The Forest House
Encyclopedia
This is about the novel, for Forrest House, see Melbourne High School
The Forest House is a fantasy novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley
and Diana L. Paxson
, though the latter is uncredited by the publisher. It is a prequel
to her best-selling Arthurian novel The Mists of Avalon
.
The plot of The Forest House is based on that of the opera Norma
, relocated from Gaul to Britain, but sharing the basic plot outline of a love affair between a Druidic priestess and a Roman officer.
in the West of Britain
, which was then part of the Roman Empire
. Bradley wrote of the conquest of the Celtic tribes and the political and religious implications of the occupation. The novel revolves around the Druidic priestesses who serve the Goddess
and keep the ancient rites of learning, healing, and magic lore in their sanctuary, The Forest House. The forbidden love between the priestess Eilan and the Roman officer Gaius is one of the book's principal story lines. Bradley tells the story from both the British, female, druidic perspective, and the Roman, male, legionary perspective, and does so without apparent prejudice, in a style characteristic of her Avalon Series
. The complexity of the plot and characters in this novel is somewhat less than that of The Mists of Avalon
.
s are aggressively persecuting the Druids, the sanctuary of the Goddess
on the isle of Mona
is destroyed and its Druids are murdered and its priestesses are raped. The raped priestesses that conceive children kill all of the girl children but leave the boys alive that are born and then kill themselves rather than live with the atrocities done to them; the males later became a rebel group known as the Ravens, which swore vengeance against Rome. Lhiannon, one of the remaining priestesses, re-establishes a new sanctuary at Vernemeton (Most Holy Grove), or The Forest House, which is partially controlled and protected by the Romans.
The novel tells the story of Eilan, granddaughter of the Arch-Druid
of Britain. She hears the calling of the Goddess
and is chosen to become a priest
ess at Vernemeton, and later to succeed the dying Lhiannon as High Priestess. However, before her calling, she hears the voice of her heart, and during the magic night of Beltaine, conceives a son with Roman officer Gaius Macellius, son of the high-ranking Camp Prefect
at nearby Deva. Gaius is an inheritant of royal blood through his Celt
ic mother of a southern tribe, the Silures
. Eilan knows their son, Gawen, whose bloodline comes from the Dragon (Celtic royalty), the Eagle (Roman Empire), and from the Wise (Druids), will play a crucial role in Britain's future, and makes great sacrifices to protect him in his youth.
A major shift in the balance of power is in the air; Eilan senses that the death of her peace-loving Arch-Druid grandfather will cause it. She tells her friend Caillean (who was rescued from her uncaring mother in Hibernia
by Lhiannon) to take a group of young priestesses to the isle of Avalon
to found a new sanctuary and become the first high-priestess of Avalon. In Vernemeton, Eilan is increasingly pressured by the new Arch-Druid, her father, to stop promoting peace and collaboration with the Romans. In a dramatic showdown she sacrifices herself (along with her love Gaius) to avoid a bloody insurgency and, in particular, to save the life of her son Gawen.
, a retelling of the King Arthur
myth from a feminist point of view, is probably Marion Zimmer Bradley
's most famous single novel. Near the end of The Mists of Avalon is a reference to the relationship between Eilan and Gaius; The Forest House fills in the details of that story. The Forest House itself makes reference to characters in Bradley's earlier work The Fall of Atlantis, with the implication that two of the main characters from The Fall of Atlantis have been reincarnated here.
Over the years, and through collaboration with her sister-in-law, Diana L. Paxson
, it has grown into a series
of books: The Mists of Avalon
(1982), The Forest House (1994), Lady of Avalon
(1997), Priestess of Avalon
(2000), Ancestors of Avalon
(2004), Ravens of Avalon (2007), and Sword of Avalon (2009).
In the Author's Note, Marion Zimmer Bradley says that the hymns in chapters 5, 22, and 30 are adapted from the libretto of Vincenzo Bellini
's opera Norma
. The hymns in chapters 17 and 24 are from the Carmina Gadelica
collected by Rev. Alexander Carmichael
in the late 19th century.
Melbourne High School
Melbourne High School is a selective entry state school for boys in years 9 to 12 located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra. Being a selective school, it is known mainly for its strong academic reputation...
The Forest House is a fantasy novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Many critics have noted a feminist perspective in her writing. Her first child, David R...
and Diana L. Paxson
Diana L. Paxson
Diana L. Paxson is an author, primarily in the fields of Paganism and Heathenism. Her published works include fantasy and historical fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories...
, though the latter is uncredited by the publisher. It is a 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...
to her best-selling Arthurian novel The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which she relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters.-Plot introduction:...
.
The plot of The Forest House is based on that of the opera Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
, relocated from Gaul to Britain, but sharing the basic plot outline of a love affair between a Druidic priestess and a Roman officer.
Plot introduction
The Forest House is set in the first century CECommon Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
in the West of Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
, which was then part of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Bradley wrote of the conquest of the Celtic tribes and the political and religious implications of the occupation. The novel revolves around the Druidic priestesses who serve the Goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
and keep the ancient rites of learning, healing, and magic lore in their sanctuary, The Forest House. The forbidden love between the priestess Eilan and the Roman officer Gaius is one of the book's principal story lines. Bradley tells the story from both the British, female, druidic perspective, and the Roman, male, legionary perspective, and does so without apparent prejudice, in a style characteristic of her Avalon Series
Avalon Series
The Avalon Series is a series of fantasy novels written by Marion Zimmer Bradley, with help from Diana L. Paxson. Paxson later took over sole authorship after Bradley's death in 1999...
. The complexity of the plot and characters in this novel is somewhat less than that of The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which she relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters.-Plot introduction:...
.
Plot summary
In the early days of the conquest, when the Roman LegionRoman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
s are aggressively persecuting the Druids, the sanctuary of the Goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
on the isle of Mona
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
is destroyed and its Druids are murdered and its priestesses are raped. The raped priestesses that conceive children kill all of the girl children but leave the boys alive that are born and then kill themselves rather than live with the atrocities done to them; the males later became a rebel group known as the Ravens, which swore vengeance against Rome. Lhiannon, one of the remaining priestesses, re-establishes a new sanctuary at Vernemeton (Most Holy Grove), or The Forest House, which is partially controlled and protected by the Romans.
The novel tells the story of Eilan, granddaughter of the Arch-Druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
of Britain. She hears the calling of the Goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
and is chosen to become a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
ess at Vernemeton, and later to succeed the dying Lhiannon as High Priestess. However, before her calling, she hears the voice of her heart, and during the magic night of Beltaine, conceives a son with Roman officer Gaius Macellius, son of the high-ranking Camp Prefect
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
at nearby Deva. Gaius is an inheritant of royal blood through his Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic mother of a southern tribe, the Silures
Silures
The Silures were a powerful and warlike tribe of ancient Britain, occupying approximately the counties of Monmouthshire, Breconshire and Glamorganshire of present day South Wales; and possibly Gloucestershire and Herefordshire of present day England...
. Eilan knows their son, Gawen, whose bloodline comes from the Dragon (Celtic royalty), the Eagle (Roman Empire), and from the Wise (Druids), will play a crucial role in Britain's future, and makes great sacrifices to protect him in his youth.
A major shift in the balance of power is in the air; Eilan senses that the death of her peace-loving Arch-Druid grandfather will cause it. She tells her friend Caillean (who was rescued from her uncaring mother in Hibernia
Hibernia
Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland. The name Hibernia was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe , Pytheas of Massilia called the island Ierne . In his book Geographia Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of...
by Lhiannon) to take a group of young priestesses to the isle of Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
to found a new sanctuary and become the first high-priestess of Avalon. In Vernemeton, Eilan is increasingly pressured by the new Arch-Druid, her father, to stop promoting peace and collaboration with the Romans. In a dramatic showdown she sacrifices herself (along with her love Gaius) to avoid a bloody insurgency and, in particular, to save the life of her son Gawen.
Allusions/references to other works
The Mists of AvalonThe Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which she relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters.-Plot introduction:...
, a retelling of the King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
myth from a feminist point of view, is probably Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Many critics have noted a feminist perspective in her writing. Her first child, David R...
's most famous single novel. Near the end of The Mists of Avalon is a reference to the relationship between Eilan and Gaius; The Forest House fills in the details of that story. The Forest House itself makes reference to characters in Bradley's earlier work The Fall of Atlantis, with the implication that two of the main characters from The Fall of Atlantis have been reincarnated here.
Over the years, and through collaboration with her sister-in-law, Diana L. Paxson
Diana L. Paxson
Diana L. Paxson is an author, primarily in the fields of Paganism and Heathenism. Her published works include fantasy and historical fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories...
, it has grown into a series
Avalon Series
The Avalon Series is a series of fantasy novels written by Marion Zimmer Bradley, with help from Diana L. Paxson. Paxson later took over sole authorship after Bradley's death in 1999...
of books: The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which she relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters.-Plot introduction:...
(1982), The Forest House (1994), Lady of Avalon
Lady of Avalon
-Plot:Lady of Avalon is the sequel to The Forest House and the prequel to The Mists of Avalon. It is divided into 3 parts.-Part 1:The first part shows us Caillean and Gawen , who we know from the prequel, The Forest House....
(1997), Priestess of Avalon
Priestess of Avalon
Priestess of Avalon is a 2000 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley and completed posthumously by Diana L. Paxson. It follows detailing the life of Helena, first wife of Western Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus and mother of Constantine....
(2000), Ancestors of Avalon
Ancestors of Avalon
Ancestors of Avalon is a 2004 fantasy novel written by Diana L. Paxson, and based on an idea of the late Marion Zimmer Bradley.The book is one of 7 prequels to Bradley's popular fantasy novel Mists of Avalon. The characters of Ancestors of Avalon have appeared earlier in Bradley's fantasy novel The...
(2004), Ravens of Avalon (2007), and Sword of Avalon (2009).
In the Author's Note, Marion Zimmer Bradley says that the hymns in chapters 5, 22, and 30 are adapted from the libretto of Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's opera Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
. The hymns in chapters 17 and 24 are from the Carmina Gadelica
Carmina Gadelica
The Carmina Gadelica is a collection of prayers, hymns, charms, incantations, blessings, runes, and other literary-folkloric poems and songs collected and translated by amateur folklorist Alexander Carmichael in the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland between 1855 and 1910...
collected by Rev. Alexander Carmichael
Alexander Carmichael
Alexander Carmichael was a writer and folklorist, best known for his multi volume work Carmina Gadelica.-Life:...
in the late 19th century.