The World Of The Wintering

Prologue

Thousands of years in the future, the latest ice age is coming to an end.

Even as Earth`s climate changed millennia before to bring on this planetary cooling, Mankind realised it did not have the resources to intervene. Nor was technology advanced enough, nor global civilisation stable enough, to evacuate to proto-colonies on the moon or Mars on any large scale. As the glaciers moved southward, it was a question of co-operating with the inevitable.

Vast efforts were made on two fronts - to minimise the trauma of humanity`s shrinkage and decline as large tracts of the planet became uninhabitable: and to ensure that the jewels of Man`s artistic and cultural crown were preserved. Immense engineering projects created a number of huge `enclaves` across the globe, taking advantage of natural features of the landscape to ensure maximum protection. It was clearly realised that the Wintering - humanity`s long hibernation - would go on for many scores of centuries; enclaves therefore needed to be self-sufficient not only in the basic needs of food and raw materials, but also in terms of social and political structures. Unhealthy or unstable communities clearly would not survive for long.

So it was that mountains were hollowed out, canyons covered over, lakes and offshore subterranean spaces created. As the generations went by and the weather worsened, the enclave environments took shape, despite colossal social upheavals as the public imagination foresaw visions of Armageddon and mass extinction.

As time passed, the collected knowledge and art treasures of Mankind were moved to their selected enclaves, leaving replicas in their place. This went on quietly, behind the scenes of growing turbulence. Governments worked together as best they could, duplicating vast libraries, working out plans for every imaginable contingency. Simultaneously, the evolution of artificial intelligence made possible the creation of computer programs of such complexity and sophistication that they would be able to guide and nurture the enclave communities through the wintering period. The systems` designers knew that communities might develop in an unpredictable way: unforeseen or undesirable regimes could evolve, or any tiny spark - just a single individual perhaps - might ignite the flames of change and possible consequent destruction.

So it was that an all-controlling meta-program took shape, a self-evolving artificially-intelligent system with access to the world`s accumulated wisdom. Housed in vaults buried deep within each enclave, the system was connected to surface sensors, satellite networks, and through fibreoptic cabling to the separate units of itself across the planet. At this time also, medical breakthroughs allowed people to be connected to the technology. These individuals, `psiborgs`, could move freely through the communities while keeping in constant telepathic touch with the Mother Machine. New psiborgs would need to appear each generation to replace those that died. Their creation occurred early on in a woman`s pregnancy with the marrying of quasiorganic circuitry to the foetal cells.

There was little more to be done. During a relatively brief period when unendurable blizzards swept over the world, social breakdown accelerated and Mankind on the surface descended into chaos and barbarism. Short-lived wars flashed like lightning across the darkening planet. The political map became meaningless. Global communications fragmented and failed. Contact was lost with the fragile offworld colonies, and nations lost touch one with another. Wholesale hardship and death followed on an unprecedented scale.

But by this time the selected ones had entered their enclaves, which were sealed off from the outer world (apart from subtle ways known only to the Mother Machine). With a measureless horror, the enclave communities watched for as long as they could as the last flames of the old civilisation flickered and died. Then they turned their backs on the terrible past and steeled themselves for an uncertain future as the Great Cold tightened its grip.

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Glossary:

 

Aethgar – One of Alderamin`s soldiers, killed in the last battle of Edgetown.

 

Aglaeca – Monster.

 

Alderamin – Alderamin is the amber merchant Kell and his friends meet in Ice. (more)

 

Alef – (and Thoba and Myrgen). Three Wyrda companions who accompany Kell and his friends to Thule to destroy Helcyrian and the Shahini Tarazad.

 

All Mother – aka the Goddess and Little Sister. The All Mother is the controlling force in Perth, an apparently omnipotent presence who maintains the world of the enclave at all levels, from the environment to the spiritual structure of the Community. Kell and his friends finally discover that Little Sister (cf Orwell`s Big Brother) is an intelligent construction that exists planet-wide – but it is flawed and fragmented, both in terms of its physical interconnectedness and the ghost of the neurotic / paranoid personality that lies at its heart (see Dr ). The All Mother represents the smothering mother archetype, the Earth Mother, and the `mystification of technology` that afflicts the general populace.

 

Aquizi – One of Kell`s tutors, whom Kell despises for his arrogance yet fears because of his cruelly-applied power.

 

Amber – A fossilised resin which quite often contains the perfectly preserved remains of plants, insects, even small lizards. In the Wintering it represents preservation through imprisonment, a state that exists also in Perth.

 

Anwealda – Ruler.

 

Aurok – A huge bull-like herbivore, sacrificed by the Wulfen so that they can talk with their deity, the Godwulf. An aurok must be defeated in one-to-one battle for this to occur.

 

Awyrcancoin – Payment for labour.

 

Bealdor – A leader in war.

 

Bearn – Child.

 

Beorc – The leader of one of Kano`s escapee groups. His name means birth or regeneration.

 

Birca – Birca is one of Kano`s rebel band. He did not survive the escape from Perth. His name signifies growth, but is used in a darkly ironic way when set within the false paradise of the enclave.

 

Bismarian Wall – The Wall of Shame in Thule on which Helcyrian`s prisoners are caged.

 

Bord – Table.

 

Broken Place – Another name for Thule, an enclave which is also broken in a psychological sense, ruled as it is by the psychotic tyrant Helcyrian.

 

Brooor – Brother.

 

Ceorl – Peasants.

 

Chertan – Leader of a bandit pack whom Kell and his friends encounter on their journey East.

 

Ciepemann – A trader.

 

Community – The name by which the population of Perth is known. It is used ironically throughout.

 

Compound Words – appear throughout the story; heartbonded, honeygrass, lantern-apple, elderman, meltstone and others. Apart from being a stylistic device, such compounded words create links with the linguistic structure of the Anglo-Saxon culture which provided a model for the culture Kell and his friends meet through Alderamin.

 

Corvus – Wulfen word for crow.

 

Cristilla – Generally, a crystal or gemstone. In Thaw the word refers to a powerful weapon of radiance which Feoh passes on to Kell, having received it previously as a gift from Alderamin.

 

Dispossessed – The dispossessed are those members of the populace who, like Kano, have removed the weorthan glass from their eyes (see Weorthan).

 

Dreamhoard – The mass of weorthan crystal below Thule containing the vast knowledge of the world. But the knowledge, like the `Hoard itself, is fractured and incomplete.

 

Drengs – Biomechanical minions of Helcyrian. Drengs are once-human beings shackled more or less completely to artificial components.

 

Drycraeft – Magic or enchantment (or, from our perspective, sophisticated technological processes or effects).

 

Drycraeftig – Magically skilled.

 

Dweorg – A dwarf, one of the Brising or Shining Ones. The Brising traditionally reside in Kairos: they are metal workers of great skill.

 

Ealdbeorn – An older brother in terms of friendship and wisdom rather than blood links.

 

Ealdmodor - `Old Mother`, ususually used as an insult. Pl: ealdmodoren.

 

Eardstapa – Travelling merchants.

 

Eargnewulf – A Tarazad word meaning `the miserable (wulf)`.

 

Edgetown – The trader settlement ruled by Alderamin. Edgetown represents a frontier; it is a fledgeling community eventually wiped out by the Shahini Tarazad who come from Thule in the Barbaric Lands.

 

Elhaz – A Wyrda warrior killed in Thule.

 

Enclave – An enclosed environment within which communities live in isolation protected from the global ice. The enclave of Perth is a hollowed-out mountain.

 

Enjeck – Husband of Munin. They were Kell`s last temporary family before he left Perth.

 

Eodor – A young wulf in Magula`s pack. Also a word meaning `protector`.

 

Eofor – Boar.

 

Eoldermen – The elders of a group.

 

Erulian – An esoteric group (some believe they are a distinct breed) of Thrall Makers or enchanters. From what can be gleaned of their powers, it appears that the Erulian use a combination of innate mental abilities and technological devices to affect the fabric of reality. It is said that they among all mortal creatures can change the way that Wierd is woven.

 

Eye Of The Rad – a mysterious room near Uthgaroar. Made of a strange translucent substance, the room creates the viewpoint of one standing in the centre of the heavens. This signifies the purpose of the Sigel Rad and the destiny of the Wyrda Craeftum.

 

Faeder – Father.

 

Faedera – The pack leader before Magula.

 

Faellanstan – The Tumblestones, a high pass lying to the north-east of Edgetown.

 

Faest – Secretly.

 

Fenrir – One of Magula`s pack and a young wulf touched by Wierd. Fenrir or his offspring are fated to drive humankind from the world and fill the sky with blood. The symbolism of this prophecy are unclear.

 

Feoh – Feoh is a powerful telepath and healer. She is one of Kano`s rebel group and is heartbonded to him. After Kano`s death and Shamra`s mysterious capture, Feoh goes in search of her and becomes initiated into the Sustren. Feoh`s name is linked with fulfillment, well being and nourishment.

 

Ferhocraeft - `Mind craft`; the process of creative thought and the products of that thought, what in the past has been called Teknology.

 

Forraedan – One of the Thrall Makers of Kairos, and a lyblaeca or master mage.

 

Frea – Master, as in `sir`.

 

Frio – Friend.

 

Furhwudu – Fir trees.

 

Furrow – A furrow is one symbol of Kell`s life. It implies predetermination and the illusion of choice. See Wierd.

 

Fwthark – Hora`s friend and a fellow Wyrda warrior. Fwthark dies during the fall of Thule. His name means unity.

 

Gaeleran – A teacher.

 

Gaest – The soul or spirit of an object or place.

 

Garulf – Genera (pl: generan), or assistant, to Thorbyorg.

 

Gast – A night spirit, any ghastly thing.

 

Gat – A mountain goat.

 

Gauda – A wulf in Magula`s pack.

 

Gebedraedan – A dangerous and powerful ritual performed by the Lyblaeca in which bio-formative fields are activated and modified to create subgenetic changes in individuals or an entire species. The Seetus, Wulfen and Hreaomus were all created in this way. Latterly the ceremony has been corrupted to produce the Slean.

 

Gebrooor – True Brother. This is a term of great affection and respect.

 

Gedrhyt – Band or company of people.

 

Gefera – A wulfen word for companion.

 

Gegilda – A guild member.

 

Gesittan – A command to be still and calm.

 

Gifu – Gifu is the landsman who trained Kell in his craft. He represents `ignorance is bliss`, perfect Zen. Gifu never questions what`s around him. He observes the rhythms of the world and draws a deep pleasure from nature. He has lived and will die like an ear of the wheat that he cultivates. The name Gifu (also Gyfu) is a runic word meaning a gift.

 

Glass – Glass has a special significance in Kell`s world. The glass of Skjebne`s farscope opens up the horizons, but usually glass has a sinister aspect linked with the controlling influence of the All Mother. Every child of Perth is given an oyster-shaped chunk of glass in infancy. It is tuned to the innocent`s mind. It whispers to him, reinforces the Mythologies, and allows the Goddess to know his actions, words, and even perhaps his thoughts. Kell and Shamra`s destruction of their oyster glass after meeting Kano is a profoundly symbolic and empowering act. Glass is also crafted into subtle lenses or pellicles which are placed over the eyes of babies to filter their reality. Kano allowed Kell to see the truth of things by plucking out his lenses.

 

Godwulf – The one deity of the Wulfen. The Godwulf is composed of the souls of all dead Wulfen, and is a day-to-day part of the existence of all that are alive. The Godwulf is the past and the destiny and the species, expressing itself most powerfully in the here-and-now.

 

Guardian Helmet – Headgear which allows the wearer simultaneous control of all the Orbs of the Wyrda Craeftum.

 

Hacele – A cloak.

 

Hagen – One of Alderamin`s kinsmen.

 

Healm – A mat.

 

Heartbonding – Couples are predestined to live together in adulthood and produce offspring. It is of course the All Mother who decides which boy and girl shall be introduced as children. From that point on they are required to meet socially until the time comes when they are officially bonded. Their children are soon taken away from them, however, to have their minds moulded at the Tutorium. From there they live with a succession of temporary families until they are old enough to be independent.

 

Helcyrian – Dictatorial ruler of Thule. One of the Sustren, she maintains an iron control over the drengs of the Shahini Tarazad.

 

Heoden – A wulf in Magula`s pack.

 

Heorot – A wulfen word for deer.

 

Heorrenda – An armoured boar of the Wyrda Craeftum. He is put under Hora`s care.

 

Hora – One of Kano`s rebel group. Hora was a fisherman who later joins a mercenary warrior band known as the Wyrda Craeftum. It is through Hora`s contacts with the Wyrda that Kell and his friends find the means to explore the outer world.

 

Hreaomus – A species of man-bat that Kell and his friends encounter at the plateau of the orbs.

 

Hrothwulf – The oldest wulf in Magula`s pack.

 

Hugauga – A large settlement on the Plain of Thurisaz (Gateway) where Kell and his friends meet with the Thrall Maker Wrynn.

 

Hwaet! – Meaning `Greetings` or `Listen!`

 

Hyld – A wulf in Magula`s pack.

 

Hyrdefolk – Tenders of cattle and sheep.

 

Hyrnetu – Literally `hornets` or insects. The hyrnetu are mechanical servo-devices which have evolved into the slave-weapons of the Slean, who in turn serve the Lyblaeca – indeed, some of the Thrall Makers themselves have undergone the process of becoming Slean.

 

Ice Demon – The Ice Demon symbolises the harshness and destructiveness of the world beyond the enclave. It is the bogeyman invoked to frighten both children and adults alike. Kell`s encounter with the Demon at the conclusion of Ice marks an important step in his rite of passage to adulthood and independence.

 

Jadhma – One of Alderamin`s wives, and birth-mother of Shaula.

 

Kairos – Kairos has been called the City Out Of Time. It is a strange and enigmatic place, as though built on a gateway between worlds, curiously unaffected by climate or circumstances. It is the home of the Erulian, the Thrall Makers whom the Sustren believe can make the dreams of weorthan a living reality.

 

Kano – Leader of the rebel movement in Perth. Kano`s power lies in his ability to see things as they are in the enclave (and there is a technological explanation behind this), coupled with his vast anger that the people should be made to live under an illusion. It is that anger which makes Kano`s life burn briefly but bright as the sun. He dies in battle with the Ice Demon at Thule. His name is a runic word signifying an opening up, renewed clarity and a dispelling of the darkness.

 

Kell – Kell is the archetypal adolescent caught on the brink of innocence and experience. His world is uncomplicated in itself (so he thinks), and his life as a ploughboy is simple but for the questions that trouble him greatly and which eventually lead to his escape from Perth. Like all of the inhabitants of the enclave, Kell has no family name.

 

Loefsonu – One of the eoldermen of Uthgaroar. Leofsonu represents the wish to maintain the status quo, and his very resistant to Kell`s ideas for change.l

 

Lesath – An old friend of Alderamin`s slaughtered horribly years before in the Dawn Mountains.

 

Ligetu – A mysterious flameless energy used for light and heat.

 

Luparo – The Wulf Slaughterer, a mythical being personifying the nemesis of the Wulfen.

 

Lyblaeca – The most experienced members of the guild of the Thrall Makers, seduced by the Sustren in Thaw into furthering the All Mother`s plans.

 

Magula – The leader of the wulfen pack Kell encounters at the end of his imprisonment in Thule.

 

Maegenwulf – The strength of the pack, in all senses of the word.

 

Meodu – Honeyed liquor.

 

Mirach – Nurse to Alderamin`s children. She is slain in the forest by Tarazad drengs.

 

Modor – Mother.

 

Mox - `Mechanical ox`. The mox represents the blending of biology and technology which reached its peak just before the onset of the Ice. The early mention of the mox is a precursor to Kell`s realisation that electronic implantation has gone way beyond the control of beasts.

 

Munin – Wife of Enjeck. They were Kell`s last temporary family before he left Perth.

 

Mwl – A strong horse-like pack animal.

 

Myrgen – See Alef.

 

Mythologies – the body of knowledge that every member of the Community is taught as gospel. The Mythologies serve to perpetuate the influence of the All Mother by creating a deep dread of all that supposedly lies outside the enclave. By doubting the truth of the Mythologies, Kell suffers increasingly severe punishments inflicted by the All Mother and the educational system she maintains.

 

Odal – The main city which lies at the centre of Perth, close to the Central Lake. Odal is the commercial and, so the population supposes, the industrial centre of Perth. No-one bothers to question where new moxen and other animals come from, nor the vehicles which always seem to be in plentiful supply. Kell discovers that a huge industrial complex seems to run automatically behind the façade of the enclave. The word Odal means `home`.

 

Onweardnes – The spirit or essence of a thing.

 

Opticus – See Sky Gleams.

 

Orbs – Faceted metal orbs of various sizes are inextricably linked to the tribe of the Wyrda Craeftum and their destiny known as the Sigel Rad. Small orbs (somewhat larger than a human head) are free floating and can transmit distant images to the Wyrda. Kell and his friends eventually discover huge globes of similar construction. These are vehicles capable of astonishingly swift travel. All of the orbs are somehow connected to the largely unknown workings of the Universal Wheel.

 

Othila – This is the village where Kell lives and was raised. The name comes from a rune signifying separation.

 

Perth – the enclave in which Kell lives. It is an enclosed and totalitarian world, controlled completely (we assume at first) by the All Mother. Perth or Peorth is also one of the `basic runes` (see Pennick in the Bibliography) signifying a pot, a container, the womb.

 

Praeceptor – The head tutor at the Tutorium. His word is traditionally accepted and followed unquestioningly.

 

Rad – The leader of one of Kano`s escapee groups. His name means movement and direction.

 

Rof – A wulf in Magula`s pack.

 

Saeferth – One of Alderamin`s kinsmen.

 

Sceatt – A gold coin of relatively little value.

 

Sealt – A savoury nut.

 

Sebalrai – A young girl whom Feoh rescued from Chertan and his crew of bandits. Sebalrai`s rare mental gift acts upon the mind to make her imperceptible. As she develops this power she is able to include others within her area of influence. Although Shamra is Kell`s heartbonded, Sebalrai comes to have a special place in his affections.

 

Seetus – The `Zen whale`, the last great whale of the oceans. Seetus is a semi-mystical being who understands very clearly the relationship between mind and matter and the illusion of the perceived world. Seetus seems able to manipulate matter itself by changing the matrix of space-and-time within which physical objects have their existence.

 

Setl – A couch.

 

Shahini Tarazad – The swarm-like tribe of soldier minions ruled absolutely by Helcyrian.

 

Shamra – Shamra is Kell`s `heartbonded`, his chosen mate. She has to undergo a special teaching to develop her outstanding telepathic abilities. Before she escapes from Perth with Kell, Shamra`s destiny was to have been an academic at the Tutorium. Subsequently she is captured and initiated into the Sustren, a mystical group consisting only of women. Their purpose is connected intimately with the enhanced mental powers that some people possess, and the occult technology of which Little Sister is a part.

 

Shaula – Youngest daughter of Alderamin the trader. Years before, Shaula was traumatised by a creature that attacked her camp and slaughtered her father`s old friend Lesath.

 

Shore People – A community led by Faras, whom Kell and his friends encounter after escaping from Perth. The shore people display onemindedness to a high degree: they act as one individual. Furthermore, their genetic structure is changing generation by generation. Soon they will have evolved into ocean-dwelling creatures and will leave the land forever. Their deity, or at least their guide, is Seetus the last great whale.

 

Sigel Rad – The Sun`s Way. It is the ancient Wierd of the Wyrda Craeftum to journey to the sky along this sacred path.

 

Skjebne – One of Kano`s fellow rebels and, eventually, a mentor and close friend to Kell, who delights in and respects the man`s boundless curiosity and vast fund of knowledge.

 

Sky Gleams – These are the mysterious lights which drift and swarm across the sky every night in Perth, after the sun has `ungathered`. Virtually all inhabitants of the Community fear the dark and so very few of them ever witness the spectacle of the sky gleams. Kell goes out of his way to watch them. At first he carries the general belief that they are mysterious elemental beings, or maybe the thoughts of the All Mother herself. Only gradually does he realise that the gleams form part of a sophisticated surveillance system, called the opticus by Kano.

 

Skymaster – The first of the Great Orbs of the Wyrda Craeftum to be discovered by Kell and his friends. Others include Cloudfarer, Heavenwalker, Windhover. The human race has a long history of naming important vehicles!

 

Slean – Literally `Shadow-Slayers`, referring to the notion that a man gives up his humanity (his shadow) to become immortal through the process and ritual of Gebedraedan. Slean flesh is greyish and does not bleed, though it can be damaged beyond the point at which a creature can sustain its quasi-life.

 

Snaka – Snakes or serpents.

 

Spedigfeolc - `Wealthy ones`.

 

Straetfolc - `Street folk`, the common people.

 

Sustren – A mystical female group also known as the Sisterhood. Their allegiance lies with the entity expressed through the All Mother in Perth (and in various other guises across the world). The Sustren train their initiates in diverse mental arts of an occult nature. Their purpose seemingly is to incarnate their goddess on Earth.

 

Sweorian – Be calm.

 

Swoestor – Sister; a term of endearment.

 

Synerthy – Thinking-together-all-as-one. This ability, inherent in the Shore Folk and some Wulfen packs, confers great power upon the group in whatever they do, from communicating to hunting to prayer.

 

Thoba – See Alef.

 

Thorbyorg – The First Eolder of Uthgaroar and leader of the Wyrda Craeftum.

 

Thrall Makers – Another name for the Erulian, a breed of enchanters who supposedly possess the ability to affect the weave of fate and realise the heart`s deepest dreams.

 

Thule – A dark and mysterious enclave east of Edgetown. It is ruled by Helcyrian, an insane and corrupted dictator.

 

Tir – An elder wulf in Magula`s pack.

 

Traveller – A semisentient vehicle that Kano and his group use to escape from Perth. Alderamin and the people Outside also call them ice wains.

 

Tsep – One of the Hreaomus horde who stows aboard Skymaster and befriends Kell and his companions.

 

Tyr – A young girl terrified by the darkening of Perth. Her name represents the female quality.

 

Universal Wheel – The central symbol of the Wyrda Craeftum. The actual Universal Wheel is a device which is in contact with and somehow controls all of the orbs possessed by the Wyrda or spoken about in their legends. The Wheel seems to act beyond the boundaries of time and space that mark out the human world.

 

Unsynnig – Untainted, innocent.

 

Utewulfen – The `out wulves`, the outrunners of a pack on the move.

 

Uthgaroar – The ancient mountain home of the Wyrda Craeftum, sacred because of the presence of the Eye of the Rad on a nearby mountaintop.

 

Verres – A genetically modified armoured boar owned by Zauraq of the Wyrda Craeftum.

 

Waere – A guard at Edgetown.

 

Wayd – One of Alderamin`s soldiers, killed in the last battle of Edgetown.

 

Weorthan – This word, from the language of the Wyrda Craeftum and other peoples of the outer world, means `to be` or `to become`. It is linked with the notion of destiny or Wierd.

 

Wierd – This word is of central importance to Kell`s life and the world of the Wintering. Its subtle aspects include destiny, `what will be will be`, yet also `that which is to happen,` Wierd (nothing to do with weird) implies the flexibility to act within a framework constructed by higher powers. As Hora might say, Weird is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is your predestiny, but how you play those cards is your free will in life. Weird is linked with weorthan and with Wyrda, `the fates`.

 

Wildedeor – A wulfen word meaning wild and led only by instinct. Used often to describe wulfen packs who lack reflective thought and the gift of onemindedness.

 

Winsael – A wine drinking hall or tavern.

 

Wintering – The period, measuring some tens of thousands of years, during which the peoples of the Earth outwaited the terrible cold of a global ice age. The word comes from the first line of Ted Hughes`s poem Snowdrop. `Now is the world shrunk tight / Round the mouse`s dulled wintering heart.`

 

Wisp – Feathery seeds that move with apparent purpose through the airs of Perth.

 

Wraith – Wraiths or phantoms are occasionally seen drifting along the roadways of Perth. The folklore of the enclave remains ambiguous as to their nature. Perhaps they are ghosts of the dead, or illusions created by the All Mother. They seem to be sentient because they react to whoever encounters them. The wraiths that Kell meets always remind him of Shamra.

 

Wrynn – A Thrall Maker but also something of a maverick influence among his kind. He embodies aspects of the Trickster archetype, as does Kell, ensuring his kin do not become too set or complacent in their ways.

 

Wulfen – A species of the outer world modified from preglacial wolves to survive the ice. Some wulfen packs rely almost solely on their base instincts while in others intelligence has flourished. This ability to reason has been enhanced by the evolution of a form of telepathy called onemindedness, which allows the individuals in a pack to hunt with the co-ordination of a single animal.

 

Wulfenhoard – The accumulated wisdom of the Wulfen, whose wealth lies in their songs and sagas.

 

Wulfensweor – Wulf cousin, also used as a term of great respect and affection.

 

Wulfmaer – A wulf in Magula`s pack.

 

Wyldewulf - `The one who roams in wild places` and an elder wulf in Magula`s pack. Wyldewulf sacrifices himself at the conclusion of Storm to save his friends.

 

Wyrda Craeftum – A tribe of mercenaries united by their unique and startling appearance and their commitment to the Sigel Rad. This translates as `the sun`s way` and represents long-lost knowledge of Man`s exploration of space before the Wintering began. The name Wyrda Craeftum means `with skill given by the Wierds`. This is a reference to the `loom of fate`, a woven predestiny in which the Wyrda and other peoples believe.

 

Wyrtegemang – A spicy tobacco-like leaf much favoured by the Wyrda Craeftum.

 

Zauraq – The first warrior of the Wyrda Craeftum whom Alderamin`s party meet on the outskirts of Thule. Zauraq, like a number of the Craeftum, earns his keep as a mercenary. Whatever these people do, however, it is only to fulfil their tribe`s destiny – a fated path to the stars known as the Sigel Rad or Sun`s Way.

 

A note on the language:-

 

Many of the names, terms and mystical concepts used in The Wintering derive from Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic traditions, although I have adapted them freely to suit my own purposes. I loved the ring and rhythm of these words and wanted to include them to give added texture to the writing. I also wanted to sprinkle the story with words and phrases that at first sight would seem strange, but which might become oddly familiar in the end because they go back to the roots of our language. Logically, the language of people existing thousands of years hence would likely be completely alien to us – much more so than Chaucer`s English sounds to the modern ear – but I wanted to create some sense of it having evolved, while (obviously) allowing readers to understand what was being said.

 

Two books I found especially useful in my `word weaving` were The Earliest English Poems, trans. Michael Alexander, Penguin Classics 1970 and Wordcraft, a dictionary and thesaurus of Old English by Stephen Pollington, Anglo Saxon Books 1999.

 

It may also be of a little interest to you to know that some of the character names and a couple of the place names in The Wintering are based on runes and runic terms. For instance Feoh is a rune signifying ambition satisfied and love fulfilled (according to the writer Ralph Blum): it is used ironically in the story. By contrast, Kell comes simply from `Celtic` because he embodies a number of important beliefs about the cosmos which derive from that culture.

     copyright Steve Bowkett 2001-2003

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