Shadow of Stone (The Pendragon Chronicles) (75 page)

Ui Neill - The tribe which traces its descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages, Lóegaire's father.

Characters and Places

Main Characters

Yseult, once a princess in Eriu, is now a queen in Britain, regent for her son Kustennin since the death of her husband, Marcus Cunomorus.

Cador is one of the most important regional kings in Dumnonia. He has been good friends with Yseult for many years, and her son Kustennin is in fosterage with him.

Gawain, Arthur's nephew, is Yseult's lover. He has asked Yseult to marry him, but after the disaster of her first marriage and the trauma of Drystan's death, she never intends to marry again.

Other characters:

Agravaine (deceased) - Brother of Gawain, Gaheris and Gareth

Aircol - King in Demetia

Alun - Cador's steward

Ambrosius Aurelianus (went missing on a campaign in Gaul) - Former High King of Britain, Arthur's uncle and mentor

Anir - Arthur's bastard son by his mistress Indeg

Anna - Arthur's half-sister, mother of Medraut

Arthur - Dux Bellorum of Britain

Bedwyr - One of Arthur's most important military leaders and companions

Brangwyn - Yseult's cousin and best friend

Budic - A king of Armorica, married to Arthur's sister Anna

Cai - Arthur's Master of Horse and one of his most important companions

Caw - A former king of the north who rebelled one too many times and was sent to Armorica where he would cause fewer problems

Cerdic - Former Count of the Saxon Shore, now allied with the Saxons

Chlodovech - King of the Franks (original Germanic of Clovis)

Cwylli - Daughter of Labiane and Caw, older sister of Gildas, wife of Medraut

Drystan (deceased) - Was Yseult's lover. Killed by his father, Marcus Cunomorus

Enid - Cador's mother

Hengist - One of the Saxon kings in Ceint

Hoel - A king of Armorica, married to Arthur's mother, Ygerna

Honorius (deceased) - Former King of Gower

Gaheris - Brother of Gawain, Agravaine and Gareth

Gareth - Brother of Gawain, Agravaine and Gaheris

Gildas - Son of Cador's cousin Labiane and her husband Caw

Ginevra - Arthur's wife

Gurles - A minor regional king in Dumnonia

Gwythyr - One of the seven kings in Dumnonia and father of Ginevra (seat Celliwig)

Illtud - Priest at Dyn Tagell, formerly a prince and a warrior

Judual - Adopted son of Brangwyn and Kurvenal, bastard of Marcus Cunomorus

Kurvenal - Was Drystan's man-at-arms and best friend, now in Arthur's service. Married to Yseult's cousin Brangwyn

Labiane - Cador's cousin, daughter of an Armorican king, married to Caw, mother of Cwylli and Gildas

Loholt - Son of Arthur and Ginevra

Lot (deceased) - Former King of the Gododdin, father of Gawain, Gaheris and Gareth

Marcus Cunomorus - (deceased) Former king of Dumnonia and husband of Yseult

Medraut - Arthur's nephew, son of his sister Anna and her husband Budic of Armorica

Melehan - Son of Medraut and Cwylli

Modrun - Daughter of Ambrosius Aurelianus, second wife of King Honorius of Gower, and cousin of Arthur

Morgawse (deceased) - Cousin of Modrun, wife of Lot, and mother of Agravaine, Gawain, Gaheris and Gareth

Myrddin - Arthur's advisor

Natanleod - Ruler in Calleva

Nimue - A member of the Old Race, lover of Myrddin and former lover of Medraut

Owain - King of Gwynedd (north Wales)

Uthyr - (deceased) Brother of Ambrosius Aurelianus and father of Arthur, who was conceived when he raped Ygerna

Vortigern - High King before Ambrosius Aurelianus

Ygerna - Mother of Arthur

Yseult the Wise - Kingmaker of Eriu, mother of Yseult the Fair

Places in Britain:

Abona - Sea Mills on the coast near Bristol

Aquae Sulis - Bath

Buellt - Kingdom in Mid Wales

Caer Baddon - Little Solsbury Hill northeast of Bath

Caer Camulodon - Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

Caer Custoeint - Cadbury Camp west of Bristol

Caer Gwent - Caerwent, seat of Honorius, near Caer Leon

Caer Leon - Caerleon (present day Wales)

Caer Tamar - Plymouth

Calleva - Silchester

Ceint - Kent

Celliwig - Castle Killibury, Cornwall (northeast of Wadebridge)

Cerniw - Sub-kingdom of Dumnonia, roughly equivalent with Cornwall

Corinium - Cirencester

Demetia - Southwest Wales

Din Eidyn - Edinburgh

Dortrig - Sub-kingdom of Dumnonia, roughly equivalent with eastern Devon / western Somerset

Dumnonia - Present day Cornwall, Devon and Somerset

Durnovaria - Dorchester

Dyn Draithou - South Cadbury

Dyn Tagell - Tintagel

Eburacum - York

Elmet - Kingdom in what is now West Yorkshire

Erainn Sea - Irish Sea

Glevum - Gloucester

Gododdin - Southeast part of Scotland

Gower - Kingdom in South Wales

Gwynedd - Northwest Wales

Island of Vectis - Isle of Wight

Isca Dumnoniorum (Isca) - Exeter

Lansyen - Hill fort north of Fowey in Cornwall

Lindinis - Ilchester

Londinium - London

Moridunum - Carmarthen, Wales, civitas capital of Demetia

Mount of Frogs - Brent Knoll, hill-fort and beacon site in present-day Somerset (Dumnonia)

Powys - Kingdom in central Wales

Rheged - Kingdom in the area of northwest England and southwest Scotland

Sabrina - Severn (Estuary and river)

Uxelis - Launceston, Cornwall

Venedotia - Latin word for Gwynedd (Northwest Wales)

Venta / Venta Belgarum - Winchester

Verulamium - St. Albans

Voliba - Fowey, Cornwall

Ynys Witrin - Glastonbury

Ystrad Clud - Strathclyde

Places in Eriu (Ireland):

The five provinces of Eriu:

Laigin in the Southeast (contemporary Leinster)

Mumu in the Southwest

Connachta in the West

Ulaid in the North (contemporary Ulster)

Midhe in the central East

Ard Ladrann - Courtown Harbour near Gorey

Bend Atair - Dublin

Brega - A sub-province of Midhe, inland from the middle of Ireland on the east coast

Bruig na Boyne - Newgrange

Cashel - Cashel

Cruachu - Royal seat in Connachta (Rathcroghan, Roscommon)

Dun Ailinne - Near Kilcullen

Druim Dara - Kildare

Erain Sea - Irish Sea

Midhe - The middle of Eriu, an area surrounding present-day Dublin

Rath Inber - Arklow

Places in Armorica (Brittany) and Gaul (France):

Andecaves - Angers

Bro Leon - Province in the northwest part of Armorica

Caer Brioc (east of Leonis) - St. Brieuc

Diablintis - Jublains

Domnonia - Province in the northeast part of Armorica

Gwitreg - Vitré

Leonis - Seat of kings in Bro Leon (St. Pol de Leon)

Liger River - Loire

Parisius - Paris

Riedonum - Rennes

Sequana River - Seine

Turonorum - Tours

Vicenonia (river) - La Vilaine on the border to Brittany

Map of Fifth Century Britain and Ireland

About the author

A former assistant professor of English in the picturesque town of Freiburg on the edge of the Black Forest, Ruth Nestvold has given up theory for imagination. She has since replaced her university career with a small software localization business, and the Black Forest with the parrots of Bad Cannstatt, where she lives with her fantasy, her family, her books, and no cats in a house with a turret. Her fiction has appeared in numerous markets, including
Asimov's, F&SF, Baen's Universe, Strange Horizons, Scifiction
, and Gardner Dozois's
Year's Best Science Fiction
. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Tiptree, and Sturgeon Awards. In 2007, the Italian translation of her novella "Looking Through Lace" won the "Premio Italia" award for best international work. Her novel
Yseult
appeared in translation as
Flamme und Harfe
with the German imprint of Random House, Penhaligon, in 2009, and has since been translated into Dutch and Italian. She maintains a web site at
http://www.ruthnestvold.com
.

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Did you enjoy
Shadow of Stone
? Check out some of my other ebooks!

Yseult

Never Ever After: Three Short Stories

Dragon Time and Other Stories

Looking Through Lace

The Future, Imperfect: Short Stories