Lenina Thornsdaughter, niece of Earl Tholian of the South Dales, wife of Clennen the Singer, and mother of Dagner, Brid, and Moril. Lenina was brought up as an aristocrat in the Earl’s household in Neathdale in South Dalemark and left there when she became betrothed to Ganner Sagersson. Clennen saw Lenina at the betrothal feast and persuaded her to marry him instead.
Libby Beer, the name of the image made of fruit that was yearly thrown into the harbor in Holand in South Dalemark at the Sea Festival. The name is certainly a corruption of one of the little-known names of She Who Raised the Islands, the Undying mother of fruitfulness and wife of the Earth Shaker.
License, a legal document with the seal of an earl attached, showing that the holder was allowed to exercise his or her trade anywhere in South Dalemark. Licenses were expensive. Their main value was the unspoken assumption that the holder was allowed to travel between the South and the North. Without a license, a traveler would be arrested at the border.
Liss, Maewen’s aunt, who ran a livery stable near Adenmouth in the north of Dalemark.
Litha, a woman of the prehistoric Riverlands who was killed by the Heathen invaders from Haligland.
Lithar, Lord of the Holy Islands, who was of special value to the earls of South Dalemark, both because of his fleet and because, as lord of the onetime King’s Lands, he was not the subject of any earl. He was betrothed to Hildrida Navissdaughter when he was twenty and she was nine years old.
Little Flate, a village on the slightly rising ground southwest of Holand in South Dalemark, which was the first landmark for ships sailing out of Holand. Sailors gave it a wide berth because of the shallows just offshore.
Little ones, the name Holy Islanders give those mortals under the special protection of the Undying.
Little Shool, one of the Holy Islands, barely yards from its neighbor, Big Shool.
Lord, a lesser ruler under the earls, who owed allegiance to the earl in whose earldom his lordship was, paying taxes and providing fighting men when his earl required him to. A lord was also supposed to obey every other command from his earl, but not all lords did so. Otherwise a lord lived in his mansion, kept hearthmen, and ruled his subjects just as an earl did, but on a smaller scale.
Lord of Mark, lord of the northernmost lordship in South Dalemark, a plump and middle-aged widower, betrothed to Harilla Harlsdaughter when he was thirty-eight and she was ten years old.
Lovely Libby, one of the big merchant ships sailing out of Holand in South Dalemark. Like most of the tall ships of Holand, she was named from the Sea Festival for luck.
Loviath
1. The earldom on the northwest coast of North Dalemark.
2. The name of Maewen Singer’s physics teacher.
“Luck ship and shore,” the ritual reply to the traditional greeting “The year’s luck to you” at the Sea Festival in Holand in South Dalemark.
Lucky ship, any ship sailing out of Holand that could retrieve the image of Poor Old Ammet from the sea. The yacht Wind’s Road was doubly lucky from having accidentally brought the image of Libby Beer as well. Anyone noticing this fact had to be a Holander.
Luthan, Earl of Dropwater and cousin of Noreth of Kredindale. Because of his almost accidental support of the King’s side in the Great Uprising, Luthan—and Dropwater with him—became extremely important in the reign of Amil the Great. Luthan was made chancellor and was twice elected prime minister.
Lydda, Siriol’s daughter, a plump, good-natured girl who married a sailor from the merchant fleet of Holand. Her husband later took over Siriol’s boat and business.
Maewen Singer, a teenage girl hijacked from modern Dalemark to take the place of Noreth of Kredindale. See also Mayelbridwen.
Mage Mallard, the Undying musician-mage, youngest son of Closti the Clam and brother to the Weaver and King Hern. See also Duck.
Mages were fairly common in primitive Haligland and much respected because much feared. No one dared insult a mage of any kind, but the greatest fear and respect were reserved for the so-called college of mages, which was always made up of fifty of the strongest and most experienced enchanters in the land. When Kankredin came to head this college, he seems to have made it a condition that every mage should have passed ritually through death before he joined, which was not the case before his time. College mages were always male, but female mages also existed, with a coven of fifty of their own.
“A man came over the hill…,” a rhyme woven into the skirt of Robin Clostisdaughter by her sister Tanaqui, but hopelessly garbled. As far as can be understood, the rhyme seems to be about the meeting of Closti with Anoreth, or else it refers to a much older but very similar story.
Manaliabrid
1. The Undying wife of the Adon, daughter of Cennoreth the Weaver.
2. The full second name of Brid Clennensdaughter (her first name was Cennoreth).
“Manaliabrid’s Lament,” a song in the old style, said to h
ave been composed by Osfameron after Lagan killed the Adon. It has a tune of strange broken phrasings, so unlike the usual style of Osfameron that many consider that Manaliabrid may have composed the “Lament” herself.
Mansion, the large semifortified house of an earl or lord, always the most prominent in the area. Besides housing the lord’s family and many servants, the mansion had to be big enough for a band of hearthmen, advisers, lawyers, clerks, and numerous other assistants.
Markind, an area in the very south of the South Dales, the lordship of Ganner Sagersson, and notable for its many little hills and valleys, which are, in fact, the worn-down remnants of volcanoes.