The Hallowed Isle Book Three (25 page)

The Lake slept beneath the stars, reflecting only an occasional flicker of light, and on the island, the priestesses slept likewise. Only the Lady of the Lake was still wakeful. On the eastern point a bench had been set for those who wished to salute the sun or watch the moonrise. With a sigh Igierne settled herself upon it and laid down the staff. Her priestesses came here often when the moon was new or full. But the waning moon was an old woman who rose late and ruled the silent hours between midnight and dawn, and she had few worshippers.

She is like me
. . . Igierne smiled to herself. Let Morgause learn to wield the full moon's power. Her coming had freed her mother to study the secrets of the waning moon and the dark, to truly become the raven whose wings shine white in the Otherworld—Branuen, the Hidden Queen.

As if the thought had been a summons, Igierne glimpsed behind the mountain a pallid glow. In another moment, the Crone's silver sickle appeared in the sky.

“Lady of Wisdom, be welcome,” whispered Igierne. “Cut away that which I need no longer, and purify my spirit, until it is time for me to return to your dark Cauldron and be reborn.. . .”

A note on pronunciation:

British names are given in fifth-century spelling, which does not yet reflect pronunciation changes. Initial letters should be pronounced as they are in English. Medial letters are as follows.

SPELLED PRONOUNCED

P.................b

t.................d

k/c..............(soft) g

b.................v (approximately)

d.................soft “th” (modern Welsh “dd”)

g.................“yuh”

m................v

PEOPLE IN THE STORY:

                CAPITALS=major character

                *=historical personnage

                ( )=dead before story begins

                [ ]=name as given in later literature

                
Italics=
deity or mythological personage

*Aelle, king of the South Saxons

Aggarban [Agravaine]—third son of Morgause

(*Ambrosius Aurelianus—emperor of Britannia and Vitalinus' rival)

(Amlodius, Artor's grandfather)

Amminius—one of Artor's men

ARTOR [Arthur]—son of Uthir and Igierne, High King of Britannia

(Artoria Argantel—Artor's grandmother)

BETIVER [Bedivere]—nephew to Riothamus, one of Artor's Companions

Bleitisbluth—a Pictish chieftain

Brigantia/Brigid
—
British goddess of healing, inspiration, and the land

CAI—son of Caius Turpilius, Artor's foster-brother and Companion

CATAUR [Cador]—prince of Dumnonia

Cathubodva
—
Lady of Ravens, a British war goddess

*Catraut, prince of Verulamium

*Ceawlin—son of Ceretic

Ceincair—a priestess on the Isle of Maidens

(*Ceretic [Cerdic]—king of the West Saxons)

*Chlodovechus [Clovis]—king of the Franks in Gallia

*Constantine—son of Cataur

*Cunobelinus—warleader of the northern Votadini

Cunorix—an Irish warleader, formerly Artor's hostage

*Cymen—Aelle's eldest son

Doli—a Pictish warrior in the service of Morgause

*Drest Gurthinmoch—High King of the Picts

Dugech—one of Morgause's women

*Dubricius—bishop of Isca and head of the Church in Britannia

*Dumnoval [Dyfnwal]—lord of the S. Votadini

Ebrdila—an old priestess on Isle of Maidens

Edrit—a young warrior in the service of Aggarban

Eldaul the younger [Eldol]—prince of Glevum

*Eormenric—son of Oesc, child king of Cantuware

Ganeda [Ganiedda]—Merlin's half-sister, wife of Ridarchus

(Gorlosius [Gorlois]—first husband of Igierne, father of Morgause)

Goriat [Gareth]—fourth son of Morgause

Gracilia—wife of Gualchmai

GUALCHMAI [Gawain]—first son of Morgause

GUENDIVAR [Gwenivere]—Artor's queen

Gwyhir [Gaheris]—second son of Margause

Hæthwæge—a wisewoman in the service of Eormanaric

(*Hengest—king of Cantuware, leader of Saxon revolt)

Ia—a priestess on the Isle of Maidens, in service of Morgause

*Icel—king of the Anglians in Britannia

IGIERNE [Igraine]—Artor's mother, Lady of the Lake

*Illan—King of Leinster, who for a time holds part of North Wales

Julia—a nun from the Isle of Glass, Guendivar's companion

Father Kedi—an Irish priest at the court of Artor

Leodagranus [Leoderance]—prince of Lindinis, Guendivar's father

Leudonus [Lot]—king of the Votadini

Leuku—one of Morgause's women

Mother Maduret—abbess of the nuns at the Isle of Glass

Matauc [Madoc]—king of the Durotriges

MEDRAUT [Mordred]—fifth son of Morgause, by Artor

Melguas [Meleagrance]—an Irishman born in Guenet, abductor of Guendivar

MERLIN—druid and wizard, Artor's advisor

MORGAUSE—daughter of Igierne and Gorlosius, queen of the Votadini

Morut—a priestess on the Isle of Maidens

(*Naitan Morbet—king of all the provinces of the Picts)

Nest—a priestess on the Isle of Maidens

Ninive—daughter of Gualchmai by a woman of the hills

(*Oesc—grandson of Hengest and king of Cantuware, Eormenric's father)

Peretur [Peredur]—son of Eleutherius, lord of Eboracum

Petronilla—wife of Leodegranus, Guendivar's mother

*Ridarchus—king at Alta Cluta and protector of Luguvalium

Rigana—widow of Oesc, Eormenric's mother

*Riothamus—ruler of Armorica

Tulach—a Pictish priestess, wife of Blietisbluth

Uinist—a Votadini warrior who serves Morgause

Uorepona—“the Great Mare,” High Queen of the Picts

(Uthir [Uther Pendragon]—Artor's father)

(*Vitalinus, the Vor-Tigernus—ruler of Britannia who brought in the Saxons)

Afallon [Avalon]—Isle of Apples, Glastonbury

Alba—Scotland

Alta Cluta—Kingdom of the Clyde

Anglia—Lindsey and Lincolnshire

Aquae Sulis—Bath

Belisama Fluvius—River Ribble, Lancashire

Bodotria Aestuarius—Firth of Forth

Britannia—Great Britain

Caledonian forest—southern Scotland

Calleva—Silchester

Camalot [Camelot]—Cadbury Castle, Somerset

Cantium, Cantuware—Kent

Cantuwareburh—Canterbury

Cicutio—Brecon, Wales

Demetia—Pembroke and Carmanthenshire

Durnovaria—Dorchester, Dorset

Fodreu—Fortriu, Fife

Gallia—France

Glevum—Gloucester

Guenet [Gwynedd]—Denbigh and Caernarvonshire

Isle of Glass [Inis Witrin]—Glastonbury

Isle of Maidens, the Lake—Derwentwater, Cumbria

Isca (Silurum)—Caerwent

Lindinis—Ilchester, Somerset

Lindum—Lincoln

Londinium—London

Mona—Anglesey

Sabrina Fluvia—the Severn River and estuary

Segontium—Caernarvon, Wales

Sorviodunum—Old Sarum, Salisbury

Summer Country—Somerset

Urbs Legionis [Deva]—Chester

Uxela Fluvius—River Axe, Severn estuary

Venta Belgarum—Winchester

Venta Siluricum—Caerwent, Wales

Viroconium—Wroxeter

Voreda—Old Penrith, Cumberland

DIANA L. PAXSON
is the award-winning author of
The Lord of Horses
,
The Wolf and the Raven
,
The Dragons of the Rhine
,
The White Raven
, and
The Serpent's Tooth
and co-author (with Adrienne Martine-Barnes) of
Master of Earth and Water
,
The Shield Between the Worlds
, and
Swords of Fire and Shadow
, the chronicles of Fionn mac Cumhal. She lives in Berkeley, California.

Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

The Hallowed Isle
series

The Book of the Sword

The Book of the Spear

Wodan's Children
Trilogy

The Dragons of the Rhine

The Wolf and the Raven

The Lord of Horses

With Adrienne Martine-Barnes

Master of Earth and Water

The Shield Between the Worlds

Sword of Fire and Shadow

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

Copyright © 1999 by Diana L. Paxson

Published by arrangement with the author

ISBN: 0-380-80547-2

EPub Edition May 2013 ISBN 9780062290953

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data:

Paxson, Diana L.

The book of the cauldron / Diana L. Paxson.

     p. cm. — (The hallowed isle ; bk. 3)

1. Great Britain—History—Anglo Saxon period, 449-1066 Fiction. 2. Arthurian romances Adaptations. 3. Arthur, King Fiction. I. Title. II. Series: Paxson, Diana L. Hallowed isle ; bk. 3.

First Avon Eos Printing: November 1999

AVON EOS TRADEMARK REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES, MARCA REGISTRADA, HECHO EN U.S.A.

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