The Crown of Dalemark (48 page)

Hoe,
a village on the rising ground west of Holand in South Dalemark.

Hoe Point,
the second major landmark for ships sailing northwest out of Holand. Sailors took care to know it well because a strong current flowed northward from there.

Holand,
the leading earldom of South Dalemark, a sizable city, a flourishing seaport, and the seat of Earl Hadd, situated in the extreme south of Dalemark.

Hollisay,
one of the Holy Islands, named from the number of holly bushes that grow there.

Holy Islands,
a scatter of islands in the bay between the Point of Hark and Carrow Head, famous as a haven for shipping. The islands are home to a strange, fey people and full of legends of the Undying. They are part of the King's Lands and owe no allegiance to any earl, but in the long interregnum between the Adon and Amil the Great they were regarded as part of South Dalemark and claimed by whoever was the strongest earl. Amil the Great rectified this by appointing a Warden of the Islands and spent much time there himself helping Ynen Navisson build his new fleet and experiment with steamships.

Holy Isle,
the centermost island of the Holy Islands and rightly named. Only those who are meant to go to it can find it.

Honker,
Ganner Sagersson.

Horsehair drums,
traditional crude drums made of horsehide with the hair still on it, beaten loudly at the Holand Sea Festival, probably because Old Ammet was thought to govern the wild horses of the sea.

Horses of the sea
were said to belong to Old Ammet and to appear galloping round a ship that was doomed.

Hurrel,
Lawschool slang for a big push at grittling, a real scrimmage.

Incantation,
a measured alliterative way of speaking, passed down from Singer to Singer and only used on the most solemn occasions.

Irana Harchadsdaughter,
one of Earl Hadd's many grandchildren, cousin of Hildrida and Ynen, betrothed at an early age to Agnet, third son of the Earl of Waywold in South Dalemark.

“I sent the hidden death…,”
one of Kankredin's two chief mages, who seems to have had no name apart from the boastful spell woven into his gown.

“I sing for Osfameron, I move in more than one world”
are the words inlaid in Moril Clennensson's cwidder in the old writing, by which the cwidder describes itself. Compare Tanaqui's weaving. It is possible these words cause the cwidder to behave as it does.

Island people,
the inhabitants of the Holy Islands who are something of a race unto themselves, being small and brown, with dark eyes and pale hair. Their singsong accent is unlike any other in Dalemark. They are said to be remnants of the first people ever to settle the country.

Isle of Gard,
the ruling island of the Holy Islands where the Lord's mansion and the main fleet are.

“I tortured the beast…,”
one of Kankredin's two chief mages, known only by the words woven in his gown.

Jay,
herald and captain to the King of the Riverlands. Jay seems to have started as a minor, though trusted, herald, but he distinguished himself in the wars with the Heathens, when he lost an arm and endeared himself to the King by his cheerfulness, and became the favorite of the King in exile.

Jenro,
a Holy Islander, coxswain aboard the flagship
Wheatsheaf
.

“Jolly Holanders,”
a sea shanty that was known and loved all over South Dalemark.

Justice,
an essential part of the corrupt legal system of South Dalemark before the reforms of Amil the Great. A justice was appointed and paid by an earl and did the earl's bidding, sitting as a magistrate and hearing only such cases as interested his employer or could bring the justice himself a bribe. The South had no access to the Lawschool of the North, and justices seldom had any legal training. They had to rely on their clerks, who were equally corrupt, to tell them what the law was.

K
at the beginning of a personal name was only used in North Dalemark. In the slurred and softer dialect of the South a
K
becomes either
C
(pronounced
KH
) or
H
. For instance, the Southern form of the name Keril is Harl; or there are sometimes two forms of a Northern name, as in the name Kialan, which appears in the South both as Collen and as Halain.

Kanart,
an Earl of Dropwater killed in battle during the Adon's wars.

Kanarthi,
the conjectured Northern form of the name Cennoreth.

Kankredin,
an evil magician, sometimes called the mage of mages, who accompanied the Heathen invaders from Haligland, intending to use them to help him usurp the power and position of the One. Kankredin was himself of the Undying and had increased his powers by magically passing through death, which made him virtually impossible to kill. Though legend claims that King Hern overthrew him, Kankredin appears again in stories long before the time of the Adon and was later said by the North to be the cause of all the evils in the South. It is claimed that Amil the Great frustrated an attempt by Kankredin to take over the North, too.

Kappin,
Lawschool slang for fighting to hold the team's position.

Karet,
a hearthman of Aberath.

Kars Adon,
son of Kiniron, who became clan head and High Lord after his father died in the invasion of prehistoric Dalemark. Though Kars Adon was barely fifteen and crippled from birth, he was held in great honor by all his subjects. This was partly due to the custom of the clans, but mostly to the character of Kars Adon himself.

Kastri,
the Adon's son by his first wife and ancestor of Earl Keril of Hannart, who accompanied his father and Manaliabrid into exile.

Ked,
a lowborn member of Clan Rath, aged about eight, who had a bad reputation as a liar.

Keril,
Earl of Hannart, descended from the Adon and generally considered the most influential man in North Dalemark. As a young man he had high ideals and set out to free the South by helping in an uprising. The rebellion failed, and Keril had to be rescued and smuggled North by Halida, whom he married. He arrived back in Hannart to find his father dying and himself with a price on his head in the South. This seems to have given Keril a strong distaste for revolution of the violent kind. As an earl he supported the Southern freedom fighters surreptitiously, with money and advice, apparently hoping for a peaceful political solution, no doubt with himself as chief negotiator, for he possessed a lively and devious political mind. Unfortunately this same deviousness caused him to miscalculate gravely in the case of Navis Haddsson, and he had, as a result, to watch the gradual fading of Hannart as a power in the land.

Kern,
the Northern form of the name Hern.

Kernsburgh,
the capital city of Dalemark, situated nearly at the center of the country. Kernsburgh was founded by King Hern and flourished for many centuries until the kingship shifted to Hannart, Canderack, and elsewhere, after which it fell into ruins. At the time of the Great Uprising it was little more than grassy humps in the ground. Amil the Great's first act as King was to rebuild Kernsburgh, and from then on the city grew continually, to become the seat of government, center of commerce, and international metropolis it is two hundred years later.

Kestrel,
the husband of Closti the Clam's elder sister, Zara, an old man who married late in life when Zwitt refused to marry Zara after Closti had jilted Zwitt's sister. Kestrel, it seems, did not wish to see Zara suffer through no fault of her own.

Kialan,
younger son of Keril, Earl of Hannart, and later his heir.

King of the Riverlands
of prehistoric Dalemark. Tanaqui never gives his name, perhaps out of respect, or perhaps because she never knew it. She clearly shows that he was not the correct man for dealing with the Heathen invasion, although he seems to have done his best at first, until his family was killed and his spirit broken.

Kinghaven,
in the earldom of Loviath, the main port city of North Dalemark and otherwise notorious for brewing bad lager.

King's Sayings,
a collection of proverbs and wise thoughts memorized by all Singers and supposed to be the words of King Hern himself.

King Street,
the main thoroughfare in Kernsburgh.

“The King's Way,”
a traditional song with a rousing tune which celebrates the customary journey of the new King down the green roads of North Dalemark to Kernsburgh to claim his crown. This song was banned in the South, where the earls did not wish to remind people there had once been Kings.

Kiniron,
the younger brother of the King of Haligland who led the main invasion of the clans to prehistoric Dalemark, where he died of wounds from the fighting.

Kintor,
Lord of Kredindale and cousin of Noreth Onesdaughter.

Knots and crosses,
one of the oldest and most potent charms of binding and, of course, the basic pattern of a net. See also
Nets.

Konian,
the elder son of Keril, Earl of Hannart, executed in Holand in South Dalemark after a travesty of a trial.

Korib,
son of the miller in Shelling and an excellent shot with the longbow.

Kredindale,
a valley, town, and lordship in the extreme northwest of North Dalemark where deposits of coal were found very early in history. From the reign of the Adon, mining became the main occupation of the valley until the mines were closed in the reign of Amil III. Kredindale was the birthplace of Noreth Onesdaughter. Its name is thought to be derived from Kankredin.

Labbard,
King of Dalemark prior to the Adon, an indolent and incompetent man who openly declared that he would rather sit and drink cider than rule the country.

Ladri,
one of Kankredin's mages, whose task was to collect the souls caught in the soulnet.

Lady,
the wooden image of a woman which the family of Closti the Clam kept, according to the customs of prehistoric Dalemark, in one of the niches reserved for the Undying.

Lagan,
the villainous half brother of the Adon, a student of sorcery and, some legends say, a pupil of Kankredin. Lagan seems to have been consumed with jealousy both of the Adon's status and of the Adon's love for Manaliabrid. Having conspired to have the Adon sent into exile, Lagan then followed him, disguised himself by sorcery, and stabbed him to death. The Adon was recalled from death and later killed Lagan.

Lake,
a large body of water in the center of prehistoric North Dalemark, which must have been extensive even when the River was not flooding, to judge from the petrified remains of freshwater life to be found all over the central peaks. By historic times this lake had shrunk to a row of small tarns, the largest of which is Long Tarn.

Lalla,
housekeeper at Lithar's mansion in the Holy Islands and an aspect of Libby Beer.

“Lament for the Earl of Dropwater,”
an old ballad song composed during the Adon's wars, mourning the death of Kanart, who was one of many earls who opposed the Adon.

Lathsay,
one of the Holy Islands.

Lavreth,
a coastal town northwest of Hannart in North Dalemark.

Lawman,
a position of great power and prestige in North Dalemark. Lawmen served earls, lords, and town governors as advisers, justices, or planners for the future and in many other ways, often for very large fees. Quite a few lawmen married into the families of lords or earls. Since the law was open to everyone, however lowborn, training as a lawman was a favorite way to rise in the world.

Law of the sea
was very largely unwritten but was held throughout Dalemark waters to be much more binding than the law of the land. It stated, among other things, that all ships must go to the assistance of any boat in trouble.

Lawschool at Gardale in North Dalemark,
the only such school in the country until the reign of Amil the Great, very famous and much sought after. It took only those pupils who could reach a very high standard in its oral entrance exams, but a pupil could join the school at any age from nine to fifteen and then be assured of the very best education, both in law and other studies, and nobody ever failed to get a job after graduating. The Lawschool was well endowed with funds and gave quite a number of scholarships to poor students every year. Students entering the school found it a world in itself, with many strange customs and words that were not found anywhere else.

When Amil the Great founded lawschools all over the country, the status of the Gardale school diminished. In the reign of Amil III it became simply a part of Gardale University.

Law-woman,
a female lawyer, had even more prestige in North Dalemark than a lawman and could command an even higher fee.

Lengday,
Lawschool slang for Midsummer Day.

Lenina Thornsdaughter,
niece of Earl Tholian of the South Dales, wife of Clennen the Singer, and mother of Dagner, Brid, and Moril. Lenina was brought up as an aristocrat in the Earl's household in Neathdale in South Dalemark and left there when she became betrothed to Ganner Sagersson. Clennen saw Lenina at the betrothal feast and persuaded her to marry him instead.