WorldFAQ: Jack Vance's Lyonesse Trilogy
Michael Martinez
WorldFAQ:
Jack Vance's Lyonesse Trilogy
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1]. Quick Reference
Vance's LYONESSE trilogy consists of three sequential
volumes, SULDRUN'S GARDEN, THE GREEN PEARL, and MADOUC.
Lyonesse is one of the kingdoms of the Elder Isles, a now
submerged group of islands south of the British Isles and
west of France. The time is early medieval, before the
events of the Arthurian Cycle, but after the collapse of
the Roman Empire. Technology is medieval, but magic
abounds.
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2]. Printed Sources Bibliography
LYONESSE: VOL 1, SULDREN'S GARDEN
Young Prince Aillas of Dascinet, Troicinet, and Scola is
cast overboard by his cousin Trewan and washes up on the
shore of a garden inhabited the beautiful and lonely
Suldrun, daughter of the cruel and ambitious King Casmir
of Lyonesse. Casmir owns a Magic Mirror, Persilian, which
prophesied that not he, but Suldrun's son will unify the
Islands. Aillas and Suldrun fall in love and she soon
becomes pregnant. Through the treachery Father Umphred,
an unctuous Christian priest, Aillas is discovered and
imprisoned and Suldrun is driven to suicide after giving
birth to the boy Dhrun. Dhrun is hidden away and
exchanged by the fairies for the girl changeling Madouc.
Aillas escapes Casmir's prison and searches for Dhrun,
who in a single year among the Fairies has aged eight and
has been cast out, carrying a malicious curse of bad luck.
Unfortunately, Aillas is captured and enslaved by the Ska,
but manages to escape, only to be captured again and sent
to the fortress Poelitetz, on the border between South
Ulfland and Dahaut. Aillas escapes with the aid of several
companions and hastens to Troicinet to claim his rightful
throne from his murderous and usurping cousin.
In the meantime, the precocious Dhrun rescues a somewhat
older girl Glyneth from a carnivorous troll, but is blinded
by dryads whom he accidentally glimpsed at their baths. Both
children are befriended by Shimrod, who is on a mission to
avenge the death of his friend Grofinet, a lank, furry creature
whose life he had once saved.
The children are taken hostage by Faude Carfilhiot, the
masculine half of the sorceress Desmei who earlier had
magically transformed herself into Melancthe, the world's
most beautiful woman, Faude Carfilhiot, the most handsome
of men, and a monstrous residuum, Denking, to revenge herself
on Tamurello, an evil sorcerer by whom she had been amatorily
rejected. Tamurello instead is attracted to Carfilhiot and uses
Melancthe to attack Shimrod to weaken Murgen, whose scion
he is. Melancthe inveigles Shimrod into the mysterious world
Irerly where he nearly perishes.
With the help of Shimrod and Murgen, the children are
rescued, Faude Carfilhiot is captured and executed, and
South Ulfland is pacified under Aillas, who has inherited
the kingship. Glyneth is made a princess of Troicinet, but
Aillas is still haunted by the memory of Suldrun and by
fantasies of a Ska maiden, Tatzel, in whose father's house he
was a slave.
Volume II: THE GREEN PEARL
When Faude Carfilhiot's corpse was burnt, a greenish vapor
was emitted which condensed out over the ocean into a
greenish pearl-like object. The first portion of the book
deals with the effect this node of evil has on all who come
into contact with it.
The rest of the novel continues with Aillas's attempts to
thwart Casmir's ambition to rule all of the Elder Isles and
with Tamurello's machinations against Aillas, Murgen and
Shimrod. Aillas inherits the throne of South Ulfland which
he must pacify, unify, and free from the depredations of the
Ska and from the atrocities of Faude Carfilhiot.
In a raid against the Ska, Aillas captures Tatzel but treats
her chivalrously when he realizes that he has been infatuated
with a figment of his imagination, not the real Tatzel. After
a number of adventures, they arrive in North Ulfland where
the aged and childless King Gax holds out against the Ska.
Aillas generously relinquishes Tatzel to her father and is
appointed Gax's heir, thus unifying North and South Ulfland
under Aillas's rule.
The girl Glyneth has grown up to be a charming and beautiful
maiden, beguiling all who know her, including Aillas. At
Tamurello's behest, the apprentice sorcerer Visbhume kidnaps
and takes her into the terrifying world Tanjecterly. With
Murgen's magic and Aillas's blood, Kul, a monstrous and
savage warrior, is constructed and sent to aid Glyneth. She
is eventually rescued and upon her return marries Aillas, whom
she has long loved.
Tamurello turns Visbhume into a serpent because not only knows
too much, but is importunate, and Visbhume as a snake grabs
the Green Pearl in his mouth before Tamurello can possess it.
Tamurello pursues him in the form of a weasel and in turn is
captured by Murgen and imprisoned in a glass vessel. The Green
Pearl dissolves Tamurello into a skeleton surrounded by a heavy
greenish vapor.
Volume III: MADOUC
Princess Madouc, the changeling, grows into a beautiful and
strong-willed red-headed girl. She rejects all suitors, and
having discovered that she is not the child of Casmir and
Sollace, his queen, leaves Casmir's palace to find her true
father, but with scant success, though with harrowing adventures
including the discovery of the Holy Grail by her squire. At
a conclave of all the royal families in Dahaut, she discovers
that Casmir intends to kill Dhrun to void the prophecy spoken
by the Magic Mirror, Persilian, as he has found out that he is
Suldren's son from the priest Umphred. In a dramatic scene,
Madouc exposes Casmir's plans and thus saves Dhrun's life.
Casmir has her seized and bound, but she is rescued by Aillas
and finds refuge in Troicinet.
Desmei working through the Ska renegade Torqual sacrifices
Melancthe to attack Murgen and releases Tamurello to obtain
the green plasm in which he is immersed. Torqual out of
madness or Desmei's malice partially frees Joad, a gigantic
subterranean creature whose struggles threaten to submerge
all of the Elder Isles. Murgen, with Shimrod's timely
assistance manages to expunge both Desmei and Tamurello
before they can destroy the Elder Isles, though the city Ys
is inundated by a tidal wave.
Casmir makes war upon Dahaut and the smaller states with such
success that he puts his son Cassander in charge of his armies
for the final battle. King Audry and his sons are killed and
the Daut army is trapped. The Dauts, however, escape to
Poelitetz and are reinforced by Troice troops who destroy the
Lyonesse forces. Cassander is killed, Casmir captured and
executed, and at long last, the Elder Isles are reunited under
Aillas. Father Umphred is captured while trying to escape to
the continent and drowned and Sollace is exiled to Aquitaine
with the Holy Grail.
Glyneth gives birth to a daughter, Princess Serle. At Aillas's
victory celebration, Dhrun and Madouc discover that they love
each other. Madouc decides to invite her mother, the fairy
Twisk, and she reveals that Madouc's mysterious father is none
other than Shimrod, much to everyone's amazement and pleasure.
This rather bald summary fails to do justice to the rich texture
and beautiful language of these books. Many subplots and side-
episodes have been omitted in this brief synopsis.
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3]. Audio/Visual Sources Bibliography
None known.
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4]. Related Materials Bibliography
THE WORK OF JACK VANCE, AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GUIDE, Jerry
Hewett and Daryl F. Mallett, edited by Boden Clarke. Published by
R. Reginald, The Borgo Press, San Bernardino, CA and Underwood-
Miller, Penn Valley, CA and Lancaster, PA. 1994. cloth. ISSN
0749-470X, Bibliographies of Modern Authors, No. 29. (The above
first publication data on the trilogy was taken from this book,
which is an indispensable resource for Vance scholars and fans.)
JACK VANCE, in Writers of the 20th Century Series, edited by Tim
Underwood and Chuck Miller, general series editors Martin Harry
Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander, Taplinger Publishing Company,
New York, 1980. This is a collection of essays on Vance's fiction,
style, sources, etc. Highly recommended, though some dated as
Vance has published more novels since these essays were written.
THE JACK VANCE LEXICON , From Ahulph to Zipangote, the coined
words of Jack Vance," by Dan Temianka, Underwood-Miller,
Novato, CA and Lancaster PA, 1992, cloth,136 p., ISBN
0-88733-112-1. A fascinating compendium for the Vance fan,
this book includes nearly all of Vance's non-proper names
with plausible etymologies, sources and references.
VANCE SPACE, Sirius Fiction, 1997 is a booklet by
Michael Andre-Driussi surveying a few dozen of the
many planets in the science fiction of Jack Vance.
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5]. Online References
Mike Berro manages a "Jack Vance Info" WebSite at
http://www.massmedia.com/~mikeb/jvm/
with links to other sites with Vance materials.
There is also a message board for Vance fans here.
For information about Jack Vance's Grand Master Award,
visit
http://www.scifiweekly.com/current/site.html.
Jerry Hewett operates a Vance trading list at
jerh...@ix.netcom.com
30712 Doral Ct.
Temecula, CA 92592-5907 USA.
Jack Vance Web Central
http://www.jackvance.com/
I am unaware of any news groups or mailing lists devoted to
Jack Vance though a review by Till Noever of his latest book,
NIGHTLAMP, appeared in the alt.books.reviews, rec.arts.books,
rec.arts.sf.written, and misc.writing newsgroups last year.
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6]. Description
The Elder Isles were split into several kingdoms following
dynastic disorders and invasion by Celts and the Ska, a
Scandinavian race known in Irish myth as the Nemedians.
These three books chronicle the reunification of the Isles
under King Aillas of Troicinet, who also forges a treaty
with the Ska limiting their depredations. The magician Murgen
and his scion Shimrod struggle against supernatural agencies
and evil magicians to protect the Elder Isles from its
ultimate destruction by the sea.
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7]. Maintainer Information
FAQ owner: John Chalmers <no...@deltanet.com>
Last Updated: November 8, 1998.
All errors of fact and fiction in this document are my own.
Comments and suggestions cheerfully solicited
I am indebted to Till Noever and Richard Chandler for
spotting a typo in Suldrun's name and clarifying Casmir's fate.
Some information was supplied by:
Mike Asher <mas...@jackvance.com>
Jerry Hewett <jerh...@ix.netcom.com>
Rich Horton <rrho...@concentric.net>
Michael Martinez <Mic...@xenite.org>
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