The Elfstones of Shannara

The Elfstones of Shannara
1st hardcover edition.
Author(s)	Terry Brooks
Illustrator	Darrell K. Sweet
Cover artist	Darrell K. Sweet
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Original Shannara Trilogy
Genre(s)	Fantasy/Epic fantasy
Publisher	Del Rey Books
Publication date	1982
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback, Mass market paperback)
Pages	576 pp (Mass market paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-345-30253-2 (1st Edition hardcover) ISBN 0-345-28554-9 (Mass market paperback)
OCLC Number	7976998
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 19
LC Classification	PS3552.R6596 E5 1982
Preceded by	The Sword of Shannara
Followed by	The Wishsong of Shannara

This article is about the epic fantasy novel by Terry Brooks. For the three Blue Elfstones, see The Blue Elfstones. For the Black Elfstone that negates other magic, see The Black Elfstone.

The Elfstones of Shannara is an epic fantasy novel by Terry Brooks. It is the first sequel to The Sword of Shannara and the second book in The Original Shannara Trilogy. It provides the history of the Elves, which was only hinted at in the preceding story, and follows Wil Ohmsford, grandson of Shea (the hero of the first book) and inheritor of the Elfstones.

The novel intertwines two plotlines: the quest of Wil Ohmsford and Amberle Elessedil to find Safehold and create a new Ellcrys, and the attempt by the Elven army and their allies to slow the Demons to give them time to find it.

Background

After Terry Brooks had completed all work on his first novel, The Sword of Shannara, in fall 1975—having begun it in 1967—he began work on another book soon after. The plot he originally chose featured the son of Menion Leah as the protagonist and a girl with a Siren-like song that could manipulate the properties of objects around her. Brooks outlined about three-quarters of the story before beginning to write; he refused an attempt by Lester del Rey to see it because Brooks wanted to impress the editor. However, when Brooks finished three-quarters of the tale in fall 1977 after writing around his law practice hours, he found himself stuck and could not think of a suitable ending. He decided to send the story to del Rey to get his opinion on what the end should be. The reply he received was quite unexpected; del Rey firmly believed that Brooks needed to simply get rid of the started novel and start anew due to a plethora of problems he saw. Once del Rey finished a full line-by-line examination of the plot, Brooks leafed through the comments and found them to be disturbingly accurate.

So, Brooks started over. This time, he created an outline for the full story and mailed it to del Rey and his wife for comments prior to delving into the writing process once more. In his frustration about the old story, though, he decided to forget about his former protagonist—even that character's entire generation. Instead, he gave the protagonist role to the grandson of the hero in Sword, Wil Ohmsford. In place of the siren-oriented tale, he took on the history of the Elves. del Rey approved this new plan, and Brooks began weaving the tale in late 1978. He finished it in late 1980 and sent it off to del Rey. He replied in February 1981 with 25 single-spaced pages-worth of errors or problems, including a roughly 200-page span where he felt that the action and dialogue was seen from the author's viewpoint—not a character's. To address this, Brooks utilized Ander Elessedil, formerly a minor character with little impact on the plot, and turned him into the focus of a majority of the book. Four months later, he sent the story out once again. This time it only required minor alterations.

History of the Elves

Main article: Elves (Shannara)

Before the dawn of mankind was the age of Faerie, an era from which many powerful spirits (such as the King of the Silver River) came. The Elves, extremely long-lived and possessing great magic, created the Elfstones. However, as a necessary balance to the light, darkness was also created in the beginning of time; from this darkness the Demons were born. After years of battle between the light and the dark, the Elves summoned their greatest magic and created the Forbidding, a spell that imprisoned the Demons beyond the confines of the world. They also created the Ellcrys, a beautiful silver tree with crimson leaves to maintain the Forbidding. Unfortunately, this drained nearly all the strength of the Elves, leaving them with very little magic. Most of the creatures of Faerie died out in this period of waning magic; yet the Elves survived, though diminished in splendor. In time, they came to resemble more and more the human race that had recently evolved, both in strength and longevity. Afraid of the rapidly multiplying humans, Elves went into hiding, remaining one with nature, ever guarding the Ellcrys. Even when mankind nearly destroyed the world in the Great Wars, the Elves lived on, spending their last remaining magic to save the Ellcrys. In the aftermath of the destruction, as mankind split into four distinct races, the Elves took that opportunity to come out from hiding. Indeed, most believed that the Elves were just another offshoot of mankind, like the Dwarves, Gnomes and Trolls. The Elves emerged as leaders in the new world; it was the Elf Galaphile who summoned the first Druid council at Paranor.

Plot summary

The magical Ellcrys tree was beginning to die, thus weakening the spell that held the Forbidding. The Ellcrys spoke to the Chosen, telling them of a rebirth, a process which enables a new Ellcrys to be born--but this can only be done at the fountain of the Bloodfire. The Chosen then informs their Prince Ander Elessedil and King Eventine Elessedil of the matter. However, there is no one who knows of the location of the Bloodfire. A search in the ancient Elven library reveals one reference to the Bloodfire. It states that it lies in a place named "Safehold". At the same time, a powerful Demon, the Dagda Mor, escapes from the waning Forbidding, bringing with it the Reaper and the Changeling. The Dagda Mor then sends the Reaper to kill all the Chosen. Eventine finds himself at a loss, for only the Chosen can make the rebirth of the Ellcrys happen.

The Druid Allanon appeared and went to the ancient Druid keep, Paranor, in an attempt to locate Safehold. After learning its location, Allanon was ambushed by the Dagda Mor and a handful of Furies.

He retreated to Storlock for a time, and then went to Havenstead with Wil Ohmsford--who is a Healer, a descendant of Jerle Shannara and bearer of the Elfstones--to find Amberle Elessedil, who is King Eventine's granddaughter and a Chosen, who abandoned her duty to the Ellcrys and fled the Elven capital, Arborlon. She eventually agreed to return to Arborlon with them, only giving in when Demon Wolves were closing in upon them.

En route, close to the Silver River, Allanon, Amberle and Wil were ambushed by Demon wolves. Allanon fended off the Demons while Wil and Amberle escaped to safety. The King of the Silver River took them in and sheltered them just before they would have been caught; after talking with him, the duo managed to regroup with Allanon and return to Arborlon. Amberle received a seed from the dying Ellcrys and prepared to go to Safehold with Wil, six Elven companions and the Captain of the Home Guard, Crispin.

After they journeyed by boat to the Elven outpost at Drey Wood, the group found the entire garrison that had been stationed at the outpost dead--and the Reaper, who had killed all of them. They managed to escape by setting off down the river once more, but two of the Elven guards were run down and killed in the process. The party then goes to the Matted Brakes, where another two of the group are killed by an unknown massive creature. After escaping from the Brakes, the remaining group of five found themselves at an ancient Elven fortress named Pykon. The group made the decision to rest the night there, but the Reaper found them again and killed the final two Elven hunters. Wil and Amberle ran into the network of tunnels inside of the Pykon to try to find Crispin, who had gone into there to try to find a way out. Wil and Amberle finally lost the Reaper by destroying a bridge over a gorge, but they lost Crispin as well. The duo met the young Wing Rider Perk soon after, who agreed to take them into the Wilderun on his Roc, Genewen.

Meanwhile, Allanon and the Elves went to war with the Demons, beginning the War of the Forbidding. The Elven army took up two positions in two mountain passes named Halys Cut and Worl Run. Having no weapons, the Demons used human-wave tactics in the ensuing battles and literally ran over the Elven army, even managing to injure King Eventine. Ander's brother, Arion Elessedil, was killed as well in Worl Run. Defeated, the Elven force retreated first to Baen Draw, successfully defending it until it was discovered that they were being flanked. They then retreated to Arborlon, their last line of defense. In the process, they lost their commander, Kael Pindanon. Shortly after their return to Arborlon, Dwarf and Troll contingents joined them, uniting banners from all four of the Four Lands for the first time in history.

Amberle and Wil traveled to the Hollows, domain of the Witch Sisters, but they found out that the Elfstones were stolen by Cephelo, a Rover. Wil leaves Amberle and pursued Cephelo. Eretria, daughter of Cephelo, helped Wil to locate Cephelo only to find that he and the rest of his followers were killed by the Reaper. Wil regained the Elfstones and traveled back to the rim of the Hollows with Eretria. He found Amberle missing. Hebel appeared and agreed to track Amberle for Wil. Together with Hebel's dog, Drifter, they tracked Amberle to Mallenroh's tower. Mallenroh captured them and decided to keep the Elfstones for herself , locking them up.

After the Witch Sisters fought and killed each other, Wil, Eretria, Hebel, and Drifter escaped with Amberle, the Elfstones, and Mallenroh's servant, Wisp; who brings them to the Bloodfire. Amberle absorbs both the Bloodfire and the seed of the Ellcrys. The Reaper attacks them and kills Wisp, but Wil destroyed him by focusing the power of the Elfstones upon his cloaked face. Wil had Amberle call Perk, who brought Wil, Amberle and Eretria back to Arborlon.

By this point, the Demons had begun a full frontal assault upon Arborlon. Despite desperate attempts to blunt the attacks, the seven gates fell one by one to the superior numbers of the Demons. The Demons eventually broke through the last of the Elven capital's major defenses (the seventh gate). At this point, Allanon engaged and defeated the Dagda Mor in a titanic battle while the forces of "good", now severely depleted, regrouped at their last line of defense: the Gardens of Life, where the Ellcrys resided. The Demons tried to reach the Ellcrys to destroy her, but they were held back by those forces of "good" just long enough so that Wil and Amberle could fly in. Amberle touched the dead Ellcrys and was transformed into the new Ellcrys; and with this action, Amberle restored the Forbidding, banishing the Demons back to their alternate universe.

With the Demons banished once again, the survivors the War return to their homes. After conversing with Allanon, Wil visits the Ellcrys and comes to terms with Amberle's sacrifice. He then leaves Arborlon with Eretria.

Film rights

The rights to movie adaptations for all of the Shannara novels have been sold to Warner Bros until 2010. These rights have now expired, though Brooks continues to receive inquiries from film studios.

Character List

Main characters

• Allanon
• Amberle Elessedil
• Ander Elessedil
• Changeling (demon)
• Dagda Mor (demon)
• Ellcrys
• Eretria
• Eventine Elessedil
• The Reaper (demon)
• Stee Jans
• Wil Ohmsford

Minor characters

• Amantar
• Arion Elessedil
• Artaq (horse)
• Browork
• Cephelo (deceased)
• Cormac (deceased)
• Crispin (deceased)
• Dancer (roc)
• Dardan
• Dayn (Wing Rider; Perk's uncle)
• Dilph (deceased)
• Drifter (dog)
• Ehlron Tay
• Emer Chios
• Flick Ohmsford
• Flyn
• Gael
• Genewen (roc)
• Hebel
• Herrol
• Jase
• Kael Pindanon
• Katsin (deceased)
• Kerrin (deceased)
• Kian (deceased)
• King of the Silver River
• Kobold
• Lauren
• Manx (dog)(deceased)
• Mallenroh
• Morag
• Ped (deceased)
• Perk
• Rhoe
• Rin
• Spitter (horse)
• Went (deceased)
• Wisp (deceased)