The Deed of Paksenarrion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Deed of Paksenarrion | |
 Cover of both the paperback (PB) and hardcover (HC) editions. |
|
| Author | Elizabeth Moon |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Keith Parkinson |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Baen Books |
| Publication date | PB: 1992-02-01 HC: 2003-10-01 |
| Media type | Omnibus |
| Pages | PB: 1040 HC: 1136 |
| ISBN | PB: ISBN 0-671-72104-6 HC: ISBN 0-743-47160-1 |
| Preceded by | Surrender None |
| Followed by | Liar's Oath |
The Deed of Paksenarrion is an epic fantasy saga by the American author Elizabeth Moon. The Deed of Paksenarrion was originally published in three volumes in 1988 and 1989 and as a single trade edition of that name in 1992 by Baen. The three books included are The Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance and Oath of Gold.
Contents |
[edit] Publications
All books are mass market paperbacks, except for the trade paperback omnibus editions, unless noted otherwise.
[edit] The Deed of Paksenarrion
- Sheepfarmer’s Daughter (1988-06-01)
Free online copy (HTML) from the Baen Free Library. - Divided Allegiance (1988-10-01)
- Oath of Gold (1989-01-02)
- “Those Who Walk in Darkness” (1990-03-01) – short story set during Oath of Gold, included in the collections Lunar Activity and Phases
- The Deed of Paksenarrion omnibus (1992-02-01), hardcover (2003-10-01)
[edit] The Legacy of Gird
- Surrender None (1990-06-01) – prequel to The Deed of Paksenarrion
- Liar's Oath (1992-05-01) – sequel to both Surrender None and The Deed of Paksenarrion
[edit] Synopsis
The three Paksenarrion books were written as one long story, but published as three separate books. A number of people have pointed out resemblances between the story setting and Dungeons & Dragons, in particular alleged similarities between Moon's town of Brewersbridge and Hommlet (a village in The Temple of Elemental Evil module for AD&D) and between Moon's religion of Gird and the faith of Saint Cuthbert of the Cudgel in Greyhawk.[citation needed]
The Deed of Paksenarrion revolves around the adult life of Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter, known as Paks, of Three Firs. It takes place in a fictional medieval world of kingdoms of humans, dwarves, and elves.
The story begins by introducing Paks as a headstrong girl of 18, who leaves her home in Three Firs (fleeing a marriage arranged by her father) to join a mercenary company and through her journeys and hardships comes to realize that she has been gifted as a paladin, if in a rather non-traditional way.
[edit] Themes
The Deed of Paksenarrion has an engrossing religious theme. The world is presented as polytheistic; there is a "High Lord" followed by supposedly lesser deities and saints, such as Gird, Falk, etc, who serve it. There are also several references to the World tree and other animistic aspects of the natural world. This work encompasses themes such as "Hero as Redeemer" and "Hero as Saint" as described in Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The trilogy also deals with the concepts of absolute good versus absolute evil, the death of friends and loved ones, and an enlightened look into the origin of courage and fear.
However, Ryk E. Spoor has stated, that
| “ | Paksenarrion was born (according to an email exchange I had with the author) from bad roleplaying: Elizabeth Moon, not gaming herself, heard some people playing "Paladins" (Holy warriors in the service of a god) and doing so very poorly. Her reaction was of course that "such a person wouldn't act like that"... and in thinking about what they would act like, Paksenarrion was born. | „ |
The author herself had this to say about the book:
| “ | Source material, as well as inspiration, for the Paksenarrion books might be of interest to some. The various legal systems are taken from the following: F. S. Lear's Treason in Roman and Germanic Law (specifically for the dwarf and gnome races), K. F. Drew's The Lombard Laws and The Burgundian Code, and other sources on medieval law, including a difficult-to-find translation of the Visigothic Code by A. Wilhelmsen. The development of the Code of Gird derives from the development of "barbarian" legal codes adapting Roman Law, shifts in English law during and after the Norman Conquest, and the development of "human rights-based" changes in law in and following the Enlightenment. Different city-states and nation-states were given different "balances" of the source material. Military history sources for both military science and military psychology included Herodotus, Xenophon, Thucydides, Caesar, and other classical sources, Conan Doyle's novel The White Company, Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, Sherman's Memoirs, and many others. Village life and crafts, in outline and detail, are taken from multiple sources on medieval/early Renaissance crafts and life, including the Surtees Society's collection of historical sources for that period. Further influences on the social and political aspects came from cultural anthropology sources. Historical sources suggesting the development of a paladin character ranged from Xenophon and Caesar (on the military side) and Plato, Aristotle, and Plutarch (for both military and general character consideration) to the "Chanson de Roland" and the Grail legends, with side journeys into other cultures (Scandanavian, Amerindian, Islamic). The history of Christianity and especially the incorporation of local heroes into "saint" roles (Joan of Arc in France, others in many other Catholic countries) provided historical background for development of Paksenarrion, Gird, and other hero-saints in that fictional universe.
The inspiration for "doing a paladin right" was the definition of paladin outlined in the D&D game; the specific character of Paksenarrion derived from historical figures (including Joan of Arc) and a mix of individuals known to the author. The specific character of Gird-farmer had roots in historical and fictional accounts of peasant/slave/worker uprisings; Gird-legend shared characteristics of several legendary (mythical and fictional) folk and religious heroes. Questions explored in the books include the nature of the military mind, the character of the good soldier and the good commander, the essential characteristics of a hero and a paladin, the potential conflicts between what it takes to be a good soldier and what it takes to be a great hero, relationship between a paladin and his/her co-religionists (clergy, laity) and between a paladin and those not of the same belief, the source of a paladin's "commission" (e.g., who decides that someone is a paladin? how is that marked?), the essential characteristics of a hero-saint, the internal characteristics and outward influences that shape a hero-saint's actions and effects, the ways that subsequent generations redefine the meaning of earlier events and how that interpretation influences their actions. |
„ |
|
—Elizabeth Moon[2] |
||
[edit] Terminology
In this world, a paladin is one who has been chosen by the High Lord and/or other gods and normally patroned by one (or more in the exceptional case of Paks) of His saints, including the saints Gird, Falk, and Tir. The paladin normally trains with one of the Knightly orders of one of these saints. A paladin of Gird has the following four express powers in some degree of intensity:
- the ability to call (pray for) light, which cannot be used to create fire or give off warmth, being the essence of seeing
- the ability to call (pray for) healing, the degree of which is out of the paladin's control
- the passive ability of being resistant to evil magical attacks, and to actively share that protection with those around them
- the passive ability of being able to sense evil intent
Paladins of other may have other abilities. Those mentioned in the book include:
- the ability to call water from rocks
- the ability to set wind in a ship's sails
Other characteristics include a mount, usually a warhorse, which is higly intelligent, extremely resistant to its external environment, shares a very deep relationship with its owner, and may have other powers of its own. For example, Paksenarrion's mount can escape confinement and saddle itself. The mount appears upon the receipt of the paladin's powers at the first need of the mount.
The terms grange and barton are used to refer to the holy places of worship of the followers of St. Gird, which has pastoral foundations.
[edit] References
- ^ Ryk E. Spoor The true Way of the Paladin is shown here (review of The Deed of Paksenarrion), Amazon.com, October 28, 2003, accessed September 15, 2007
- ^ Contributed by Elizabeth Moon on May 11, 2007
