The Tale of Hespira and Horreon

[frosted-feather.livejournal.com]

I had the most enlightening reading experience with the Queen of Attolia recently. After multiple times of reading this book, I finally think I grasp the larger significance of the story of Hespira and Horreon that Eddis tells to the Magus. Even then, there are two interpretations.

I've always read the tale as a stand-alone, and didn't think too hard about why it was being included in QOA. This last time around, though, I thought I understood it at the point where it appears in the story. Eddis tells the tale to Gen and the Magus right after Gen has stolen the Magus, but before we readers know what Gen's plans are. Thinking of Gen listening to the story, he seemed to be a parallel to the blacksmith, Horreon, who was terrifying to mortals and lived alone in a dank cave. In Gen's mind, who would want to marry him, with his black moods and maimed hand? Attolia was like Hespira, let to marry someone she wouldn't want to. And then at the end of the story Hespira actually chooses to marry Horreon, rather like Attolia choosing to marry Gen. A neat allegory, right?

However, by the end of QOA, I reversed this allegory in my head completely.  Is it not more accurate to say that the Queen of Attolia is like the ugly blacksmith Horreon, alone in her remote tower, and Eddis grieves to send Gen to marry her, just like Hespira's mother grieved to see Hespira choose Horreon? But the point of the story is that Hespira chose and was not tricked. The final act of the book QOA is about Irene realizing that Gen truly wants to marry her, truly cares about her, and can be trusted. So Irene was the monster in the cave whom Gen wanted to save.

Comments

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I've always leaned toward the second interpretation myself, but the story's duality is certainly fitting.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Really, this makes a lot of sense. At different points in the book, one is afraid of the other but in the end choose to love and trust. Like you were, I have always been a bit stumped as to who was which character in the myth.

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Man I love Sounis! Now explain the Klimun one in KoA. I just don't quite get it. I'm not all the way there yet. Why did Phresine choose that particular story for that particular moment?

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I wrote a whole post about that one! http://bysinginglight.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/queens-thief-week-myths-in-the-king-of-attolia/ Plus, someone added a fairly brilliant comment: http://bysinginglight.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/queens-thief-week-myths-in-the-king-of-attolia/#comment-3660

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I think personally that part of the brilliance of this myth and its place in QoA is that both Gen and Irene have elements of both Hespira and Horreon. That is--it's not a strict one-to-one allegory, but has the resonance and slipperiness of real myth.

[frosted-feather.livejournal.com]

I really like your analysis of the Klimun story. That one is also hazy. The telling part for me is how anxious Gen gets listening to it toward the end, when Klimun looks like he will lie in the moonlight, and thus fail as a king. Clearly Gen associates himself with Klimun, even though he didn't want to "appear" in the story. I think perhaps he's afraid of failing as a king? Another aspect is his fear of the gods taking away a gift they've given him if he doesn't honor them (as Klimun's gift from the goddess was peace, Gen's was kingship).

I agree that sotongpok's comment on your post is very insightful! Others should take a look--she (or he) suggests that the story is a foreshadowing of Gen and Sopho's relationship in ACOK. That could be a whole new post on its own.

[frosted-feather.livejournal.com]

I also read your post about the Hespira and Horreon myth in QOA and you put it perfectly: "one of the strengths of this myth is it the fact that they are both Hespira and both Horreon, just as they are both Beauty and both the Beast." Sniff!

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you! I LOVE the Horreon & Hespira myth, and I may have spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about it.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

I like this theory! I do feel like I sort of intuitively connected this story to the plot of QoA in exactly the way you've described, so this feel like a very accurate theory to me. But my thoughts about it were much hazier. And the idea of mapping characters to Horreon actually never occurred to me--I felt like Gen was Hespira at one point and Irene was Hespira at another point, or in another way, but logically that means they should also both be Horreon to each other's Hespira and that just never occurred to me. Thank you for pointing this out!

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, so firstly I have to confess that I’ve never given much thought to the myths in the series, apart from “Wow, that is some deep, and highly entertaining, world building”, but I totally agree with the analysis of Hespira and Horreon. Very insightful.

But now realising that there is more to the myths than just world building, I am intrigued by the story of Klimun and Gerosthenes. I read your post about it, and really liked the point you made that “we’re saved by those around us, that in part we’re judged by who our friends are and how we have treated them.” And I agree; it has a frustratingly vague connection to KoA. But having mulled it over for a while, I have a semi-plausible interpretation of it.

Attolia is the Moon. Gen is Klimun. Costis is Gerosthenes. Teleus is the Prince of Atos. In the myth, Klimun comes to the Moon in a time of unrest, seeking peace for his people, he offers her a gift she has never received before. Gen comes to Attolia during a time of war, also seeking peace for his people. In return, he offers her something she has never received before; not just marriage or a political alliance, but love.

The bargain she makes in return is that he becomes King, “secure in his power [so] the barons would unite.” Her ultimate goal being the peace and stability of the country before the Mede invasion. Gen has the same ultimate goal as her, but a different way of attaining it. He wants to be king in name only. Attolia says, “He says he will not diminish my power or rule over my country. He intends to be a figurehead.” So it’s almost as though he promised NOT to become king instead, reminiscent of Klimun’s promise to the moon.

We are told in the myth that “the Gods make their bargains for a reason.” Remember that the Moon “watched him, waiting for him to break his word.” Attolia was counselled by Relius to “force him into the open. The world needs to see what a king he is.” She needed him to fail.

To me, Costis attacking Gen while sparring and forcing him to reveal himself as a skilled swordsman and by extension a great king directly relates to Gerosthenes hitting Klimun on the head with the amphora. Physical violence was involved. It resorted to a revealing of the character’s true nature. The act was inflicted by a character of lower social standing/rank on one of a higher. The inflictee relied upon the others’ better nature to avoid true reprisal.

Because of Costis’ actions, Teleus and the Royal Guard realised Gen’s true worth and came to respect him as a king worth serving, just like the Prince of Atos judged Klimun someone worth allying with.

I think the reason the Gen becomes so distressed when it appears Klimun is going to break his promise to the Moon is because reflects his own terror at actually becoming King, having to wield power and take it away from Attolia. In Gen’s eyes, Klimun’s potential lying related to the fact that Gen might fail in his mission to become a just figurehead king. To me, this could be because Gen doesn’t want to let Irene down by stealing her power because he is “afraid of his own desire for power.” And I think he truly respects what Attolia has accomplished during her rule, and doesn’t want to take that away from her.

And at the end of KoA, it seems like he has failed in this, and had to step up and become king, but then in CoK Eddis tells Sophos that Egenides “managed to so terrify his barons that they have assumed a semblance of conformity without undermining Attolia’s power after all.”

And this is why Gen was so thankful after hearing the end of the myth. His personality was uncovered by Costis, by Teleus, the Royal Guards and the royal attendants. Gen himself said, “Sometimes, if you want to change a man’s mind, you change the mind of the man next to him first.” Gen did this with the above mentioned characters, and this in turn influenced the barons, terrifying them, cementing Attolia’s rule, and keeping his ‘promise’ not to become king.

Anyway, that’s just my theory. There are some parts that you have to shmoosh slightly to get them to fit, but I’d like to know what you all think.

Sorry this post is so long.

- darcyM

[frosted-feather.livejournal.com]

Connecting Costis with Gerosthenes is a good thought. It really was Costis who made Gen succeed by revealing himself to his court, even though Gen didn’t plan for that to happen. (To the great satisfaction of all us readers as well!) Like in QOA, you couldn’t really make that connection about the meaning of the story until reaching the end of the book and looking back on it.

[(Anonymous)]

I just loved your theory. This is the best interpretation of this story so far that I have heard...

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I finally got to it. You are very insightful. Reading your interpretation, I had the same thoughts sotongpok did!

Layers upon layers...damn, she's good!

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

So behind here... but this is awesome. These are my two favorite myths in the story and I hadn't thought of all these different interpretations. So. Much. Awesome.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

I randomly opened up Queen of Attolia the other day (I sense a reread coming on) and opened to this short story. If I'm 100% honest, I often have difficulty interpreting the short myths and figuring out how they relate to the bigger picture. But this time I had a HUGE Eureka moment!! I thought about making a post about it, but knew someone would have talked about it already. Sure enough, I sifted through the posts and found this!

I definitely thought along the lines of the 2nd interpretation (in my eureka moment). It puts an extra dimension on Eddis's character--it kind of makes her seem a little over-protective of Gen, doesn't it? In the rest of the book, we see Eddis as a the smart, practical one, whereas Gen is doing all of these crazy things and driving her up the wall. But the Hespira/Horreon story kind of paints Eddis as a mother figure and highlights her mother-like desire to always have Gen safe and close by.

Also, I feel like this shows how and why Sophos was the right man for Eddis. Maybe in a parallel universe, Eddis and Gen would have gotten married, but as much as she can trust him, he's just too unreliable. Sophos is much more grounded and rock-like. He has what Eddis really needs/wants. (also he's about 100 times more honest and honorable than sneaky old gen)

This post is mostly procrastination for finals. *cries*