The Naming

by CROGGON, ALISON

• ISBN13: 9780763631628
• ISBN10: 0763631620
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2006-03-14
• Publisher: Candlewick

Summary

In the classic spirit of epic fantasy comes this glittering saga of a young girl who learns she possesses an uncanny gift - and is destined to use it to save her world from a terrifying evil. Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her family is destroyed in war. She doesn't yet know she has inherited a powerful gift, one that marks her as a member of the noble School of Pellinor and enables her to see the world as no other can. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true identity and extraordinary destiny unfold. Now, she and her mysterious teacher must embark on a treacherous, uncertain journey through a time and place where the forces of darkness wield an otherworldly terror. The first book in a projected quartet, Alison Croggon's epic about Maerad and her remarkable yet dangerous gift is a beautiful, unforgettable tale. Presented as a new translation of an ancient text, THE NAMING evokes the rich and complex landscape of Annar, a legendary world just waiting to be discovered.

Author Biography

Alison Croggon is an award-winning Australian poet whose work has been published extensively in anthologies and magazines around the world. Her plays and opera libretti have been produced in Australia, and she is also an editor and critic. She began to write the books of Pellinor when her oldest son, Joshua, was reading fantasy. "I had forgotten how much I loved this stuff when I was a kid, and Josh's reading reminded me," she says. "My first real ambition as a child was to write a fantasy novel. One day I sat down and started writing a story. I had no idea what would happen, but one character appeared, and then another, and before long I had to finish the story to find out what happened." That story was THE NAMING. She says she was surprised by how the book seemed to unfold, already formed, before her. "Perhaps it's been waiting to be written for thirty years." Alison Croggon lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her playwright husband and their three children.

Table of Contents

GILMAN'S COT
Escape	1	(17)
The Landrost	18	(12)
The Scrying	30	(13)
Battle with the Wers	43	(17)
Through the Mountains	60	(23)
INNAIL
A Blue Dress	83	(13)
The Welcome Feast	96	(26)
The Council of Innail	122	(19)
Dernhil of Gent	141	(12)
Leavetaking	153	(32)
RACHIDA
Innail Fesse	185	(12)
The Weywood	197	(18)
Elidhu	215	(26)
The Kulag	241	(18)
The Hutmoors	259	(20)
Lady Ardina	279	(32)
NORLOCH
The Valverras	311	(21)
The Broken Teeth	332	(29)
Hem	361	(14)
The House of Nelac	375	(18)
A Council of Friends	393	(22)
The First Circle of Norloch	415	(18)
Old Scars	433	(15)
Flight	448	(42)
APPENDICES
A Brief History of Edil-Amarandh	471	(7)
Of Annar and the Seven Kingdoms	478	(2)
The Speech: Some General Notes	480	(3)
Of the Bards: History, Society, and Culture	483	(7)
Notes for the Appendices	490

Excerpts

"Maerad," he said at last, "if the Dark knows what Dernhil knew, we are in worse trouble than I thought. By the Light, I wish I knew what happened last night."

"But what does it mean?" asked Maerad stubbornly. Cadvan gazed at Maerad earnestly, as if he were seeing her for the first time. She met his gaze and held it, and at last he laughed gently and relented.

"Maerad, I think you are the Foretold, the one who will come, the Fated One," he said. "Lanorgil was one of the great Seers, and he foresaw you. 'Seek then one who comes Speechless from the Mountains, a Bard unSchooled and yet of this School.' He meant you. The riddle is scarcely hard to answer, and Dernhil was right: it is not chance that it turned up at just this time. The Foretold, in the Lore, is the one who will defeat the Nameless One in his darkest rising. It is an ancient tradition, although now mostly forgotten, except by the Wise, who do not forget."

Maerad listened in tense silence, her heart thumping wildly. Cadvan's words filled her with a strange panic, the same panic she had felt when Dernhil had first shown her the parchment.

"It can't be talking about me," she said, laughing nervously to cover her confusion. "I'm not . . . I'm not important—"

Cadvan paused. "I think Lanorgil, when he speaks of the Fire Lily, means the Name of the One who will come." He quoted Lanorgil's words: "'Seek and cherish the Fire Lily, the Fated One, which blooms the fairer in dark places, and sleepeth long in darkness: from such a root will blossom the White Flame anew.' The lily is of course the sign of Pellinor. But they use the arum lily. The Fire Lily, Elednor in the Speech, that is a different flower."

"But my Name's not Elednor!" Maerad stood up in her agitation. "My Name is, my Name is . . ."

"Maerad, you don't know your name. No one will, until your full instatement as a Bard. And if your name is Elednor, then you are most
certainly the One, as foretold by Lanorgil."

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THE NAMING by Alison Croggon. Copyright (c) 2006 by Alison Croggon. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.

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Excerpted from The Naming: The First Book of Pellinor by Alison Croggon
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.