Murtagh

Ílf adurna fïthren, sving raehta.—If water touches, turn right.

Ílf kona thornessa thar fïthrenar, thae stenr jierda.—If this woman touches there, then break stone.

islingr—light-bringer/illuminator

ithring—freedom

jierda—break; hit

kverst—cut

Kvetha Fricai.—Greetings, Friend.

ládrin—open

Lethrblaka—Leather-Flapper

letta—stop

líjothsa—light

lyftha—lift

maela—quiet

naina—make bright

reisa—raise/lift

Reisa adurna fra undir, un ílf fïthren skul skulblaka flutningr skul eom edtha.—Raise water from below, and if touch dragon scale, carry scale to me.

skölir—shield

slytha—sleep

sving—turn

Thrífa sem knífr un huildr sem konr.—Seize that knife and hold that man.

thrysta—thrust

Thrysta vindr.—Thrust/compress the air.

vindr—wind; air

Vindr thrysta un líjothsa athaerum.—Compress air and gather light.

Waíse heill.—Be healed.

Wiol ono.—For you.

zar’roc—misery

DRAUMARI

mehtra—mother

sehtra—son

DWARVISH

Arngor—White Mountain

barzûl—curse someone with ill fate

Beor—giant cave bear (borrowed from the ancient language)

Fanghur—dragon-like creatures native to the Beor Mountains. Smaller and less intelligent than dragons; related to the Nïdhwal

Farthen Dûr—Our Father

goroth—place

Môgren—black-needled pinetrees native to the Beor Mountains, noted for their hard, dense wood

Tronjheim—Helm of Giants

URGALISH

chukka—marmot-like creature native to the northern reaches of the Spine

ghra—exclamation used to express doubt or a sense of mild disapproval

gzja—exclamation used to express contempt

qazhqargla—rite that joins two Urgals as blood brothers; may also refer to blood brothers as such

shagvrek—ancient race of hornless

shûkva—heal

ûhldmaq—Urgals who, according to legend, were transformed into giant cave bears

Uluthrek—Mooneater

Urgralgra—Urgals’ name for themselves (literally, “those with horns”)

zhar—randomness

HUMAN RUNES

Here set out you may see the system of runes as employed by the humans of Alagaësia during the time of this tale. There are exceptions to its use—notably among the wandering tribes of the southern reaches and the great grasslands to the east—but these are the runes one may expect to most commonly encounter throughout the lands of humankind.

The originating genius behind this system is unknown, and will likely remain forever lost to the depths of time. It is possible that no one individual is responsible and that this mode of writing emerged via an amalgam of accident and exigency—rather than being assembled by conscious design—as wrack and wreck may gather against a crag of stony strand.

The runes are referred to by many names, but their primary one is the Ullmark. Prior to humanity’s arrival upon the shores of Alagaësia, their race was far more savage and uneducated than in latter ages, and they employed an entirely different system for recording information, one that bears more resemblance to the knotted banners of the Urgals than to any mode of writing that is native to Alagaësia. Of this earlier system, few examples remain—scraps and fragments littered about the ruins of barrows and long-abandoned hill forts—for under the leadership of King Palancar and his many and divers successors, humans quickly adopted and adapted the dwarven runes, known as the Hruthmundvik.

Humans, being as they are, made no attempt at faithfulness to the Hruthmundvik and freely altered and rearranged the runes to suit the needs of their own tongue, even going so far as to invent wholly new ones. Still, some similarities remain. The runes for g, k, m, n, and y are the same in both the Ullmark and the Hruthmundvik, although the Ullmark contains several unique runes, as well as runes for sounds not found in Dwarvish, such as those for p and x. Also—and here the guiding hand of one or more scribes seems apparent—runes of similar shapes were assigned to sounds that, likewise, share a close resemblance. Thus, the mirroring or echoing between a and o; u and y; c, k, and q; s and z; b and d; f and v; and m and n. From this and other pieces of intelligence, certain clues as to the pronunciation of the humans’ language in the time of King Palancar may be gleaned.

For the sake of general understanding, all of the words (and some of the names) on the maps in this volume have been translated into English and either written as such or transliterated into the Ullmark to help convey the proper look and feel of Murtagh’s world.