Twigleg, a homunculus: as described in the late Middle Ages, a homunculus is a human being artificially made by an alchemist. Twigleg and his eleven brothers were bred in a glass flask. Twigleg served Nettlebrand the Golden as his armour cleaner until he helped Firedrake and Ben to defeat him. Since then he has been Ben’s devoted, if not very brave, companion. He also teaches Ben and Guinevere history and languages.
Tyra Raskervint, a female centaur, a hybrid between human and horse, as described in Greek mythology. An old friend of Vita Greenbloom.
Fabulous Beings
Dragons
Bruk, Rgyak, two young dragons who followed Firedrake from Scotland to the Rim of Heaven.
Firedrake, a silver dragon from the Scottish highlands. In the previous story, Dragon Rider, he and Ben defeated Nettlebrand, the dragons’ worst enemy, and found a refuge in the valley of the Rim of Heaven for the last dragons in the world.
Maia, a silver she-dragon, Firedrake’s companion.
Slatebeard, the oldest living dragon. Was unable to make the long journey to the Rim of Heaven, and now lives under the protection of MÍMAMEIĐR in Norway.
Shimmertail, Maia’s cousin.
Tattoo, a young dragon with patterned scales who accompanies Firedrake on a long flight.
Griffins on Pulau Bulu
Chahska, one of Kraa’s retinue.
Fierra, one of Kraa’s retinue.
Greiir, one of Kraa’s retinue.
Hiera, a she-griffin, one of Kraa’s retinue.
Kraa, the cruel leader of the griffins on the island.
Reee, a she-griffin, Kraa’s sister and Shrii’s mother. Sad to say, she is dead when the story begins.
Roargh, one of Kraa’s retinue.
Shrii, a griffin with colourful plumage who rebels against Kraa’s rule.
Tchraee, Kraa’s adjutant.
Fabulous Beings Related to Horses
elfin horses, tiny horses bred by grass elves.
kelpie, a supernatural water spirit in the shape of a large horse, sometimes with a fish’s tail.
seaspray horses, form from the foam of the sea, and dissolve with it, only to be reborn with the next breaking wave.
water horses, a general term for many fabulous relations of horses living in lakes, rivers and seas.
wind mares, like to mate with the cloud stallions who live in dense clouds and seldom show themselves. They resemble veils of mist in horse form. The mating is so fast that it is usually invisible to the human eye.
Fabulous Beings Related to Birds
Arctic chattergoose, very talkative northern member of the grey goose family.
crow men, resemble crows at first sight, but they have arms as well as wings and they like to pick at human eyes.
elephant bird, extinct member of the flightless bird family.
Healing Bird of Heaven, pale blue bird resembling an albatross. It sleeps in flight, and cures many diseases if you touch its feathers.
mist-raven, a raven with grey plumage that can make itself invisible. Mist-ravens act as scouts and deliver messages in MÍMAMEIĐR.
nightingale-geese, blue-feathered geese with golden beaks. They owe their name to their wonderful song. They keep the orphaned Pegasus eggs warm in the nest.
Pelangi bird, appears only when there is a rainbow in the sky. Its feathers also shimmer in rainbow colours.
Phoenix, mythical bird that bursts into flame at the end of its life cycle and is reborn from its own ashes.
ratbird, an ancestor of Lola Greytail.
Water Creatures
fossegrim, a spirit that lives in the waterfalls of Norway and is a virtuoso performer on the fiddle. Several human violinists are said to owe their masterly playing to the teaching of a fossegrim.
Nyai Loro Kidul, Indonesian queen of the sea. Sometimes depicted as a fish, sometimes as a snake.
nymph, female water spirit with a love of dancing and music.
sea serpent, general term for many snake-like sea monsters.
Sjöra, golden-scaled water nymph only found in Swedish lakes.
water-sprite, general term for fabulous beings in human form that live under water.
Other Fabulous Beings and Mythological Creatures
climbing coyotes, a species of coyote found in the crowns of the redwood trees of north California.
cloud-hound, dog-like fabulous being with a cloud pattern on its short-haired coat that makes it invisible and able to fly. Found chiefly in Turkey and Arabia.
compass ship’s rat, see singing rat.
coral nixies, female water spirits who live in the coral reefs off the Indonesian coast.
crystal snails, snails with bodies and shells as transparent as glass, but luckily not so breakable. They are excellent window cleaners, because they like to lick dew and rain off glass and ice. They love the damp climate of Norway.
Cyclops, one-eyed giant mentioned in Greek mythology.
Draugen, undead men from Norse mythology.
duende, Spanish imp or hob.
feathered frogs, exactly what they sound like: frogs with feathers.
fern fairies, tiny fairies that, as their name suggests, are found only under fern fronds.
figlings, fabulous creatures shaped like fresh figs, mainly found in fig trees.
firemander, a species of salamander whose bodies can be as hot as liquid wax.
fungus-folk, fabulous little creatures who, as Sorrel discovers, look like walking mushrooms of various species.
giant salamander, a salamander the size of a cow.
grass fairies, bumblebee-sized fairies that are most commonly found on meadows.
griffin, a mythical hybrid creature. It is usually shown with the body of a lion and the head of a bird of prey, with a powerful beak, pointed ears and wings.
hedgehog-men, hedgehogs that walk upright, are very cunning, wear clothes and shoes, and furnish their burrows in a very human way.
hobs, short for hobgoblins.
hobgoblins, British impets.
huldra, Scandinavian forest spirit.
impet-eater, a badger-like creature that walks on two legs and, as the name suggests, likes to eat imps.
jackal scorpions, Kraa’s cruel guards, with the body of a scorpion and the head of a jackal.
jenglots, dwarfish zombies who drink blood. Found mainly in Indonesia.
leprechaun, Irish impet. Leprechauns like gold and making shoes.
Medusa, the snake-haired mother of all the Pegasi. Nothing like as terrible as she is made out to be in Greek mythology.
mustard impets, Welsh impets whose hair is the colour of mustard, and allegedly tastes like it too.
nisse, Scandinavian impet.
photomeleon, when in danger takes a photograph of its surroundings which develops and is recorded on its skin.
prickly mud-eater, fabulous creature rather like an anteater. Lives mainly in the mud on the banks of rivers and lakes.
Scylla, huge sea monster mentioned in Greek mythology.
singing rat, fabulous relation of Gilbert and Lola Greytail.
sphinx, winged hybrid between a lion and a woman. A guard and prophetess.
stone-dwarves, Scottish dwarves who played a large part in the liberation of the dragons and now live in the valley of the Rim of Heaven.
tent-lice, lice-like creatures that can unfold their seemingly tiny bodies to form big screens, or even tents, under which one can get a comfortable night’s sleep.
tomte, Swedish impets who often step in to help when they are needed.
treasure-hunting snakes, build their nests from coins and jewellery. Often found in old tombs.
watobi-pigs, flying dwarf pigs found chiefly in the Congo.
wood-gnomes, humanoid fabulous beings, often with spindly arms and legs. Can be well- or ill-disposed, depending on how people behave in the forests where they live.
wool-spinner oaklings, round-bellied spiders with human heads who spin warm woollen padding for their nests, and wi
th a little persuasion will spin for humans too.
Ordinary Animals
(who, of course, are extraordinary all the same – and probably have fabulous beings in their ancestry!)
bee-eater, a bird in the temple of Garuda.
binturong, also known as the bearcat, a beast of prey of the Viverridae (weasel) family.
hoopoe, a bird in the temple of Garuda.
Indian roller, a bird in the temple of Garuda.
peacock, bird with a loud screech, one of whom Ben and Barnabas meet in the temple of Garuda in India.
Places
India, the second stopover for Barnabas, Hothbrodd and Lola, and the place where they meet Firedrake and Ben. Luckily they also meet Me-Rah, the chattering lory, who turns out to be a very useful member of the team.
MÍMAMEIĐR, secret conservation station for fabulous creatures in Norway. The home of Barnabas, Vita, Ben and Guinevere Greenbloom.
Pulau Bulu, the Indonesian island where Barnabas and Ben think they may find griffins.
The Rim of Heaven, the remote Himalayan valley that is the new home of the dragons.
Turkey, where Barnabas stops off during his search for griffins to pick up something very valuable.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Richard Adams, English writer (1920-2016): from Watership Down (Penguin, 1974), copyright © Richard Adams 1972, reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates.
Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet (1889-1966): lines from ‘The Sentence’, from The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova translated by Judith Hemschemeyer and edited by Roberta Reeder (Canongate, 1998), translation copyright © 1989, 1992, 1997 by Judith Hemschemeyer, reprinted by permission of Canongate Books Ltd.
Lloyd Alexander, American writer (1924-2007): from The Black Cauldron, Vol 2, The Chronicles of Prydain (Mammoth, 1995), copyright © Lloyd Alexander 1965, reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd.
Maya Angelou, American writer and civil rights activist (1928-2014): from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Virago, 2007), copyright © Maya Angelou 1969, reprinted by permission of Little, Brown Book Group Ltd, Hachette UK.
Sir David Attenborough, English naturalist and broadcaster, reprinted by permission of David Attenborough.
J.M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (1860-1937): from Peter and Wendy (Hodder & Stoughton, 1911), perpetual © royalty rights Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, reprinted by permission of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.
L. Frank Baum, American writer (1856-1919): from The Marvellous Land of Oz (1904).
Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac, French novelist and playwright (1619-1655): from The Comical History of the States and Empires of the Worlds of the Moon and Sun, first published in English in 1687.
Leonard Bernstein, American composer, conductor, pianist and songwriter (1918-1990): attributed quote reprinted by permission of The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc.
Albert Camus, French philosopher and writer (1913-1960).
Christopher Columbus, Italian navigator and explorer (c1451-1506).
Confucius, Chinese philosopher (551-479 BC).
Kate DiCamillo, American writer: from Because of Winn-Dixie (Walker, 2014), copyright © Kate DiCamillo 2000, published by Candlewick Press, reproduced by permission of Walker Books Ltd, London SE11 5HJ.
John D. Dingell, American politician: from ‘The Endangered Species Act: Legislative Perspectives on a Living Law’ in Endangered Species Update.
Amelia Earhart, American aviator (1897-disappeared 1937).
Sylvia Earle, American marine biologist, explorer and writer: from ‘My Wish: Protect our oceans’ TED Conference talk, February 2009.
Albert Einstein, German physicist (1879-1955).
Havelock Ellis, English physician and writer (1859-1939): from The Dance of Life (1923).
Cornelia Funke, German writer: from Inkheart (Chicken House, 2003), original text copyright © Dressler Verlag 2003, English translation copyright © Chicken House 2003.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and statesman (1749-1832): from Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship and Travels, first published in English in 1824.
Hermann Hesse, Swiss poet, novelist, and painter (1877-1962): from Bäume: Betrachtungen und Gedichte (Insel Verlag, 1984), copyright © Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1984, reprinted by permission of the publishers. All rights reserved by and controlled through Insel Verlag, Berlin.
Ted Hughes, English poet and writer (1930-1998): from The Iron Man: a Children’s Story in Five Nights (Faber, 1968), copyright © The Estate of Ted Hughes 1968; lines from ‘Hawk Roosting’ from Lupercal (Faber, 1970), copyright © The Estate of Ted Hughes 1960, reprinted by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd.
Helen Keller, American writer and political activist (1880-1968).
Rudyard Kipling, English writer and poet (1865-1936): from The Jungle Book (Macmillan, 1894); and from ‘How the Leopard Got His Spots’, Just So Stories for Little Children (Macmillan, 1902).
John Lennon, English singer and songwriter (1940-1980) quoted in Geoffrey Giuliano: Lennon in America 1971-1980: Based in Part on the Lost Lennon Diaries (Robson, 2000), reprinted by permission of Robson, part of the Pavilion Books Company Ltd.
Primo Levi, Italian chemist and writer (1919-1987): from The Periodic Table translated by Raymond Rosenthal (Penguin Classics, 2000), copyright © Giulio Einaudi Editore s.p.a. 1975, translation copyright © Schocken Books Inc 1984, reprinted by permission of Penguin Books Ltd.
Astrid Lindgren, Swedish writer (1907-2002): from The Brothers Lionheart translated by Joan Tate (OUP, 2009), text copyright © Saltkråkan AB/Astrid Lindgren 1973, English translation copyright © Hachette 1975, reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press.
Robert Lynd, Irish writer (1879-1949): from The Blue Lion and Other Essays (Methuen & Co, 1923), reprinted by permission of Tim Wheeler for the Estate of Robert Lynd.
Michel de Montaigne, French Philosopher (1533-1592): from Essays (1580).
Audrey Niffenegger, American writer: from The Time Traveler’s Wife (Cape, 2004), copyright © Audrey Niffenegger 2004, reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd.
Eugene O’Neill, American playwright (1888-1953): from Long Day’s Journey Into Night, copyright © Eugene Gladstone O’Neill 1956, reprinted by permission of Eugene O’Neill Permissions.
Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist, poet and playwright (1881-1973).
Terry Pratchett, English writer (1948-2015): from The Light Fantastic (Corgi, 2012), Discworld® novel 2, copyright © Terry Pratchett 1986, reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd.
Abbé Prévost (Antoine François Prévost), French writer (1697-1763): from Manon Lescaut (1731).
William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright (1564-1616): from Cymbeline, Act 3, Scene 2.
Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (1792-1822): lines from ‘Ode to the West Wind’ (1820).
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet (1809-1892): lines from ‘Gone’, song 3 of ‘The Window, or the Song of the Wrens’ (1870).
Vyasa: from the Sanskrit epic poem, The Mahabharata First Book: ‘Adi Parva’, The Book of Beginnings.
E.B. White, American writer (1899-1985): from Charlotte’s Web (Puffin, 2012), copyright © E.B. White 1952, copyright renewed 1980 by E.B. White, reprinted by permission of Penguin Books Ltd.
T.H. White, English writer (1906-1964): from ‘The Queen of Air and Darkness’, part 2 of The Once and Future King (Harper Voyager, 2015), copyright © T.H. White 1958, reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates.
Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright and poet (1854-1900): from An Ideal Husband (1895).
W.B. Yeats, Irish poet (1865-1939): lines from ‘The Hawk’.
We have tried to trace and contact the copyright holders of material that is still in copyright before publication, and if notified we will be pleased to correct any inadvertent errors or omissions.
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