak with Shea. He Talks with Shea about the history of the Four Lands. Shea is quick to disagree with the information
Allanon continues with his narrative about the isolation of the Druid Council which lead to their deaths in the Second War of the Races. Telling of this war leads Allanon to speak about the Warlock Lord. Allanon describes the Second War in detail, speaking to the role of Bremen, how the talisman of the Sword of Shannara was created to defeat the Warlock Lord and given to the Elven King Jerle Shannara to wield against the Warlock Lord. He talked about his failed attempt at permanently killing the Warlock Lord.[5] Allanon concludes his narrative by telling Shea that he is in fact the only descendant to the lineage of Jerle Shannara, and his is now the legacy of the Sword of Shannara.[6]
That evening Shea has more questions for Allanon but discovers the Druid has left. Later Flick discovers a note from Allanon to flee at the sign of the Skull. He will send Balinor to guide him and has left three blue elfstones for him to use for his protection.
From Shady Vale to Culhaven
More than three weeks later Balinor appears at the Ohmsford Inn and warns Shea to flee. He has been followed and will continue south to draw away his pursuers.[7] That evening Flick wakes Shea and they see a Skull Bearer outside the inn. Shea decides to flee the Vale and head towards Leah to get the help of his friend Menion Leah.
Shea and Flick are nearly caught by a Skull Bearer twice on their two and a half day flight.[8][9] Both times they are saved by the coming of the daylight. Shea is very staunch in his determination to seek the help of Menion against Flicks firm objections. Flick believes going to Menion is a bad idea, that he is irresponsible and cannot be trusted. By the afternoon on the third day the two reach Leah. Shea tells Menion everything that Allanon told him and what has transpired.[10] Menion immediately offers his help, and the trio leaves the following morning. After being lost for three days in the Lowlands of Clete, Shea remembers to Elfstones given to him by Allanon. After some fumbling Shea is able to use the Elfstones to discover where the Black Oaks are and the three are able to get out of the Lowlands of Clete.
In the morning Flick climbs one of the trees to get their bearings. They set out through the Black Oaks. By the early evening they reached the edge of the Mist Marsh without having made it to the lowlands east of the Black Oaks yet. They decided to continue on in their journey, and tie a rope around each other to make sure no one got lost in the deep mist.
The trio are nearly killed when they are attacked by a Mist Wraith. Menion initially saves Flicks life, while the three are ultimately saved by Shea using the magic of the Elfstones. The group moves back into the Black Oaks deciding to continue on to get away from anything else threatening. Tired and scared from the near death encounter, they forgot to rope themselves again. Suddenly Shea realized that he has lost sight of Menion in front of him.
Unknown to each other they all escape the Black Oaks to the Lowlands to the east by dawn of the next day. Shea and Flick resume their travel heading north to the Silver River. That night they are woken by the coming of a Skull Bearer. They are saved by the King of the Silver River, who transports them to the outskirts of Culhaven where they are awoken the next morning by Balinor.
Menion awakes in the afternoon and heads north to try and cut across the Valemen's path. Unable to locate anything the next morning he begins to head east through the Battlemound Lowlands. On his way he is lured in by a Siren, and is struck by it's poison needles. He is saved by a Dwarf named Hendel, who kills the Siren. Before he losses consciousness, Menion says he must be taken to Balinor and Culhaven. Hendel picks the lad up and starts toward Culhaven.
From Culhaven to Paranor
In Culhaven, Allanon called a council to discuss the Warlock Lord. They decided to send a small party to Paranor, the final resting place of the Sword of Shannara, and acquire this weapon so that it could be used against the Warlock Lord, as this was the only weapon that could kill him. This party consisted of Allanon, Shea, Flick, Menion, Prince Balinor Buckhannah of Callahorn, the Dwarf Hendel, and the Elven brothers Dayel and Durin Elessedil from the Westland.
The party journeyed through the Valley of Shale and the Hadeshorn, and under the Dragon's Teeth Mountains through the Hall of Kings. Along the way, Shea was lost after falling off a cliff into a river. Reaching Paranor, the remaining party found it overrun with the Warlock Lord's Gnome soldiers and the Sword missing, as it had already been taken north to the Skull Kingdom. The party split up here, with one part going to help Callahorn in the coming war and the other part going after Shea.
In the Southland
Disguised by Allanon, Flick infiltrated the enemy camp and rescued the captive Elven King, Eventine Elessedil; at the same time, in Kern, Menion saved a woman named Shirl Ravenlock and immediately fell in love with her. Together, they organized an evacuation of Kern before the Northland army reached the city.
Balinor returned to Tyrsis in order to activate the Border Legion, only to find that it had been disbanded. Balinor was then imprisoned by his insane brother Palance Buckhannah, who had taken control of Callahorn's rule. His advisor, Stenmin, had driven Palance insane by drugs fed to him, making him his pawn. With help from Menion, Balinor escaped and confronted both Palance and Stenmin. Practically cornered, Stenmin stabbed Palance as a distraction and fled.
Now commanded by Balinor, Callahorn's reformed Border Legion marched out of Tyrsis and engaged the Northland army at the Mermiddon River, killing many Northlanders before being forced to pull back; the Border Legion used the time gained to retreat to Tyrsis and make preparations for defense. After about three days, the Border Legion was finally beaten back from the Outer Wall of Tyrsis as a result of treachery—the wall fell when the traitors kept the main gate open by jamming its crossbar. At the defenders' last stand on the Bridge of Sendic, the Northlanders abruptly broke and ran.
In the Northland
After being captured by Gnomes as soon as he had gotten out of the river, Shea was rescued by the one-handed thief Panamon Creel and his mute Troll companion Keltset Mallicos. Journeying to the Northland, they reached the Skull Kingdom, where the insane Gnome deserter Orl Fane had carried the Sword of Shannara in his madness.
Infiltrating the Warlock Lord's fortress in the Skull Mountain, Shea reached the sword and unsheathed it. He finally learned about its true power, which was its ability to confront those, when touched, with the truth about their lives. The Warlock Lord materialized and tried to destroy Shea, but the youth stood his ground and confronted his enemy with the sword. Although immune to physical weapons, the Warlock Lord vanished after being forced to confront the truth about himself: though he had deluded himself into believing that he was immortal, this is impossible. The Sword forced him to confront this paradox, and it killed him.
Keltset sacrificed himself to save his companions during the Skull Kingdom's destruction. In the south, the Northland army retreated after the Warlock Lord's downfall. Allanon saved Shea's life and revealed himself as Bremen's centuries-old son, before disappearing to sleep. Peace returned to the Four Lands. Balinor took up his country's rule, while Dayel and Durin returned to the Westland, and Menion returned to Leah with Shirl. Reuniting, Shea and Flick returned to Shady Vale.
Characters
Main characters
Left to right: Menion, Dayel and Durin, Hendel (foreground), Balinor (background), Allanon (background), Shea, Flick.
- Shea Ohmsford : the protagonist, Flick's adopted brother and the only remaining descendant of Jerle Shannara. Shea must find an ancient magical sword, the Sword of Shannara, and use it to destroy the antagonist, the Warlock Lord. A major theme of this novel revolves around Shea—part of his quest includes finding a belief in himself.[11] This is a search that every subsequent Brooks protagonist must undergo.[11]
- Flick Ohmsford : Shea's brother. He helps Shea escape Shady Vale and 'tags along' with the group that goes to recover the Sword. He rescues Eventine "solo"[11] after Allanon disguises him as a Gnome.
- Menion Leah : a friend of Shea and the Prince of the small country of Leah. He guides Shea and Flick to Culhaven after their escape of Shady Vale and the Skull Bearer. He is the first of many from the House of Leah to befriend a member of the Ohmsford family.[12]
- Allanon : a Druid who has been alive for around 400 years through the use of Druid Sleep. He guides and mentors the group on their quest to find the Sword. Allanon has been described as a parallel to Merlin from Arthurian legend.[13]
- Balinor Buckhannah : the Crown Prince of the country of Callahorn and the "charismatic commander of [the] Border Legion".[11] He left the capital, Tyrsis, after a fight with his insane brother, Palance; upon returning, he was thrown into a dungeon by him.
- Hendel : a "taciturn"[11] Dwarf warrior. He first appears in the novel when he saves Menion Leah from a Siren, and was part of the company that went to find the Sword.
- Durin Elessedil : the older brother of Dayel and cousin to King Eventine. He was part of the company that went to find the Sword.
- Dayel Elessedil : the younger brother of Durin and cousin to King Eventine. He was part of the company that went to find the Sword
- Stenmin, a traitor to Callahorn now working for the Warlock Lord. He poisoned both Palance and Ruhl Buckhannah, the King of Callahorn, eventually killing Ruhl and driving Palance insane.
- Palance Buckhannah : the brother of Balinor Buckhannah and a prince of Callahorn. He was driven insane as a result of drugs fed to him by Stenmin, and at his urging, took control of Callahorn when his father 'took ill'.
- Panamon Creel : a one-handed "con man"[11] wanderer whose left hand is now a pike. He saved Shea from a patrol of Gnomes. The inspiration from his character came directly from Rupert of Hentzau from The Prisoner of Zenda, by Anthony Hope.[14]
- Keltset Mallicos : Panamon's mute companion. He is mute as a result of the Warlock Lord. He saves Panamon and Shea after they were captured by Trolls--he was awarded the Black Irix, the highest honor any Troll can receive, and therefore is considered incapable of treachery. The Trolls then helped them get to Skull Mountain so that Shea could confront the Warlock Lord.
- Brona a.k.a. the Warlock Lord : the former Druid and antagonist of the novel. In days long ago, Brona was a Druid before he was subverted by dark magic. He believes that he is immortal, and so he still lives. When he was confronted with the power of the Sword, "truth", he was forced to see that he was really dead, and immediately disappeared.
Minor characters
- Acton : one of four Legion commanders. He was locked up by Palance for disputing the Legion's disbandment; after being freed by Balinor, he commanded the cavalry and the left flank until he was killed by a stray arrow.
- Breen Elessedil : the brother to King Eventine. After Eventine was freed, Breen was sent to Arborlon in Eventine's place to mobilize the army to go to the aid of Callahorn.
- Curzad Ohmsford, the father of Flick.
- Eventine Elessedil : the King of the Elves. He was captured by forces of the Warlock Lord, thus paralyzing the Elves and preventing them from aiding Callahorn (they did not want to get their hostage king killed). However, he was rescued "solo"[11] by Flick, finally allowing the Elves to mobilize in Callahorn's defense.
- Fandrez : the second of the four Legion commanders. He helped Janus Senpre recapture Tyrsis from Palance's control. Later, during the battle for Tyrsis, he shared command of the left flank with Acton until Acton's death; a day later, he was slain as well.
- Fandwick : a Legion veteran. He aided in planning the evacuation of Kern.
- Ginnisson : the third of four Legion commanders. Like Fandrez, he helped Janus Senpre recapture Tyrsis from Palance's forces; he was slain on the third day of the battle for Tyrsis by Rock Trolls.
- Janus Senpre : a lieutenant commander of the Legion who was stationed in Kern. After helping to plan the evacuation of Kern, he journeyed to Tyrsis, where he found Fandwick and Ginnisson. They reassembled key elements of the Legion and seized the gates and army barracks. He was placed in charge of the defense of Tyrsis for his achievements.
- Jon Lin Sandor : Eventine's personal advisor. He was searching for Eventine after he disappeared (not knowing that he had been captured). After being found by Eventine's rescuer, Flick, they watched the battle for Tyrsis and destroyed a siege machine.
- King of the Silver River : an ancient Faerie creature who has been around for all time. He saved Shea and Flick from a Skull Bearer that had been hunting them near the Black Oaks. The character is a "suitably subtle Merlin meshed with faerie", according to Cathi Dunn MacRae.[13]
- Lynliss : Dayel's fiancee. She does not appear in the novel, but is talked about by Dayel.
- Messaline : the last of the four Legion commanders. He was also locked up by Palance for protesting the disbandment of the Legion; after being freed by Balinor, he commanded part of the defense. He was severely wounded in the fighting, but he was also the only one of the four commanders to survive.
- Orl Fane : a "Gollum-like"[15] Gnome who "covets the Sword as Gollum does the ring."[15] He stole the Sword and forced Panamon, Keltset and Shea to track him down. He was driven insane and killed by the Warlock Lord after he took control of his mind and forced him to try to take the Sword.
- Pahn : a Dwarf soldier.
- Ruhl Buckhannah : the King of Callahorn. He was poisoned to death by Stenmin.
- Shirl Ravenlock : the daughter of the ruler of Kern. She was kidnapped by Stenmin to prevent her from reaching Palance, who thinks that he is in love with her. As such, she is the only person who can get through his drug-induced craziness. She eventually falls in love with Menion Leah. She is one of only two women to appear directly in the book, with the other being the Siren.[11]
- Skull Bearers : "winged black destroyers"[16] who "sacrificed their humanity"[16] to become the Warlock Lord's most trusted servants. They fly around at different points of the novel, demoralizing troops. They are usually seen only at night, though one does fly during the day over the city of Tyrsis on the last day of the battle. One found Shea, Panamon and Keltset and almost killed them before Shea could bring the Elfstones to bear.
- Shade of Bremen : once a Druid. He had died many years before, but his 'ghost' or 'presence' has been kept in the Hadeshorn.
- Sheelon : a captain in the Border Legion. Sheelon had not protested the disbandment as much, so he wasn't locked up until he was approached by Balinor. After being freed, he defended the gatehouse until he was slain by traitors loyal to Stenmin, who then proceed to jam the gate's crossbar 'open'.
About The Sword of Shannara
Main article: About The Sword of Shannara
This article details the following:
- Background of writing the novel
- Major Themes
- Literary Significance
- Reception
- Book Impact
Possible film adaptation
The rights to a movie adaptation for all of the Shannara novels have been sold to Warner Bros until 2010.[17] The Elfstones of Shannara, the second book of the Original Shannara Trilogy and the sequel to The Sword of Shannara, is the first planned movie.[17] It will be filmed and directed by Mike Newell, who also directed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This movie is expected be finished sometime during 2009,[17][18] and it will probably be followed by an adaptation of The Sword of Shannara in 2010. The sequence of the movies differs from the sequence of the books, but Terry Brooks believes that this is the best starting place for adapting the Shannara novels.[17]
Sources
- Brooks, Terry (2003). Sometimes The Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life. New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-3454-6551-2.
- del Rey, Lester (1980). The World of Science Fiction: 1926-1976 - The History of a Subculture. New York and London: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-1446-4.
- MacRae, Cathi Dunn (1998). Presenting Young Adult Fantasy Fiction. New York: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-8220-6.
- Tymn, Marshall B; Zahorski, Kenneth J.; Boyer, Robert H. (1979). Fantasy Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide. New Providence, NJ: R.R. Bowker. ISBN 0-8352-1431-1.
References
- ^ 1.0 1.1 "Once Over" (Nov. 1977). The English Journal 66 (8): 82. National Council of Teachers of English.
- ^ 2.0 2.1 Speakman, Shawn (2008). "Terry Brooks' official website". Retrieved on 2008-05-19
- ^ Template:Cite web
- ^ Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara pp. 22-29
- ^ Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara pp. 30-36
- ^ Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara pp. 37-39
- ^ Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara pp. 52-54
- ^ Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara pp. 66-67
- ^ Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara pp. 73-75
- ^ Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara pp. 80
- ^ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 76.
- ^ Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 75.
- ^ 13.0 13.1 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 79.
- ^ Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 80.
- ^ 15.0 15.1 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 82.
- ^ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedMacRae74 - ^ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Template:Cite web
- ^ Template:Cite web
External links
- Author's Note for The Sword of Shannara
- The Sword of Shannara - Chapter One (Official website)
- Artwork for early editions by The Brothers Hildebrandt
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at The Sword of Shannara. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with The World of Shannara, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
| Major Characters in The Sword of Shannara |
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Allanon · Balinor · Dayel and Durin · Flick · Hendel · Keltset · Menion · Palance · Panamon Creel · Shea · Minor Characters |
| Novels of Terry Brooks’ Shannara universe | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ||||
| Book I | Book II | Book III | Book IV | |
| | ||||
| Word & Void : | Running with the Demon | A Knight of the Word | Angel Fire East | |
| Genesis of Shannara : | Armageddon's Children | The Elves of Cintra | The Gypsy Morph | |
| Legends of Shannara : | Bearers of the Black Staff | The Measure of the Magic | ||
| Prequel to Shannara : | First King of Shannara | |||
| Original Shannara Trilogy : | The Sword of Shannara | The Elfstones of Shannara | The Wishsong of Shannara | |
| The Heritage of Shannara : | The Scions of Shannara | The Druid of Shannara | The Elf Queen of Shannara | The Talismans of Shannara |
| The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara : | Ilse Witch | Antrax | Morgawr | |
| High Druid of Shannara : | Jarka Ruus | Tanequil | Straken | |
| | ||||
| Shannara in The World of Shannara | ||||
| Characters — Creatures — Events — Places — Objects | ||||
