Border Legion (Shannara)

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See also: Border Legion (disambiguation)

The Border Legion is the army of the fictional country of Callahorn,[1] in the epic fantasy[2] novels of Terry Brooks' Shannara series. The Border Legion played a role in two of the series: The Sword of Shannara and The Elfstones of Shannara.

Contents

[edit] Role in the Novels

[edit] The Sword of Shannara

In The Sword of Shannara, the Border Legion played a central role. They were the army that was tasked with stopping or slowing the Warlock Lord's army that was marching down upon them from the Northland.[3] They met them first at the Mermiddon River, killing many trolls and others before they were forced to pull back to a small rise a couple hundred yards back.[4] Balinor, the commander of the Border Legion,[5] then decided to attempt an extremely difficult and unusual maneuver: he split his army into two and had them attack the flanks of the enemy as it was getting dark.[6] The troops harassed the army's flanks until they brought them into a half-circle--then they feinted so that the two halves of the enemy met each other.[6] Unfortunately for them, they thought that this was the enemy they had been pursuing for the better part of the night, and they immediately began attacking one another.[7] The Border Legion then retreated back to Tyrsis and began making preparations for defending the city.[8] They were eventually beaten back after much bloodshed and treachery[9], but at their last stand,[10] the army besieging Tyrsis apruptly stopped all hostilities[11] after Shea Ohmsford defeated the Warlock Lord in the Northland.[12]

[edit] The Elfstones of Shannara

See below for additional information

The Border Legion in its entirety does not play any role in this novel,[13] but individual units of the Legion do, including the "Free Corps" and the "Old Guard", numbering 600[13] and 250 [14] horse respectively.

[edit] The Free Corps

The Free Corps are the legendary[15] shock unit[16] of the Border Legion. They were formed about 30 years before the events of The Elfstones of Shannara.[17] They are commanded by Stee Jans.[13][18][19]

[edit] Role in The Elfstones of Shannara

The Free Corps was a unit quite similar to the French Foreign Legion.[20] In Elfstones, they are described thusly:

“ [The Free Corps] drew its name from the promise it gave to those who joined its ranks--that its soldiers might leave behind without fear of question or need of explanation all that had come before in their lives. For most, there was much to be left. They came from different lands, different histories, and different lives, but they came for similar reasons. There were thieves among them, killers and cheats, soldiers broken from other armies, men of low blood and high, men with honor and men without, some searching, some fleeing, some drifting--but all seeking to escape what they were, to forget what they had been, and to start anew. The Free Corps gave them that chance. [16] ”

Being the "shock unit" of the Border Legion, the Free Corps has always had the highest casualty rate among all of the units of the Border Legion, [16] and this novel was no different:

“ Finally it was the turn of the men of Callahorn to depart--the handful of Legion Free Corps and Old Guard who had survived to ferocious struggle to hold the Elfitch. Not a dozen of the former remained and of those not six would fight again. The command had virtually ceased to exist, the bodies of its soldiers scattered between the passes of the Breakline and Arborlon. [21] ”

The Free Corps was also the linchpin of the forces who managed to keep Arborlon from the Demons long enough for Amberle Elessedil to return to become the Ellcrys, throwing the demons back into the Forbidding. [22][23]

[edit] Stee Jans, Commander

[edit] His role in Elfstones

Stee Jans
Shannara character
Other names the "Iron Man" [24]
Race Human
Gender Male
Hair colour Rust-colored/Red [13][25]
Eye colour Hazel [13]
Loyalty Callahorn
First appearance The Elfstones of Shannara
Magic item or equipment none
Birth Unknown
Death Unknown

Stee was originally thought up by Terry Brooks to fill the same role as Balinor Buckhannah did in The Sword of Shannara.[19]

[edit] Biography

[edit] Pre-Elfstones and how he acquired his nickname

About ten years[26] before the events of The Elfstones, Stee Jans acquired the nickname "Iron Man" after he and a patrol of 23 soldiers ran into a rear guard of several hundred Gnomes.

“ The patrol could have fallen back, but didn't...One man was sent back for reinforcements, while the rest made their stand in a little village called Rybeck--just a bunch of nothing buildings. For three hours, these soldiers held out against the raiders--threw back every assult they mounted...After the first two hours, [a corporal] was the only officer left. He rallied the half-dozen soldiers left into a small stone cottage. Refused surrender, refused quarter. When the relief force broke through finally, there were dead Gnomes all over the place...more than a hundred of them. All our men were gone, all but two, and one of them died later that day. That left just [the "boy" corporal]. That boy was Stee Jans. That's why they call him the Iron Man.[27] ”

This reputation stayed with him even as he rose up through the ranks of the Free Corps, eventually becoming its commander.[28]

[edit] During Elfstones

In the book, Stee Jans led the Free Corps to Arborlon as part of the small contingent of men sent by Callahorn to aid the Elves.[29] After Kael Pindanon died, he was asked by Ander Elessedil to lead the army that had been assembled[30] to slow down the Demons. During various parts of the novel, he performed many heroic acts, including the slaying of a massive lizard[31] and a stand with his Free Corps that allowed everyone else to retreat to their last line of defense, the Gardens of Life.[32] He also fought alongside Eventine Elessedil[33] and Ander Elessedil[31] in other parts of the novel.

[edit] Post-Elfstones

Stee Jans was one of the very few members of the Free Corps to survive the War of the Forbidding.[34] It is unknown if the Free Corps were reassembled before the Border Legion was disbanded, but before his departure, Jans was offered a command in the Elven army by Ander Elessedil,[35] now King of the Elves. Whether he accepted the command or remained with the Legion is unknown, but no known trace of his bloodline remains 300 years later when the Four Lands are threatened by the Shadowen. It is rumored that he may have later changed his identity, becoming a similar seemingly invincible warrior known as Garet Jax, but it does not seem to be true.[36][37]

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

  • Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara. The United States of America: The Random House Publishing Group, 726. ISBN 0-345-31425-5. 
  • Brooks, Terry (1982). The Elfstones of Shannara. The United States of America: The Random House Ballantine Publishing Group, 564. ISBN 0-345-28554-9. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sword Pages 590-591
  2. ^ Speakman, Shawn (2008). Terry Brooks' official website. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  3. ^ Sword Pg. 422
  4. ^ Sword Pg. 601
  5. ^ Sword Pg. 413
  6. ^ a b Sword Pg. 602
  7. ^ Sword Pgs. 602-603
  8. ^ Sword Pgs. 602 and 632-633
  9. ^ Sword Pgs. 633-645 and 659-686
  10. ^ Sword Pgs. 684-685
  11. ^ Sword Pg. 702-704
  12. ^ Sword Pg. 702
  13. ^ a b c d e Elfstones Pg. 286
  14. ^ Elfstones Pg. 362
  15. ^ Elfstones, Page 284-285
  16. ^ a b c Elfstones, Page 285
  17. ^ Gong, Minnie (2007). The Elfstones of Shannara Timeline. The Shannara Files. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
  18. ^ Gong, Minnie (2007). The Elfstones of Shannara character list. The Shannara Files. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  19. ^ a b Brooks, Terry (1991). Author's note--The Elfstones of Shannara. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  20. ^ Sammons, Steven (2005). A Review of the Elfstones of Shannara. Amazon. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
  21. ^ Elfstones, Pg. 558
  22. ^ History of the Wars. Druids of Paranor (2007). Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  23. ^ link to the same cache, in case that cache disappears.
  24. ^ Elfstones, Pg. 295
  25. ^ Hart, Chris (2001). Review of The Elfstones of Shannara. Fantasyreviews.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  26. ^ Gong, Minnie (2007). The Elfstones of Shannara Character List. The Shannara Files. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  27. ^ Elfstones, Pg. 296
  28. ^ Elfstones Pgs. 284-285
  29. ^ Elfstones, Pgs. 286-287
  30. ^ Elfstones, Pg. 335
  31. ^ a b Elfstones, Pgs. 411-412
  32. ^ Elfstones, Pg. 531
  33. ^ Elfstones Pg. 445
  34. ^ Elfstones, Pg. 558
  35. ^ Elfstones, Pg. 558-559
  36. ^ Small, Alexander R. (2001). Customer Review. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. "...the alleged connection between Garet Jax and Stee Jans..."
  37. ^ Armies of the Four Lands, a Druids of Paranor page that has disappeared off the internet. Druids of Paranor (2007).