Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur (86 page)

While finding resources was the challenge in researching fifth century Ireland, for fifth century Britain it was
choosing
resources. The ongoing fascination with the figure of King Arthur and the question whether or not he was a historical person has produced a wealth of material. Most influential in my portrayal of Arthur and the era in which he might have lived were probably the following works: Christopher A. Snyder,
An Age of Tyrants: Britain and Britons A.D. 400-600
, K. R. Dark,
Civitas to Kingdom: British Political Continuity 300-800
, John Morris,
The Age of Arthur
, Leslie Alcock,
Arthur's Britain
, and Geoffrey Ashe,
The Quest for Arthur's Britain
. As references on Arthurian figures and legends, I regularly consulted Rachel Bromwich,
The Arthur of the Welsh
, Ronan Coghlan,
The Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends
, and Norris J. Lacy and Geoffrey Ashe,
The Arthurian Handbook
. For information on Roman and Sub-Roman Britain, I consulted Ken Dark,
Britain and the End of the Roman Empire
, Barri Jones and David Mattingly,
An Atlas of Roman Britain
, and John Wacher,
The Towns of Roman Britain
.

So many people helped in making this book possible that I hardly know where to begin. Dozens of fellow writers read various chapters in the early stages and gave me valuable feedback, including Michael Bateman, Dena Landon, Katherine Miller, John Schoffstall, Marsha Sisolak, and Larry West. I am especially grateful to the friends who read and critiqued the complete manuscript: Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, and Tamela Viglione. I feel incredibly lucky that I have been blessed with supportive children, Britta and Alexander Mack, who believed in me more than I believed in myself at times. Finally, as with so many things in my life, this book might never have realized without the support of my partner and husband, Christian Schmidt, who made it possible for me to run down my dream in the first place. Thank you.

Glossary

Aedes - Altar or room in the headquarters (principia) where the regimental standards of the legionaries were displayed

Aes Dana - The learned class, including druids, bards and judges

Alba - Old Celtic name for the island of Great Britain

Alban Elued - Autumn Equinox

Anu - Irish mother goddess

Apodyterium - The changing room in a Roman bath

Ard Ri - Irish High King

Atrium - The open central court in a Roman house

Audacht Moraind - Old Irish text dealing with the honor of kings

Baen Sidhe - Woman of the Sidhe, the magical race of the spirit world. The Baen Sidhe would wail and moan when someone in a house was going to die.

Ban Drui - Female druid

Ban File - Wise woman, priestess.

Beltane - A Celtic fertility festival celebrating the beginning of Spring (May 1)

Bituriges - A Celtic tribe in Gaul

Boruma - The traditional tribute which the tribes of the Laigin paid to the high kings of Midhe and Brega

Bothach - Unskilled laborer

Brandubh - Ancient Irish board game

Brehon - Term for druids concerned with lawmaking and arbitration. Also applied to the laws of ancient Ireland as a whole.

Brehon law - Ancient Irish law

Bretain - Irish word for British

Brigid - Irish threefold goddess of smiths, healing and poetry

Caldarium - Hot bath

Catuvellauni - A Celtic tribe in Britain

Century - A group of originally 100 legionaries in the Roman army, later reduced to 80 men

Civitas (pl. Civitates) - Roman city with administrative function

Cohort - A sub-unit of a Roman legion consisting of 480 legionaries divided into six centuries of 80 men

Contubernium (pl: Contubernia) - The smallest organized unit of soldiers in the Roman army, comprising eight men who shared a tent

Cú Chulainn - Legendary warrior in Old Irish tales

Dagda - "The good god," one of the main deities of the Tuatha Dé Danann

Danu - Main goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann, mother of Dagda

Dian Cecht - Celtic god of healing

Dobunni - A Celtic tribe in Britain

Dolmen - Megalithic tomb usually constructed of three or more standing stones

Dux Bellorum - Leader of battles

Eriu - Ireland

Erainn - Irish

Feadh Ree - The Old Race - The ones who were there before the arrival of the Gaels. Many of them have powers the Gaels do not possess, and as such, they enjoy great respect, even though the Gaels hold most of the political power now. People with blood of the Feadh Ree make up a large proportion of the druids and bards of the land.

Feis - Festival

Fianna - Powerful bands of warriors in old Ireland

Fionn - Legendary Irish warrior

Fidchell - Ancient Irish board game

Fili (plural filid) - Umbrella term for the wise men of Eriu, including druids, bards, ollamh, and brehon

Frigidarium - The room with a cold pool for cooling off in a Roman bath

Gael - The race that has taken over from the Feadh Ree (the Old Race) for dominance in Ireland (Eriu)

Hibernia - Latin for Ireland

Honor price - See Log n'enech

Hypocaust - Ancient Roman system of central heating

Imbolc - Fertility festival celebrating the first signs of spring at the beginning of February

Laigin - The Gael tribes of the southeast, traditional enemies of the Ulaid.

Lia Fail - Stone of Destiny in Tara

Log n'enech - Honor price. The amount that had to be paid to the relatives upon a person's death (assuming their death was caused by someone else). Honor price was calculated according to property and a person's standing in the community.

Lugh - Sun god and one of the leaders of the Tuatha Dé Danann when they are driven underground

Lugnasad - Summer festival dedicated to the god Lugh

Medb - Legendary Irish warrior queen

Morrigu - Celtic goddess of war and death

Oenach - A council held by the kings and nobles of Eriu. There were both regional assemblies and assemblies which decided the fate of the entire land. Kings were elected out of the appropriate gene pool by the Oenach in charge for that region.

Ogham - Irish alphabet, scratched into wooden sticks or the edge of stone

Ollamh - The highest rank of druid, usually the chief chronicler of a tribe

Otherworld - The mysterious realm of the gods and the Feadh Ree, often seen as a paradise of eternal youth. Often associated with the magic hills of the Sidhe.

Patria - Fatherland

Principia - Headquarters in a Roman fort

Protector - Leader responsible for the defense of a particular region in Britain

Rath - A royal seat, usually a hill fort with earthwork ramparts.

Rath na Riogh - The main seat of kings at Tara

Romanitas - The spirit and ideals of Rome in everyday life; the advantages of a civilized Roman way of life

Samhain - The Celtic new year's festival at the beginning of the dark half of the year, some of the rites of which have carried over into Halloween

Sidhe - "Of the hills"; another term for the Feadh Ree, emphasizing their dwellings in the magic hills that are often seen as doors to the Otherworld

Tarb feis - Ritual of the bull dream to determine or confirm the High King of Ireland

Tepidarium - Warm bath in a Roman bath house

Triclinium - The dining room in a Roman villa

Torc - A circular neck or arm ring

Tuath - Tribe or sept (plural tuatha)

Tuatha Dé Danann - The tribes of the goddess Danu; the "political" organization of what is left of the Feadh Ree. While they hold only small, scattered seats between the areas held by the larger Gael tribes, their political clout is much more far-reaching as a result of the mythical place they have in the mind of the Gael people, their conquerors. (Short form: Tuatha Dé)

Ui Liathain - Tribe of the Laigin that conquered Demetia in Britain (modern-day southern Wales)

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

Ulaid - The Gael tribes of the northeast. High King. Lóegaire is from the Ulaid, but he now rules in the area of Midhe and Brega, the traditional center of Eriu.

Vicus (Plural: Vici) - A Roman settlement

Characters and Places:

Characters in Erui (Ireland):

Ailill Molt - King of Connachta

Coirpre - Older brother of High King Lóegaire

Crimthann - Son of Enna Cennsalach

Dunlaing - King of the southern Laigin

Enna Cennsalach - Strongest king of the Laigin at Dun Ailinne

Eogan - Lóegaire's older brother, king of Airgialla

Lóegaire - Ard Ri (High King) of Eriu at Tara, son of the Niall of the Nine Hostages

Murchad - Brother of Yseult the Wise, uncle of Yseult the Fair and father of Brangwyn

Nemain - Wife of Murchad and mother of Brangwyn

Palladius - First bishop of the Roman church sent to Ireland about 434 AD

Patraic - The holy St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland

Characters in Britain and Armorica:

Aelle - One of the most powerful Saxon kings in Britain, king of the island of Vectis

Aircol - Prince of Demetia

Ambrosius Aurelianus - High King of Britain

Cador - Son of Geraint, King in eastern Dumnonia

Cerdic - Count of the Saxon Shore

Ceredig - A king of Gwynedd

Coroticus - Ceredig in Latin

Hengist - One of the Saxon kings in Ceint

Honorius - King of Gower

Idres - One of the Dumnonian kings, related to Marcus Cunomorus

Geraint - King in Dumnonian Dortrig at Dyn Draithou

Ginevra - Dumnonian princess

Gurles - A king in Dumnonia

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

Lot - King of the Gododdin

Marcus Cunomorus - Most powerful king in Dumnonia

Madoc - King of Ergyng (seat Corinium) and older half-brother of Arthur; he is Uthr's legitimate son

Manawyd - Prince of Powys

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

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

Myrddin - Arthur's advisor

Oneon - Ruler in Calleva (Son: Natanleod)

Owain - Son of Madoc

Uthr - Brother of Ambrosius Aurelianus and father of Arthur, who was conceived when he raped young Ygerna