Althea M. (althea) reviewed The Throme of the Erril of Sherill / The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath on + 774 more book reviews
Two short but beautiful fairy tales in one volume.
The first is traditional in feel - a young man is in love with the princess, but before he will give his daughter in marriage, the jealous and possessive king sends him on a hopeless quest to find the Throme - a poem of legendary beauty that everyone knows is just that - only a legend.
Simple, but heavy on metaphor (and moral), the tale is perfectly structured, and wonderful to read.
Definitely comes out of the time's "peace and love" philosophy, though!
The second story is very different in feel, set on an island of near-constant winter, where miners live a harsh and difficult life - but one that they seem to love, with its hard but honest labor - and plenty of heavy drinking! A young man returns from study on the mainland, having learned about dragons, and full of the realization that the unusual winter of his homeland is caused by a sleeping dragon... This seems an absurd story, but he recruits a young miner girl to be his guide as he sets out to harrow the dragon (and hopefully, get it to leave peacefully.) But does the girl actually want to possibly bring about the end of the only life she has known?
The first is traditional in feel - a young man is in love with the princess, but before he will give his daughter in marriage, the jealous and possessive king sends him on a hopeless quest to find the Throme - a poem of legendary beauty that everyone knows is just that - only a legend.
Simple, but heavy on metaphor (and moral), the tale is perfectly structured, and wonderful to read.
Definitely comes out of the time's "peace and love" philosophy, though!
The second story is very different in feel, set on an island of near-constant winter, where miners live a harsh and difficult life - but one that they seem to love, with its hard but honest labor - and plenty of heavy drinking! A young man returns from study on the mainland, having learned about dragons, and full of the realization that the unusual winter of his homeland is caused by a sleeping dragon... This seems an absurd story, but he recruits a young miner girl to be his guide as he sets out to harrow the dragon (and hopefully, get it to leave peacefully.) But does the girl actually want to possibly bring about the end of the only life she has known?
