Calydor

Calydor (pronounced CAL-i-dor) is a character in Meredith Ann Pierce's fantasy novels The Firebringer Trilogy. He is a unicorn from the Great Grass Plain and is noted as a prophet among his people.

History

Not much is known about Calydor's early life prior to meeting Ses. He shares a sire with half-brother Ashbrindle.

As a young stallion of the Great Grass Plain, Calydor beheld a premonition, referred to as a "dream" among his people. In this glimpse of the future, Calydor saw a mare he believed to be his true love,
"...pale as cloud newly warmed by sunset's glow, with a mane and tail brilliant red-orange as the poppy flower."
In the vision, Calydor was told where to find her - south. He traveled to find her, stopping when he reached the shore of the Summer Sea. There he found a young mare who matched the description of the mare in his vision: Ses, warrior of the Vale, on her summer courting trek along with the rest of her unmated folk. Ses rebuffed Calydor initially, but later that summer came to trust and rely upon him.

Circumstances only allowed Calydor and Ses a few days together. In spite of Calydor's urging, perceived duty kept Ses from leaving the Ring. Calydor returned to the Great Grass Plain, and Ses returned to her folk at the Summer Sea, then to the Vale at the end of the summer. The rest of Ses's people remained completely unaware of their brief romance. They would not see each other for another ten years. For reasons unknown to Calydor, he was unable to see Ses in his visions.

What occurred during the span of years between Calydor's time with Ses and his meeting with Aljan is unknown, except that he occasionally met Jah-Lila, who told him Ses was well and had borne children.

Calydor was introduced in chapter seven of The Sun of Summer Stars, the final book of The Firebringer Trilogy. Crimson, his niece, her sire Ashbrindle, and Crimson's traveling companion Goldenhair led Aljan Moonbrow to him in the hope that he would know where to find Aljan's sire, Korr. Before they formally met, Aljan was part of Calydor's audience while he told the story of a clandestine love affair between himself and a "poppy-maned" mare of Aljan's people in the south. Afterward, introduced by Crimson and separated from the rest of the gathering, Aljan shared with Calydor the story of his search. Calydor directed him towards the Salt Waste, a desert land at the edge of the Great Grass Plain, as others had reported seeing Korr headed in that direction. He shared several days with Aljan as he led the young unicorn prince to the point where the Salt Waste began. The two parted ways with reluctance.

Calydor would not appear again until chapter fifteen, when he is mentioned by Dagg, Aljan's best friend, who followed him to the Great Grass Plain and encountered Calydor there, Aljan already gone on into the Salt Waste. Dagg notes how similar he is to Aljan in build, voice, gesture, and other features, and that when Dagg first encountered Calydor by moonlight, he mistook him for Aljan.

He would appear a third time in chapter seventeen, and again in subsequent chapters, first intercepting a party of warriors travelling northward to the Hallow Hills, then pursuing Aljan's dam, Ses, who traveled with them. It was revealed that Calydor's clandestine love was Ses. Calydor argued against the Vale unicorns' war with the wyverns, and attempted to win Ses away from the Ring a second time. She refused his petitions, warned him not to tempt her further. Initially, Calydor stayed with those Vale unicorns unable to take part in the war against the wyverns, but later left in search of Ses's missing youngest daughter, Lell. He sought Lell as far as the Hallow Hills, where he found the war well underway and Ses in the middle of battle. He was drawn into its midst both to protect Ses and reach Lell, who had come to fight in spite of her mother's order to stay. When Lell appeared in mortal danger, however, Calydor would not allow Ses to sacrifice herself, blocking her path in spite of her pummelling.

Following the battle, Calydor and messengers sent by Tek returned with news of the victory to the oasis where the remainder of the Vale refugees waited. He vanished, followed shortly thereafter by Ses when her duties to her people and her children were done, and had revealed Calydor as Aljan's true sire from the tryst ten summers ago. Calydor did not return to the Hallow Hills, but Aljan came to the Great Grass Plains to visit him occasionally, where Calydor taught him the laysinger's art.

Appearance

Calydor is first described by Pierce in The Son of Summer Stars as
"tall and lank-limbed, with a long neck and horn and a slim, straight muzzle, easily the best dancer, a stallion in his prime. His coat was indigo. Three white feathers tossed in his mane, which was silver, as were his hooves and horn. The evening darkness of his coat was spattered with hoary flecks. They wound upward past one eye before spilling down his neck. Turning at the shoulder, the widening runnel of tiny frosted spots flowed diagonally across his back and meandered down one flank. Pale socks washed three pasterns. The rest of him, almost wholly dark, sported only slight speckling, like stray pricks of light in a summer sky."

Other Names

Calydor is sometimes referred to as "the summer stars," which is a reference to the meaning of his truename. His truename (translated as 'stars in summer') in turn is a reference to the pattern of his coat, which resembles a summer evening sky. Additionally, he is sometimes called "Alma's Eyes" by other unicorns of the Great Grass Plain. This is both a reference to the stars, and could also refer to his ability to foresee the future. Calydor denies this.

Relatives

Calydor is Aljan's sire, and grandsire to Aljan's children Aiony and Dhattar. He is the brother of Ashbrindle; uncle to Ashbrindle's daughter Crimson and great-uncle to Crimson's daughter Bluewater Sky. No other known relatives exist.