When frost doth grow on Claves' bell And shadows walk upon the road When water blackens in the well Three Swords must come again.
When Bukken from the earth do creep And Hunën from the heights descend When Nightmare throttles peaceful sleep Three Swords must come again.
To turn the stride of treading Fate To clear the fogging Mists of Time If Early shall resist too Late Three Swords must come again. — Nisses, Du Svardenvyrd
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is a High Fantasy novel written by Tad Williams, comprising three volumes: The Dragonbone Chair, The Stone of Farewell and To Green Angel Tower. The latter volume was broken up into two separate books in its paperback release.The story is set on the mythical continent of Osten Ard, a fairly Standard Fantasy Setting in which humans are the dominant race after centuries of struggle against the elf-likeSithi, troll/dwarf/Eskimo crossover Qanuc, and various other creatures. Beneath the surface, however, ancient magics are stirring as the undead Storm King nears the culmination of a 500-year long plan to return to power. The key to defeating the Storm King's plan involves threemagical swords (the titular Memory, Sorrow and Thorn), which must be found and brought together if his threat is to be averted... or so it appears.The plot mainly follows young Seoman (Simon), an orphan and kitchen boy in the Hayholt, capital of Erkynland, who mopes around, avoids chores, and dreams of a heroic life. Of course, The Call Knows Where You Live, and he is rapidly embroiled in The Hero's Journey, which he finds out the hard way isn't as glamorous as the stories. Along the way, he befriends members of various races, rescues a Rebellious Princess, slays (pretty much) a dragon, searches for the three swords, fights in battles, is knighted, and finally embarks on a journey back to the Hayholt in a desperate bid to disrupt the Storm King's plan.There is also a rather spectacularly large number of secondary characters and plot lines, which are responsible for the size of the books. On the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism, the story falls somewhere in the middle: Anyone Can Die, characters get Killed Off for Real with depressing regularity, and the main characters seem to be the focus of all the suffering that the author can imagine throwing at them. Yet what slim hope there is of victory may owe more to The Power of Love than strength of arms.The character sheet is here.
This series provides examples of:
Alas, Poor Villain: Invoked. A core theme of the novel; in the end nearly all the villains are revealed to be sympathetic to a degree and these revelations are discussed by the characters. The few entirely unsympathetic villains, by contrast, get horrible Karmic Deaths and are uniformly reviled — nobody misses Fengbald or Skali, for example.
All Deaths Final: Failing to accept this is what drives Elias into Pryrates' clutches.
All Trolls Are Different: The Qanuc, who seem to have a lot in common appearance-wise with hobbits, looking like humans in every way besides height.
All Your Base Are Belong to Us: All of the good human kingdoms have been captured or subverted by the end of the first book.
And the Adventure Continues: Discussed by the characters when Aditu bestows a prophecy over Josua and Vorzheva's twins. Just because everyone's in the middle of a grand adventure doesn't mean there won't be more things happening in Osten Ard after it's over.
Apron Matron: Rachel, headmistress of the Hayholt, who has earned the nickname "The Dragon" for her strictness. Simon is her "favorite" disciplinary case.
The Archer: Miriamele's weapon of choice is the bow. Some humor comes from the contrast between her archery skills and Simon's, who self-deprecatingly claims to be able to "hit a cow at ten paces."
Aristocrats Are Evil: Straight cases — King Elias (bad), Duke Isgrimnur (good). Aversions — Count Eolair (good). Duke Skali (bad). It goes all over the place, in fact; one of the major themes is that royal blood alone does not make a good person. Not only that, but the question is often raised as to what, exactly, constitutes "royal" blood.
Ascended Extra: Williams himself commented that he originally wrote Cadrach as a one-off character who would play no further part in the story after his (brief) initial appearance. Williams found the character he'd created intriguing and decided to bring Cadrach back, and he ends up being a fairly important player in the story.
Attending Your Own Funeral: Josua does this, and even wryly comments on how everybody should have the opportunity.
Badass Bookworm: Notably averted, in that Smart Guy characters like Strangyeard and Tiamak are explicitly told to keep out of the fighting, and do for the most part. Ironically, this leads to a Not Now, Kiddo moment in the final battle. Straight examples can be found in the original members of the League of the Scroll — both Jarnauga and Morgenes get dangerous in their respective Heroic Sacrifices. The founder of the League, Ealhstan Fiskerne, was both a king and a scholar, owned the sword Minneyar, and was killed fighting a dragon.
Badass Normal: Camaris and King Prester John were the two greatest heroes of their age, dominating any field of battle they entered. Even decades later and after a Heroic BSOD, Camaris is still stronger than a half-dozen other men, which puts him about even with a Sithi warrior.
Beneath the Earth: The tunnels beneath the Hayholt, including the ruins of Asu'a, are an important plot element as well as a component of Simon's journey.
BFS: Thorn is described as being unusually large and heavy, so that only a very strong man can wield it. The other two swords are more conventionally sized.
Big Damn Heroes: A staple of the series. Binabik plays this role for Simon on too many occasions to list, Simon himself does it for Jiriki and Miriamele, and even Cadrach gets his moments.
The Big Guy: Duke Isgrimnur, in most of his scenes, fills this role. Camaris is this trope embodied.
Big "NO!": Isgrimnur is not happy when Josua makes him shave off his beard.
Bittersweet Ending: For many characters, but Count Eolair especially drives this one home.
Blood Knight: King Prester John rejoiced in battle, laughing amid the slaughter of his foes, and frequently rode out to face his most dangerous enemies heedless of the odds. This is set in stark contrast to Camaris, who regarded every death by his hands as a stain on his soul.
Cain and Abel: Elias and Josua, right down to the former attempting to use the latter as a sacrifice to seal his Deal with the Devil.
Can't Argue With Elves: The Sithi have a centuries long enmity with humans and many of them are quite vocal about it. Most humans live in superstitious fear of them, and those who don't tend to carry some old grudges, so it's pretty understandable.
Chair Reveal: Used when Simon stumbles on King Elias inside Hjeldin's tower.
Character Development: The focus of the story is Simon's development into a hero, but many other characters get this as well. In fact, Simon's development is lampshaded by the return of boyhood friend Jeremias, who points out just how far Simon has come.
Chekhov's Gun: The White Arrow. Deornoth being called the "Prince's Right Hand". Simon's dragon-blood scar.
The Chessmaster: Utuk'ku, the Norn Queen, has been scheming to get her revenge on mortals and her Sithi rivals for thousands of years. She's even depicted as a spider in her web, manipulating the strands of her various plots.
Clingy MacGuffin: The three swords - it's very hard to get rid of one if it doesn't want to be rid of you.
Comet of Doom: The Conqueror Star, said to herald the rise and fall of kingdoms. It appeared over the death of Usires Aedon, the fall of Asu'a, and the end of King John's reign, and its final appearance plays a role in the climax.
Compelling Voice: One of Pryrates' uses of the Art is to mentally compel people to do his bidding, even when he doesn't know exactly where they are. Simon nearly falls into this trap on several occasions, saved only because the priest keeps getting distracted.
Convenient Decoy Cat: A grey cat that lives in the Hayholt saves Simon when he's trapped in a cellar by Pryrates, by offering itself as a distraction. The cat makes several appearances later in the story.
Creator Breakdown: Williams went through a divorce during the writing of the third novel, and openly admitted to being tempted to write a Kill 'Em All ending.
Ineluki learned one of these, if not several, in his search for power. His use of one in an attempt to destroy the human armies invading Asu'a is what killed him.
Unknown Sithi: "Do not utter the words. You will summon Unbeing!"
Pryrates picks up a few too, including the Words of Changing and the Words of Unmaking. They'd have worked fine if he hadn't tried to use them against the Storm King.
Deader than Dead: What apparently happens to those touched by Unbeing.
Demoted to Extra: Sludig is one of Simon's primary traveling companions and a major character in the second book; in the third, he's Put on a Bus for most of the story and doesn't get much face time when he does come back. He even lampshades it one point by complaining about being ignored.
Determinator: The Norns, who perform such feats as pulling themselves up the sword that's impaling them in order to kill its wielder. Ingen Jegger, a Black Rimmersman working for the Norns, embodies this trope perhaps more than any other character, dragging himself in pursuit of Simon's party on shattered legs and crushed ribs and somehow managing to crawl back to Stormspike after the confrontation on the ice mountain.
Dirty Coward: The scoundrel monk, Cadrach. Considering what he's gone through, however, it's a miracle he's still (questionably) sane. Miriamele takes on the task of reforming him and is rewarded in the end.
Doorstopper: All the novels, but most especially the third, whose hardcover edition is over a thousand pages and had to be split into two separate novels for the paperback release — each of which is over 800 pages long.
Pryrates, to Elias. He tries to be this for the Storm King too, but, well...
The Storm King has his own band of Dragons (though they're not unique enough to be a Quirky Miniboss Squad), in the form of the Red Hand. They were his companions in life and are now undead like him, though rather less powerful. Only one of them is named, as part of a ritual—the Duke of the Black Wind.
Dreaming of Things to Come: The Road of Dreams is a powerful mystical component of the world of Osten Ard, where things beyond ordinary perception are revealed. Practitioners of the Art can enter it at will, bringing others with them. Prophetic dreams are handed out all over the place, but of course not all of them are entirely trustworthy.
Dying as Yourself: Elias comes to his senses at the very end, just before Miriamele kills him.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Played about as straight as it comes. Osten Ard is left in ruins by the depredations of Elias and the Storm King; even if they are defeated it'll be a long, hard road back to anything approaching normalcy.
Elite Mooks: The Norns themselves, certainly in relation to human soldiers.
Emergency Impersonation: The heroes' army uses Body Doubles for the final battle to hide the fact that Prince Josua and Camaris have both gone into the Hayholt via the tunnels, both for the enemy's benefit and to boost the morale of their troops. Although the ruse does work, it turns out to be irrelevant.
Emotion Bomb: The Storm King and the Red Hand emanate an aura of fear sufficient to drive most mortals mad.
Empathic Weapon: The three swords, in a creepy and subversive way. They have the ability to manipulate people around them to get where they want to go.
Evil Is Cold: Cold, along with fear, are the Storm King's primary weapons.
Evil Is Not a Toy, The Starscream: Pryrates hopes to use the power he was granted by the Storm King to control him and use him to rule the world. Unfortunately (for him), it doesn't work.
Evil Weapon: Minneyar and Thorn, while definitely dangerous, are not explicitly evil. Sorrow, on the other hand, deserves its name; merely touching it can be enough to destroy a mortal's soul.
Exact Words: The Storm King promised that Pryrates would be "first among mortals." First to die, that is.
Fake Ultimate Hero: King John Presbyter. He went into the Hayholt to kill the dragon that was inside, but when he arrived he found that it had already been killed by the previous king, Ealstahn Fiskerne, with the sword Minneyar; Ealstahn had died from his wounds. John takes Minneyar and hacks off one of the dragon's claws, and drags it out of the Hayholt to make it seem as if he had killed it.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Almost every single human nation is one of these, from the Nabbanai (Renaissance Italy) to the Wrannamen (Aborigines). The Qanuc are a mashup of Inuit culture with All Trolls Are Different and the Sithi have a pinch of Japanese to a good helping of The Fair Folk. Fortunately, no real life human culture is anything like the Norns.
Gotta Catch Them All: "Three Swords must come again." One of the Driving Questions of the story is how to get all three swords together, as the heroes have one, the villains have another, and the whereabouts of the third is unknown.
Groin Attack: How Prester John actually defeats Sir Camaris, revealed in Doctor Morgenes' biography of John. Judging by Simon's reaction when Binabik reads this aloud to him, it's not common knowledge.
Hearing Voices: Liable to happen to anyone wandering the bowels of Asu'a.
Heroic Willpower: Particularly exercised by Simon in Inch's dungeon, and notably inverted when it turns out that no amount of willpower is sufficient to stop the swords. In fact, Elias' will to become immortal, Camaris' self-hatred, and Simon's hatred for the Storm King are what are keeping them in thrall to the swords' song.
Hidden Elf Village: After Ineluki's "death" and the fall of Asu'a, the remaining Sithi retreated to the forest city of Jao é-Tinukai'i and tried to remain aloof from mortal affairs. Simon's arrival sets in motion the chain of events that finally breaks the Sithi's isolation.
Hitchhiker Heroes: Simon's encounters in the first book with the characters who become his friends and companions pretty much fit this trope to a tee, although it's subverted in Binabik's case when we find out that he was specifically told to look for Simon.
Hope Spot: Miriamele's lucky shot that appears to kill Pryrates. He gets better, and disturbingly quickly.
Horned Humanoid: The Storm King appears this way when he manifests, which is an echo of his living past when he briefly wore a crown of antlers as the King of the Sithi. This is the artist's rendering of Ineluki that Simon sees in Morgenes' book, and it is an image that haunts him until the finale.
Humans Are Bastards: The justification for the Storm King's plan to destroy humanity.
I Call It Vera: Naming one's personal weapons seems to be a tradition in the story, whether they have any particular powers or not. The Three Swords are examples of Named Weapons, since they're renowned throughout the world.
In the Blood: Characterization seems very strongly to pass from father to son in Osten Ard, even when the father in question never knew or raised his child. Elias' recklessness, Simon's heroism, Josua's introspection...
I Owe You My Life: The Sitha prince Jiriki owes a life debt to Simon after the latter rescues him from a human hunter. They trade this favor back and forth throughout the story.
Kansas City Shuffle: The Storm King and Utuk'ku employ all the elements of misdirection at their command to prevent the heroes from figuring out how the Three Swords are actually supposed to be used.
Living Legend: Seoman Snowlock by the end, who travels the length and breadth of Osten Ard; discovers a lost blade of legend, slays a dragon, is a hero of the Battle of the Stone of Farewell, befriends the Sithi, is bound on a Wheel of Pain, defeats the Storm King, and is a descendant of the sainted Ealhstan Fiskerne. Aditu even has some fun adding to his legend to scare a girl Simon was kissing.
Load-Bearing Boss: Combined with No Ontological Inertia, it seems that the Storm King's power is all that has been holding Green Angel Tower together for all those centuries. That or the shock of his destruction simply weakens it to the point where it collapses.
Love Redeems: Both Simon and Miriamele's respective abilities to love their ultimate foes are critical to the climax.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Camaris reveals this secret to Josua (and Strangyeard in confession). It goes a long way toward explaining the Cain and Abel nature of Josua and Elias' relationship.
Made of Indestructium: The three swords, of course. Only the Words of Unmaking can undo what was wrought with the Words of Making.
Magical Native American: Binabik, sort of. More like a Magical Eskimo, but the basic idea of the trope still applies. Tiamak is a variation in that what makes him distinctive is that he's gained a "modern" education but is still presumed to be a savage because of his race.
Magic Mirror: The Sithi employ a variety of magical artifacts to enter the Dream Road, mirrors being a favorite. Simon gets one from Jiriki and uses it to call for help on more than one occasion. It also ends up being a subverted Chekhov's Gun when Simon and Miriamele are trapped by the Storm King's cultists; rather than call for help, they shatter it in order to cut their bonds with the fragments.
Maintain The Lie: King Prester John, renowned throughout the land as the killer of a great dragon, dies of old age without ever revealing his secret: Ealhstan Fiskerne, the previous king, killed it, not him. John took credit for it and parlayed it into a kingship. This lie overshadows the entire plot and sets up The Reveal that Simon is the rightful heir. It's also why he persecuted the Sithi so much - he suspected them of knowing his secret (they did), and the resulting enmity causes the Sithi to wait until almost too late to intervene in the war.
The Man Behind the Man: Throughout the majority of the novels, the protagonists think that King Elias is the one driving the war. Turns out it was Pryrates all along, in cahoots with the Storm King. Elias was simply the Unwitting Pawn.
A Man Is Not a Virgin: Being a young man, Simon spends a fair bit of time attempting to get laid, with no success, and at times it seems that Fate itself is conspiring against him. In fact, when he and Miriamele finally get together at the end, he's still a virgin while she is not.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: The Storm King's minions intentionally hunt down and destroy the members of the League of the Scroll and anyone else who might have enough knowledge to unravel the Evil Plan before it's complete.
Mind Rape: Even casual contact with the Storm King and his minions can destroy the minds of mortals - heaven help you if you attract their personal attention. Mentally encountering the Norn queen on the Dream Road is quite unhealthy even to immortals. This trope is also one of the more charming side-effects of touching Sorrow.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Bringing the swords together because a prophecy told you that they are the only thing that can defeat the Storm King? Turns out not to be such a good idea.
No Man of Woman Born: The trilogy's primary Unwitting Pawns (the heroes) fall into the role partially because they make an error of this type.
No Ontological Inertia: In addition to the aforementioned Green Angel Tower, there's a very plot-significant use of this trope in the three swords themselves (see the trope entry for details).
The Nothing After Death: An variation, in that characters who are Only Mostly Dead tend to go into a limbo-like realm where things are extremely peaceful. From there, they can sometimes still have an impact on the real world in the form of dreams, but eventually pass on into nothingness.
The Obi-Wan: Doctor Morgenes, and to an extent, the entire original League of the Scroll.
Offered The Crown: Simon, after his Moses in the Bullrushes reveal. In fact, Isgrimnur states outright that if he didn't have royal blood, they'd be inclined to make it up anyway, just to give the people someone to rally behind.
Oh Crap: The moment beneath Asu'a where Binabik figures out the Storm King's plan. This subsequently leads to a domino-like series of Oh Craps as the rest of the protagonists get clued in.
Binabik: (of the prophecy) "But who is to say that it is speaking to us?"
Oh My Gods!: A number of non-Aedonist characters do this. most Hilariously, so does Duke Isgrimnur- he converted as an adult, but tends to forget and start swearing by Fantasy Counterpart Culture versions of Odin and Thor instead of Usires.
Binabik: "You will destroy this world. [...] There will be nothing for your governing. You do not belong here."
One-Winged Angel: The Storm King has clearly transcended anything that vaguely resembles humanity (even for a Sithi), and the form he takes on entering the world verges on Eldritch Abomination. Especially pronounced as he does this while possessing Elias' body.
Phlebotinum Overload: How Ineluki dies in the backstory, becoming the Storm King.
Poisoned Weapons: In a rare heroic example, Binabik's various travelling implements include a hollow walking stick, a stash of poisoned darts, and some loose wool. Combined, they make a stealthy and highly lethal blowgun.
The Power of Love: In the climax, Simon unravels the scheme to summon the Storm King by reacting to his evil with forgiveness. The latter Didn't See That Coming, and is weakened just enough for Miriamele to kill his physical host.
Prophecy Twist: When following the words of an ancient prophecy, it's a good idea to check to see who it was written for... Also see Prophetic Fallacy.
Sinister Minister: Pryrates, of course. He does get defrocked about halfway through, but is beyond caring at that point anyway. He just uses Black Magic to exact some rather messy revenge.
Slut Shaming: Sex doesn't have a large role in the story, but when it shows up, expect talk of shame to come close behind. Simon takes it hard that Miriamele isn't a virgin and Josua gets some guff for not having made an honest woman out of his horselady.
The Smart Guy: Strangyeard especially, and Tiamak to a certain extent. At least, those are the smartest guys that actually live to the end of the story, surviving all of their various mentors.
Smug Snake: Count Aspitis, which makes the moment when Miriamele makes paste out of his pretty face with an oar all the more satisfying.
Spring Is Late: And gets Binabik in big trouble with his people until they can be convinced that it's the Storm King's doing and not his betrayal of his shamanistic duties.
Staying Alive: Ineluki, in the backstory. He stays alive - or at least, "un-dead" - through sheer badassery and HeroicVillainous Willpower, becoming the Storm King and setting up the plot of the novels.
Supporting Protagonist: Duke Isgrimnur becomes the de facto leader of the army besieging the Hayholt after Josua and Camaris both enter the castle via the tunnels.
Sweet Polly Oliver: Malachias is Miriamele, as Simon discovers a bit too late for his pride.
They Call Him Sword: Count Streawe's Knife Nut goon becomes known as "Ave Stetto" (lit. I have a knife) for his fondness of threatening people with them.
Time Abyss: Amerasu in particular, although several of the Sithi might qualify.
Tome of Eldritch Lore: Du Svardenvyrd (The Weird of the Swords), the book of the mad prophet Nisses, is essentially a guide book for summoning the Storm King, and merely reading it can drive one past the Despair Event Horizon.
Took a Level in Badass: Simon, who starts out a scullion and, with training and a bit lot of luck, manages to acquit himself quite well in battle.
Torture Cellar: Pryrates has an entire tower filled with these.
Touched by Vorlons: Very mild case, in that Simon's dragon scar gives him the ability to sense things he wouldn't otherwise be able to. This factors heavily in the climax.
The Unfettered: Pryrates claims to be this. Since his origins and motivations are never made clear, it's impossible to say if he's telling the truth, but his actions speak for themselves.
Unusual Euphemism: All of the languages (human and nonhuman) are liberally sprinkled with culture-specific curses and interjections, although the ones that stand out the most are Binabik's colorful swearing and the Aedonite religion's equivalents of Christian curses.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Geloë practices the Art in a manner akin to classic Druidism, shapeshifting into birds. Handled fairly realistically in that it does not affect her clothing. Also used by Pryrates, thanks to the Words of Changing. His choice of form is anything but natural, however.
Wandering Minstrel: Sangfugol. His uselessness during the war is lampshaded enough to make him almost qualify as a Spoony Bard.
Unwitting Pawn: Elias, especially as he goes into the whole thing hoping to bring his dead wife back to life, when that doesn't work out, decides to settle for a promise of immortality, and ends up playing host to an Omnicidal ManiacEldritch Abomination. To his credit, he does repent at the end, but of course it's too late. Technically, the entire cast of protagonists are pawns. They fall right into the Storm King's trap despite a surfeit of clues, largely because his Kansas City Shuffle prevents them from ever really stopping to think about the situation.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: Some of the Sithi suffer from this problem, being (more or less) immortal yet having borne witness to countless tragedies. Utuk'ku may be the living embodiment, however, as her ennui and heartbreak have frozen over the centuries until her sole remaining purpose is to take the world with her into Unbeing.
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