Being the typical teenager I am, I am forced into reading a certain amount of books per quarter of school. This term, I'm reading the Fantasy catergory, and picked "The Lost Years of Merlin" by T.A. Barron as my choice. This proved to have a very interesting connection to Myth, as you will see . . .
So I'm reading along, nothing too myth-related happens, when all of the sudden, a certain name jumps out at me: Rhia. This sounds remarkably close to the Trows' (is the plural 'Trø'?) ancient city of Rhiannon, and lo and behold, two or so lines down, there it is. Here is the exact passage, on page 112:
"Your name is Rhia?"
Again she started walking, passing through a strand of long-needled pines, sturdy and straight. "Rhiannon is my full name, though I don't know why. The trees call me Rhia."
Waaaaait a minute, TREES? I don't know if this is simply me, but does this not scream "Forest Giants" to you? But then again . . . why would they call her Rhia and not her full name? Maybe it is too painful to hear the name of the entities who "poisoned the soul of iron".
And now a little more background. Turns out that there used to be giants in this land, with skin like "that of rocks". Uh oh . . . "rock-like" skin? I somewhat remember a quote, possibly even flavor text, that describes Trow skin as "rock-hard" or "stony".
Think about this, then: Weren't the Oghres close relatives to the Trow? But here's another catch . . . the giants in this book were almost entirely hunted to extinction, which is quite similar to the Oghres. We need a geneaology flow chart, or something like that. This stuff is incredibly confusing.
After a little more traveling, they meet a 'little' giant, Shim. His description matches that of a Dwarf, and it's almost scary how much he talks like one as well.
In this land (Fincayra), there are the Seven Great Treasures, most noticeably Deepercut, a magical sword which can bestow great powers to the person in control of it. *ahem* Balmung, anyone?
This book just leaps out at me as a Bungie inspiration. I welcome feedback, yet I pray that I don't start a massive theory debate that would rival those of Forrest and the others. Good luck, can't wait to see what you crazy kids make of this . . .
Kaltair Tank ~TC~
