''The Hero and the Crown'' is a fantasy novel written by
Robin McKinley
Robin McKinley (born November 16, 1952) is an American author best known for her fantasy novels and fairy tale retellings. Her 1984 novel ''The Hero and the Crown'' won the Newbery Medal as the year's best new American children's book. In 2022 ...
and published by
Greenwillow Books
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...
in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
. It is the winner of the 1985
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...
award. This story focuses on "Aerin Dragon-Killer", also known as "Aerin Firehair", the heroine who is introduced as a legendary character in ''The Blue Sword''. The book narrates Aerin's evolution from the shy, retiring daughter of the King of Damar to the heroic queen who protects her people from the demonic Northerners.
Plot summary
Part one
Aerin is the only child of Arlbeth, king of Damar, and his second wife. Aerin inherits her mother's pale skin and fiery red hair, setting her apart from all other Damarians and causing her to be feared and ostracized. Her particular nemesis at court is Galanna, a beautiful but vain young woman, who spread rumors that Aerin's mother was a witch and that Aerin is illegitimate. Galanna taunts Aerin for having failed to develop the Gift, known as ''kelar'', an ability to use magic that all members of the royal family inherit to some degree. During one of their regular fights, Galanna convinces Aerin to eat the leaves of the surka plant, which is poisonous to all those not of royal blood. While eating the surka plant does not kill Aerin, it makes her extremely ill.
During her recovery, Aerin stumbles upon a book about the history of Damar and the enormous dragons of old that used to terrorize it, of which only much smaller relatives still exist. Seeking privacy in the pasture of her father's now-injured war horse, Talat, Aerin reads through the book while forging a friendship with the stubborn and proud horse. At the back of the book she finds a recipe for kenet, an ointment meant to protect the wearer from the effects of fire. While experimenting with the ointment, she also trains herself on mounted combat with Talat. Eventually, she sneaks off to slay a small dragon that has been terrorizing a village. Her success earns her some minor notoriety and requests for assistance from other villages. In the meantime, trouble comes from the north, in the form of one of the western barons, Nyrlol, who threatens civil war.
Part two
Arlbeth fears that the Hero's Crown, an item of power, has finally fallen into the hands of the demonic Northerners, and that Nyrlol's madness is a symptom of their growing power. He is forced to ride west with many of his court, including Tor (his male heir and Aerin's only friend), to deal with Nyrlol, but denies Aerin's request to join him. However, just as Arlbeth prepares to ride north, a messenger arrives bearing news that the last of great dragons, Maur, has reappeared and is terrorizing Damar. Arlbeth has no choice but to deal with Nyrlol first. But Aerin, having been left behind, decides to fight Maur on her own.
After a tremendous battle Aerin barely manages to defeat Maur, claiming as her trophy a red stone left behind when his body burns itself to ashes. Aerin is severely injured but manages to drag herself onto Talat, who carries her home. Maur's skull is brought to the castle as a trophy but its presence seems to taunt Aerin and her health does not improve. In her declining state, Aerin dreams of a blond man by a lake who beckons her to come to him so that he may help her. Aerin leaves Tor a note and rides off on Talat to find this man, Luthe.
Luthe, a sorcerer, heals Aerin by placing her in the Lake of Dreams, which causes her to become "not-quite-mortal". Luthe teaches her some magic and Aerin learns that it is the ''kelar'' that gives the royal family their magical abilities. Luthe then reveals that Aerin's mother and uncle, Agsded, along with Luthe, were students of a master mage. Agsded was the best student but used his abilities for evil. A prophecy foretold that one of Agsded's own blood would defeat him; in fear, Aerin's mother fled to the south to have a child (Aerin) with Arlbeth. When Aerin is fully recovered, Luthe sends her north with the dragon's red bloodstone and Gonturan, The Blue Sword, to challenge Agsded.
As she travels, Aerin is joined by armies of foltsza (large mountain cats) and yerigs (large wild dogs). After an extensive magical battle in which Agsded is eventually defeated and the Hero's Crown is recovered, Aerin is rescued by Luthe, who escorts Aerin back as far as his lake on her way home. They become romantically involved; Aerin leaves him but promises to return one day, as they are both immortal.
She returns to find the kingdom losing a battle with the Northern demons. Using Gonturan and her army of foltsza and yerigs, and giving the Hero's Crown to Tor, she helps defeat the Northerners, but at the cost of many lives, including Arlbeth's. Aerin, with Tor's help, finally rids the kingdom of Maur's evil skull, but in the process the skull turns Damar into a desert. Aerin marries Tor, whom she truly loves in her own way, and they help rebuild the kingdom together as its rulers.
Characters
Genre and style
''The Hero and the Crown'' was part of a shift in young adult fantasy in the late 20th century: "a sudden flowering of heroines", according to scholars
Michael Levy and
Farah Mendlesohn
Farah Jane Mendlesohn (born 27 July 1968) is a British academic historian, writer on speculative fiction, and active member of science fiction fandom. Mendlesohn is best-known for their 2008 book '' Rhetorics of Fantasy'', which classifies fant ...
. In many earlier works of
high fantasy
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...
, it was perceived as unrealistic for women to play a dominant role in a medieval world, and female characters were often absent, relegated to minor roles or seen only in group settings. This changed around a decade after the
women's movement of the 1960s, when writers such as
Patricia McKillip
Patricia Anne McKillip (February 29, 1948 – May 6, 2022) was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. She has been called "one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre", and wrote predominantly standalone fantasy n ...
, Robin McKinley and
Tamora Pierce
Tamora Pierce (born December 13, 1954) is an American writer of fantasy fiction for teenagers, known best for stories featuring young heroines. She made a name for herself with her first book series, '' The Song of the Lioness'' (1983–1988), wh ...
entered the genre. Scholar Leah Phillips calls the subgenre that emerged "mythopoeic YA", while Michele Fry describes the Damar tales as "feminized quests" that blended female leads with conventionally masculine
quest
A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...
narratives.
McKinley was influenced by the heroic quests of
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
, but felt disappointed by the
women in his work with the exception of
Éowyn
Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and '' ...
, who she admired. Referring to the characters she wanted to write as "girls who do things", she said in her
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...
speech that she had "wished desperately for books like ''Hero'' when I was young, books that didn’t require me to be untrue to my gender if I wished to fantasize about having my sort of adventures". Her protagonist Aerin is not a traditionally beautiful princess, but an athletic one; she engages in outdoor activities, in particular riding horses. Through Aerin's bond with a horse named Talat, the story features the motif of a tomboyish female lead with an animal companion, a recurring trait in McKinley's work.
Reception
In a retrospective essay about the Newbery Medal-winning books from 1976 to 1985, literary critic
Zena Sutherland
Zena Sutherland (1915 – June 12, 2002) was an American reviewer of children's literature. She is best known for her contributions to the ''Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books'' and as the author of the library science textbook ''Childr ...
wrote, "Long and intermittently intricate, the story impresses by its scope and sweep and by its narrative power rather than by the depth of its characterization; it has many familiar folkloric elements, but they are put together with considerable industry and some panache."
In a 2016 essay for ''
Tor.com
''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction.
From 20 ...
'', novelist Ilana C. Myer wrote, "Ultimately, the world McKinley creates through her inimitable prose, together with a memorable heroine, ensure that ''The Hero and the Crown'' remains a fantasy classic."
References
Works cited
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Robin McKinley's WebsiteRobin McKinley's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hero And The Crown, The
1984 American novels
American fantasy novels
Newbery Medal–winning works
High fantasy novels
American young adult novels
Young adult fantasy novels
Novels by Robin McKinley
Greenwillow Books books