The Spellcoats facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | Diana Wynne Jones |
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| Cover artist | Pamela Goodchild |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Dalemark Quartet |
| Genre | Children's, Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Macmillan Publishers |
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Publication date
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12 April 1979 |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 256 pp |
| ISBN | 0-333-25351-5 |
| OCLC | 59056937 |
| Preceded by | Drowned Ammet |
| Followed by | The Crown of Dalemark |
The Spellcoats (1979) is an exciting fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones. It's the third book published in her Dalemark Quartet series, but it tells the earliest story. This adventure happens thousands of years before the events in Cart and Cwidder and Drowned Ammet. This ancient time is often called "prehistoric Dalemark" because only old legends remember it later on. In this era, people don't have a written language. Instead, some know how to "write" by weaving stories into cloth using colorful threads.
Contents
What's the Story About?
The story is told by Tanaqui, a young woman from a small town called Shelling. Her town is right next to the Great River. Tanaqui and her four siblings look different from everyone else in Shelling. While others worship the River, her family has three special idols they call the Undying.
A Dangerous Journey Begins
When invaders, called the Heathens, arrive, Tanaqui and her siblings must escape. The Heathens look like Tanaqui's family, and the people of Shelling might harm them because of this. So, the five siblings flee their village to stay safe.
Tanaqui doesn't write her story in a diary. Instead, she weaves it into two special "spellcoats" she is making. These coats will hold the power of her story.
The First Spellcoat: Downriver Adventures
The first spellcoat tells how the five siblings—Gull, Robin, Hern, Tanaqui, and Duck—travel down the Great River in their boat. Along the way, they meet a mysterious magician named Tanamil. Then, they encounter Kars Adon, the king of the Heathens. Finally, at the sea, they face the evil mage Kankredin. Kankredin wants to control the River's power by taking over the children's souls. During this journey, Gull becomes trapped by a spell, like the Undying called the One, Tanamil, and the Lady.
The Second Spellcoat: Upriver and a Great Battle
The second spellcoat continues their tale. After escaping Kankredin, the siblings are captured by their own King, the leader of the native people. This King has lost his kingdom and is trying to avoid the Heathens. He keeps the children with him because he needs one of their family's idols, the powerful One, to help him.
As Tanaqui keeps weaving during their journey upriver with the King, she realizes something important. The spellcoats worn by Kankredin and his mages get their powers from the stories woven into them. Tanaqui becomes sure that the words she weaves into her own spellcoats will have the power to defeat Kankredin.
The Final Weave and a New World
Tanaqui's older brother, Hern, realizes she is the only one who can stop Kankredin with her weaving. He convinces both their people and the Heathens to fight together. They make a stand at the very beginning of the Great River. Their goal is to hold off Kankredin while Tanaqui finishes her second spellcoat.
Tanaqui weaves very quickly to catch up to the present moment. Finally, she completes her spellcoat during a powerful vision. In this vision, their oldest family idol, the One, rises up. It crushes Kankredin and shakes the land, changing its shape completely. Tanaqui's story ends before we know if she succeeds. She must finish the spellcoat and put it on the idol for the magic to work.
What Happened Next?
An extra section, written much later by Elthorar Ansdaughter, tells us what happened. The spellcoats were found hundreds of years later, around the time of Drowned Ammet and Cart and Cwidder. They were discovered in the mountains of North Dalemark. Elthorar notices how closely the characters in Tanaqui's story match the legends of Dalemark. She also tries to find the places Tanaqui described but can't. This makes the reader believe that Tanaqui's vision came true: Kankredin was defeated, and the One reshaped the land.
Like the other books in the Dalemark Quartet, The Spellcoats is a journey. During this journey, characters discover important truths. Magic isn't obvious at the start, but it slowly becomes a big part of the story.
Meet the Characters
Here are some of the main characters you'll meet in The Spellcoats:
Closti's Children
These are the five siblings born to Closti the Clam and Anoreth the Undying. They grew up in Shelling village. Even though their father never left Shelling, the children have blond hair like the Heathens.
- Gull – The second oldest. He went to war with his father but was the only one to return. When he came home, he seemed confused. Actually, he was under a spell by Kankredin, who wanted to use Gull's soul to reach the One.
- Robin – Tanaqui's older sister and the eldest of the five. She falls in love with Tanamil.
- Hern – Tanaqui's older brother. Hern is very practical and doesn't like to believe in magic at first. He becomes great friends with Kars Adon, who names Hern as his future leader. Hern later becomes King Hern, the first recorded king of Dalemark, mentioned in other books.
- Tanaqui – The person telling the story. Her name can mean "rushes" or "younger sister." She is the weaver of the spellcoats and later becomes one of the Undying, the witch Cennoreth, who appears in The Crown of Dalemark.
- Mallard – Everyone calls him "Duck." He's the youngest sibling. With help from Tanamil, he learns to use magic. Like Tanaqui, he is also one of the Undying and appears in The Crown of Dalemark.
The Heathens
These are foreigners with blond, bushy hair and dark skin who are invading Dalemark.
- Kars Adon – The young, injured king of the Heathens. He and Hern become close friends, respecting each other deeply. When Kars Adon dies, he leaves his kingdom to Hern.
- Kankredin – A very powerful and evil mage. He wants to conquer prehistoric Dalemark. He appears again and is finally defeated in The Crown of Dalemark.
Riverlands Natives
These are the original people living in prehistoric Dalemark.
- Closti the Clam – The father of Gull, Robin, Hern, Tanaqui, and Mallard. His wife is Anoreth the Undying.
- King of the Riverlands – Duck calls him "Old Smiler." His real name isn't given, but he plays a big part in the second spellcoat. He tries to trick Kars Adon, which leads to both kings being killed.
The Undying
These are strange, immortal beings with mysterious powers. Humans see them as gods, but they say they are not.
- Tanamil – A mysterious mage the family meets on their journey downriver. He helps them defeat Kankredin. His name means "younger brother," and he represents the Red River.
- Anoreth – The daughter of the One and the spirit of the River itself. The One was angry about Anoreth marrying Closti and stopped her from seeing her family. Her name means "unbound."
- The One – The most powerful of the three Undying in Tanaqui's family. Long ago, he was tricked and bound to the will of humans. Tanaqui's spellcoats free him to defeat Kankredin and reshape the land. He represents Dalemark itself.
