The Elves (Bernhard Hennen)

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Author Bernhard Hennen (right) signed Die Elfen at FeenCon 2007

Die Elfen is a German fantasy novel by Bernhard Hennen and James Sullivan from 2004. At the beginning and end of 2006 the sequels Elfenwinter and Elfenlicht , written exclusively by Bernhard Hennen, appeared in 2009, Elfenkönigin and at the end of 2007 and 2008 the three-part sequel Elfenritter . In addition, another independent book, Elfenlied, and the artbook Elfenwelten were published in 2009 . Between 2011 and 2016 the new pentalogy Dragon Elves was released , which takes place well before Die Elfen .

development

After Die Zwerge by Markus Heitz, the novel is another German answer to the successful novel Die Orks by the English author Stan Nicholls . This fantasy series was continued in the spring of 2006 by Christoph Hardebusch with his debut novel Die Trolle and a year later with Die Kobolde by Karl-Heinz Witzko . Although there was no agreement between the individual authors, each novel tries to single out a people of modern fantasy and to characterize them in the course of the plot. In doing so, some established characteristics of the respective people are always adopted, while others are supplemented, deepened or changed.

To the fictional universe of novels

The worlds, the world network and its creators

The action takes place on three different "planets"; the human world (Daia), the Broken World (formerly Nangog) and Albenmark , the home of the elves. In addition, two other worlds are mentioned, one of which is probably the moonlight (see below) and the second, Albenheim, is not described in detail. In addition, there are the otherworldly worlds of the gods of men, whereby each belief seems to have its own place (see "Goldene Hallen" / "Luth 'Hallen"). The first three worlds mentioned are connected by the so-called network of album paths , light paths in the nothing between the worlds. The album stars form the intersection of these paths and enable those who are familiar with magic to create gate-like openings through which one can get into the network and cover long distances between worlds or different places within a world in a short time. The more album paths meet in an album star, the more important this intersection point is, since it can be reached from more points, and the easier and safer it is to open a gate at this point and enter the paths without getting lost in nowhere to walk or jump back in time. The network of album paths was once woven by the creators of the elves, the albums , in the dark nothing between the worlds. These have since left Albenmark. In the novel trilogy, the albums are considered the founders of almost all peoples. The Broken World was once the theater of war between the albums and their deadly demonic enemy, the Devanthar . In this war, according to the legends, all Devanthar were destroyed and the Broken World was destroyed except for a few islands.

The people

The godlike people of the albums are considered to be the creators of the worlds, of the album paths and of numerous peoples who are known as album children and, with a few exceptions, inhabit the Albenmark . Although the term Alb comes from Germanic mythology and is inextricably linked with the elves and the dwarves, other peoples of our legendary world and even creatures from the Greek and Near Eastern or even Hindu cultures are counted among the album children.

  • Elves : The last race created from the albums. They are considered perfect, which is why in almost all regions of the Albenmark they represent the ruling class with the nobility - a role for which they are despised by most of the other album children due to their arrogance. The elves are also divided into a few other races , such as the Normirga , an extremely magical elven people in the far north, from which Emerelle , the queen of the Albenmark,also descends . Other elven peoples are the Maurawan , a forest elf people in the far north, and the free of Valemas , an elven people from the desert who left the Albenmark because they did not want to submit to the rule of Emerelles.
  • Dwarfs : The children of the dark albums , originally at home in the Iolids, a mountain range on the edge of the heartland, were the first people to leave the Albenmark so as not to bow to Emerelle's rule, and have lived in the human world for thousands of years. The elven community of Free Valemas soon followed their example.
  • Trolls : The trolls are the most bellicose people on the albums and are originally from the icy Snaiwamark region. After two cruel wars, they were driven from their ancestral homeland by the elves over a century before the beginning of the story and settled in the north of the fjord country (human world). They are not described as dull or deeply evil, even if they have a penchant for human and elven flesh. In the novel cycle they take on roughly the role of the missing orcs, although they are significantly larger and stronger.
  • Fairies : meadow and meadow fairies are described as sociable, sensitive, but also talkative and fluttery contemporaries. They are hardly bigger than dragonflies and live in harmony with nature, which is also reflected in their poetry.
  • Goblins and Gnomes : A small, very heterogeneous people who are usually disparaged by the elves. The palaces of the elves and the castles of the trolls were built by goblin servants or slaves - one of the many reasons why the goblins are not to speak well of the powerful album children, because although they are known for their magical and craft skills, they take in the the social fabric of the Albenmark ranks low.
    • Lutin : Fox-headed goblins, notorious for their black humor and pranks. Since they are also decried as thieves, they are despised by most of the other album children. Their thieving abilities are based primarily on their magical talent: On the one hand, they master the transformation of shapes, on the other hand, they understand how hardly any other people can wander the album paths. Nevertheless, most of the Lutin live nomadically in Windland, a region in the south of the Snaiwamark.
    • Holde : A goblin people from the forest sea, a mangrove landscape in the south of the Albenmark.
    • Spider Men: A goblin people known for their climbing skills and for their unconditional loyalty to well-heeled clients. Many spider men are considered ruthless mercenaries.
    • Mauslinge : A people of goblins that got their name from their small size of about thumb length.
  • Selkies : Creatures of the sea - seals or otters that shed their animal skin and transform into elf-like creatures.
  • Centaurs : The "horse men" are divided into several peoples who are widespread in the Dailos and in the wide steppes of the windland south of the Snaiwamark, where they live nomadically.
  • Minotaurs : bull-headed giants that inhabit the moon mountains in the south of the Windland. They are about as big and strong as trolls.
  • Fauns : Buck-legged, horned beings that, like the Centaurs, come from Dailos.
  • Nymphs : nature spirits gifted with magic.
    • Oreads : shy mountain nymphs who live in the Iolids, the former home of the dwarfs.
    • Apsaras : water nymphs who live in the extreme south of the Albenmark and are known for their visionary powers. Although their role models come from the Hindu culture, they are assigned to the nymphs in the novel series.
  • Gorgons : A people-like people, but the abdomen is that of a snake ( see also Naga ). The heads of the mostly female Gorgons sprout snakes instead of hair. It is said that their gaze can turn living beings to stone. They are also considered deadly archers.
  • Djinns : A human-like, magic-gifted people who inhabit the deserts of the Albenmark. They are considered wise and gifted with magic, but they rarely show up. They guard their name like their greatest treasure, for whoever names them by this they are obliged to serve.
  • Lamassu : Winged creatures whose massive bull bodies sprout the wedge-bearded head of a human being (the counterpart to the Minotaur seen in this way). Lamassu (also Shedu ) are figures from the Mesopotamian culture and, as colossal statues, often lined boulevards, gates and palaces.
  • Black- backed Eagle: Huge, intelligent eagles with telepathic abilities.
  • Dragons : The dragons were also created by the albums as governor of album marks. There are several subspecies that differ in size, intelligence, and their ability to work magic. The most powerful and cleverest are the seven sky snakes that formerly ruled Albenmark. Due to the war with the Devanthar, internal quarrels and battles with the elves, they are completely extinct.

The souls of most of the album children are reborn in a new body until they have found their destination and “go into the moonlight ” (cf. Buddhist nirvana ). Elves hardly age after their childhood and can therefore only perish through violence. Elves who are reborn all too often have a bad rap for seemingly often failing to fulfill their destiny. Reborn trolls and dwarves always receive the position of their previous incarnation . Most album children do not remember their previous lives, but some memories return over time or through special circumstances.

Other peoples whose origins are not explained in detail are:

  • Devanthar : A demonic people from the prehistoric times of Albenmark. While the albums strived to create a perfect world without change, the Devanthar saw constant change as essential and tried to interfere with their pursuit of perfection wherever possible. The Devanthar are masters of magic and deception and can change their shape at will. They are very difficult to kill and often give off a sulfur odor when they appear. Only one single Devanthar survived the war with the albums, who is also the main antagonist in The Elves . The Devanthar have many references to oriental mythology. ( See also: Daeva )
  • Yingiz : A people against whom the albums were at war. But since these were already weakened by the war against the Devanthar, they were unable to destroy the Yingiz and therefore banished them to nothing, the void between the worlds. After this weakening, the albums withdrew from the world. The Yingiz, on the other hand, after their defeat by the albums only disembodied shadows, are regarded as a people of pure malice, who feed on the fear of other beings, as greedy and selfish. They are able to steal life force from other beings if they deviate from the album path. Through a ritual union with a human or an elf, a Shi-Handan ( "soul eater" ) can be created, ghostly wolves the size of horses. Unlike the Yingiz, they are able to wander between worlds and can actively steal all life force and soul from living beings.
  • Humans : creatures created by the Devanthar. Unlike the albums, they intervened in people's lives. Until the Devanthar was destroyed by the albums, the Devanthar ruled over people like gods. Almost every Devanthar appointed an immortal who ruled over a people and was accountable only to his godfather or godmother. After the Great War and the destruction of Nangog (the Broken World), these structures collapsed, but traces have survived to the present day.

connections

References to the rest of Bernhard Hennen's work

Motifs from the Elven novels can be found in some early Das Schwarze Auge (DSA) -related role - play publications , novels and stories by Bernhard Hennens. Here in particular , the Phileasson saga that Gezeitenwelt (dominance of a powerful monotheistic religion that resembles Christianity) and three nights in Fasar / Raven Storm to name (for example in the form of the existence of a mysterious elf nation that lives in the desert). The parallels to the Phileasson saga (DSA) are particularly striking; Recurring themes are the clash of an elven culture with a Viking culture (throughout) or the diaspora of an entire people, the collapse of an elven high culture, a Broken World ( islands in the fog ) etc. The Phileasson saga can be interpreted as a literary test field in which Bernhard Hennen developed his ideas about the people of the elves, before he took them up again over ten years later in The Elves .

action

The actions of Die Elfen , Elfenwinter , Elfenlicht and Elfenritter overlap both in the narrated period and in the plot itself, overlap and relate to each other, so that they are presented here chronologically.

The Elves ("first" part)

The elves Farodin and Nuramon have been courting their Minnestress Noroelle at the court of the elf queen Emerelle, which is not unusual among elves. One day Mandred Torgridson escapes a demon who is half man, half boar and threatens his home village Firnstayn, by chance from the human world to Albenmark. He asks the elves help against Manneber , but Emerelle demanded payment in exchange to be allowed to the education of Mandreds assume yet unborn son. For the good of his homeland, Mandred reluctantly agrees.

With Farodin, Nuramon and a group of elves hunters Mandred returns to the human world, where the three protagonists the Manneber finally at rest in a mountain cave to fight. The demon, who turns out to be the last remaining Devanthar after a huge battle against the albums, fakes his death for them, but in reality flees to Albenmark and there seduces Noroelle in the guise of Nuramon.

The son, whom the elf gives birth to soon after, is recognized by Emerelle as the child of Devanthar and sentenced to death. Out of love for her son, Noroelle flees into the human world and hides him there from the queen's captors. Emerelle then banishes Noroelle to a part of the Broken World that is only accessible from the human world. Emerelle blocks the only album path to her exile by a powerful spell. Noroelle accepts the punishment, but her son grows up hidden among the people.

By a trick of Devanthar, decades have passed when Mandred, Farodin and Nuramon managed to escape from the ice cave and return to Firnstayn. The three go to Albenmark to report the hunt to the Queen. There they learn of Devanthar's ruse and Noroelle's banishment. In order to overturn the sentence against Noroelle, the three of them go to look for the child of Devanthar together with Mandred's son, who was raised by the elves and now bears the name Alfadas (Albensohn).

After a long search in the human world, they finally find it in the form of the spiritual miracle healer Guillaume, whose peculiar magic is unintentionally deadly on elves. Contrary to the Queen's instructions, Nuramon does not want to kill the son Noroelle, but on the run from suddenly appearing soldiers looking for the faith healer, the latter is violently killed.

The search party manages to escape and return to Firnstayn in the Fiordland, where Alfadas decides to stay with the humans while Mandred continues to hike with the elves. Back in Albenmark, Emerelle is angry that the elves did not kill the demon son themselves and prophesies dire consequences for all worlds. She also refuses to release Noroelle. Farodin, Nuramon and Mandred leave Albenmark to look for a way to free Noroelle from the Queen's spell.

Elven winter

In the following winter, later remembered by the peoples involved as the Elven Winter, the trolls send a mighty fleet to Albenmark and try to recapture the cold Snaiwamark from which they were once driven. At the first encounter between elves and trolls in the port city of Vahan Calyd, Emerelle is badly wounded and falls into a kind of paralysis, but can be rescued by her faithful swordmaster Ollowain and the seedy sorceress Lyndwyn and brought to the human world after Firnstayn.

Meanwhile, the powerful troll shaman Skanga creates two dangerous creatures, the Shi-Handan , through connections from nowhere, soul- devouring shadow creatures , the Yingiz , and the souls of two captive elf lords. They are supposed to bring death and confusion among the elves and their allies and also to track down emeralds.

Alfadas Mandredson, who, like his father once, has risen to the jarl of the village of Firnstayn, is commissioned by the king of the fjord country to support the elves with a small army in the war against the rapidly advancing trolls. While Emerelle remains as if in a deep sleep in Firnstayn, the human army joins the defense of the fortress Phylangan , an elven stronghold on the edge of the Snaiwamark, which was formerly owned by the trolls. Although it initially looks as if the elves are winning the battle, Orgrim, the leader of the pack, enters the fortress through an album star and causes a massacre. This allows him to let the army of trolls into the fortress and eventually take it. For 22 days, the humans, elves, centaurs and goblins wage bitter retreat battles. When the end is near, they decide who should flee and who should stay and buy the refugees some more time. With a goblin letting boiling water vapor into the mountain, the very last defenders can save themselves shortly before the trolls' final victory. Ollowain holds the position as long as he can and then has to flee anyway.

But when he returns to save Lyndwyn, who has become his lover, he has to realize that Phylangan was built over a huge volcanic vent and that the elven mages, led by Lyndwyn, are desperately defending the fortress from the rising magma. Ollowain takes the weakened elf with him and flees in a daring sleigh ride from the fortress, which is destroyed by the eruption of the volcano. When Ollowain loses consciousness in an accident, Lyndwyn confronts the approaching trolls and is tortured by Birga, Skanga's shaman student, and left in the cold. She can hold out until Ollowain finds her to say goodbye to him and go into the moonlight.

During Alfadas's absence, one of the Shi-Handan created by Skanga enters the human world and claims his victims among the fjord countries in the most cruel way. The priest Gundar believes in a curse of his gods and leaves Firnstayn to sacrifice to them. Alfadas' son Ulric illegally follows the priest, to whom the god of fate Luth reveals the hiding place of an old chain mail, with the help of which he is supposed to defeat the beast. When they are about to go back to the village, it starts to snow, Ulric sprains his foot and Gundar carries him all the way home. They come just in time to save Ulric's family and the unconscious elf queen from the Shi-Handan. The old priest is killed, but the Shi-Handan is also destroyed, because, as it turns out later, only the iron forged by people can harm the Yingiz.

Despite their victory in Phylangan, the trolls suffer heavy losses and are forced to retreat to the Snaiwamark. In the course of the war, however, they recognize in the pack leader Orgrim, who shows himself to be the most accomplished general of the trolls, the rebirth of one of their former dukes and leave him the fortress Nachtzinne north of Firnstayn in the human world. Under pressure from the jealous Troll King, an incompetent military leader is tasked with devastating the fjord country as revenge for the interference of the people. Orgrim is placed at his side as a subordinate advisor. Asla, Alfada's wife, persuades the villagers, who don't want to believe her at first, to flee. They move to Honnigsvald in the hope that they will be safe there. Once there, they find an old friend of Alfadas'. He shows them that the walls of the city are rotten and brittle. Asla buys many sleighs from a dealer in order to escape. She also tries to persuade other refugees, but is then forced by the king's soldiers to stop. Nevertheless, she and many refugees flee up onto the ice. There Ulric notices that his blind friend Halgard has not come along. He jumps off the car and goes back to Honnigsvald to find her. When Asla notices this, she sends the bloodhound blood to look for him. The elf Yiliana also goes to look for him. People notice that not only are they being chased by trolls, but trolls are also coming towards them at the same time. Under Asla's leadership, the refugees entrench themselves in a mountain valley that is fortified by two strong palisades. Although the refugees are inferior to the trolls in every way, they can hold out for the time being. When the trolls have broken through the last stockade, the awakened Emerelle Orgrim surrenders. In return, Orgrim vows to leave the surviving humans in peace. Asla does not trust the word of the trolls and flees to the mountains with the other refugees. In fact, the troll general breaks Orgrim's promise and attacks. Orgrim, however, refuses to accept this attack.

When Alfadas arrives with his army in the Fiordland, the trolls have already drawn a swath of devastation. You can find Ulric's dagger in Honnigsvald, and Alfadas thinks it was eaten by the trolls. However, Ulric managed to escape with blood, Yiliana and Halgard. Yiliana is badly injured. When they are about to freeze to death, Gundar's ghost appears and leads them into an underwater cave. But a troll named Gran finds her and injures Yiliana even more severely. However, Ulric manages to kill the troll with the sword of a legendary king. At their last gathering point, humans and elves finally manage to defeat the trolls with combined forces. Alfadas is named King of the Fiordland, but he loses his wife and daughter Kadlin, who have fled with the other refugees to the cold mountain forests, where only very few were able to escape the trolls. Ulric and his girlfriend Halgard are found drowned, but the reawakened Emerelle is able to bring both of them back to life with the help of her album stone . Asla and her daughter Kadlin and their former lover Kalf managed to escape and are now hiding.

Elf light

The trolls have regrouped in the Snaiwamark and are approaching the Emerelles Palace via the network of album paths. In her desperate situation, the elf queen cuts the path on which the troll army is through the power of her album stone and throws thousands of troll warriors into nowhere. But their action has unexpected consequences; the album paths are surrounded by a spell that keeps the shadowy creatures living in nowhere, the Yingiz, from attacking travelers or crossing the gates to the worlds. By cutting a path, Emerelle created a hole in this shield that some Yingiz might use to get to Albenmark. Since the queen cannot defeat the shadows and more and more of them find their way into the elven world, she sends Ganda from the Lutin people, goblins with fox heads, together with the sword master Ollowain to the hidden library of Iskendria to find a solution .

The troll shaman Skanga can save herself and the troll king with whom she led the army out of nowhere, but the mind of the ruler has been destroyed by the Yingiz. Skanga kills her king in order to save him the life in his broken body through a rebirth and at the same time to seize power over the trolls himself until the reborn king is old enough to rule himself.

Meanwhile, Ulric, the son of the Fiordland king Alfadas, meets Brother Jules, Devanthar, who is disguised as a priest of the young Tjured faith, on a nocturnal excursion. The priest confuses the boy with remarks about the superiority of his god Tjured and gives him three figures depicting Ulric, his friend Halgard and his dog Blood. Halgard finds a thread in each of the wooden figures, which she interprets as the threads of life that, according to the Fjordlanders' belief, are woven by the god of fate Luth. Blood's thread is only a little shorter than that of the two children, which leads them to believe that their lives will be only a little longer than the dog's.

In Iskendria, the Devanthar almost causes Ollowain in the guise of a librarian to go insane by asking him specific questions about the terrible events of the Battle of Phylangan, while Ganda finds a promising, if dangerously sought-after book on the Album Paths and the Yingiz . Since the shape shifter cannot open the book himself and cannot bring Ganda to it either, he takes tougher measures. The Queen's ambassadors have to flee via the album paths, Ganda is seriously injured and therefore makes a mistake opening the gate, but can steal the book unnoticed.

A leap in time only lets Ganda and Ollowain step out of the network of album paths again fifteen years later . When the sword master notices that Ganda has stolen a book from the library, which the administrators of Iskendria will repay with death, Ollowain takes the book and leaves the injured Lutin with a goblin sorceress for her own protection.

The trolls have recovered from their losses during the Elven Winter in recent years and are preparing to conquer Windland, home of the Centaurs, south of the Snaiwamark. The alliance of elves, centaurs, goblins and minotaurs is numerically far inferior to the trolls and is preparing for a bitter defeat, which appears inevitable due to the long absence of their capable general Ollowain.

When he arrived at the Emerelle court, the sword master chivalrously claims that he stole the book from the library. Although the elf queen has long recognized Ollowain as the reincarnation of her former lover Falrach, of which the sword master obviously has no idea, she bows to the verdict of the librarians and orders Ollowain to lead the army in Windland and to find an honorable death in the battle. Ollowain orders a surprise attack on the troll army, which ends in a bloody slaughter.

Ganda has meanwhile joined a rebellious goblin organization that wants to overthrow the upper class of the elves in Albenmark in order to put an end to their oppression by the elves. As a supply procurer and transporter, they therefore support the advance of the trolls in the windland. After the battle, Ganda finds the fatally wounded Ollowain and takes him to the goblin camp to nurse him back to health. With a dark spell, Elijah, the leader of the rebels, secretly erases the swordmaster's memory, who from now on pulls claves with the goblins as servants.

Despite the numerical superiority of the troll army, their losses are so great that Skanga persuades Duke Orgrim to command the troll army, return to Albenmark and take over the supreme command of the troll army, orders Emerelle to abandon all elven principalities on the trolls route and the troops in Herzland Albenmarks to flock near their palace. But many of the princes defy the order and instead plan an attack on the Duchy of Orgrim in the human world, which is to lure the dangerous general from the front.

Meanwhile, believed dead Kadlin, daughter has returned the king Alfadas, unrecognized and their own origins uncertain after Firnstayn and joins the army of the king, which want to build a fortress on the border to the Duchy Orgrim that since Elfenwinter lives in the truce with the humans . There Kadlin learns from a former friar of the Tjured Faith that a certain brother Jules is using the young religion to incite people against the elves and at the same time tries to create a Shi-Handan who will destroy the album children and the Yingiz the way to Albenmark should show. At the request of the elves, the Fjordlanders join the attack on the Nachtzinne, which succeeds with great losses. When Orgrim returns and realizes that the cold-hearted elf lord Elodrin has cruelly executed even his wives and children, he recaptures the night pinnacle and takes Elodrin and most of his entourage prisoner. Kadlin escapes to Albenmark on the ship Count Fenryls, who had stood against Elodrin. In addition to King Alfadas, many people also die. Ulric and Halgard flee with the survivors, but are caught by trolls on a frozen lake. Before the two sacrifice each other, pierce the ice cover of the lake and drag the trolls down with them, Ulric names Kadlin as the new queen of the fjord country, because Halgard has recognized the young woman's true identity.

Emerelle, who has been unable to leave her castle since the demons invaded, discovers the splinters of a broken album stone in the cover of the book that Ollowain had brought with her . The elf sorceress Alathaia recommends sacrificing elven children to the queen in order to put the stone back together. Because only equipped with a second album stone , Emerelle would have the power to close the gate to nowhere and send the Yingiz back into the darkness. But Emerelle doesn't have the heart.

In addition, the trolls stand on the border with the heartland. A duel should decide the throne of Albenmarks. While Emerelle puts himself to the fight, her opponent is none other than Ollowain, who has lost his memory. The queen refuses to fight her lover and surrenders, knowing that the princes of Albenmark will predominantly elect her and not the young troll king at the next royal election. With the magic of her album stone , she tries to revive Klave's memories of his previous lives and actually manages to call back her lover Falrach. At the same moment, however, a huge number of Yingiz 'find the gap in the protective shield of the album paths.

Trolls and elves must now team up to avoid ruin. Since Skanga also has an album stone , the opening into nowhere can be closed again, but in order to drive the Yingiz out of Albenmark, the alliance needs a fallen human hero. Since only one person can get into the halls of the god Luth, Kadlin is supposed to go to the dead at short notice. In Luth's halls, Ulric declares himself ready to drive out the Yingiz and save Albenmark, even if it will cost him eternal life in Luth's halls. Upon her return, Kadlin becomes Queen of the Fiordland.

The Elves ("second" part)

In their search for a way to free Noroelle, Farodin, Nuramon and Mandred often become victims of time on their travels over the album paths, as the two elves have only poor command of the gate magic. When they return to Firnstayn, the village has long since become a fortified city, ruled by a king and Mandred has become a legendary hero.

Soon after, Farodin and Mandred separate from Nuramon. While Nuramon gets to know the children of the dark albums, the dwarves, and learns of his past lives and his destiny, Farodin and Mandred penetrate the night pinnacle to free the prisoners of the last troll war. In addition, Farodin has had a blood feud with Orgrim's soul for centuries. However, his attempt to stab the Duke fails and almost costs him his life. Another leap in time makes Nuramon wait fifty years for her return.

The religion of the god Tjured, who also belonged to Noroelle's son Guillaume, is transformed by his death and the influences of brother Jules into a fanatical doctrine that wants to convert all people of other faiths and gradually brings the kingdoms of men under their control. The Tjured followers are led by other sons of demons, whom the hidden Devanthar fathered with human women. In addition, the demon teaches people to use the network of album paths for their own purposes and changes it himself with his album stone .

Finally, the attack by Tjured supporters on Firnstayn is imminent. However, an alliance of elves, trolls and fjord countries can repel the attackers. After a battle is won, Farodin, Nuramon and Mandred place the Devanthar in a shard of the Broken World, destroy him and take his Albenstein , whose power would enable them to free Noroelle. But again the demon outwits them, because, although he himself has been destroyed, his magic makes the time for companions pass even faster, and they have to watch the centuries fly by.

Elven Knights ( The Ordensburg , The Albenmark , The Fjordland )

The trilogy takes place towards the end of the millennium-long timeframe set by “The Elves”, about four centuries after the companions went out after the sea battle to kill the Devanthar. The Tjured Church has now conquered many countries and is about to overrun the fjord country. The books describe this fight from the point of view of Gishild, the last queen of the Fiordland, and from the point of view of Luc, a novice knight in the service of the Church. Thanks to a mysterious gift, he was the only resident of the village of Lanzac to survive the plague, and it turns out that it is the same kind of magic that Saint Guillaume used to heal people and kill album children - the legacy of Devanthar is more pronounced in him than in any other living person. At first , because of his unusual fate, he is thought to be a changeling , but despite these doubts, the knightess Michelle de Droy decides that he should be trained as a knight and serve the Order of the Blood Tree, the New Knighthood.

When Gishild was kidnapped as a young girl by Lilianne, Michelle's sister, in order to make the king of the fjords docile, she was brought to the Valloncour peninsula, where she - like Luc - was educated in the school of the New Knighthood in the spirit of the Tjured Church shall be. A clever move, because she creates an emotional bond with her knightly order and thus with the Tjuredkirche. Luc, with whom she falls in love and who reciprocates her love, plays an essential role - this is also planned by the powerful intriguers of the knightly order, because Gishild gets deeper and deeper into the pull of her enemies, whom she is now increasingly learning to appreciate.

What Gishild does not know: Her father died trying to free his daughter - a well-kept secret, also in the Fiordland, because the Queen is not a Fjordlander and the only heir to the throne has disappeared. The elves spread the rumor that the king is still looking for Gishild, and stage the coronation of his wife as the undisputed ruler of the Fiordland, so that internal rivalries do not split the country. The celebrations are still taking place on the battlefield, and Emerelle is also present to strengthen the bond between the Fiordland and Albenmark. So it happens that some imprisoned knights in the service of the Tjuredkirche commit an assassination attempt on the elf queen by using the same magic as Guillaume, but Emerelle survives by luck.

After a few years, however, information about her whereabouts reached Albenmark; Gishild is freed by the elves, returns to the Fiordland, where she learns that her father has died, marries the Jarlsson Erek and fights as queen against the overpowering Tjuredkirche. However, neither she nor Luc can endure the separation from each other - and this proves to be extremely dangerous, especially for the Fiordland.

With the help of Ahtap, a lutin who was captured and made submissive by the New Knighthood, the knights, under the leadership of the scheming primate Honoré, manage to penetrate Vahan Calyd, the coronation city of Albenmarks, during the Festival of Lights, and attack the To perpetrate the noblest of the album children, who claim countless lives. Luc plays an essential role in this; by using the "gift" while the order fleet passes the Albenstern, he destroys the network between the worlds and thus creates a rift. Emerelle survives the attack by chance and has the captured knights executed - Luc is also pushed into the water to meet the sharks, but is secretly rescued by the queen's servants. Through the connection with a water nymph , his blood is purified so that he will never again be able to kill elves with his gift. At the same time he is given the gift of breathing underwater. He stays in Albenmark for some time and learns there that the elves are anything but malicious demons, but Gishild, who has received the news of his execution, thinks him dead. Out of anger and desperation, she banishes all the album children from her kingdom and stands on the verge of giving up the fight against the Tjuredkirche.

Honoré, who hoped to rise to the rank of seven church princes, the so-called heptarchs, through his skilful move, returns to the human world with confidence. The Heptarchs have not yet heard of the raid on Albenmark, and so the Primarch thinks he has a good chance when he arrives at Aniscans, the seat of the Tjuredkirche, with boxes full of elven gold and the crown of Albenmark. There, however, his actions are viewed as high treason, the knight is captured, tortured and consumed by gangrene while he is alive. The New Knighthood is accused of heresy, expropriated and subordinated to the Order of the Ashen Tree - their worst rival for military power within the Tjured Church. As Honoré's official execution approaches, Honoré remembers that he, too, has the “gift” of Saint Guillaume and heals himself in front of the assembled dignitaries by robbing the elven gold of its magic. Gilles de Montcalm, the chief among the heptarchs, sees this as an opportunity; he wants to forego the execution of the traitor if the traitor can cure his suffering. Honoré, deprived of his base of power, agrees to at least save his life. A fateful collaboration begins ...

Eventually Gishild learns that Luc is still alive. Although he still serves Tjured in his heart, he joins Gishild, in whom the fighting spirit has reawakened. But as Queen of the Fiordland, she cannot afford a love triangle, and even if her heart beats for Luc, she is relieved that the father of her son Snorri, whom she gives birth to soon after, is undoubtedly her own husband Erek. As the attack on the Tjured Church is within reach, the elves are brought back to the Fiordland to begin its defense.

Lilianne, who serves the Order of the Ash Tree after the dissolution of the New Knighthood, devises a plan of attack on the fjord country with her former competitors. When the Order's fleet attacks in two places at the same time and Gonthabu and Aldarvik fall, the war has already been won, but the last free Fjordlanders entrench themselves in firn stay and offer bitter resistance. Ultimately, Ollowain decides on his own initiative to bring the people to Albenmark and wrests the promise of Orgrim, the troll king, to give them a new home. But when people are just crossing the Albenstern before Firnstayn, the catastrophe happens: Honoré, who traveled to the Fiordland in the wake of the Supreme Heptarch to experience the fall of the last free kingdom, uses his gift to - like Luc before - that To destroy the structure between the worlds and to heal the heptarch. Although Honoré loses his mind because of this, he has created a rift between the worlds that opens the way to Albenmark for the Knights of the Jurassic.

After all, Luc, Gishild and the last of the fjord countries have to realize that they have to give up firn stays. They flee over the Habichtpass, but there most of them are surprised by the "white death". Gishild's husband and her son die, she herself loses her feet, and Luc also seems to be dead, drowned in the cloud-mirror lake. When Mandred Torgridson, her legendary ancestor, appears on behalf of Emerelles to bring the last Fjordlanders to Albenmark, she joins him with resignation. After all, the last battle in which Ollowain dies is fought and Albenmark is finally separated from the human world by an Emerelles magic. Gishild thinks he is alone until Luc appears, who has survived the gift of breathing underwater, which the water nymph once gave him and with an elf just escaped to the Albenmark before the worlds were separated.

The elves ("third" part)

Nuramon has managed to break the spell with the power of the Alben Stone and brings his companions back to the Fiordland. A lot has changed here. The Tjured supporters have conquered Firnstayn and a huge crack has formed above the village, which merges the human world and Albenmark.

When they return to Albenmark, the three jump in time again. The Tjured supporters are already on the border with the heartland and are preparing to attack the elves, whom they have always believed to be responsible for the death of the martyr Guillaume due to the influences of the Devanthar.

In the final battle, all of the Alben children, including the trolls and the dwarves who have returned to Albenmark, fight together with the fjord lands against the Tjur knights. They buy the time so that the most powerful among the album children - Emerelle, Yulivee, who received the album stone from Devanthar - have the time to use their album stones to separate all connections between Albenmark and the other worlds. In addition, the already occupied areas will also be separated. Mandred is incurably injured in battle and is royally buried. The fjord countries get the right to settle in Albenmark. Farodin and Nuramon ultimately receive Emerelle's blessing for Noroelle's rescue, but will have no way of returning as the album path will be severed behind them. They reach Noroelle and she finally decides on Farodin, whereupon the two go into the moonlight . Nuramon remains as a lonely, but not too unhappy wanderer in the human world, knowing that his soul cannot be reborn when he dies. So the elf has to find his destiny to go into the moonlight .

literature

  • Bernhard Hennen & James Sullivan : Die Elfen (November 2004) - 910 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 3-453-53001-2
  • Bernhard Hennen: Elfenwinter (January 2006) - 891 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 3-453-52137-4
  • Bernhard Hennen: Elfenlicht (November 2006) - 926 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 3-453-52218-4
  • Bernhard Hennen: Elfenritter Volume 1, Die Ordensburg (November 2007) - 637 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 3-453-52333-4
  • Bernhard Hennen: Elfenritter Volume 2, Die Albenmark (February 2008) - 604 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 3-453-52342-3
  • Bernhard Hennen: Elfenritter Volume 3, Das Fjordland (November 2008) - 729 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 978-3-453-52343-2
  • Bernhard Hennen: Elfenlied (February 2009) - 317 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 978-3-453-52422-4
  • Bernhard Hennen: Elfenkönigin (October 2009) - 909 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 978-3-453-53340-0
  • Bernhard Hennen: Elfenwelten (December 2009) - 96 pages, Zauberfeder-Verlag (Braunschweig) - ISBN 978-3-938922-22-4
  • Bernhard Hennen: Drachenelfen (October 2011) - 1068 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 978-3-453-26658-2
  • Bernhard Hennen: Drachenelfen-Die Windgängerin (October 2012) - 878 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 978-3-453-53345-5
  • Bernhard Hennen: Drachenelfen-Die gefesselte Göttin (November 2013) - 954 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 978-3-453-53346-2
  • Bernhard Hennen: Drachenelfen-Die last Eiskrieger (2015) - 845 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 978-3-453-27001-5
  • Bernhard Hennen: Dragon Elf Heaven in Flames (March 2016) - 1104 pages, Heyne Verlag - ISBN 978-3-453-26889-0
  • James Sullivan: Nuramon (November 2013) - 832 pages, Heyne Verlag (Munich) - ISBN 978-3-453-52994-6

Dubbing

  • Die Elfen (October 2006) - 6 CDs, read by Hans Peter Hallwachs, Publisher: Dhv der Hörverlag; Edition: Abridged reading, ISBN 978-3-89940-973-4 .
  • Elfenwinter (May 2007) - 6 CDs, read by Hans Peter Hallwachs, Publisher: Dhv der Hörverlag; Edition: Abridged reading, ISBN 978-3-86717-080-2 .
  • Elfenlicht (August 2007) - 6 CDs, read by Hans Peter Hallwachs, Publisher: Dhv der Hörverlag; Edition: Abridged reading, ISBN 978-3-86717-094-9 .
  • Elfenkönigin (2009) - 6 CDs, read by Hans Peter Hallwachs, Publisher: Dhv der Hörverlag; Edition: Abridged reading, ISBN 978-3-86717-170-0 .
  • Knights of the Elves 1. The Ordensburg (November 2007) - 6 CDs, read by Hans Peter Hallwachs, Publisher: Dhv der Hörverlag; Edition: Abridged reading, ISBN 978-3-86717-173-1 .
  • Elfenritter 2. Die Albenmark (March 2008) - 6 CDs, read by Hans Peter Hallwachs, publisher: Dhv der Hörverlag; Edition: Abridged reading, ISBN 978-3-86717-184-7 .
  • Elfenritter 3. Das Fjordland (March 2009) - 6 CDs, read by Hans Peter Hallwachs, Publisher: Dhv der Hörverlag; Edition: Abridged reading, ISBN 978-3-86717-462-6 .
  • The Elves - Episode 01: The Fall of Vahan Calyd (September 2011) - 1 CD, radio play, episode (Universal Music), 0602527772875
  • The Elves - Episode 02: Firnstayn's Children (September 2011) - 1 CD, radio play, episode (Universal Music), 0602527772882
  • Die Elfen - Episode 03: Königstein (September 2011) - 1 CD, radio play, episode rich (Universal Music), 0602527772899
  • Die Elfen - Episode 04: The Curse of the Destiny Weaver (February 2012) - 1 CD, radio play, episode (Universal Music), 0602527772905
  • Die Elfen - Episode 05: Elfenwinter (April 2012) - 1 CD, radio play, episode (Universal Music), 0602527772912
  • The Elves - Episode 06: The Golden Paths (May 2013) - 1 CD, radio play, episode rich (Universal Music), 0602537253944
  • The Elves - Episode 07: The Library of Iskendria (August 2013) - 1 CD, radio play, episode (Universal Music), 0602537253968
  • The Elves - Episode 08: The Battle of the Murder Stone (November 2013) - 1 CD, radio play, episode (Universal Music), 0602537390281
  • Die Elfen - Episode 09: Tod in der Nachtzinne (February 2014) - 1 CD, radio play, episode (Universal Music), 0602537390298
  • Die Elfen - Episode 10: Deadfire (May 2014) - 1 CD, radio play, episode (Universal Music), 0602537579303
  • Die Elfen - Episode 11: Elfenlicht (August 2014) - 1 CD, radio play, episode rich (Universal Music), 00602537579327
  • The Elves - Episode 12: The Black Knight (June 2016) - 1 CD, Zaubermond (Indigo), 3954269724
  • The Elves - Episode 13: The Sound of Lutin (September 2016) - 1 CD, Zaubermond (Indigo), 3954269732
  • The Elves - Episode 14: The Traitor (December 2016) - 1 CD, Zaubermond (Indigo), 3954269740

Web links

swell

  1. ^ Hennen, Bernhard , Auf: www.epenschmiede.de .
  2. ↑ Hennen, Bernhard