Were-Wrath
A Novelette by Andre Norton
Edition Used for Analysis:
[Wizards’ Worlds] (1990) Published by TOR, PB, 0-812-54750-0, $4.95, 500pg ~ cover by Lucy Synk
Synopsis:
Lanfort, Lady Thra's manor has been destroyed with all of her people. Fleeing the marauders, she runs into the deep dark mysterious forest. She takes refuge in a strange hut where she meets a telepathic cat. Later she meets s strange man (Farne) who turns out to be were and the owner of her refuge. He leaves and is hunted by the same people that are her enemies. The cat tells her to rescue Farne and she braves the terror of the forest to find him. Why am I doing this? She wonders.
Timeline Points:
- p416 - 'Rinard..broken out of Lanfort at its taking. ..gone at the hands of these haughty, cruel northerners who would have no more refugees to threaten their own private raids and wars.'
- p419 - 'There were tales a-plenty in Greer. Men and women—in ancient days they were said to have shared lordship with…others.' (Greer is the region Thra is from? From the descriptions it sounds a bit like High Hallack.)
- p429 - Thra: 'There is no more Laniat—' The Dale Thra is from where Lanfort was located?
- p434 - Farne: "I am Farne—and there is another name, only that your throat cannot voice. Grimclaw here is my marshal, the holder of my castle." [He tells Thra his name and that of his gray furred, mindspeaking cat companion.] Thra: "Roth?" "His badge is the running hound? Roth of—" Farne: "Farne." "What is a name? It can be given to a thing, a place, a woman, a man." (Farne also appears to be the name of the castle where his family resides.)
- p437 - Westward leads away from the forest.
Sorcerer's Notes:
Hard to place story in time and place, no indication of where it is set - could be the forests of Arvon or of Escore - could be not Witch World at all! The fall of Laniat sounds like the invasion of High Hallack from how Thra describes it. If this novella is set in the Witch World, it is most likely set during the Invasion of the Hounds of Alizon in an area just outside the south west border of Arvon in The Waste with "Greer" just south of there on the edge of High Hallack and The Waste. Farne's belt and sword sound very like Kethan's belt and Herrel's sword in The Jargoon Pard. It is possible he is the child of one of the Were-Riders and his forest was one of the places they stayed after their banishment from Arvon. Grimclaw, Farne's intelligent, telepathic cat companion is similar to the ones Joisan encountered in the Waste in Gryphon in Glory and Uta from Zarsthor's Bane & The Warding of Witch World.
The Sorcerer’s recommend that you read next: Green in High Hallack
