Tuesday 8 October 2013

The Royal Lineage of Ealdormere

By Master Hector of the Black Height

In the days before Diana and Ardral the first Knight, before the shining sword of Chivalry again was taken up, there were no Kings and Queens in the Known World, for there was no Known World to be ruled. When the Known World came to recognize itself and sought wisdom and joy, it needed Kings to rule it, Queens to temper the rule of Kings and Princes to learn and to grow into Kings, for the sake of their lands and their people. Such was the way of Arthur and Charlemagne; such was the dream of the poets and bold Eglinton; such is the custom of the Known World from the first days.

The first King by Right of Arms in the Known World was Richard, first King of the ancient West Kingdom, which land is eldest among the Laurel Kingdoms; so the rolls of Kings begin. All true Kings of the Known World trace their lineage back to Richard I of the West. Any who do not are false and pretenders both to their thrones and to Royal blood.

Richard I and Marynel I had one son, Fulk.

Fulk I and Mary I had one son, Henrik.

Henrik I and Wendryn had one son, Richard.

Richard II and Anne his first Queen had one son, Fulk. According to the ancient rolls of the West, Richard also had a second Queen, Diana, but she bore him no sons and there was no challenge to Fulk's succession.

Fulk II and Mary II had one son, Henrik.

Henrik II and Leanne I had one son, William.

William I and Sheryl had one son, Siegfried.

Siegfried I and Marynel II had one son, Richard.

Richard III and La Rana had two sons. Their elder son was Henrik, who ruled the West in his turn.

Richard's younger son was Maragorn, who left his father's hall and was first King of the East Kingdom, which throne sat vacant and which people sought a King of Royal blood. Maragorn swore no fealty to his father, but was a King in his own right, and founded his own mighty line of Kings.

Some say that Maragorn was not a true King, in that he did not win his crown by right of arms in the manner of the Kings of the West beginning with Richard I. However, the rolls of the East do record him as first in their line, and in history there are ever such questions which can be debated and never resolved.

From Maragorn descend the Kings of the East and their cousins the Kings of Atlantia, Drachenwald and Æthelmearc. All other Kings and Kingdoms of the Known World trace their lines back to Richard I through Henrik III, Maragorn's elder brother.

Maragorn and his brother Henrik were the tenth generation of the unquestioned Royal line, extending to Richard I. Maragorn was the first King in the Known World who did not sit the throne of the West.

Henrik III of the West, elder brother to King Maragorn of the East, and Leanne II his Queen had one son, Caradoc. Scholars sometimes mistake this King Caradoc for his second great-grandson Cariadoc, but their names do differ. Four generations and many miles separate them.

Caradoc and Amie had one son, Siegfried.

Siegfried II and Sumer had one son, Henrik.

Henrik IV and Leanne III had two sons. Their elder son was Stefan, who ruled the West in his turn. From him the Western line continued in its generations, to this day. Also from Stefan's line sprang many goodly Kings and Kingdoms; Atenveldt, Caid, An Tir, Meridies, Ansteorra, Trimaris, the Outlands and Artemisia. In like wise descend from the younger sons of Stefan's line the lesser lines of the many Princes and Principalities of westerly lands.

Henrik IV's younger son, Stefan's brother, was Cariadoc. He and his lady Diana left Henrik's hall and built a great keep called Dragon'sLair, far to the east of the West Kingdom but not so far as the sea-swept Eastrealm. Cariadoc swore no fealty to his father nor to his cousin to the East, but was a King in his own right, and his lady was crowned a Queen.

Thus was the Middle Kingdom founded, third of the Kingdoms of the Known World, which was to be well-spring of Calontir, the granite Northshield and Ealdormere.

This contradicts those who say that for a time Cariadoc was a vassal of his cousin King Murad of the East, who is said by some to have called Cariadoc's lands the Barony Under the Mountain. Murad's heirs of the line of Maragorn may claim what they will, but Cariadoc was a King, never a Baron or Prince of the East; never did Cariadoc put his hands between another King's to swear fealty and do homage in right of the lands of the Middle, though it is true that the Middle lands were carved in part from the lands of the east, and in part from the lands of the West. However, neither Crown had ventured into the lands that became the Middle to exercise sovereignty. Cariadoc did venture forth, did claim these lands and the throne that ruled over them. Of Cariadoc's Kingship and the legitimacy of his claim and his line there is no denying.

Stefan and Cariadoc, the sons of Henrik of the West, were (along with their cousin Murad son of Akbar of the East) the fourteenth generation of the unquestioned Royal line of the Known World. Both the lines of Stefan and Cariadoc extend back through Henrik, first-born son of Richard and tenth King of the West, to that Richard who was first King of the West. The line of Murad extends back through Maragorn, the second son of Richard III of the West, who was first King of the East.

King Cariadoc I of the Middle, younger brother of Stefan of the West, and Diana I his Queen had one son, Franz.

Franz and Abrizhade had one son, Cariadoc.

Cariadoc II and Diana II had one son, Iriel.

Iriel and Morna had one son, Andrew. This was the Andrew who led the Midrealm's armies against his cousin Cariadoc of the East in the first of the Pennsic Wars, and was victorious.

Andrew I and Anne I had one son, Thaid.

Thaid and Alexis had one son, Andrew.

Andrew II and Anne II had one son, Merowald.

Merowald I and Gwendolyn had one son, Bearengaer.

Bearengaer and Jessica had one son, Dagan.

Dagan I and Armida had one son, Rolac.

Rolac and Lindanlorien had one son, Michael, who was not wise.

Michael and Zarina I had one son, Albert the Good, who restored the Midrealm line after his mother was driven to abdication and his father failed his Kingdom and desecrated his Crown before fleeing the Middle to parts unknown.

Albert the Good and Selene had one son, Dagan.

Dagan II and Catherine had one son, Finnvarr. King Finnvarr sailed North to an empty land and tilled the soil on the shore of the Inland Sea. Where King Finnvarr tilled, a settlement sprang up which came to be called Eoforwic. This settlement would grow into a mighty City in years to come, a pillar to support what would grow into the Barony of Septentria and then into Ealdormere.

Finnvarr and Caellyn had one son, Merowald.

Merowald II and Kirsten I had one son, Moonwulf.

Moonwulf I and Zarina II had one son, Nathan.

Nathan and Kirsten II had one son, Laurelen.

Laurelen I and Ithriliel I had one son, Alen.

Alen I and Emmelyne I had one son, Talymar.

Talymar I and Valmai had one son, Laurelen.

Laurelen II and Ithriliel II had one son, Hugo, who settled in the lands of the North, which then were called the Barony of Septentria but later would be known as Ealdormere.

Hugo and Caitlin I had two sons. Moonwulf was the elder and from him extends the line of the Midrealm, Northshield and Ealdormere. This is Moonwulf the Glorious, who won that name on the Pennsic battlefield during the reign of Hugo his father, when he took the short road to glory against the Eastern army and taught all the Known World the difference between victory and triumph. This exploit is still recalled in song and story.

Ternon was the younger son of Hugo. He left Dragon'sLair and settled in the west of the Midrealm, where he took a wife named Ghleanna. This land was known to its inhabitants as Calontir and as Prince of Calontir Ternon swore fealty, first to Hugo his father and later to Moonwulf his elder brother, when Moonwulf ascended their father's throne and became King of the Middle.

From Prince Ternon are descended all the Princes of Calontir who swore fealty to the sons of Moonwulf, and, later, their sons' sons the Kings of the mighty Kingdom of Calontir who swore fealty to none.

Prince Ternon of Calontir and King Moonwulf his brother were the thirty-seventh generation of the unquestioned Royal line of the Known World, extending back through their father King Hugo of the Middle to Cariadoc I of the Middle, second son of Henrik IV of the West, then through Henrik IV back to Henrik III of the West, elder son of Richard III of the West, and from him back to Richard I, first of all the Kings of the Known World.

On the maternal side, Ternon's line stretched back to Geoffri, who served as Baliff of Calontir in the days of King Finnvarr, and to Brummbar, first Warlord of Calontir in the days of King Laurelen. Thus it can be seen that the blood of Cariadoc and Richard mingles with the blood of proud Huscarls in the Kings of the Falcon Kingdom.

King Moonwulf II of the Middle, Prince Ternon's elder brother, and Takya his Queen had one son, Andrew, whose Princess, Anne du Fountain, a Duchess of Royal blood in her own right, found cause to leave him before he ascended to his throne. Anne was succeeded as Crown Princess by Sharra de la Praderia Blanca, whom Andrew took as his second consort.

Andrew III and Sharra had one son, Talymar. Andrew III's first consort, Anne, had no son to contest Talymar's claim to Andrew's throne when the time came for Talymar to succeed his father.

Talymar II and Eislinn I had one son, Corin.

Corin I and Myfanwy I had one son, Alen.

Alen II and Genvieve had one son, Eliahu.

Eliahu I and Elen I had one son, Valerius.

Valerius had one legitimate son, Corin, by Fern his Queen, and a bastard son, Yog, by a Northern woman, her name now forgotten, who died in childbirth. Yog, orphan bastard of a King, was raised in the Northlands by his mother's people. Yog was ignorant of his blood until in the prime of a warrior's manhood.

From Corin, son of Valerius and Fern, descends the line of the Sons of Cariadoc, without interruption.

Yog, Valerius' bastard, had no claim on the Midrealm throne, nor did he desire it. Rather, Yog stood as first Champion of the Region of Ealdormere beside his consort, Hanora, not as a threat to his half-brother's line but as a support to it and in faith with it. While Yog led the Northlands, he never claimed its lands, which lands remained a demesne of the Middle and its King; then Valerius, later Corin, later still Alen the Fearful.

Yog and Hanora had one son, John. John and his consort, Deirdre, lost their birthright through a King's cruel word, but John and Deirdre's legacy and more besides was claimed in later years by Prince David I of Ealdormere, called David the Lesser by some, and rightly so.

Corin II of the Middle, legitimate son of King Valerius and half-brother to Yog, and Myfanwy II his Queen, had one son, Alen the Fearful. This Alen the Fearful is the King who denied his half-uncle Yog's line and sent his own son to the lands of the East to deny John and Deirdre's birthright rather than face them himself within his own demesne. By Alen's command began the time of the Unspoken Name, for he proscribed the very word Ealdormere.

From his day unto the reign of the first King of Ealdormere no King of the Middle after Alen the Fearful has borne that reviled name.

Alen III, called Alen the Fearful, and Isabella had one son, Palymar, who as Prince and Heir Apparent served his father better than that King deserved.

Palymar I and Katherine I had one son, Emrys.

Emrys and Emmelyne II had one son, Talymar, who came to be known as Hammer of the Tiger, for he was a great general and defeated the armies of his cousin of the Eastrealm in the Debatable Lands. Talymar was firm friend to the North, and about this time did the line of Cariadoc again see the value of the Northlands. Thus ended the time of the Unspoken Name.

Talymar III and Eislinn II, of beloved memory, had one son, Eliahu, who took after his father and was a friend to the Northlands.

Eliahu II and Elen II had one son, Corwyn. It was King Corwyn who decided the lands that had been led -- though never claimed -- by John and Deirdre were goodly and, as well as his father's crown, claimed a Coronet and called himself Crown Prince of Ealdormere, as did his sons to the fourth generation.

Corwyn and Shana had one son, Reynard.

Reynard and Brynhildr had one son, Palymar.

Palymar II and Katherine II had one son, Tadashi, who was the last Southron King to claim the title of Crown Prince of Ealdormere for more than a day (as was the custom of many of the sons of Comar).

Tadashi and Ariake had two sons. The elder was Comar, and from Comar I extends the line of the Middle and, later, the line of the Princes of Northshield.

The younger son of Tadashi was named David. He is called "David the Lesser" by some, to distinguish Prince David I from his descendant, our own King David, first King of Ealdormere, whom some call "David the Greater". However, David the Lesser was indeed a great and good Prince: merely his Coronet was lesser than David the Greater's Crown. Also, a Prince David I and a King David the first King (and especially should one of King David's descendants be named David also, which would mean there would be two David Is) would be confusing.

King Tadashi of the Middle gave his second son David a great gift as his birthright, the lands claimed especially by his forebear Corwyn. To do this, Tadashi surrendered his title as Crown Prince of Ealdormere.

David and Tangwystl left Dragon'sLair and sailed North across the Inland Sea. On the North shore David built his great hall, in the shade of the great maple by the Inland Sea. He claimed the North as his birthright and, as Prince of the Northlands, swore fealty to Tadashi his father and later to Comar his elder brother.

Prince David and his elder brother King Comar I were the fifty-fourth generation of the unquestioned Royal line of the Known World. Their line extended back through their father Tadashi of the Middle to Moonwulf II, elder son of Hugo of the Middle and through him back to Cariadoc I of the Middle, younger son of Henrik IV of the West, then through Henrik IV to Henrik III of the West and then to Richard, the first of all Kings in the Known World.

From Prince David I down to the seventeenth generation extended the line of the Princes of Ealdormere, all of them faithful vassals to the line of Comar I, King of the Midrealm, which made their liege-lords their cousins and kin.

David I and Tangwystl had one son, Michel, who in time swore fealty to his uncle Comar I in right of Ealdormere and then to Comar's son Dag I, his cousin, when Dag succeeded Comar as King of the Middle.

Michel and Kaellyn had one son, Osis. Osis swore fealty to Dag I his father's cousin and then to Dag's son David.

Osis and Ragnheithr had one son, Roak. Roak I swore fealty to David and then to David's son Comar II.

Roak I and Tarkwyn I had one son, Kildare. Kildare I swore fealty to Comar II and then to Comar's son Ronin. This is the Ronin who took his armies to the Pennsic War, met his cousin Ruslan, King of the East, in the Debatable Lands and declared peace, for both Kings preferred to fight a grand tourney rather than a war.

Kildare I and Catherine had one son, Belgar. Belgar swore fealty to Ronin and then to Ronin's son Finn I.

Belgar and Andrea had one son, Kildare. Kildare II swore fealty to Finn I and then to Finn's son Dag II.

Kildare II and Lella had one son, Cordigan. Cordigan swore fealty to Dag II and then to Dag's son Jafar.

Cordigan and Diane had one son, Gunther. Gunther I swore fealty to Jafar and then to Jafar's son Finn II. This is the King Finn whose armies met the armies of the East on the field, led by their King Lucan. The tradition of Chivalry at War was threatened by the hatred between these two Kings, for many of their warriors followed the Kings' lead and fought with grim ferocity and in some cases bitterness. In this War Gunther was tested sorely: he emerged as a wise and brave Prince, loyal to his King and faithful to his people.

Gunther I and Joleicia had one son, David. David II swore fealty to Finn II and then to Finn's son Brannos.

David II and Elina had one son, Roak. Roak II swore fealty to Brannos and then to Brannos' son Osis I, who did crown himself.

Roak II and Tarkwyn II had one son, Mordain. Mordain swore fealty to Thorbjorn Osis I and then to Thorbjorn's son Tarquin.

Mordain and Ælflæda had one son, Roak, and many said this Roak looked much like his grandfather. Roak III swore fealty to Tarquin and then to Tarquin's elder son Edmund I, called Longshanks.

[This is the Longshanks who did spend a campaigning season in the Debatable Lands taking the drastic action of banishment against Duchess Anne of the Middle and the subtle action of ignoring the Great Dark Horde. Longshanks and his cousin, Bjorn of the East, both were said to deem the people of the Horde unworthy of the attention of a King. Neither action served Longshanks well and he seemed to spend most of that campaigning season trying to recover from his early, bold errors. This state of affairs must have tried that King's vassals sorely, especially as the Dark Horde always have been firm friends of Ealdormere.]

King Tarquin also had a younger son, Daffyd, who left Dragon'sLair and settled to the West of Ealdormere, in the lands called Northshield. Daffyd swore fealty as a Prince to his father Tarquin and later to his elder brother Edmund Longshanks, when Longshanks came to his father's throne.

Thus Prince Daffyd, second son of Tarquin son of Thorbjorn, was the root of the second line of Princes who swore fealty to the sons of the blood of Comar. The Royal line of the Midrealm thus had two lines of Princes as vassals, the sons of David (now known as David the Lesser) and the sons of Daffyd. As the sons of David the Lesser were the senior line, they ever took precedence over their cousins of the line of Daffyd of Northshield. However, the two Princely houses ever were friendly, as were their lands, for both Princes' peoples were known for their love of song and their valour in battle. This friendship remains to this happy day.

Prince Roak III of Ealdormere and Moria had no sons but had a daughter, Elizabeth. She was acclaimed their heir and thus, when Roak's reign came to an end, Elizabeth became the first Royal Lady by Right of Arms among all the line of Cariadoc. Elizabeth swore fealty to Edmund Longshanks and then to Longshanks' son Thorbjorn Osis II, who did crown himself in the manner of his namesake.

Elizabeth and Menken, her consort, had one son, Edward, and on his ascent to the throne the line of David the Lesser returned to the male. Edward swore fealty to Thorbjorn II and then to Thorbjorn's son, Edmund II.

Edward and Rylyn had one son, Gunther. Gunther II swore fealty to Edmund II and then to Edmund's son Palymar III. This is the Palymar who did love the Northlands truly, though all Kings of that name have been friends of the North, even Palymar I, who as Crown Prince and Heir to Alen the Fearful was bound by honour to bear tidings of his father's proscription to the Eastrealm, that the people of Ealdormere visiting their neighbours might hear their King's word.

Gunther II and Morgon had one son, Berus. Berus swore fealty to Palymar III and then to Queen Kenna, widow of Palymar's son Jafar of beloved memory, who died before he could ascend Palymar's throne, and later to Dag III, Kenna's son. This does not reflect on the longevity of the Southron Royalty; Berus and Marion both were long-lived.

Berus and Marion had one son, David. This David was wise and bold. In his wisdom he measured his father's land and its strength. In his boldness he resolved to wield that strength. And thus he declared that, when the time came for him to ascend the throne, he would emulate his ancestor Cariadoc I and ascend, not as a Prince in fealty to the line of Comar, but as a King in his own right.

Berus and Marion were the last Prince and Princess of the North and the last of the seventeen generations to swear fealty to the line of Comar. The last King of the Middle to sit as overlord to the Prince of Ealdormere was Dag III, only son of Kenna the lone Queen and Jafar of beloved memory who was son of Palymar III, a Royal Prince of the Midrealm line and acknowledged to be of the blood of Comar I. And when David and Elina came to their Northern throne King Dag III of the Middle and Elayna his Queen were there to congratulate their cousins and to bid the Northlands adieu.

This meant that, within the Midrealm, once the Line of David the Greater had set itself apart as a Line of Kings and not mere Princes and vassals, the Line of Daffyd of Northshield was elevated to Second Royal Line in the Middle Kingdom, in precedence following only the Crown of the Middle themselves and their immediate heirs, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of that Kingdom.

So it came to pass, and David and Elina sat the thrones of Ealdormere as King by Right of Arms and Queen of Love and Beauty over the North, vassals to none and equals with their royal cousins of the fifteen other Kingdoms of the Known World. King David son of Prince Berus, called by some David the Greater, was the first of the Kings of the North.

David the Greater and Elina had one son, Thorbjorn, but many called him Osis. This is the Thorbjorn who died early in his reign in an accident and left his Queen Caitlin as the second Queen to rule over the land alone. And the northern fields that were watered with tears for Jafar a second season were rimed with salt, for Osis and for his shoulder-companion Bernadette, belt-daughter of Sir Gunther of the House Gottwiesel, who died with her King.

Thorbjorn and Caitlin had one son, Kildare, who was acknowledged heir to the throne before Thorbjorn's death. Caitlin sat the throne as Queen until the time appointed by law, when her King's heir himself came to be King. Thereafter, she left the Northlands and, some said, did homage to the Dragon throne.

Kildare and Josephine had one son, Edouard. [This is the Kildare who elevated a landed Baron and Baroness to his Court and announced to all by written proclamation the elevation of a Laurel, days before the surprise.]

Before coming to the Northern throne Edouard had wed Eanor, Countess of the Royal line of Drachenwald, daughter of Baron Torbin and Mistress Ragni, step-daughter of the old Duke, Finnvarr. Thus the Royal line of the North again returned to the blood of de Taahe and joined forever to the Trillium seat the glories of the storied House Amberhall, an echo from the first days of old Septentria.

Edouard and Eanor had one son, Berus.

Berus and Marion had one son, Roak.

King Berus the son of Edouard now is King of the North and King David the Greater the son of Berus was first King of the North. From David to Berus are five generations.

Prince Berus the son of Gunther was the last of the vassal Princes of the North who swore to the line of Comar of the Middle; and Prince David the Lesser, the second son of Tadashi, was the first. From David I to Berus were seventeen generations.

King Tadashi the son of Palymar was the last King of the line of Cariadoc to claim the title Crown Prince of Ealdormere; and King Corwyn the son of Eliahu was the first. From Corwyn to Tadashi were four generations.

King Eliahu the son of Talymar, the Hammer of the Tiger, was the last King of the Middle to hold Ealdormere within the demesne of the Middle as a mere fief without especial status; and King Cariadoc the second son of Henrik was the first. From Cariadoc I to Eliahu II were thirty-six generations.

King Henrik the son of Siegfried was the last of the Kings of the West who could claim the Northlands for their own, for in that time no other Kings challenged them and the throne of the Midrealm had not been established; and King Richard I who first seized the Crown of the West was the first. From Richard I to Henrik IV were thirteen generations.

So from Richard I, King of the Laurel Kingdom of the West and font of the Royal Lines of all the Known World, to Berus, King of the Laurel Kingdom of Ealdormere, sixteenth of the great Kingdoms, are seventy-five generations. King Berus heir, Prince Roak, shall be the seventy-sixth generation in an unbroken line of Royal authority, bound to land and people by the iron bonds of duty and the silken ties of love.

And before those many generations there was no Known World, and in Ealdormere were but the Wolf and the wilds and the will.

(copyright Arthur McLean 1991-2000)

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