Jerle Shannara
Encyclopedia
Jerle Shannara is a fictional character
from Terry Brooks
' Shannara
series of epic fantasy
novel
s. Only mentioned as a long-deceased person in the Original Shannara Trilogy
, he is one of the main characters of the prequel
novel First King of Shannara
.
's minions assassinate the entire royal family with the exception of the last son of Courtann Ballindarroch (the king), Alyten, who happened to have been away on a hunting trip, and two grandchildren of the king who were still toddlers. Soon after the assassinations, Alyten was slain when he mounted a "brash" mission to hunt down his father's killers. During the ensuing confusion, Jerle, Tay Trefenwyd, Preia Starle and a few Elven hunters departed Arborlon
to find the Black Elfstone. After a long journey, they retrieved it, but two Skull Bearers, accompanied by many Gnomes, caught up with them soon after. In the fight to break free, Tay used the Black Elfstone and defeated all of them--but he was subverted in the process. He killed himself to prevent himself from morphing into something evil. After his return to Arborlon
, Jerle married Preia and also was named the King of the Elves. Furthermore, he was given a magical sword, The Sword of Shannara by the Druid Bremen
. With it, he drove the Warlock Lord
into hiding, but because he never could fully accept the truth of his life, he lacked the ability to wield the Sword properly. The task of destroying the Warlock Lord was then passed on to his descendant, Shea Ohmsford
.
Jerle Shannara is also the name of the airship the main characters use to travel across the ocean in The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara
trilogy.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from Terry Brooks
Terry Brooks
Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print...
' Shannara
Shannara
Shannara is an epic fantasy series of novels written by Terry Brooks, beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977 and continuing through Bearers of the Black Staff which was released on August 24, 2010, as well as a prequel, First King of Shannara...
series of epic fantasy
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s. Only mentioned as a long-deceased person in the Original Shannara Trilogy
Original Shannara Trilogy
The Original Shannara Trilogy consists of the first three Shannara novels by Terry Brooks...
, he is one of the main characters of the prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
novel First King of Shannara
First King of Shannara
The First King of Shannara is a 1996 epic fantasy novel by Terry Brooks. It is a prequel to Brooks' The Sword of Shannara and is set during the Second War of the Races...
.
Biography
Jerle begins the story as captain of the Home Guard, the elite group of Elven soldiers whose sole duty is to protect the King. Jerle is distantly related to the Elven king, but he becomes next in line for the throne when the Warlock LordWarlock Lord
The Warlock Lord is the principal villain of Terry Brooks' novel The Sword of Shannara....
's minions assassinate the entire royal family with the exception of the last son of Courtann Ballindarroch (the king), Alyten, who happened to have been away on a hunting trip, and two grandchildren of the king who were still toddlers. Soon after the assassinations, Alyten was slain when he mounted a "brash" mission to hunt down his father's killers. During the ensuing confusion, Jerle, Tay Trefenwyd, Preia Starle and a few Elven hunters departed Arborlon
Arborlon
Arborlon is the capital city of the Elves in the fictional Shannara series of novels by Terry Brooks. In the Original Shannara Trilogy, the first 3 books, Arborlon is located in the Westland of The Four Lands. In The Elfstones of Shannara, the defense of Arborlon is one of the central plot lines...
to find the Black Elfstone. After a long journey, they retrieved it, but two Skull Bearers, accompanied by many Gnomes, caught up with them soon after. In the fight to break free, Tay used the Black Elfstone and defeated all of them--but he was subverted in the process. He killed himself to prevent himself from morphing into something evil. After his return to Arborlon
Arborlon
Arborlon is the capital city of the Elves in the fictional Shannara series of novels by Terry Brooks. In the Original Shannara Trilogy, the first 3 books, Arborlon is located in the Westland of The Four Lands. In The Elfstones of Shannara, the defense of Arborlon is one of the central plot lines...
, Jerle married Preia and also was named the King of the Elves. Furthermore, he was given a magical sword, The Sword of Shannara by the Druid Bremen
Bremen (Shannara)
Bremen is a fictional character from Terry Brooks' Shannara series of epic fantasy novels. He appears in the First King of Shannara, the prequel to The Sword of Shannara....
. With it, he drove the Warlock Lord
Warlock Lord
The Warlock Lord is the principal villain of Terry Brooks' novel The Sword of Shannara....
into hiding, but because he never could fully accept the truth of his life, he lacked the ability to wield the Sword properly. The task of destroying the Warlock Lord was then passed on to his descendant, Shea Ohmsford
Shea Ohmsford
Shea Ohmsford is a fictional character and the protagonist of Terry Brooks' epic fantasy novel The Sword of Shannara. In the universe, he is the last known person with the blood of Jerle Shannara, making him the only one who can wield the powerful Sword of Shannara to vanquish the Warlock Lord.-...
.
Jerle Shannara is also the name of the airship the main characters use to travel across the ocean in The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara
The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara
The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara is a trilogy by Terry Brooks set 130 years after the Heritage of Shannara. Similar to its predecessor, this is one cohesive story following the happenings of Bek Rowe, Walker Boh, and Grianne Ohmsford, among other characters.-Characters:*Ahren Elessedil*Antrax*Ard...
trilogy.