The Land of the Silver Apples

Nancy Farmer THE LAND OF THE SILVER APPLES

For Ruth Farmer

1916-2006

May the life force hold you

in the hollow of its hand

CAST OF CHARACTERS

HUMANS (SAXONS)

Jack: Age thirteen; an apprentice bard

Lucy: Jack’s sister; age seven

Mother: Alditha; Jack and Lucy’s mother; a wise woman

Father: Giles Crookleg; Jack and Lucy’s father

The Bard: A druid from Ireland; also known as Dragon Tongue

Pega: A slave girl; age fourteen

Brother Aiden: A monk from the Holy Isle

Father Sivein: The abbot of St. Filian’s Well

Brutus: A slave at St. Filian’s Well

Father Severus: A prisoner of the elves

Hazel: A child stolen by hobgoblins

HUMANS (NORTHMEN)

Thorgil Olaf’s Daughter: An ex-berserker; age thirteen

Olaf One-Brow: A famous warrior and Thorgil’s adoptive father; deceased

Skakki: Olaf’s son; shipmate of Thorgil

Rune: A skald

Eric the Rash: Shipmate of Thorgil

Eric Pretty-Face: Shipmate of Thorgil

Heimlich the Heinous: Nephew of King Ivar the Boneless

PICTS

Brude: Leader of the Old Ones

HOBGOBLINS

The Bugaboo: King of the hobgoblins

The Nemesis: The Bugaboo’s second-in-command

Mumsie: The Bugaboo’s mother

Mr. and Mrs. Blewit: Adoptive parents of Hazel

ELVES

Partholis: Queen of Elfland

Partholon: Partholis’ consort

Ethne: An elf lady; daughter of Partholis and an unknown human

Gowrie: An elf lord

Nimue: The Lady of the Lake; a water elf

UNCLASSIFIABLE

King Yffi: Ruler of Din Guardi and Bebba’s Town; half- kelpie

Man in the Moon: An old god; exiled to the moon

Forest Lord: An old god; ruler of the Green World

The Hedge: Aspect of the Forest Lord

Knuckers: They look like your worst nightmare.

Yarthkins: Also known as landv?ttir; spirits of the land. You really don’t want to meddle with them.

The Song of Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor,
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name.
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

—William Butler Yeats