The Blue Sword

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Blue Sword is a fantasy novel written by Robin McKinley and published by the Berkley Publishing Group in 1982. This is the book for which the prequel The Hero and the Crown was written. The Blue Sword has received numerous awards including; Newbery Honor Award, ALA Best Book for Young Adults and the ALA Notable Children's Book.

[edit] Plot Summary

The story is told in the third-person point of view of Angharad, known as Harry. After the death of her father she moves to the military base where her brother Richard is staying, on the border between Homeland and Damar. While there, the Damarian king Corlath comes to warn the Homelanders of the threat of an impending invasion from the North, a land full of demonic tribes that has recently come under the leadership of one who is known as Thurra. He meets with little success, but before he returns to his home he kidnaps Harry due to the influence of his Gift, known as kelar, which tells him that she is essential to the future of Damar. However, he is baffled by this because he can not see how a girl from a country of cool wet forests can be important to his country of desert and sand and blazing heat.

Corlath is ashamed that he has been forced to abduct Harry, and so treats her as an honored guest. She discovers to her surprise that she has a very strong kelar herself, and that Aerin, a heroine of the Damarian people, seems to have a connection with her, as Harry sees her in visions. Harry adjusts quickly and well to Damar, assisted by her kelar and the kindness of Corlath and her teacher Mathin.

She trains with horses and swords and when she takes part in the laprun trials she does extremely well, becoming the laprun-minta or first of the laprun. She is then made a King's Rider, given the blue sword named Gonturan, and becomes known as the Damalur-sol, or lady hero.

Meanwhile, Corlath has decided to take a desperate stand against the Northerners with his small army of nineteen King's Riders. First he chooses to visit the seer known as Luthe, who tells Harry she has a choice ahead and he hopes she will make the right decision. As he Riders discuss their battle plan, Harry points out that Corlath, still angry about his treatment by the Homelanders, is ignoring the threat posed by a small pass near the Homelanderborder. Harry decides to leave him and try to defend it herself.

She is joined by some friends, Damarians and Homelanders, and together they attempt to hold the pass, but they face great difficulty because Thurra himself chose to come thorugh the pass rather than through the main way where the Damarians are waiting. Harry requests help from Aerin and Corlath, wherever he is, and with Gonturan manages to collapse a mountain on Thurra. After she regains the strength she lost from collapsing a mountain, she returns to Corlath, fearing his disapproval. She knows that Corlath would be forced to honor her as the savior of Damar, but she is afraid that he will be unreasonable and hold a grudge for being proved wrong.

It is then that she realizes that she is in love with him, and that she would rather leave Damar forever than stay by the side of a king who does not regard her highly.

Instead, Corlath realized that he was in love with Harry while she was away, and proposes to her when she returns to him. He honors her before all of Damar, and they hold a wedding celebration.