Waldemar Selig
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series, Waldemar Selig is the self-made King of the Skaldi. He is a large, broad-shouldered man in his mid-thirties with hazel-green eyes and tawny brown hair. Selig was born Waldemar Berundson, but has taken the name Selig, meaning "Blessed" in the Skaldic tongue. He takes as his totem animal the white wolf, and his personal guards are known as the White Brethren. Selig has worked hard to educate himself; he speaks a little d'Angeline and near-fluent Caerdicci. Selig was once married to a girl out of the Suevi tribe of the Skaldi, but she died in childbirth not long after they were wed.
Selig quickly becomes a mythical figure to the Skaldi, as the truth of his history becomes elaborated into legend: it is said that when his mother died, a supernatural wolf with pure white fur nursed him; that he traveled disguised in his youth and defeated every man he challenged; that he freed an owl from a trapper, and that the owl turned into a wizard who made Selig proof against steel; that a witch made him proof against poison; that he was taken prison by the Vandalii tribe and fought their champions one by one until he was declared their leader.
Selig calls an Allthing to persuade the other Skaldi leaders to declare war on Terre d'Ange; at the festivities, he proves himself wiser and more rational than his fellows, remaining sober when the rest get roaring-drunk. He is gifted Phèdre nó Delaunay and Joscelin Verreuil by Gunter Arnlaugson.
Selig seeks a greater glory than he could achieve as just the King of the Skaldi; he wants to be a ruler of a civilized nation. His first action in pursuit of this goal was to ask for the hand of the Duke of Milazza's daughter; in doing so, he alerted the people of Caerdicca Unitas to his plans, and scared them into forming military alliances with each other. Next, Selig seeks out an alliance with Isidore d'Aiglemort of Camlach. Isidore offers to let the bulk of the Skaldi fighting force through the two southern passes in the Camaeline Mountains, to draw the Royal Army there, while a smaller unit including Selig himself would come through the northernmost pass, to parlay with Isidore and the Allies of Camlach. The terms he puts forth are that the Skaldi withdraw in exchange for trade, possession of the flatlands north of Azzalle, and acknowledgement of Selig as the King of Skaldia, with the price to Terre d'Ange being Isidore on the throne. Selig, though, sees a mightier prize at stake, and decides to betray Isidore and take the entire country once his fighting force is through the mountains.
Waldemar Selig instructs the thanes that they will wait until the spring thaw to march on Terre d'Ange, again showing his education, as he read in Hellene and Tiberian texts how best to plan an invasion.
For a short time, Selig tries to have Joscelin teach him the Cassiline method of fighting, but finds that his habits are too entrenched and too hard to unlearn to acquire a very different style, and the lessons end soon after they begin.
Selig has help in betraying Isidore from Melisande Shahrizai, though a letter from her, seen by Phèdre, comes to be his undoing, as it is the impetus for her escape.
When the invasion begins, Selig sends some fifteen hundred men to attempt to cross the Rhenus River in Azzalle, thus tying up the Azzallese forces and keeping them from reinforcing the D'Angelines at Troyes-le-Mont. He sets his men around Troyes-le-Mont to building siege towers, which Drustan mab Necthana and his men later set fire to. During the Battle of Troyes-le-Mont, Selig catches Phèdre warning the D'Angelines inside the city of the advancing Alban and D'Angeline army, and proceeds to start to skin her alive as a message to Queen Ysandre.
During the battle, Selig does battle with Isidore d'Aiglemort, who returned his allegiance to Terre d'Ange under Phèdre's persuasion. Isidore takes seventeen wounds, but his sword finds Selig's heart. After Selig's death, the Skaldi fall apart entirely, and Terre d'Ange wins the battle.
