The Dragon Lord
Encyclopedia
- This page is about the fantasy novel The Dragon Lord. For other uses, see Dragon Lord (disambiguation).
The Dragon Lord is a historical fantasy
Historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy and related to historical fiction, which makes use of specific elements of real world history. It is used as an umbrella term for the sword and sorcery genre and sometimes, if fantasy is involved, the sword-and-sandal genre too...
or sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...
novel by American writer David Drake
David Drake
David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the premier authors of the military science fiction subgenre.-Biography:...
. First published in 1979 and revised in 1982, the novel is set in sixth century Arthurian
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
Background
The Dragon Lord was David Drake's first novel. He spent six months researching and drafting the plot for another author, Andrew J. OffuttAndrew J. Offutt
Andrew Jefferson Offutt is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written as Andrew J. Offutt, A. J. Offutt, and Andy Offutt. His normal byline, andrew j. offutt, has all his name in lower-case letters.-Life and family:Offutt has been married for over 50 years to Jodie McCabe...
, to expand into a novel. He drafted the novel for the Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
character Cormac mac Art who lived in Arthur's time. When Offutt declined it Drake developed it himself. He wrote it in 1977—78 and after substantial edits at the request of the editor at Berkley Books
Berkley Books
Berkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...
, it was published as a hardcover in 1979. The publisher sold its rights to Jim Baen
Jim Baen
James Patrick "Jim" Baen was a noted U.S. science fiction publisher and editor. In 1983 he founded his own publishing house, Baen Books, specializing in the adventure, fantasy, military science fiction and space opera genres...
who requested the original version of the book, before the edits of Berkley Books. Baen at Tor Books
Tor Books
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
published the post-edit paperback version in 1982. According to Drake, the hardcover and paperback versions of the novel are "significantly different".
Plot summary
In sixth century Britain, King Arthur desires a dragonDragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
to harass the Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
invaders. Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
tells Arthur that the skull of a lake monster
Lake monster
A lake monster or loch monster is a purported form of fresh-water-dwelling megafauna appearing in mythology, rumor, or local folklore, but whose existence lacks scientific support. A well known example is the Loch Ness Monster. Lake monsters' depictions are often similar to some sea monsters...
is required. From a batch of new mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
recruits to Arthur's army, Gawain
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
selects an Irishman called Mael and a Dane called Starkad after Mael defeats Lancelot
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
in a demonstration duel in front of the recruits. Arthur sends Mael to Ireland to retrieve the skull and keeps Mael's friend Starkad as hostage to ensure his return. In Ireland, Mael is escorted to a road where he meets Veleda, a pagan witch who foresaw Mael's coming. The two travel together for three days and arrive at Lough Ree
Lough Ree
Lough Ree is a lake in the midlands of Ireland, the second of the three major lakes on the River Shannon. Lough Ree is the second largest lake on the Shannon after Lough Derg. The other two major lakes are Lough Allen to the north, and Lough Derg to the south, there are also several minor lakes...
where a pagan shrine has been converted to a chapel manned by a priest and a large, mentally-retarded student, Fergus. During the night Mael steals the monster skull which was on display in the chapel but Fergus catches him. The ensuing fight spills out onto the lake pier that breaks apart as Fergus fights with a mace. Veleda helps Mael back to land but Fergus drowns and a lake monster drags the priest away. On their way back to Britain, Mael and Veleda are attacked on a ship but escape as Veleda summons a purple fire that burns their attackers.
With the skull Merlin creates a small dragon (a wyvern
Wyvern
A wyvern or wivern is a legendary winged reptilian creature with a dragon's head, two legs , and a barbed tail. The wyvern is found in heraldry. There exists a purely sea-dwelling variant, termed the Sea-Wyvern which has a fish tail in place of a barbed dragon's tail...
) which he hopes to grow and teach to be obedient. Mael is re-united with Starkad and they consider whether to stay in Arthur's camp. Veleda has a vision and implores they to retrieve the spear and shield of the Saxon Biargram Ironhand.
Mael and Starkad leave on the pretext that Starkad must go settle a blood feud with Biargram. Arthur detains Veleda as insurance of their return. Traveling to the Saxon territories, they walk to a drought-stricken village where desperate villagers are attempting to sacrifice a girl
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
. Mael and Starkad interrupt and kidnap the girl. They flee to a house where an old woman, a witch, was expecting them. The sacrificial girl cuts Starkad's legs in the night and escapes. Mael continues on without Starkad and reaches Biargram's homestead, where he learns Biargram has recently died. Biargram's son throws Mael into Biargram's crypt as a sacrifice. A curse was placed on Biargram that makes him return to life every night. Mael fights off the re-animated corpse and is saved by Starkad who interrupts grave-robbers. They carry off Biargram's spear and shield.
Once back at Arthur's camp Mael and Starkad are reunited with Veleda. Arthur claims Biargram's spear for himself. Mael and Starkad take their places in Arthur's army and are marched northwards to the walled town of Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
. They spend the night there, meet with a wounded Dane veteran and defeat two Herulians after they killed a family while pillaging. The next day at the battle front they are positioned against Aelle’s forces. The Saxon forces ford the Dubglas River and attack the Britons who slow the Saxon advance using horse archers and caltrop
Caltrop
A caltrop is an antipersonnel weapon made up of two or more sharp nails or spines arranged in such a manner that one of them always points upward from a stable base...
s. In the midst of battle Aelle nearly kills a dismounted Arthur but is foiled and killed by Mael. Victorious, Arthur immediately sends Mael and Starkad away to tell Merlin to release his dragon. Merlin trapped the dragon in a cave but had lost control of it. Veleda insists that dragon must be killed because it is too powerful and uncontrollable. In battle with the dragon Mael uses Biargram's shield against its fire breath, and they are able to kill it. The three flee Britain to escape Arthur's retribution for killing his dragon.
Characters
- Mael mac Ronan — an Irish mercenary, friend to Starkad. As the story progresses he is revealed to be self-exiled from Ireland after killing a prince over a woman, which still haunts him; his true name is Loeghaire. He falls in love with Veleda. He is based on Howard's Cormac mac Art.
- Starkad — a Danish mercenary, friend to Mael. He is a huge man, taller than Mael's 6 feet and broader. He wields an ax and is called Grettir, "the Cruncher". Much like a stereotypical VikingVikingThe term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
with his huge frame and appetite for alcohol, women and violence, he is based on Howard's Wulfhere the Skull-Splitter. - Veleda — a mysterious pagan woman with precognitive abilities and magic powers. Starkad realizes she is a possibly immortal priestessVeledaVeleda was a völva of the Germanic tribe of the Bructeri who achieved some prominence during the Batavian rebellion of AD 69–70, headed by the Romanized Batavian chieftain Gaius Julius Civilis, when she correctly predicted the initial successes of the rebels against Roman...
. - Arthur — a megalomaniacMegalomaniaMegalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
British king of the VotadiniGododdinThe Gododdin were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britain in the sub-Roman period, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North...
, at war with the Saxons. He is obsessed with uniting Britain under his rule and winning everlasting renown. Born with a club footClub footA club foot, or congenital talipes equinovarus , is a congenital deformity involving one foot or both. The affected foot appears rotated internally at the ankle. TEV is classified into 2 groups: Postural TEV or Structural TEV....
, he goes on horseback to make up for his disability and is deathly afraid of being unhorsed. He employs heavy cavalry patterned after Eastern cataphracts, who serve as both horse archers and lancerLancerA lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as and subsequently by Greek, Persian, Gallic, Han-Chinese, nomadic and Roman horsemen...
s. Many of his troops are mercenaries from various tribes, including FranksFranksThe Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, GothsGothsThe Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
, VandalsVandalsThe Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, HeruliansHeruliThe Heruli were an East Germanic tribe who are famous for their naval exploits. Migrating from Northern Europe to the Black Sea in the third century They were part of the...
, and HunsHunsThe Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
. His followers call him "the LeaderDuxDux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
".
Several other characters from Arthurian legend and the Matter of Britain
Matter of Britain
The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the body of literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and its legendary kings, particularly King Arthur...
are also featured in the novel. Lancelot is depicted as a Roman with a grudge on barbarians who serves as Arthur's chief adviser and Master of Soldiers. Gawain, Cei
Sir Kay
In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay is Sir Ector's son and King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. In later literature he is known for his acid tongue and bullying, boorish behavior, but in earlier accounts he was one of Arthur's premier...
and Geraint
Geraint
Geraint is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a king of Dumnonia and a valiant warrior. He may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the historical Arthur, but some scholars doubt he ever existed...
are also officers in Arthur's army. Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
is Arthur's wizard who, unlike in other works, Arthur treats without reverence; at the end of the novel, while Arthur rants about "being remembered" he conjures a vision of the Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
. Cerdic
Cerdic of Wessex
Cerdic was probably the first King of Anglo-Saxon Wessex from 519 to 534, cited by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the founder of the kingdom of Wessex and ancestor of all its subsequent kings...
is depicted as a British king allied with the Saxons. The conflict between Vortigern
Vortigern
Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Kent as mercenaries to aid him in...
, Hengst
Hengest
Hengist and Horsa are figures of Anglo-Saxon, and subsequently British, legend, which records the two as the Germanic brothers who led the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish armies that conquered the first territories of Great Britain in the 5th century AD...
and Horsa is mentioned as backstory, with "Vortigern" explained as the British term for high king
High king
A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor; compare King of Kings.Rulers who have been termed "high king" include:...
; the king's real name was Vitalis. Arthur's father Uther
Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in...
is also mentioned; both he and Arthur are called Pendragon
Pendragon
Pendragon or Pen Draig, meaning "head dragon" or "chief dragon" , is the name of several traditional Kings of the Britons:...
after their hereditary draco
Draco
Draco was the first legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece. He replaced the prevailing system of oral law and blood feud by a written code to be enforced only by a court...
war standard.
Reception
A review in Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
called the novel "a grim, gritty and different fantasy adventure." A reviewer at swordandsorcery.org, Ryan Harvey, compared it to Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
pastiche, and wrote "some prolonged sequences...turn out as nothing more than cul-de-sacs, neither adding nor detracting to the narrative." However, he found the prose to flow easily and the background to be very well-researched.
External links
- Fantastic Fiction — The Dragon Lord
- Baen.comBaen BooksBaen Books is an American publishing company established in 1983 by long time science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. It is a science fiction and fantasy publishing house that emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, military science fiction, and fantasy...
- Sample chapters of The Dragon Lord