Alanna (The Song of the Lioness)

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Alanna of Trebond
The Song of the Lioness character
Created byTamora Pierce
Information
AliasAlan of Trebond
Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau
The Lioness
GenderFemale
TitleThe King's Champion
Baroness of Pirate's Swoop
Occupation Knight
SpouseGeorge Cooper
ChildrenThom of Pirate's Swoop, Alan of Pirate's Swoop, Alianne Crow
RelativesThom of Trebond (Brother)
Major Appearances
Alanna: The First Adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Lioness Rampant

Alanna of Trebond is a fictional character in Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe. She is the main character in The Song of the Lioness series and a minor character in a number of others. A young noble girl, Alanna disguised herself as a boy by the name of Alan, and trained to become a knight. Her true identity was eventually discovered, but she went on to become the first female knight in Tortall in a hundred years and the King's Champion.

Character

Although noble-born girls usually go to the convent to learn how to be noblewomen, Alanna and her twin brother Thom devise a plan to send her to learn to be a knight instead. Alanna is a stubborn tomboy with a temper, but she earns the trust of her fellow knights in training; George Cooper, the king of thieves; and Jonathan, prince of Tortall. Alanna often questions her own character because of her double identity, small size, and magical abilities, but she learns to overcome that as she becomes a knight. As a grown woman, she was a talented warrior, but neglected being a part of her children's lives growing up because of her work. [1] Alanna has coppery red hair and purple eyes, with purple magic to match. As mentioned before, she is of small stature, but to make up for that, she has a great amount of speed which helped her in her training to become a knight of Tortall. She has a matching personality to her hair: fiery and spunky and loves to get into trouble with her fellow squires and knights. However, despite her disguise of a male appearance, she still loves to have a feminine side every once in awhile. Alanna was never close with her birth father because he neglected his children after his wife died, locking himself away in his studies, leaving Alanna and her twin brother Thom to be raised by Coram and Maude. Eventually Lord Alan dies and while Alanna mourns for him, she has to continue on and she mostly forgets about him. In "The Woman Who Rides Like A Man" Alanna, Coram, and one of Alanna's teachers Myles of Olau journey into the desert to find the Bahir people. There, the people of the Bloody Hawk tribe adopt them and Alanna is adopted by Myles. She also becomes Myles' heir.

Storylines

Alanna: The First Adventure

See Alanna: The First Adventure.

Alanna: the First Adventure follows Alanna's growth as a page in the royal court, where she keeps her gender a secret, while learning to fence, fight, ride, and study alongside the male pages. Alanna befriends the heir to the throne and the charming King of Thieves, copes with the magical power she possesses and her mistrust of it, faces the palace bully, struggles with her suspicions of the prince's cousin Duke Roger, and finally travels to the southern desert, where the Bazhir tribesmen guard a Black City that has invaded her dreams. There, she and her friend Prince Jonathan defeat the much-feared Ysandir, a race of demons that has kept the Black City captive for generations. In the process, Jonathan learns that Alanna is a girl. Despite this, he chooses her as his squire when he has become a knight. [2]

In the Hand of the Goddess

See In the Hand of the Goddess.

Alanna, now squire to Prince Jonathan of Conté, has to protect her dreams of knighthood and friends through their first war with Tusaine. She slowly learns more about her gift, using it primarily to heal, and continues to hide her true gender while both George and Jon have fallen in love with her. She continues to be suspicious of and protect Jon from his power-mad first cousin, Roger, on the way to her becoming a full-fledged knight. [3]

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man

See The Woman Who Rides Like a Man.

A newly knighted Alanna leaves the capital to travel among the Bazhir in the desert, eventually becoming adopted by one of the tribes, though clashing with the tribe's shaman who seeks to destroy her name among the rest of the tribe. After fighting to the death with the shaman for her honor and winning, she has to replace the shaman and cannot leave until she trains another. [4]

Lioness Rampant

See Lioness Rampant.

Alanna, Coram, and her cat Faithful set out on a quest for the 'Dominion Jewel', which grants immense psychokinetic power to any monarch who owns it. The martial artist Liam Ironarm, known as the "Dragon of the Shang," joins them. After recovering the jewel, Alanna returns home only to discover that Prince Jonathan had been made King but not been crowned, and that Alanna's twin brother Thom, to prove himself the most powerful sorcerer in the realm, had resurrected Duke Roger. Jonathan is crowned king of Tortall and names Alanna his Champion. He appoints George Cooper as Baron of Pirate's Swoop. Alanna later aids the king and those loyal to him in a battle against Duke Roger and his accomplices. During this battle, Thom, Faithful, and Liam Ironarm die, and Alanna kills Roger. later Alanna and George marry. [5]

Protector of the Small series

See Protector of the Small.

Alanna was a minor character in the Protector of the Small series. She advocated for Keladry becoming a page, but was forbidden contact from her so that the nobles would not be suspicious that she used her magic to help the girl into knighthood. Instead, Alanna became Kel's secret benefactor, not revealing her identity until Kel became a knight. Alanna takes Kel's best friend Nealan of Queenscove as her squire.

The Immortals series

See The Immortals.

Alanna was a minor character in The Immortals series. She became friends with Daine as they fought the Emperor Mage Ozorne together, and she participated in the Immortals War.

Daughter of the Lioness series

See Daughter of the Lioness.

Alanna was a minor character in the Daughter of the Lioness series. She was Alianne's mother. She was unaware of her daughter's kidnapping initially. Later, she took part in the Tortallan envoy to recognize Dovasary Balitang as Queen of the Copper Isles, where she reconciled with Alianne, now the Queen's spymaster. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Pierce, Tamora (2003-09-23). Trickster's Choice. Random House Children's Books. ISBN   9780375890437.
  2. ↑ Pierce, Tamora (1984-01-01). Alanna: The First Adventure. Scholastic. ISBN   9780590197960.
  3. ↑ Pierce, Tamora (1984-01-01). In the Hand of the Goddess. Random House. ISBN   9780679801115.
  4. ↑ Pierce, Tamora (2011-04-19). The Woman Who Rides Like a Man. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   9781442427655.
  5. ↑ Pierce, Tamora (1988-01-01). Lioness Rampant. Random House. ISBN   9780679801139.
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