Believe it or not, this essay was originally going to be just a short post to the Usenet news group alt.books.m-lackey, on the subject of internal chronology. The impetus for doing so was a side effect of my first tentative venture as a consumer into Internet commerce. Shortly after discovering that www.flyingpig.co.nz accepted cheques in New Zealand dollars, I posted off an order for four of Mercedes Lackey's books, set in her invented world of Velgarth. These were the stand-alone novel, "By the Sword", and a set of three books, collectively entitled "Vows and Honor" (the American spelling is used in these books) consisting of one novel, one "fix-up" novel being a setting of a number of short stories in a longer work, and one collection of short stories set at various times before, during and after the other two books.
Upon reading these books, I noticed that some statements of age and elapsed time in the text of the books were at variange with a rough time line published as a foreword to "By the Sword". My plan was to re-read these books (something I would have probably done anyway; "By the Sword" is probably my favourite of the author's books, and the "Vows and Honor" books do not fall far short of the former), and take note of statements regarding ages, elapsed time and the seasons. While doing so the short post "sort of" grew into the research for a much longer essay, and eventually became seven A4-sized pages covered with my appalling scribble.
The accuracy of this essay is by necessity limited by the books I had to hand at the time of drafting and revising. However one thing in particular I have noticed is that, while time and place in these books may seem vague and undefined to a cursory reader, there is in fact a quite carefully constructed and ordered sequence of events underpinning these books. However, this realisation has just made the time line noted above even less tenable, as is noted below.
Also to be treated with caution are statements by the author herself, published on the "Ask Misty" web site. These statements mostly fit with the books, with the exception of one statement of Tarma's and Kethry's age (again noted below), but as they cannot be considered as "canon" as the books themselves, and as the author is at liberty to contradict them in later writings, calculations based on these statements are subject to later alteration.
Before launching into the essay, I must point out that I have assumed that the reader (if any) of this writing is familiar with Mercedes Lackey's books "The Oathbound", "Oathbreakers", "Oathblood", "By the Sword", "Arrows of the Queen", "Arrow's Flight" and "Arrow's Fall". If not, the reader would be advised to become familiarised, not only because the books are in themselves well worth reading (and a fine introduction into what has become quite a complex invented world, rich in magic, demons, guardian spirits and good old-fashioned adventure) but also because this essay gives away major plot points and developments which would be better experienced (for the first time, anyway) as the author intended.
I suppose I could, if I wished, make the chronology fit with a hammer, chisel and blue pencil, but that is not my intention. In this essay, I intend to demonstrate how statements within the books themselves are consistent, and devise explanations for the few seemingly inconsistent statements therein. This is being done in the spirit of the famous Marvel Comics' "no-prize", which was awarded, not to people who pointed out errors in that company's comic books, but to people who demonstrated that the offending passages were in fact not errors.
However, errors of my own within this essay are in a different category. I would appreciate any advice of errors, comments or criticism, be emailed to me at jollian@es.co.nz so that I can make a note of them.
The notes I took while researching the chronology did not use a calendar year as a start point; I wished that work to be free of preconceptions. The numbers used for years were originally Tarma's age during that year. Quite conveniently, this led to the year of the accession of Selenay to the throne of Valdemar, stated to have been in the 1376th year of the founding of Valdemar in the time line, as being the 75th year in my calculations. This has made it very easy to transpose figures from one reckoning to the other as only one year (and thirteen centuries) needed to be added. However, as I am not infallible, if anyone finds an instance where I have miscalculated the transposition it would be appreciated if they could tell me so I can correct this essay. I may equally easily have missed obvious statements in the books which contradict my reasoning; again I would appreciate knowing of these.
It will be observed that the above calculations conflict with a statement on the "Ask Misty" web site, on which the author, when queried about Tarma's and Kethry's ages, stated that they were aged 17 and 16, respectively, at their first meeting, and 63 and 62 at the time of "By the Sword". Unfortunately it is not possible to reconcile this with events in the books themselves, so I can only assume that the author has been (quite understandably) misled by the characters' apparent youth, due no doubt to the proverbial healthy outdoor living. However, having a Goddess on their side would have been another advantage they shared.
Apart from the date of 1376, I am ignoring the time line for, as demonstrated below, the date it gives for the start of the reign of Roald of Valdemar is irreconcilable with the books themselves.
Lastly, as the author and most of her reading public are residents of the Northern Hemisphere, and that these books appear to be set in the Northern Hemisphere of Velgarth, it is assumed that the end of the old year and start of the new take place during midwinter. This seems strange to me, who as one from the deep south is used to the year ending during the brightest days of summer, but in this matter I will endeavour to follow Northern usage. Often when events occur over a winter, both years will be given, to alleviate possible confusion.
Little is told of Kethry in the short story "Sword-Sworn", the earliest of the Tarma and Kethry stories, both in the order of writing and in the sequence of events. However it is stated that Tarma was already romantically involved and planning a marriage. So, age 16 then (and therefore 17 a year later), would realistically have been about as young as she could be written. Kethry's details are filled in later, during the earliest part of "The Oathbound".
Here the first difficulty with chronology emerges. It is not stated that too much time has elapsed (although Tarma was at one point "months healing"), but by the time of their return to Mournedealth it has been seven years since Kethry's "marriage". Assuming that that took place early in 1314, it could possibly be the end of 1320 by then, but that would be as early as could reasonably be consistent with the story. All I can assume is that there is a "Kethry learns about the Shin'a'in" story waiting to be told.
The chronology of this year and a half is fairly complete.
Here the chronology has had to be somewhat bent to fit the events in. The relative order of the three main stories is fixed; but "The Making of a Legend" is only approximately placed. By that time Leslac had been following the duo's career for "almost two years" and had already written "a truly masterful ballad" - which one can only suppose to be "Threes". However there is a lot of narrative to be compressed into this year and a half.
Here again events are assumed to have followed in rapid succession. The Jkatha campaign at the opening of "Oathbreakers" is stated to have been Tarma and Kethry's third for Idra's Sunhawks. Assuming one campaign per annum (and also assuming they had campaigned the year they signed up, after basic training) this would have been during 1327.
As a brief aside, Kethry's abilities as a mage (or her own assessment thereof) seem to take a sharp dive between the later part of "The Oathbound" and her joining Idra's Sunhawks. Earlier stated as being "close enough to Adept", when she signed up she was "a year or two short of Master class". As elsewhere "Adept" is used as signifying the next step up from "Master" it can only be assumed that the second encounter with Thalhkarsh served as something of a wake-up call for Kethry with regard to her magical abilities. This could be interpreted as being a result of the practice of the White Winds school of self-assessment of ability. It seems obvious that Kethry had not actually passed the Master ritual at that time, and, despite her assessment of her own abilities, would not have been able to for some time.
[Correction - since typing this I have remembered that the statement by Kethry that she was "close enough to Adept" to start a White Winds school was in fact made after the second encounter with Thalhkarsh. It would seem most out of character for Kethry to be dishonest with Tarma - to whom she was speaking at the time - even to spare her feelings; some other reason needs to be found. Perhaps she was feeling the euphoria of that hard-won victory? After all, she and Tarma had defeated a powerful demon; and now Kethry knew full well that the two of them had a Goddess on their side.]
Here it is stated that Jadrek is "half again as old" as Kethry. As she would be about 26 - 27 at this time, that would make Jadrek about 40. He is also stated to have taken a fever "as a child", almost thirty years earlier. This would indicate some time around the age of eleven or twelve. Also at this point Megrarthon Jadrevalyn was a month old; Stefansen had been married ten months. Lastly, all the above happened during the end of 1328; the party left for Rethwellan just before midwinter (and the assumed new year). So, add to the chronology:
From here on there are more gaps in the lives of Tarma, Kethry and Jadrek than there are details with which to fill them in. While their children's ages are mentioned on occasion, the elapsed time since Jadrek's and Kethry's marriage is not. In the interests of compressing time into as little space as possible (as Tarma (in particular) and Kethry need to be young enough to be sprightly later on), I have assumed the following:
>From here on the children's ages relative to each other are the basis of calculations. "Wings of Fire" takes place during mid year while Jadrie is six years old. Jadrek (the younger) is six months old while Lyan and Laryn are learning to ride - which should make them little younger than Jadrie - say five? I don't think children would get involved with horses at much younger than that. So, we have:
During the above story Jadrie is seven years old. However as she is likely to have been born in mid 1330 she would more likely be getting close to eight.
At this point a brief note on monarchs should be made. Stefansen is still king of Rethwellan, but by now Roald has succeeded his parents to the throne of Valdemar. It is with regret that the time line date of 1315 for Roald's accession must be discounted; he would have succeeded his parents some fifteen or twenty years after that date. Neither could 1315 be his date of birth; he was a full adult by 1328.
The events of "Oathblood" take place at the end of 1342, the year in which Jadrie turns 12. Kira and Merili are both ten; Jadrek is six, which would imply him being born in late rather than early winter. Jendar is "toddling" and appears to be about two or three. Calculations are complicated further by Tilden's oldest daughter being thirteen years old. I cannot recall whether or not marriage and/or issue were mentioned in "Oathbreakers". So we have, presumably:
At this point the published stories of Tarma and Kethry cease. Some events can be extrapolated from statements in "By the Sword", but others can only be guessed at. I have tried to have events happening in as quick a succession as practical, so that Tarma (in particular) can still be moderately active at the start of the above book. One major story of this period remains to be told: the re-establishment of Tale'sedrin by Kethry's children.
There are some difficulties with the chronology here, particularly in connection with whether Kerowyn or Lordan is the elder child. There doesn't seem to be any direct statement to clear this matter up; all we have to go on is a jibe made to Lordan referring to his "older brother Kero". I have taken the liberty of assuming this to be a gender swipe rather than one on age. Otherwise, it is stated that Jadrek died when Lenore was "very young"; Lenore returned from fostering at age sixteen - I am here assuming that she wasted no time in getting married and having children. It is variously stated - by characters - that Lenore had died between three and five years before the events of "Kerowyn's Ride". I can only assume that over- and understatement has taken place.
Lastly it is to be noted that Lordan and Dierna were both very young at the time of their engagement - thirteen and fourteen years of age, respectively. It is mentioned in "Arrows of the Queen" that marriages so young were not unknown in the less sophisticated parts of Valdemar; perhaps the same would have been true for Rethwellan? It is also to be noted that the age at which Kethry was "married" was less of a scandal than her unwillingness in that episode was.
The history of Kerowyn's training with Tarma and Kethry has proved the hardest to figure out of this chronology, and even now I am by no means certain of the full course of events. So far as I can make them out, they are:
"That song" - of Kerowyn's ride - had already made it as far as Petras by the time Daren had left to study with Tarma and Kethry. Kerowyn had trained under Tarma for over three years by the time Daren returned home. By then it had been closer to two years than one since the marriage of Karathanelan and Selenay; and Kerowyn's and Daren's affair had been going on since before then.
"Some years" - perhaps five or six - in the Skybolts follow.
We now digress to the "Arrows" books. Most of the useful discussion of times and dates in these books takes place in the first book, "Arrows of the Queen", and in the first few chapters of "Arrow's Flight". As this series starts, Talia is thirteen; Elspeth is said to be "about" seven, but more direct statements in "Arrow's Flight" indicate that she was in fact almost nine. Talia's confusion on this point is perhaps understandable due to Elspeth's abnormal immaturity at that time. The Tedrel Wars had been (started?) fifteen years earlier. The previous king - Sendar, according to the time line - had been killed just as the last battle in those wars was won - just before Daren arrived at the Tower. With this information the remainder of events in Valdemar at that time can be placed as follows:
Arrow's Flight begins in the autumn of Skif's return from his internship (which would have taken eighteen months) and Elspeth's being Chosen. At this point Elspeth was almost 14, and Talia was 18. (Later in the book her birthday is stated to have been Midsummer). Dirk and Kris had been Chosen during the same year; Dirk at age 11, Kris at 13. So we have:
In "By the Sword", Kerowyn mentions at one point that she had got to know the people in the Skybolts over "five years or so". This to me implies 1386 rather than 1385. I would place the Karse disaster and its ramifications as follows:
This in turn agrees with the "Ask Misty" web site, on which it is stated that Kerowyn became Captain in her mid twenties. About ten years after this the narrative recommences "barely past Midsummer" with the campaign in Menmellith. This figure sounds suspiciously round but until I find some further reference I will take it as correct. Reference is made in "By the Sword" to Ancar having taken over Hardorn some two years previously, but this reference is also too vague for me to be certain about it. In the absence of a more definitive statement I will assume that Talia's mission to Rethwellan took place during late 1397.
One comment in "By the Sword" seems strange - Kerowyn judges herself to be two or three years older than Selenay. However, Kerowyn would have been barely sixteen when Selenay married Karathanelan. It seems from comments in "Arrows of the Queen" that, while marriage as young as Selenay would have been were this the case was not unheard of in the more backward parts of Valdemar, for the Queen to have done so would have been enough of a scandal for it to be mentioned in that book. Selenay had also "only recently" completed her Herald's training when she became Queen. Even assuming she was Chosen at a young age (say 11), sailed through the Collegium in four years rather than the usual five or so, and spent only a year instead of the standard 18 months being shown the ropes, it would be very difficult to arrange events for Kerowyn even to be the same age as Selenay - in fact, more likely two or three years younger. It can only be assumed that in this case Kerowyn's judgement was a bit off.
The books discussed here, covering a span of over eighty years, form only a part of Mercedes Lackey's writings on Valdemar, Rethwellan and the surrounding lands. Originally my intention was to tie these events up by comparing details with "Winds of Fury" - the next book in the internal chronology I have to hand - but in the end I decided that for the time being the calculation would be better left in the summer of 1398, with the Skybolts' relocation to Valdemar. I hope to be able to add to this essay in the near future.
I intend to revisit the subject of chronology when I find copies of the other books in these series, so this is by no means my last word in this matter. Until such a time, I welcome any comments or corrections to the work I have already done. These can be sent to me at jollian@es.co.nz .
Dave Joll
Invercargill, New Zealand
November 2000.
Revision 1.0, October 2000, was my original essay on chronology in Velgarth.
Revision 1.1, November 2000, contained a small number of corrections. That revision was never made public on the Internet, as
Revision 2.0, December 2000, now includes the matter of "Arrow's Flight" and "Arrow's Fall". Substantial corrections have also been made to the sequence of events of "Arrows of the Queen".
Thanks are due to:
Megan Thomas, for hosting this essay;
Kevin Lighton, for pointing out possible inconsistencies with
Elspeth's age.