This Merlin vocabulary — which is far from complete — was prepared by a group of avid readers (and friends of Merlin). If you would like to submit a new entry yourself, please send it to me on the Contact Us page of this website.

May Merlin be with you!

— T.A. Barron

A - F | G - N | Q - Z

Aleah Bird:
A rare bird of iridescent red and purple which Rhia describes as "a sign of good fortune." It has a "flaming purple crest" on its head and "scarlet along its tail." Rhia considers it the most beautiful creature in Druma Wood — except, of course, for Arbassa.

Arbassa:
The great tree Arbassa is described by Rhia as "someone who protects me. And holds me. She is almost my mother."

What did young Merlin see when he first approached Arbassa? "From the center of the clearing rose a great oak, mightier than any tree I had ever seen. Its burly branches reached outward and upward from the trunk, so thick that it seemed to be made of several trunks fused together. Set in the midst of those branches, glowing like a giant torch, was an aerial cottage whose beams and walls and windows curled with the twisting limbs. Layers of leaves overlaid the tree house, so that the light radiating from its windows shone through multiple curtains of green."

Bard:
A poet, whose verses can be entertaining, prophetic, humorous, sorrowful, or wise.

Cairpré, humble poet that he was, was one of the most renowned residents of the Town of the Bards.

Blighted Lands:
This is the region of the Isle of Fincayra where the land and sky have withered and darkened. Here the earth and even the remaining trees are the color of dried blood.

After crossing the River Unceasing, Emrys and Shim enter the Blighted Lands. "The trees, thin and tormented, looked considerably more frail than even the oldest trees in the Druma. Indeed, those farthest away from the river seemed positively sickly, more ghosts of living things. We had arrived in the Blighted Lands. I approached one of the sturdier trees, whose branches draped over the river. Reaching up, I plucked a small, withered fruit. Turning it in my hand, I puzzled at the leathery toughness, the rusty brown color, the wrinkled skin. Sniffing it, I confirmed my suspicion. It was an apple. The scrawniest apple I had ever encountered."

Branwen:
The woman who washed ashore with Emrys—and who claimed to be his mother. "The only times that Branwen, if that was really her name, would show even a hint of her true self were when she told me stories. Especially the stories of the ancient Greeks."

Branwen was also a healer. "Often I watched her crushing leaves, mixing powders, straining plants, or applying a mixture of remedies to someone's wound or wart."

Where did her name come from? From the grievous tale of "Branwen, daughter of Llyr, who came from another land to marry someone in Ireland. Her life began with boundless hope and beauty. And ended...with so much tragedy. Her last words were, Alas that I was ever born."

Caer Myrddin:
A Welsh town to the south of Caer Vedwyd and near to the sea. After Emrys loses his eyesight in the flames, he and Branwen move to the Church of Saint Peter in Caer Myrddin.

Caer Vedwyd:
The dreary village in Wales where Emrys and Branwen live.

"Like most villages in this rolling, thickly wooded country, Caer Vedwyd existed only because of an old Roman road. Ours ran along the north bank of the River Tywy, which flowed south all the way to the sea. Although the road had once carried streams of Roman soldiers, it now carried mainly vagabonds and wandering traders."

Cairpré:
A humble poet and a friend of Emrys' mother. He lives below ground in a den that is entered through a stump. Emrys and Shim come upon his dwelling when night falls in the Misted Hills. Cairpré's home is filled with all types of books, and reminds Emrys of a scene that Branwen had described. Cairpré was born in the Town of Bards and often speaks in rhymes.

"Then without warning, the door popped open. From it emerged a shaggy head with a tall brow and dark, observant eyes." Just how much those eyes could see, and could understand, Emrys would come to know in time.

Caller of Dreams:
One of the magical, powerful Treasures of Fincayra. "The Treasures were always used to benefit the land and all its creatures." The Treasures have been collected by Stangmar so they could be used solely by him.

The Caller of Dreams is the Treasure most celebrated by bards throughout time. "It has a horn with a power to bring wonderous dreams to life, and for centuries it was used only sparingly and wisely. But with the help of Rhita Gawr, Stangmar used it to punish Caer Neithan (The Town of the Bards) for harboring some who dared to oppose his policies. He called to life the most horrible dream ever beheld by any bard—and inflicted it upon the entire town." The dream was "That every man, woman, and child in the village would never speak, nor sing, nor write again. That the instruments of their souls — their very voices — would be silenced forever."

Ultimately, the Caller of Dreams is entrusted to the wise bard Cairpré.

Cauldron of Death:
One of the magical, powerful Treasures of Fincayra. "The Treasures were always used to benefit the land and all its creatures." The Treasures have been collected by Stangmar so they could be used solely by him.

The Cauldron of Death is described as the "most hateful" Treasure. It is vividly described in ancient Celtic lore, which is why T.A. Barron decided to include it in the Treasures of Fincayra.

Anyone who is thrown into the Cauldron is killed instantly. However, it bears a fatal flow. "If someone were to crawl into it willingly, not by force, then the cauldron itself would be destroyed."

Celtic:
The Celts are an ancient European people whose modern relatives include the Irish, Scots, Welsh and Bretons. This term refers to those people, their language, or their culture.

Cwen:
Cwen, a treeling, is Rhia's oldest friend. She took care of Rhia when the girl first came to Druma Wood. Cwen is the last survivor of the treelings "— a race of part tree, part people."

"Cwen was truly more tree than human. Her skin, gnarled and ridged, looked very much like bark, while her tangled brown hair resembled a mass of vines. Her root like feet remained unshod, and she wore no adornment but the silver rings on the smallest of her twelve knobby fingers. Beneath her robe of white cloth, her body moved like a tree bending with the wind. Yet her age must have been considerable, for her back bent like a trunk leaning under a winter's weight of snow, and her neck, arms, and legs seemed twisted and frail. Even so, the fragrance of apple blossoms wafted around her. And her recessed brown eyes, shaped like slender teardrops, shone as bright as the fire."

Cwen leads the warrior goblins to the Misted Hills to capture the Galator from Emrys. She wants the Galator because the goblins promised that she could use the Galator to make herself young again.

Dagda:
Dagda was one of the most powerful Celtic spirits, the god of complete knowledge. Dagda's true face is never seen because he assumes various forms at various times. He once took the form of a great stag to drive away the evil spirit Rhita Gawr, who had taken the form of a huge boar. Emrys saw both powerful beasts on the day that he and Branwen washed ashore.

Although Dagda is continually battling Rhita Gawr in the Otherworld of the Spirits, he very rarely follows Rhita Gawr into mortal worlds. Cairpré explained why: Dagda believes "that to win ultimately he must respect people's free will. Dagda allows us to make our own choices, for good or ill."

Dance of the Giants:
The Shrouded Castle has one crucial flaw: The castle walls would crumble if giants ever danced there. That is why Stangmar has been ruthlessly hunting down all the giants. As the Grand Elusa prophetically declares:

"When in the darkness a castle doth spin
Small will be large, ends will begin.
Only when giants make dance in the hall
Shall every barrier crumble and fall.”

Dark Hills:
This is the stricken region on the Isle of Fincayra where Stangmar lives in the Shrouded Castle. "That ever-spinning fortress lies far to the east, in the darkest of the Dark Hills, where the night never ends."

Deepercut:
One of the magical, powerful Treasures of Fincayra. "The Treasures were always used to benefit the land and all its creatures." Now, though, the Treasures have been collected by Stangmar so they could be used solely by him.

Deepercut is a sword with two edges, one that can cut right into the soul, and one that can heal any wound.

Dinatius:
An older boy with bushy brown hair, Dinatius bullied Emrys and other younger boys at the village of Caer Vedwyd. After Branwen stops a bullying incident, Dinatius returns with a group of boys to burn Branwen to death. Defending Branwen, Emrys calls upon his growing powers to turn the flames on Dinatius. Realizing what he has done, Emrys saves Dinatius from the flames. Emrys burns his face and loses his eyesight in the fire.

Domnu:
She is the one person in all of Fincayra who might have the power to help Emrys enter the Shrouded Castle. "Her powers are old, very old, springing from the same ancient sources that brought the very first giants into being. That is why Stangmar fears to crush her. Even Rhita Gawr himself prefers to leave her alone."

In legend, her name means Dark Fate. Her lair is on the edge of the Haunted Marsh. She is neither good nor evil; she simply is.

"We spun around to see a pale, hairless head poking through the crack of the door. Slowly, the door swung open, revealing a body as round as the head, wearing a robe resembling a cloth sack with several pockets, a necklace of rough stones, and bare feet...The hairless head, with rows of wrinkles, gathering about two triangular ears, leaned toward us. One large, shriveled wart sprouted like a horn from the middle of the forehead. Eyes even blacker than my own watched us, unblinking."

Druma Wood:
The only place where "the trees of Fincayra are awake enough to talk."

Upon entering this ancient forest, young Merlin sensed "winds rushing through leaves, branches clacking and cracking, needles crunching underfoot. And there was an odd sensation that stemmed from none of these things. Or perhaps it came from all these things combined. A sound. A smell. A dimly lit grove. Above all, a feeling. That something was watching me. For a strange whispering, much like what I had heard in the shell, was now happening all around me.

"I spotted a knobby stick, nearly as tall as myself, leaning against the trunk of an old cedar. A good staff might help me work my way through the dimly lit groves of this forest. I reached for it. Just as my hand was about to squeeze its middle, where a cluster of twigs protruded, I gasped and pulled back. The stick moved! The twigs, joined by others above and below, began churning like little legs. The knobby shaft bent as it clambered down the cedar's flaky bark, over the roots, and into a patch of ferns."

Elen of the Sapphire Eyes:
Here is how Cairpré tells Emrys about his mother: "There came a day when a woman, a human woman, arrived on the shores of this island. She came from the land of the Celts, from a place called Gwynedd." Her name was Elen.

Elen came to Fincayra "because of her love for a man of Fincayran blood...And soon after she arrived, she discovered yet another love...Books!"

Elen and Branwen are the same person.

Emrys:
The name given to the bedraggled young man who washed ashore with Branwen.

"As many times as she (Branwen) called me Emrys, I could not shake the feeling that my true name was...something else, yet I had no idea where to look for the truth, except perhaps in the wavering shadows of my dreams."

Emrys' ears are somewhat triangular in shape and pointed at the top. He routinely feels a pain between his shoulder blades, and wonders what that could mean. (He won't find out until years later, in The Wings of Merlin.)

Fincayra:
Branwen described Fincayra as "A place of many wonders, celebrated by bards of many tongues. They say it lies halfway between our world and the world of the spirit—neither wholly of Earth nor wholly of Heaven, a bridge connecting both."

Young Merlin must confront the fact that someone of human blood can never truly belong in Fincayra. For "this is a land neither of Earth or Otherworld, though it is a bridge between them both. Visitors come here from either world, and they sometimes stay for years. Yet they cannot call this place home."

And there is one great mystery about Fincayra's people: the mystery of their lost wings. "In the far, far reaches of time, they walked upon the land, as they do now. Yet they also could do something else. They could fly."

Flowering Harp:
One of the magical, powerful Treasures of Fincayra. "The Treasures were always used to benefit the land and all its creatures." The Treasures have been collected by Stangmar so they could be used solely by him.

The Flowering Harp is described as the "most beautiful" Treasure, "whose music can bring springtime to any meadow or hillside." Its magical power to restore blighted land plays a crucial role in The Seven Songs of Merlin.

To learn more about Merlin - the Movie, click here.

For an interview with T. A. Barron about Merlin, click here.