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The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever is a trilogy of Fantasy novels by Stephen R. Donaldson . It was followed by '''The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant''', also a trilogy, and '''The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant''', a planned quartet. The main character is Thomas Covenant, a cynical writer afflicted with Leprosy , shunned and despised by society, who is destined to become the heroic saviour of an alternate world - or, perhaps, only of his own sanity. Throughout six novels published between 1977 and 1983, Covenant struggles against the evil Lord Foul - "The Despiser" - who intends to break the physical universe to escape its bondage and wreak revenge upon his arch-enemy "The Creator". Many elements of the story correspond to those of Richard Wagner 's epic "Ring Cycle", but with curiously inverted values. In 2004 Donaldson returned to the chronicles with a new series, intended to be the last chronicles. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever Lord Foul's Bane (First Published 1977 ) Thomas Covenant is a young author with a wife, a new son, and a best-selling novel whose world is turned upside down when he is diagnosed with brought on by leprosy, and his mental turmoil drives him into a frenzy. Covenant rapes Lena, a pivotal event which sets the scene for much of what comes later. Lena's friends and family are barely able to comprehend the enormity of this crime, but their ''Oath of Peace'' (sworn by every human native to The Land) forbids them from taking vengeance. Lena's mother Atiaran takes Covenant to the Land's rulers, the Lords, where he is initiated into their council as an ''Ur-Lord'' (stemming from the German prefix ' Ur- ' which means ancestral or primal, as he is seen as Berek returned). However, an evil ''Cavewight'', ''Drool Rockworm'', has seized the ''Staff of Law'', a magical stave made by Berek by which a Lord's ability to control the Earthpower can be focused and greatly enhanced, and has become the puppet of Lord Foul. Covenant, the Lords, and a Giant named ''Saltheart Foamfollower'' set out to wrest the staff from Drool's evil grasp and after many adventures they succeed. Along the way, Covenant attempts to come to terms with whether or not to believe in the reality of the Land, and his own crime against Lena. After the death of Drool Rockworm, who had actually used the Staff of Law to summon Covenant to the Land, Covenant feels his physical body fading away, loses consciousness, and wakes up in his "real" own world, a leper once more. The Illearth War (First Published 1978 ) Several weeks after his return to our world, Covenant is taking a phone call from his estranged wife, when he falls and hits his head and finds himself back in the Land. Taking no great pleasure in being there, he again believes that he is experiencing a dream or delusion due to a head injury. His hypothesis is buttressed by the fact that the Land he returns to has seen the passing of forty years -- though only a few weeks have actually passed in his own, "real" world. During these forty years, Lord Foul has assembled a massive army, with which he now threatens the peoples of The Land. Furthermore, it has been discovered that Lord Foul's commander is one of three brothers born to the race of Giants, a people previously thought incorruptible. With the aid of the powerful ''Illearth Stone'', Foul's non-corporeal servants, the ''Ravers'', have possessed the three brothers, now renamed ''Kinslaughterer'', ''Fleshharrower'' and ''Satansfist''. In shame and despair, the other Giants offer no resistance as Kinslaughterer murders them all in their home city. Lena's grown-up daughter ''Elena'' (the product of Covenant's rape) is now High Lord of the council, and wields the Staff of Law on behalf of her people. She shows no ill-will towards her biological father, and she and Covenant become close friends. The Lords' army is commanded by ''Hile Troy'', a blind man (due to his being born without eyes, his eye sockets covered by skin) from Covenant's "real" world, who has a mystical form of sight granted when hurtloam was used to try and "heal" his lack of eyes. While Troy strives to outwit Lord Foul and his Giant lieutenant, Elena and Covenant go in search of the ''Seventh Ward'', a repository of ancient magical power which Elena believes will assure victory. When their goal is attained, Elena foolishly uses it to summon ''High Lord Kevin'', her ancient predecessor, from his grave, and send him against Lord Foul. This act breaks the ''Law of Death'', the barrier preventing the souls of the dead from interfering in the world of the living. Kevin's spirit is soon defeated and enslaved by Foul, and sent back to destroy Elena. The two High Lords engage in a battle of magic, in which Elena is eventually defeated and the Staff of Law lost. Meanwhile Hile Troy has been forced to retreat by the superior force of Fleshharrower's army to the edge of a dangerous, forbidding forest known as ''Garroting Deep''. In desperation, he begs the aid of ''Caerroil Wildwood'', an immortal ''Forestal'' who is charged with protecting the ancient forests of the land from the Ravers. Wildwood brings the forest to life, totally destroying Foul's army, and personally "garrotes" Fleshharrower. There is a terrible price for the victory: the Lords' army is nearly decimated, and Hile Troy sacrifices himself as the price for the Forestal's aid, becoming Wildwood's apprentice. The war thus ends in a draw, and Covenant returns to his own world. The Power that Preserves (First Published 1979 ) Back in his own world, Covenant is devastated by the loss of Elena, though he still maintains to himself that his experience in the Land was all just a dream. Tormented by this unanswerable paradox, he neglects his physical condition; he stops taking his medications and fails to treat his head wound, allowing his dormant leprosy to once again become active. Wandering outside of his hometown, he comes upon a girl threatened by a rattlesnake. At this point is once again summoned to the Land. He finds that seven years have gone by since the Illearth War, and Lord Foul has enslaved the spirit of former High Lord Elena, who now wields the Staff of Law against her own people. The Lords have lost their loyal supporters, the ''Bloodguard'', and the Land has been cast into a perpetual winter. Furthermore, Lord Foul has rebuilt his army, which, under the command of the third Giant-raver Satansfist, now besieges the Lords' mountain-fortress of Revelstone. In desperation, the new High Lord ''Mhoram'', an old friend of Covenant, summons the Unbeliever to his aid. He refuses, in order to save the girl's life in the real world. He does, but at the cost of being poisoned by the rattlesnake venom he has sucked out of the girl. Later, he accepts the summoning, this time made by ''Triock'', Lena's some-time lover. Kidnapped by Ravers, Covenant is able to confront Elena and use the power of his white gold ring to dismiss her ghost, although this results in the destruction of the Staff of Law. Meanwhile Lord Mhorham, after a protracted battle, is able to break the siege of Revelstone and kill Satansfist. Afterwards Covenant and his friend, the Giant Foamfollower, journey to ''Ridjeck Thome'', the very heart of Lord Foul's dominion, where they succeed in defeating Foul; this act also repairs much of the havoc caused by Elena's breaking of the Law of Death. Covenant also uses the power of the white gold to destroy the Illearth Stone: in the final cataclysm Foamfollower is annihilated and so, seemingly, is Covenant. However, his consciousness remains, and while in a state somewhere between being and nonexistence, he is spoken to in the darkness by the voice of the old beggar from the beginning of the first book, who is in fact the Creator of the Land. The Creator tells Covenant that he has a choice: either he can remain in the Land in full health, or he can be returned to life in his own world, where he otherwise would have died from an allergic reaction to the anti-venom treatment applied to his unconscious body. Covenant, still unwilling to fully accept the Land, choses the latter and awakes in his hospital bed, weakened from his physical trauma, still afflicted with his disease, but happy to be alive. Gildenfire (First Published 1981 ) An episode cut from ''The Illearth War'' for narrative reasons, as explained in the Author's Foreword. Gildenfire deals with the doomed mission to rescue the Giants. Major Themes in the First Chronicles An issue of major importance in the First Chronicles is the question of the reality of the Land. From Thomas Covenant's perspective, the Land may be only a delusion of his disturbed mind. Stephen R. Donaldson goes to great lengths to make this just as plausible as any other theory (e.g. Thomas Covenant is indeed mentally imbalanced, events in the Land seem to parallel his unconscious struggles, etc.) This raises the 'Fundamental Question of Ethics' that appears at the very start of the Chronicles, which can be rephrased as "do actions performed in dreams have any significance?" Convenant's rape of Lena can be seen as an attempt to test this theory. One interpretation of the First Chronicles sees the reality of the Land eventually 'proven' to Covenant; another interprets Covenenant's eventual decision to act for the Land as understanding that, be the Land real or not, it is of significance to him. Another major theme, closely related to the one just mentioned, is the psychological symbolism of the Land. It very clearly parallels Covenant's own psyche: he is filled with self-hatred, manifested in the Land as the Despiser; he is ravaged by a corrupting disease that eats away at him, similarly to the Illearth Stone, and so forth. In this way the fantasy genre allows the author to explore Covenant's inner workings in a very effective way. The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant After his return to our world, Covenant resumes his writing, publishing seven novels in ten years. Although he will never be able to return to the life he had before contracting leprosy, he seems to have come to terms with his condition. The Wounded Land (First Published 1980 ) The story begins by presenting us with a new main character. Linden Avery is a doctor who has moved to Covenant's hometown to take a position at the local hospital. A traumatic childhood has left her emotionally isolated from other people to a degree that makes her as much an outsider in society as Covenant, albeit in a different way. The chief of staff at the hospital (who also appears briefly in the first Chronicles) asks her to check up on Covenant. Linden does, reluctantly, and finds that Covenant's estranged wife has returned to him, but that she is under the influence of a cult of worshippers of Lord Foul, who has found a way to exert his influence in Covenant's world. After Covenant is possibly mortally wounded by one of Foul's dupes, both Linden and Covenant are transported to the Land. Once there, they find that a terrible change has transpired: four thousand years have passed, the Earthpower is gone, or nearly gone, and the people of the Land are out of touch with what remains of it. The land is afflicted with the ''Sunbane'', a disruption of the physical order which alternately causes rain, desert, pestilence and unnatural fertility to wreak havoc on man, animals and nature. Shortly after their arrival, Covenant is bitten by a monster and suffers a venom infection which renders him unable to control the power of the wild magic within him. Despite these difficulties, Covenant and Linden Avery join with a man and woman of the Land to travel to Revelstone to challenge the corrupt new rulers of the Land, the ''Clave''. On the journey, Covenant meets with the Forestal Caer Caveral (formerly Warmark Hile Troy) and the spirits of the long-dead characters of the First Chronicles, who provide him with rather cryptic advice concerning the plight of the Land. Saltheart Foamfollower gives Covenant something more: ''Vain'', a creation of the ur-viles, who accompanies Covenant to Revelstone. Once there, Covenant discovers that the cause of the current condition of the Land is the destruction of the Staff of Law, which he himself had wrought. Without the strength of the Staff to protect it, the Earthpower itself has been corrupted by Lord Foul, hence the Sunbane. Covenant sets out to fashion a new Staff of Law; his party is strengthened by a group of ''Haruchai'', the descendants of the race which formerly served the Land as the Bloodguard. Finally, as they approach the seacoast at the eastern edge of the Land, the travellers join with a band of Giants, of the same race as Foamfollower's people. Covenant, Avery, Vain and the Haruchai take ship with the Giants in search of a solution to the matter of the Staff of Law, leaving the man and woman of the Land to try to gather resistance to the Clave in preparation for the final battle. The One Tree (First Published 1982 ) Most of this book takes place outside of the Land, but still on the same planet, so to speak, making this book different than the others in the first and second chronicles. The Giants, a sea-faring people, take Covenant and his companions to the ''Elohim'', a community of beings seemingly made from Earthpower itself who are known to possess supreme wisdom. Bound by a strange code of behavior, they provide no direct help, other than showing the Giants the location of the One Tree, from which the Staff of Law was fashioned. This knowledge was hidden in Covenant's mind by Caer-Caveral (Hile Troy), but Covenant lacked the means to reveal it. In the course of rendering this service, the Elohim cause Covenant to go into a catatonic state - "don't touch me" is all he can say. Leaving the Elohim, the travellers find that one of the Elohim, named Findail, has joined them aboard the Giants' ship, for purposes which he declines to reveal. The group is not pleased at this uninvited companion but are powerless to make him leave. After suffering severe damage in a storm, in which Findail refuses to help, the ship arrives at the port of the ''Bhrathair'', a warlike people living at the edge of a great desert. The ship is repaired, but two of the ''Haruchai'' guards lose their lives at the hands of a ''Sandgorgon'', a monster indigenous to the desert. Linden is able to return Covenant to normality to thwart an attempt to take his ring from him. The ship narrowly escapes from the port, and further travel eventually brings the group to the island where the One Tree is located. Brinn, Covenant's ''Haruchai'' bodyguard, sacrifices himself in a duel with the Tree's Guardian ''Ak Haru Kenuastin'', and is then regenerated as the new Guardian and leads the party to the Tree itself. However, when Covenant attempts to take a piece of The One Tree, he is stopped by Cable Seadreamer, the mute giant. Seadreamer attempts the tree himself, and loses his life. In the struggle, Covenants White Gold use threatens to destroy the world itself. Thus, the quest ends in failure. White Gold Wielder (First Published 1983 ) Without a new Staff of Law, the group return to the Land. After a great struggle Covenant is able to destroy the Raver who leads the Clave, and also to come to terms with his power-madness, through a process in which he mimics the giantish ''Caamora'', using the ''Banefire'' instead of regular fire. The defeat of the Clave causes the problem of the Sunbane to diminish but not to vanish. Covenant and his party set out to challenge Lord Foul directly, in his lair in the depths of Mount Thunder. Finding him, Covenant gives the ring willingly to the Despiser; Linden Avery refrains from preventing him from this action, despite her ability to do so. The Despiser then kills Covenant, and attempts to destroy the ''Arch of Time'' with the wild magic. However, Covenant's spirit blocks his assault: in his fury the Despiser continues to attack Covenant until Foul vanishes, spent. Linden Avery then takes the ring, and Vain bonds with Findail, providing the basis for Linden to fashion a new Staff of Law, combining the rigidness and stucture of the Ur-Vile's lore with the pure and free Earthpower of the Elohim. Combining the new Staff with the power of the wild magic, she heals the Land of the Sunbane. Giving the Staff to the safekeeping of the Giants, Linden fades away. In limbo between the worlds, Covenant explains how he defeated Foul and re-assures her that their love will transcend both time and death. Linden wakes up in the "real" world, finding Covenant dead, as expected, but takes comfort in the knowledge that through his love, she has redeemed both herself and the Land. Major Themes in the Second Chronicles If the First Chronicles were involved with Covenant himself, his psychology, and his relationship with the World, the Second Chronicles add a second character, Linden Avery. The interaction of the two characters becomes a major topic, with relations warming up and cooling off at different times, but in the end settling on mutual respect and warmth. The resolution of the crisis and the defeat of the Despiser reveal another theme. Covenant discovers despite in himself, and thus that the Despiser is part of him, in a sense (figuratively, or, perhaps, even literally). Thus he does not need to combat him directly - indeed, direct conflict failed to defeat the Despiser more than once. Hence the surrender of the ring to the Despiser, and allowing him to fail in his attempts to destroy the Arch of Time. The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant # '' The Runes Of The Earth '' ( 2004 ) ISBN 0399152326 # ''Fatal Revenant'' # ''Shall Pass Utterly'' # ''The Last Dark'' PEOPLE AND CREATURES OF THE LAND Cavewights are dimly intelligent subterranean creatures skilled in metal working and mining. They are weak willed, and are easily terrorized by Lord Foul into serving in his armies (though they once traded openly with the humans of the Land). They are described as having "long, scrawny limbs, hands as huge and heavy as shovels," plus "a thin, hunched torso, and a head shaped like a battering ram." Drool Rockworm is a cavewight. Giants are a race of extremely long lived humanoids of unusual height and strength. Giants are known for their stone lore (like the Stonedowners) and cannot be injured by fire, though it does pain them. The Giants of the Land are sometimes called the Unhomed since they were separated from their homeland long ago, and their numbers in the Land in the time of the Chronicles have dwindled to a very few. They have a great love of children and the sea, and tell stories that last for weeks. Kevin Landwaster entrusted them with the first of his Seven Wards before the Ritual of Desecration. They sometimes refer to humans as Rockbrothers and Rocksisters, in honor of the ancient alliance they made with High Lord Damelon Giantfriend. Saltheart Foamfollower is a Giant. Haruchai are a hardy race of warriors living in the Westron Mountains, west of the Land. The Haruchai shun the use of weapons or magic, taking pride in their own physical prowess and the purity of their service, which is never given lightly. Outwardly stoic, even emotionless, it is revealed on several different occasions in the book series that the Haruchai are a deeply extravagant race, capable of swearing a lifetime’s worth of service if sufficiently emotionally moved. The first of these commitments comes when an army of 500 Haruchai marches into the Land, some 2000 years before Covenant’s coming to the Land. The Lords of the Land, and especially Kevin Landwaster, do not meet the Haruchai in battle, lest the noble Haruchai be destroyed by the Lords' Earthpower. Instead, the Lords give the Haruchai precious gifts. The wonders of the Land, and the compassion and wisdom of its Lords, move the Haruchai to swear the Vow, an oath to protect the Lords. The Vow, sworn as it is, causes these 500 Haruchai to become the Bloodguard; functionally immortal, not growing old, never sleeping, and permanently cut off from their former families in the Westron Mountains. If the body of a bloodguard who dies in battle is sent back into the mountains, he is replaced by another Haruchai. Many of the Bloodguard who Thomas Covenant meets 2000 years later are these same Haruchai. Lords are the leaders and stewards of the Land, also known as Earthfriends. The standards for Lordship are high, so they are generally few in number. The Lords Council is usually composed of Woodhelvennin and Stonedowners who have mastered both parts of Kevin's Lore, a school of study devoted to the understanding and application of the Earthpower. (These parts are called the Sword and the Staff respectively) They are therefore skilled in both military matters and in the use of Earthpower. They carry special staffs that allow them to channel this magical energy and are easily identified by their sky blue robes. The Lords live in Revelstone, also known as Lord's Keep. Some who train to be Lords may choose to become Unfettered. These Unfettered are released from their duties so they may explore other interests and forms of Earthpower. Ramen are the tenders of the Ranyhyn (see below). The Ramen exist only to serve the Ranyhyn, whom they perceive as a superior form of life. They never ride or otherwise subjugate the great horses, and grow resentful of those who do. The fact that the Lords of Revelstone and the Bloodguard often ride the great horses is a major point of contention, but the Ramen tolerate this in deference to the Ranyhyn. When defending the Ranyhyn from Kresh (large wolves in service to the Despiser) or other predators, the Ramen frequently use ropes as garottes to break the attackers' necks. Ranyhyn are the great horses of the Land. These horses live on the Plains of Ra, and are tended by a race of humans known as the Ramen. The Ranyhyn are as normal horses, but are larger and are in some indefinable sense enhanced by the Earthpower of the Land, so that their speed and endurance, as well as intelligence, far outstrips that of normal horses. The Ranyhyn can be riden by individuals they deem worthy, but a person who seeks such a mount must travel to the Plains of Ra and offer themself to the horses’ consideration. If a Ranyhyn accepts a rider, it is loyal to that rider to death. The Ranyhyn also have a limited ability to perceive the future; these horses can “hear” when their rider will need them, hearing their call days or even weeks before the rider even makes the call. Thus, when the rider needs the Ranyhyn, they can appear over the next hill as if by magic, which of course it is. Ravers are bodiless evil spirits with the ability to possess and control some lesser creatures, and most humans as well. Giants and Bloodguard are typically immune to this power, and there are no known instances of a Raver possessing a Ranyhyn. There are only three Ravers, ancient brothers who each have many names but are commonly called '' Turiya '' Herem , '' Samadhi '' Sheol , and '' Moksha '' Jehannum . Their greatest hatred is reserved for the trees of the One Forest of old, and their loathing of the Earthpower and all good things has led them to become Lord Foul's willing servants. The Despiser is somehow able to enhance their abilities when he pleases, but can prevent them from possessing individuals he deems too powerful. (They were not allowed to possess Thomas Covenant, for instance, because his ring would make them too powerful for Lord Foul to control.) They often serve as leaders in Lord Foul's armies, or as spies among his enemies. Stonedowners are humans descended from the Land's original inhabitants. They are known for their use of stone lore and live in stone huts. A master of stone lore is called a "Gravelingas", or a ''Rhadhamaerl'' which also refers to the craft of stone lore. Stonedowners are typically squat and muscular, though this isn't always the case. Trell and Triock are both unusually tall for Stonedowners. Ur-viles are creatures of jet black color and are constructions of an extinct race named the Demondim. They are highly magical, possessing a number of supernatural abilities, including shooting acid, creating bolts of pure energy and the like. They are also blind, but have a supernatural sense of smell. By far their most unique feature is that when they assemble into a wedge, the leader, who is at the tip of the wedge, has the combined power of all of the Ur-Viles in the wedge, without weakening any of their kin in the rest of the wedge. The Ur-viles serve Lord Foul through the first two Chronicles, but appear to have turned against him by the Third. Because they were made rather than born, the Ur-viles loathe their own bodies and often redirect this rage towards other targets. Waynhim are another race of creatures spawned by the Demondim. Like the ur-viles, the Waynhim have no eyes, super-sensitive smell and hearing, and are highly skilled practitioners of magic. Like the Ur-viles, who are their mutual enemies, the Waynhim were made rather than born. However, they do not share their cousins' hatreds, and have dedicated themselves to serving the Land and the Earthpower according to their own peculiar ethical system, the ''Weird'' of the Waynhim. Woodhelvennin are humans descended from the Land's original inhabitants. They are known for their use of wood lore and living in tree top villages. A master of wood lore is called a ''Hirebrand,'' or a ''lillianrill''. (''Lillianrill'' usually refers to the craft of wood lore) They are typically tall and slender. EXTERNAL LINKS
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