Merlin: The Book of Magic

by T.A. Barron

  Year 131:

  As the blight spreads, destroying trees and other living creatures in Woodroot's forests, Merlin takes Rhia and her trusted companion, the priest Lleu of the One Ear, on a remarkable journey. Traveling through portals known only to Merlin, they voyage deep inside the Great Tree. There they find a great subterranean lake that holds magical white water. After the lake's water rises to the surface at the White Geyser of Crystillia, in upper Waterroot, it separates into the seven colors of the spectrum (at Prism Gorge) and flows to many places, giving both water and color to everything it meets. Merlin reveals to Rhia and Lleu that this white water gains its magic from its high concentration of élano, the most powerful—and most elusive—magical substance in all of Avalon. Produced as sap deep within the Great Tree's roots, élano combines all seven sacred Elements, and is, in Merlin's words, "the true life-giving force of this world." At the great subterranean lake, Merlin gathers a small crystal of élano with the help of his staff—whose name, Ohnyalei, means spirit of grace in the Fincayran Old Tongue. Then he, Rhia, and Lleu return to Woodroot and place the crystal at the origin of the blight. Thanks to the power of élano, the blight recedes and finally disappears. Woodroot's forests are healed.

  Year 132:

  Rhia, as High Priestess, introduces her followers to élano, the essential life-giving sap of the Great Tree. Soon thereafter, Lleu of the One Ear publishes his masterwork, Cyclo Avalon. This book sets down everything that Lleu has learned about the seven sacred Elements, the portals within the Tree, and the lore of élano. It becomes the primary text for Drumadians throughout Avalon.

  Year 192:

  After a final journey to her ancestral home, the site of the legendary Carpet Caerlochlann, Hallia dies. So profound is Merlin's grief that he climbs high into the jagged mountains of Stoneroot and does not speak with anyone, even his sister, Rhia, for several months.

  Year 193:

  Merlin finally descends from the mountains—but only to depart from Avalon. He must leave, he tells his dearest friends, to devote himself entirely to a new challenge in another world: educating a young man named Arthur in the land of Britannia, part of mortal Earth. He hints, without revealing any details, that the fates of Earth and Avalon are somehow entwined.

  Year 237:

  Krystallus, now an accomplished explorer, founds the Eopia College of Mapmakers in Waterroot. As its emblem, he chooses the star within a circle, ancient symbol for the magic of Leaping between places and times.

  Year 284:

  Without any warning, the stars of one of Avalon's most prominent constellations, the Wizard's Staff, go dark. One by one, the seven stars in the constellation—symbolizing the legendary Seven Songs of Merlin, by which both the wizard and his staff came into their true powers—disappear. The process takes only three weeks. Star watchers agree that this portends something ominous for Avalon. The Age of Storms has begun.

  Year 284:

  War breaks out between dwarves and dragons in the realm of Fireroot, sparked by disputes over the underground caverns of Flaming Jewels. Although these two peoples have cooperated for centuries in harvesting as well as preserving the jewels, their unity finally crumbles. The skilled dwarves regard the jewels as sacred and want to harvest them only deliberately over long periods of time. By contrast, the dragons (and their allies, the flamelons) want to take immediate advantage of all the wealth and power that the jewels could provide. The fighting escalates, sweeping up other peoples—even some clans of normally peaceful faeries. Alliances form, pitting dwarves, most elves and humans, giants, and eaglefolk against the dragons, flamelons, dark elves, avaricious humans, and gobsken. Meanwhile, marauding ogres and trolls take advantage of the chaos. In the widening conflict, only the sylphs, mudmakers, and some museos remain neutral . . . while the hoolahs simply enjoy all the excitement.

  Year 300:

  The war worsens, spreading across the Seven Realms of Avalon. Drumadian Elders debate the true nature of the War of Storms: Is it limited exclusively to Avalon? Or is it really just a skirmish in the greater ongoing battle of the spirits—the clash between the brutal Rhita Gawr, whose goal is to control all the worlds, and the allies Lorilanda and Dagda, who want free peoples to choose for themselves? To most of Avalon's citizens, however, such a question is irrelevant. For them, the War of Storms is simply a time of struggle, hardship, and grief.

  Year 413:

  Rhia, who has grown deeply disillusioned with the brutality of Avalon's warring peoples—and also with the growing rigidity of the Society of the Whole—resigns as High Priestess. She departs for some remote part of Avalon and is never heard from again. Some believe that she traveled to mortal Earth to rejoin Merlin; others believe that she merely wandered alone until, at last, she died.

  Year 421:

  Halaad, child of the mudmakers, is gravely wounded by a band of gnomes. Seeking safety, she crawls to the edge of a bubbling spring. Miraculously, her wounds heal. The Secret Spring of Halaad becomes famous in story and song—but its location remains hidden to all but the elusive mudmakers.

  Year 472:

  Bendegeit, highlord of the water dragons, presses for peace. On the eve of the first treaty, however, some dragons revolt. In the terrible battle that follows, Bendegeit is killed. The war rages on with renewed ferocity.

  Year 498:

  In early spring, when the first blossoms have appeared on the trees, an army of flamelons and dragons attacks Stoneroot. In the Battle of the Withered Spring, many villages are destroyed, countless lives are lost, and even the Great Temple of the Drumadians is scorched with flames. Only with the help of the mountain giants, led by Jubolda and her three daughters, are the invaders finally defeated. In the heat of the battle, Jubolda's eldest daughter, Bonlog Mountain-Mouth, is saved when her attackers are crushed by Shim, the old friend of Merlin. But when she tries to thank him with a kiss, he shrieks and flees into the highlands. Bonlog Mountain-Mouth tries to punish Shim for this humiliation, but cannot find him. Shim remains in hiding for many years.

  Year 545:

  The Lady of the Lake, a mysterious enchantress, first appears in the deepest forests of Woodroot. She issues a call for peace, spread throughout the Seven Realms by the small winged creatures called light flyers, but her words are not heeded.

  Year 693:

  The great wizard Merlin finally returns from Britannia. He leads the Battle of Fires Unending, which destroys the last alliance of dark elves and fire dragons. The flamelons reluctantly surrender. Gobsken, sensing defeat, scatter to the far reaches of the Seven Realms. Peace is restored at last.

  Year 693:

  The great Treaty of the Swaying Sea, crafted by the Lady of the Lake, is signed by representatives of all known peoples except gnomes, ogres, trolls, gobsken, changelings, and death dreamers. The Age of Storms is over; the Age of Ripening begins.

  Year 694:

  Merlin again vanishes, but not before he announces that he expects never to return to Avalon. He declares solemnly that unless some new wizard appears—which is highly unlikely—the varied peoples of Avalon must look to themselves to find justice and peace. As a final, parting gesture, he travels to the stars with the aid of a great dragon named Basilgarrad—and then magically rekindles the seven stars of the Wizard's Staff, the constellation whose destruction presaged the terrible Age of Storms. At last, he departs for mortal Earth, by entering the mysterious River of Time from the branch-realm of Holosarr.

  Year 694:

  Soon after Merlin departs, the Lady of the Lake makes a chilling prediction, which comes to be known as the Dark Prophecy: A time will come when all the stars of Avalon will grow steadily darker, until there is a total stellar eclipse that lasts a whole year. And in that year, a child will be born who will bring about the very end of Avalon, the one and only world shared by all creatures alike—human and nonhuman, mortal and immortal. Only Merlin's true heir, the Lady of the Lake adds, might save Avalon. But she says no more about who the wizard's heir might
be, or how he or she could defeat the child of the Dark Prophecy. And so throughout the realms, people wonder: Who will be the child of the Dark Prophecy? And who will be the true heir of Merlin ?

  Year 700:

  In the eternal darkness of Shadowroot, a new city is founded: Dianarra, the City of Light. Legends say that the city was built by people from the stars, whose very bodies were aflame. Called Ayanowyn, or fire angels, they brought the light of torches and bonfires to Shadowroot. And another kind of light, as well—that of stories from many distant lands.

  Year 702:

  Le-fen-flaith, greatest architect of the sylphs of Airroot, completes his most ambitious (and useful) project to date: building a bridge, from ropes of spun cloudthread, spanning the misty gap between Airroot and Mudroot. He names it Trishila o Mageloo, which means the air sighs sweetly in the sylphs' native language. But in time, most travelers come to call it the Misty Bridge. The first people to cross it, other than sylphs, are the Lady of the Lake and her friend Nuic, a pinnacle sprite.

  Year 717:

  Krystallus, exceptionally long-lived due to his wizard ancestry and already the first person to have explored many parts of Avalon's roots, becomes the first ever to reach the Great Hall of the Heartwood. In the Great Hall he finds a single portal that could lead to all Seven Realms—but no way to go higher in the Tree. He vows to return one day, and to find some way to travel upward, perhaps even all the way to the stars.

  Year 842:

  In the remote realm of Woodroot, the old teacher Hanwan Belamir gains renown for his bold new ideas about agriculture and craftsmanship, which lead to more productive farms as well as more comfort and leisure for villagers. Some even begin to call him Olo Belamir—the first person to be hailed in that way since the birth of Avalon, when Merlin was proclaimed Olo Eopia. While the man himself humbly scoffs at such praise, his Academy of Prosperity thrives.

  Year 894:

  In Shadowroot, civil war erupts among the dark elves. When the fighting ends, most—if not all—of the dark elves are dead, the City of Light is destroyed, and Shadowroot's only portal to other realms is closed. What really happened remains a mystery that only the museos may fully comprehend.

  Year 900:

  Belamir's teachings continue to spread. Although wood elves and others resent his theories about humanity's "special role" in Avalon, more and more humans support him. As Belamir's following grows, his fame reaches into other realms.

  Year 985:

  As the Dark Prophecy predicted, a creeping eclipse slowly covers the stars of Avalon. So begins the much-feared Year of Darkness. Every realm (except the flamelon stronghold of Fireroot) declares a ban against having any new children during this time, out of fear that one of them could be the child of the Dark Prophecy. Some peoples, such as dwarves and water dragons, take the further step of killing any offspring born this year. Throughout the Seven Realms, Drumadian followers seek to find the dreaded child—as well as the true heir of Merlin.

  Year 985:

  Despite the pervasive darkness, Krystallus continues his explorations. He voyages to the realm of the flamelons, even though outsiders—especially those with human blood—have never been welcome there. Soon after he arrives, his party is attacked, and the survivors are captured. Somehow Krystallus escapes, with the help of an unidentified friend. (According to one rumor, that friend is Halona, princess of the flamelons; according to another, it is an eaglewoman.) Ignoring the danger of the Dark Prophecy, Krystallus and his rescuer are wed and conceive a child. Just after the birth, however, the mother and newborn son disappear.

  Year 987:

  Beset with grief over the loss of his wife and child, Krystallus sets out on another journey, his most ambitious quest ever: to find a route upward into the very trunk and limbs of the Great Tree. Some believe, however, that his true goal is something even more perilous—to solve at last the great mystery of Avalon's stars. Or is he really just fleeing from his grief? No one knows whether he ultimately reaches the stars. All that is certain is that Krystallus never returns.

  Year 1002:

  Seventeen years have now passed since the Year of Darkness. Troubles are mounting across the Seven Realms: fights between humans and other kinds of creatures; severe drought—and a strange graying of colors—in the upper reaches of Stoneroot, Waterroot, and Woodroot; attacks by nearly invisible killer birds called ghoulacas; and a vague sense of growing evil. Many people believe that all this proves that the dreaded child of the Dark Prophecy is alive and coming into power. They pray openly for the true heir of Merlin—or the long-departed wizard himself—to appear at last and save Avalon.

  Year 1002:

  Late in the year, as the drought worsens, the stars of a major constellation—the Wizard's Staff—begin to go out. This has happened only once before, other than in the Year of Darkness: at the start of the Age of Storms in the Year of Avalon 284. No one knows why this is happening, or how to stop it. But most people fear that the vanishing of the Wizard's Staff can mean only one thing: the final ruin of Avalon.

  The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific entry, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

  Strange Characters and Magical Terms

  Arbassa 7

  Aylah, the Wind Sister 8

  Ballymag 9

  Bumbelwy 9

  Cairpré 11

  Cwen 11

  Dinatius 12

  Domnu 13

  Elen of the Sapphire Eyes 14

  Eremon 15

  Galator 16

  Gobsken 17

  Grand Elusa 18

  Gwri of the Golden Hair 19

  Gwynnia 20

  Hallia (Eo-Lahallia) 21

  Kreelixes 22

  Light Flyers 23

  Living Stones 24

  Lleu of the One Ear 25

  Lost Wings 26

  Lost Years 26

  Merlin (Olo Eopia) 27

  Nimue 29

  Ohnyalei, the staff of Merlin 30

  Olwen 31

  Pluton 31

  Rhiannon (Rhia) 32

  Seven Songs of Wizardry 34

  Shim 35

  Stangmar 36

  Sword Arms 37

  T'eilean and Garlatha 38

  Treasures of Fincayra 39

  Trouble 40

  Tuatha 41

  Urnalda 42

  Valdearg, Wings of Fire 43

  Wondrous Places

  Crystal Cave 44

  Dance of the Giants 45

  Druma Wood 46

  Fincayra (Lost Fincayra) 46

  Forgotten Island 50

  Haunted Marsh 51

  Shore of the Speaking Shells 53

  Shrouded Castle 53

  Smoking Cliffs 54

  Varigal 55

  Strange Characters and Magical Terms

  Abcahn 57

  Abelawn 58

  Aelonnia of Isenwy 59

  Ahearna, the Star Galloper 59

  Aileen 60

  Angus Oge 60

  Arc-kaya 61

  Ayanowyn (Fire Angels) 61

  Babd Catha, the Ogres' Bane 63

  Basilgarrad, Wings of Peace 64

  Batty Lad 66

  Bonlog Mountain-Mouth 66

  Brionna 67

  Catha 68

  Ciann 68

  Coerria (High Priestess Coerria) 69

  Cuttayka 69

  Deth Macoll 70

  Doomraga 71

  Drumalings 71

  Edan 72

  Élano 72

  Elements (Seven Sacred Elements) 73

  Elliryanna Lailoken (Elli) 73

  Ethaun 75

  Faeries 76

  Fairlyn 77

  Fraitha 78

  Ghoulacas 78

  Grikkolo 79

  Gwirion 80

  Hac Yarrow 81

  Halaad 82 Halona 82

  Hanwan Belamir (Olo Belamir) 83

  Hargol 85


  Harlech 86

  Harshna 86

  Hawkeen 87

  Helvin 87

  Henni Hoolah 88

  Hywel 89

  Ilyakk 90

  Imbolca 90

  Kerwin 91

  Kree-ella 91

  Krystallus Eopia 92

  Kulwych (White Hands) 93

  Lady of the Lake 94

  Le-fen-flaith 96

  Lleu 96

  Llynia el Mari 97

  Lott (Master Lott) 98

  Mananaun 98

  Marnya 99

  Maryths 99

  Maulkee 100

  Morrigon 101

  Museo 101

  Neh Gawthrech 102

  Nuic 102

  Obba and Ossyn 103

  Ogallad the Worthy 104

  Olewyn the Bard 104

  Palimyst 105

  Pwyll the Younger 106

  Quenaykha (Queen) 107

  Ruthyn 108

  Scree 108

  Serella 110

  Society of the Whole 111

  Tamwyn Eopia 113

  Thule Ultima 115

  Tressimir 115

  Tulchinne 116

  Uzzzula 117

  Willenia 118

  Wondrous Places

  Avalon (The Great Tree of Avalon) 119

  Brynchilla (Waterroot) 126

  EL Urien (Woodroot) 127

  Holosarr 127

  Lastrael (Shadowroot) 128

  Malóch (Mudroot) 129

  Merlin's Knothole 130

  Middle Realm 130

  Olanabram (Stoneroot) 131

  Portals 132

  Rahnawyn (Fireroot) 133

  River of Time 134

  Spiral Cascades 134

  Stars of Avalon 135

  Y Swylarna (Airroot) 135

  Strange Characters and Magical Terms

  Dagda 137

  Lorilanda 138

  Rhita Gawr 139

  Wondrous Places

  Otherworld of the Spirits 140

  Strange Characters and Magical Terms

  Arthur (King Arthur) 143

  Excalibur 144

  Wondrous Places

  Camelot 145

  Earth 146

  T. A. Barron is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling creator of the twelve-book Merlin Saga, which has sold millions of copies worldwide and has been translated into a dozen languages. Always a believer in the heroism of every child and in the magnificence of nature, Barron has become a major keeper of the Merlin story. Those same ideals led him to found the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, which honors outstanding young people of all descriptions.