Présentation de l'éditeur
Where does one begin the tale of An Ogham Wood? Perhaps with the Lady Ellidurydd who was born three thousand years ago in wooded Wales and fell in love with a stag of the forest. Or perhaps the tale should begin fifteen hundred years later with Dylan O’Shee, exiled prince of a lost Irish kingdom who had the gift of finding souls. Maybe it truly begins with the vanishing of the Hundred Horsemen, for it was then a band of wandering Celtic tinkers appeared with a vision to save the fading faerie folk of the West.
Aye, in any and all these places the tale could begin, and others too. For the lives of many, mortals and not, have been woven into the myth of the Ogham Wood. But let us begin it in the moment, in the last days of the Island of Manannan, with Sweyn deSauld, a man bereft of family, of hope, and even his right mind.
>>Once upon a time, there was a sailor who had lost all he loved, and fell to doing terrible things. And then he found he was empty, and all that was left for him was the lonely sea. So there he passed the wandering days, trying to forget. But he was not forgotten. For his lost wife was from the Island, a hidden place where enchanted things still dwell in the green world. And the old witch of the Island made plots for the sailor. She called up a magic wind, and forgetfulness, and drew him into something terrible and wonderful, and far too big for a shattered man who walks the brink of madness. But ghosts and a pinch of faerie luck may yet shape the fate of Sweyn, heir to a legacy he does not want, and quite beyond his imagination. For on the Island he shall encounter Coppin, a cantankerous old codger who keeps the secrets of Dundubh Cottage. And Oak Peg, a recluse who dwells in the wood, brewing potions and making cheese. And Donald, the woodsman who broods on a terrible loss. But, most wondrously, he shall encounter Caitlin, a strange raven-haired girl who sings by night in the lonely wood, and who is said to have no soul. And over them all is the Pact, and the fate of the Island depends upon whether Sweyn can keep it. But how much hope can one hang upon a madman?<<
Aye, in any and all these places the tale could begin, and others too. For the lives of many, mortals and not, have been woven into the myth of the Ogham Wood. But let us begin it in the moment, in the last days of the Island of Manannan, with Sweyn deSauld, a man bereft of family, of hope, and even his right mind.
>>Once upon a time, there was a sailor who had lost all he loved, and fell to doing terrible things. And then he found he was empty, and all that was left for him was the lonely sea. So there he passed the wandering days, trying to forget. But he was not forgotten. For his lost wife was from the Island, a hidden place where enchanted things still dwell in the green world. And the old witch of the Island made plots for the sailor. She called up a magic wind, and forgetfulness, and drew him into something terrible and wonderful, and far too big for a shattered man who walks the brink of madness. But ghosts and a pinch of faerie luck may yet shape the fate of Sweyn, heir to a legacy he does not want, and quite beyond his imagination. For on the Island he shall encounter Coppin, a cantankerous old codger who keeps the secrets of Dundubh Cottage. And Oak Peg, a recluse who dwells in the wood, brewing potions and making cheese. And Donald, the woodsman who broods on a terrible loss. But, most wondrously, he shall encounter Caitlin, a strange raven-haired girl who sings by night in the lonely wood, and who is said to have no soul. And over them all is the Pact, and the fate of the Island depends upon whether Sweyn can keep it. But how much hope can one hang upon a madman?<<
