9. The Hero and the Crown

By Robin McKinley   

The Hero and the Crown had a lasting an impact on me as a young teen.  I think I first came across it at the Kerrisdale Public Library, which had a pretty good paperback fantasy selection!  It was one of the first fantasy novels I read, and it inspired me to seek out similar authors, like Marion Zimmer Bradley, Patricia McKillip and Anne McCaffrey.  They were the most popular woman fantasy authors of their time.  I remember later borrowing McKinley’s Beauty (a retelling of the well-known fairy tale) from my high school library (Point Grey), skipping PE and sitting down behind a hedge to read the book!

 

I'd been meaning to revisit The Hero & the Crown and was on the lookout for a used copy for some time (I own a vintage copy of The Blue Sword - from 1987!). I can’t remember where I found this Ace Edition paperback - probably at Pulp Fiction on Main St. in Vancouver (the paperback version I read as a teen was the 1984 Tor edition featured at the bottom).

 

I can say that reading The Hero and the Crown as a jaded, middle-aged woman no longer holds the same magic as it did when I was a naïve 13 yo.  As a young teen, I was more fixated on the low-key romance between Aerin and Luthe, the hermit sorcerer, than Aerin’s journey of self-discovery.  As a grown woman, I now appreciate the heroine’s journey and found little in her relationship with Luthe to suggest any romance.

 

It's classic high fantasy fare:  Aerin is the daughter of King Arlbeth of Damar, a land where dragons are dying out and the royal bloodline has the gift of kelar, the ability to use magic in varying degrees.  Tor is the closest male heir to the throne and he’s got an unspoken thing for Aerin.  Galanna, Aerin’s beautiful sister, never misses an opportunity to taunt Aerin about her faults, ie. her lack of the kelar ability, her height and fiery hair, her unattractiveness, etc.  One day, Galanna convinces Aerin to eat the leaves of the surka plant, poisonous to those who are not of royal blood. While the surka didn’t kill Aerin, it made her extremely ill.

 

During her recovery, Aerin discovers a book about the ancient history of Damar and how it was terrorized by giant dragons (nowadays only the smaller relatives still exist). She also finds a recipe for kenet, an ointment meant to protect the wearer from the effects of drgaon fire.  During this time, Aerin forges a friendship with her father’s retired war-horse, Talat. While experimenting with the ointment, she trains herself on mounted combat with Talat. Eventually, she sneaks off to slay a small dragon that has been troubling a village. Her success earns her some minor notoriety and requests to dispatch troublesome dragons in other areas. In the meantime, one of the western barons, Nyrlol, threatens civil war in the north.

 

King Arlbeth denies Aeri’s request to join his army, and while he and Tor set off to deal with Nyrlol, word arrives that the last great dragon, Maur, has reappeared and is terrorizing a distant village.  Aerin takes it upon herself make the journey to dispatch Maur.  She manages to kill him but barely makes it out alive…. I just realized there’s a lot going on, and don't feel like summarizing the rest, but hopefully this is enough jog my future self. 

 

I do remember feeling quite swept up by the story, so I was a little sad when I wasn’t able to quite conjure up the same old feelings while re-reading this as a middle-aged woman.  Regardless, it's a classic tale full of adventure, battles, dragons, and magic, featuring a heroic princess who “doesn’t fit the mold.”

 

Interestingly, a few years later, Olman would read The Blue Sword to our daughter.  He was at White Dwarf in Vancouver asking for recommendations for YA novels and this was one of their suggestions.  It's a standalone sequel to The Hero and The Crown, but set generations later when Aerin has become a legendary figure.  So I think when my daughter is a little older, I’ll see if she’s interested in my copy of The Hero and The Crown.