Cart and Cwidder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Author | Diana Wynne Jones |
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| Country | Great Britain |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Dalemark Quartet |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy, Children's Literature |
| Publisher | Various |
| Released | 1975 |
| Followed by | Drowned Ammet |
Cart and Cwidder is a fantasy novel for young adults by the British author Diana Wynne Jones. It is the first book in the Dalemark Quartet.
[edit] Plot
The book is about a family of traveling musicians and their journey through Dalemark (the civil war-torn country the series is centered around) performing in each town they visit. When Clennen (the father and main performer) is murdered by mysterious men, his high-born wife Lenina takes the family and their passenger, the boy Kialan, back to her home town - Markind. Within the same day as her husband's death, Lenina is married to her former fiancé the Lord of Markind.
Her three children, Dastandlen Handagner (Dagner), Cennoreth Manaliabrid (Brid), and Osfameron Tanamoril (Moril) encounter one of their fathers murderers in Markind and along with Kialan they flee the town and try to continue performing for a living. Soon after their escape they discover that their father all along had been the notorious spy called the Porter, spying for North Dalemark. The children try to continue their father's work. Their passenger Kialan turns out to be the son of a northern earl on the run from the southern earls. They continue towards the north and Kialan's hometown Hannart. Dagner is arrested for treason against the Earls of the South. His siblings are forced to leave and believe that he has been hanged. (They are later reunited.)
The children narrowly escape many dangers on their journey. Moril discovers that he has the power to use the magic of his newly inherited cwidder, a musical instrument similar to a lute or a guitar. Utilizing the cwidder's power is something his father had only accomplished once, when he won his wife-to-be from her fiancé.
The story ends with Moril closing the only possible way for the South to attack the Free North just as they are about to do just that. He uses the magical cwidder to make the mountains 'walk' and close Flenpass, just as his ancestor (the famed Osfameron) did in so many of the songs Moril's father had sung nearly every day.
[edit] External links
| Books by Diana Wynne Jones | ||
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Chrestomanci series: The Lives of Christopher Chant • Conrad's Fate • Charmed Life • The Magicians of Caprona • The Pinhoe Egg • Mixed Magics • Witch Week Dalemark Quartet: Cart and Cwidder • Drowned Ammet • The Spellcoats • The Crown of Dalemark Castle series: Howl's Moving Castle • Castle in the Air Derkholm series: Dark Lord of Derkholm • Year of the Griffin Magids series: Deep Secret • The Merlin Conspiracy Other: Archer's Goon • Dogsbody • Eight Days of Luke • Fire and Hemlock • Hexwood • The Homeward Bounders • Power of Three • A Tale of Time City • The Time of the Ghost • More... |
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