Dreaming the Serpent Spear (71 page)
Read Dreaming the Serpent Spear Online
Authors: Manda Scott
Tags: #Fiction, #Historical, #_rt_yes, #_NB_fixed, #onlib
The world would be a very different place if Boudica had won her final battle. She lost and we live with the consequences. It is too late to go back and remake history. It is not too late to go forward differently.
Suffolk, autumn 2005
For those interested in the dreaming, the author’s website,
http://www.mandascott.co.uk
, carries details of contemporary dreaming workshops, recommended reading and other resources.
PRONUNCIATION OF NAMES
THE LANGUAGE OF THE PRE-ROMAN TRIBES IS LOST TO US; WE
have no means of knowing the exact pronunciations although linguists make brave attempts, based on known living and dead languages, particularly modern and medieval Breton, Cornish and Welsh. The following are my best attempts at accuracy. You are free to make your own. The names of characters based in history are marked with an asterisk.
Airmid of Nemain — Air-med. Frog-dreamer, lover to Breaca. Airmid is one of the Irish names of the goddess.
Ardacos — Ar-dah-kos. She-bear warrior of the Caledones. Former lover to Breaca.
Bellos the Blind — Bell-oss. Former slave boy of the Belgae. Brought to Hibernia and then to Mona by Valerius. Now a dreamer of Mona.
Braint — Braynt. Warrior of Mona who fought with Breaca in the invasion battles. Lover to Cygfa.
Breaca — Bray-ah-ca. Also known as the Boudica, from the old word “Boudeg” meaning Bringer of Victory, thus “She who Brings Victory”. Breaca is a derivative of the goddess Briga.
Caradoc — Kar-a-dok. Lover to Breaca, father to Cygfa, Cunomar and Graine. Co-leader of the western resistance against Rome.
Civilis — Kivilis. An officer of the Batavian wing of the auxiliary cavalry who fought with Valerius in the invasion battles.
Cunobelin — Koon-oh-bel-in. Father to Caradoc, now dead. Cun, “hound”, Belin, the sun god. Hence, Hound of the Sun or Sun Hound.
Cunomar — Koon-oh-mar. Son of Breaca and Caradoc. His name means “hound of the sea”.
Cygfa — Sig-va. Daughter of Caradoc and Cwmfen, half-sister to Cunomar.
Dubornos — Doob-ohr-nos. Singer and warrior of the Eceni, childhood companion to Breaca and Bán.
Eburovic — Eh-boor-oh-vik. Father to Breaca and Bán, now dead.
Efnís — Eff-neesh. Dreamer of the Eceni.
Eneit — Enate. Soul-friend of Cunomar. His name means “spirit”.
Graine — Granya; the first “a” is pronounced like the “o” in bonfire. Daughter of Breaca and Caradoc.
Gunovar — Goonavar. Daughter of Gunovic and a dreamer of the Dumnonii.
Huw — Hugh. A warrior of Mona, renowned for his skills with the sling. Fought with Valerius in the western wars against Longinus Sdapeze’s cavalry.
Lanis — Lan-is. Mother of Eneit, and a dreamer of the Eceni.
Longinus Sdapeze — Long-guy-nus. Formerly of the auxiliary cavalry, now fighting for the Boudica’s war host. Lover to Valerius. His cracked and broken gravestone was found in Camulodunum (Colchester) during excavations.
Luain mac Calma — Luw-ain mak Kalma. Elder of Mona and heron-dreamer. A prince of Hibernia.
Macha — Mach-ah; the “ch” is soft as in Scottish “loch”. Bán’s mother, now dead. Macha is a derivative of the horse goddess.
Madb — Maeve. A warrior of the Hibernians.
Valerius — dreamer and warrior. Breaca’s half-brother, son of Macha and Luain mac Calma. Until recently an officer in the auxiliary cavalry. Formerly known as Bán.
Latin is rather closer to our language, although we would pronounce the letter “J” as equivalent to the current “Y”, “V” would be “W” and “C” would be a hard “K” in all cases. However, this is so rarely used that it is simpler to retain standard modern pronunciation of these letters.
Decianus Catus — procurator of all Britannia under Nero.
Flavius — standard-bearer to Ursus’ troop.
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, a.k.a. Nero, emperor of Rome.
Petillius Cerialis — legate of the IXth legion.
Quintus Valerius Corvus — prefect of the Ala Quinta Gallorum.
Sabinius — standard-bearer to the first troop, directly under Corvus’ command.
Suetonius Paullinus — governor of all Britannia.
Ursus — decurion of the Ala Quinta Gallorum, serving under Corvus.
ALSO BY MANDA SCOTT
Dreaming the Eagle
THE FIRST OF THE FOUR-PART SERIES
ON THE LIFE OF BOUDICA
In AD 60, Boudica, war leader of the Eceni, led her people in a final bloody revolt against the occupying armies of Rome. It was the culmination of nearly twenty years of resistance against an occupying force that sought to crush a vibrant, complex civilization and replace it with the laws, taxes and slavery of the Roman Empire.
Dreaming the Eagle
recreates the roots of a story so powerful its impact has survived the ages. This gloriously imagined epic recounts the growth to adulthood of Breaca, who at twelve kills her first warrior, and her sensitive, skilful half-brother, Bán, who carries with him a vision of the future that may save his people.
SEAL BOOKS / ISBN: 0-7704-2926-2
ALSO BY MANDA SCOTT
Dreaming the Bull
THE SECOND OF THE FOUR-PART SERIES
ON THE LIFE OF BOUDICA
In AD 60, Breaca, war leader of the Eceni and hailed as Boudica, Bringer of Victory, led the native Celtic tribes in a final bloody revolt against the occupying armies of Rome. It was the culmination of nearly twenty years of resistance against an occupying force that sought to crush a vibrant, complex civilization and replace it with the laws, taxes and slavery of the Roman Empire.
Dreaming the Bull
begins in AD 47 as Boudica and her warriors continue their hard-fought resistance against the Roman legions occupying Britannia. Set against her is Julius Valerius, an officer in the auxiliary cavalry, whose increasing brutality in the service of his god and emperor can never shield him from the ghosts of his past.
Caught in the middle are two children, pawns in a game of unthinkable savagery, while in the heart of Rome, the emperor Claudius and his power-crazed wife hold lives in their hands.
This is a heart-stopping story of war and of peace; of love, passion and betrayal; of druids and warring gods, where each life is sacred and each death even more so.
SEAL BOOKS / ISBN: 0-7704-2927-0
