The Wizard
Book Jacket
Wizard Knight [2]
A novel in two volumes, *The Wizard Knight* is in the rare company of those works which move past the surface of fantasy and drink from the wellspring of myth. Magic swords, dragons, giants, quests, love, honor, nobility-all the familiar features of fantasy come to fresh life in this masterful work.
The first half of the journey, *The Knight* -- which you are advised to read first, to let the whole story engulf you from the beginning -- took a teenage boy from America into Mythgarthr, the middle realm of seven fantastic worlds. Above are the gods of Skai; below are the capricious Aelf, and more dangerous things still. Journeying throughout Mythgarthr, Able gains a new brother, an Aelf queen lover, a supernatural hound, and the desire to prove his honor and become the noble knight he always knew he would be.
Coming into Jotunland, home of the Frost Giants, Able -- now Sir Able of the High Heart --claims the great sword Eterne from the dragon who has it. In reward, he is ushered into the castle of the Valfather, king of all the Gods of Skai.
Thus begins the second part of his quest. *The Wizard* begins with Able's return to Mythgathr on his steed Cloud, a great mare the color of her name. Able is filled with new knowledge of the ways of the seven-fold world and possessed of great magical secrets. His knighthood now beyond question, Able works to fulfill his vows to his king, his lover, his friends, his gods, and even his enemies. Able must set his world right, restoring the proper order among the denizens of all the seven worlds.
*The Wizard* is a charming, riveting, emotionally charged tale of wonders, written with all the beauty one would expect from a writer whom Damon Knight called "a national treasure." If you've never sampled the works of the man Michael Swanwick described as "the greatest writer in the English language alive today," the two volumes of *The Wizard Knight* are the perfect place to start.
THE WIZARD BOOK TWO OF THE WIZARD KNIGHT
GENE WOLFE
A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK NEW YORK
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
THE WIZARD: BOOK TWO OF THE WIZARD KNIGHT
Copyright 2004 by Gene Wolfe
Illustrations copyright 2004 by Gregory Manchess All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. Edited by David G. Hartwell A Tor Book Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC 175 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10010 www.tor.com Tor is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wolfe, Gene. The wizard / Gene Wolfe. p. cm.
ISBN 0-765-31470-3 EAN 978-0-765-314703
1. Knights and knighthoodFiction. 2. Teenage boysFiction. 3. WizardsFiction. I. Title.
PS3573.052W59 2004
813'.54dc22 2004048092 First Hardcover Edition: November 2004 First Trade Paperback Edition: October 2005 Printed in the United States of America 0987654321
Dedicated with love and respect to Lord Dunsany, author of "THE RIDERS"
"You asked to become a knight, not an expert on knighthood. To train you further would make you into a scholar, not a fighting man. What remains for you to learn you must learn by living and doing."
YVES MEYNARD, The Book of Knights
Ben, I was not going to put in another list of names, but I thought what if he does not get the first part? So here is another. If you got the first half of my letter, you will remember who Disiri is, and Bold Berthold, and a lot of the others. But I have put them in anyway just in case. Not every name is here. I am sure I missed a few, and some don't matter.
able This is what they call me here. It is really the name of Berthold's brother, whom Disiri switched for me. a e l f The people Kulili made. aelfrice The world under Mythgarthr, where I am now. ag r Marder's marshal. alvit The valkyrie who carried me to Skai. amabel The woman who saved Payn when his mother died. angrborn The giants of the ice country (Jotunland). arn One of Garvaon's archers. arnthor The king. His father was a human king, but his mother was a water dragon. Setr was his brother. baki The Aelfmaid who healed me with her blood. b e e l The ambassador Arnthor sent to Jotunland.
bergelmir One of Ymir's parts that lived. The kings of the giants come from him. berthold The man who took me in after I got to Mythgarthr the first time. borda The captain of Idnn's bodyguards. borgalmir The right head of one of Schildstarr's friends. b y m i r A giant I killed with a spit. cloud The best charger anybody ever had. colle A baron of Celidon that I freed. crol The herald who helped me when I met Bed's party. d a n d u n Another baron of Celidon that I freed. disiri The woman I love and the girl I love. Both. e g r One of Beel's upper servants. He was in charge of the baggage train. elysion The world where the Most High God lives. It is above all the rest. erac One of Arnthor's own knights. e s c a n The Earl Marshal. etela A slave girl owned by a smith in the town of Utgard. eterne The Mother of Swords. farvan My puppy. f e n rir He is as bad as the Giants of Winter and Old Night ever get. He bit off the arm of an Overcyn I used to know and liked a lot. fi ac h A warder in the dungeon under Thortower. folkvanger The Lady's house. You would not believe how big it is, or how nice. f o r c e t t i Marder's town, near Sheerwall Castle. f r ig g The Valfather's queen and Thunor's mother. She is a beautiful quiet lady everybody loves. galene A woman I found begging in Kingsdoom. Garsecg This is just a name Setr used sometimes when he made himself an Aelf. He was nice to me. garvaon The knight who taught me how to fight with a sword. ged A warder in the dungeon under Thortower. g e r d a The woman Berthold loved. gilling The king of Jotunland. grengarm The dragon I killed. His picture is on my shield. g y l f He was really one of the Valfather's dogs, but he let me keep him for quite a while. haf One of the boys who tried to rob me. halweard The steward Marder sent to Redhall. h e i m i r Gerda's son. He was human but it could be hard to remember. h e l a Gerda's daughter. She said she was dumb because she was way too smart to say she was smart. hern People call the Valfather that sometimes when he the hunter hunts with a pack of dogs like Gylf. h r o l f r A forester who used to work for Escan's father. idnn Beel's daughter. Not big or strong, but she had more guts than most men. iron mouth One of Smiler's knights. He was a fine swordsman and the best wrestler I ever saw. irringsmouth A northern port the Osterlings wrecked. isle op glas Not really an island, but the top of the tower Setr built in Aelfrice. There were trees and grass on it, and a pool that went to Aelfrice. jotun home The secret country of the Angrborn women. I have never been there. jotunland The Angrborn country, north of the mountains. kei One of Arnthor's knights. He was a fine jouster. kings doom The capital of Celidon. kle o s Michael's world, between Elysion and Skai. kulili A person who knit herself out of worms. She could unravel and scatter, which made her hard to catch. The lady Her father was the Valfather, and it could be hard to believe that somebody so good could know so much and have so many angles. laemphalt This was the name Toug gave to the white stallion Beel had given me. le o rt The Knight of the Leopards. le r An Overcyn. He was the sort of friend you do not have to talk to, and some people thought we were brothers. l i s Etella's grandmother. llwch One of the toughest knights the Valfather had. They said his sword leaped like fire, and it was true. logi The smith who owned Etela, Lynnet, and Vil. lothur The Valfather's youngest son. You had to like him, but you always felt you could not trust him. lothurlings The people west of the sea. lynnet Etela's mamma. manas en One of Arnthor's own knights. mani The talking cat who followed Gylf and me from the ruined cottage. He was almost as slick as he thought he was, and a pretty good friend. marder His dukedom was the northernmost in Celidon after Indign's was dissolved. mimir No matter what I say,you will call it a magic spring. Drinking from it brought back certain things you had forgotten. m o o n e i s e Svon's mount. muspei The world the dragons come from. mythgarthr The world that belongs to people like us. From highest to lowest: Elysion, Kleos, Skai, Mythgarthr, Aelfrice, Muspei, Nifl-heim. nerthis An Overcyn who lived in Mythgarthr. She was the queen of wild animals and made trees grow. niplheim The lowest world, where the most low god is. n o t t She is one of the nicer Giants of Winter and Old Night. Night in Mythgarthr belongs to her. org He was an ogre, and might have been the last in Celidon. I want to say he was a man-shaped snake but hot instead of cold, but he was really more like a gorilla. orgalmir The left head of Schildstarr's two-headed friend. papounce The upper servant in change of Beel's servants. parka The lady from Kleos who gave me my bowstring. payn The Earl Marshal's chief clerk. pouk A sailor I hired in Irringsmouth. qut The leader of the men-at-arms at Redhall. ravd The knight who paid me to guide him. redhall The manor that used to belong to Ravd. sandhill It was way down on the southern border of Celidon and castle belonged to Leort's father. setr He was half human but a dragon. He just about took Aelfrice, and I am sure that what he really wanted was to conquer Mythgarthr. sif Thunor's wife. She was beautiful, and her hair was always what you remembered best. It was incredible. skai The Valfather's world, where the Overcyns are. skoll The last knight to bear Eterne before me. He was killed by Grengarm. smiler This is what we called the Dragon Prince. The dragon was Grengarm. His people were the Lothurlings. stonebowl One of Smiler's chief ministers. svon When I first met him, he was Ravd's squire; later on he became mine. I left him in the forest because I was afraid I would kill him. thiazi Gilling's minister and wizard. t h o p e Marder's Master of Arms. He was good, brave, wise, and tough, from what I saw of him.