Nancy Farmer
THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED
To Harold
May we find the Islands of the Blessed together
Pangur Ban
I and Pangur Ban, my cat—’Tis a like task we are at:Hunting mice is his delight;Hunting words, I sit all night. Better far than praise of men’Tis to sit with book and pen. Pangur bears me no ill will;He too plies his simple skill. ’Tis a merry thing to seeAt our tasks how glad are we,When at home we sit and findEntertainment to our mind. Oftentimes a mouse will strayIn the hero Pangur’s way;Oftentimes my keen thought setTakes a meaning in its net. ’Gainst the wall he sets his eyeFull and fierce and sharp and sly;’Gainst the wall of knowledge IAll my little wisdom try. When a mouse darts from its den,O how glad is Pangur then!O what gladness do I proveWhen I solve the doubts I love!So in peace our tasks we ply,Pangur Ban, my cat, and I. In our arts we find our bliss;I have mine and he has his.
Practice every day has madePangur perfect in his trade;I get wisdom day and nightTurning darkness into light. Written by an unknown eighth-century Irish monk in the margins of a manuscript, when he was supposed to be copying the Bible.
Translated by Robin Flower in The Irish Tradition, Oxford University Press, London, 1947.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
HUMANS (SAXONS) Jack: Age fourteen; an apprentice bard
Hazel: Jack’s sister; age eight; stolen by hobgoblins
Lucy: Jack’s foster sister; lost to Elfland
Mother: Alditha; Jack’s mother; a wise woman
Father: Giles Crookleg; Jack’s father
The Bard: A druid from Ireland; also known as Dragon Tongue
Ethne: Daughter of the Elf Queen and the Bard
Pega: An ex-slave girl; age fifteen
Mrs. Tanner: The tanner’s widow; mother of Ymma and Ythla
Ymma and Ythla: The Tanner girls; ages ten and eight
Brother Aiden: A monk from the Holy Isle
Gog and Magog: Slaves of the village blacksmith
King Brutus: Ruler of Bebba’s Town
Father Severus: Abbot of St. Filian’s Monastery
Sister Wulfhilda: A nun
Allyson: Thorgil’s mother; deceased
HUMANS (NORTHMEN) Thorgil: Olaf One-Brow’s adopted daughter; age fourteen
Olaf One-Brow: A famous warrior and Thorgil’s foster father; deceased
Skakki: Olaf’s son; age eighteen; a sea captain
Rune, Sven the Vengeful, Eric the Rash, Eric Pretty-Face: Members of Skakki’s crew
Egil Long-Spear: Sea captain and trader
Bjorn Skull-Splitter: Olaf One-Brow’s best friend
Einar Adder-Tooth: A pirate
Big Half and Little Half: Brothers working for Adder-Tooth
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT The Bugaboo: King of the hobgoblins
The Nemesis: The Bugaboo’s second-in-command
Mr. Blewit: Hobgoblin foster father of Hazel
The draugr: Avenging spirit
The hogboon: Soulless being that feeds on life
OTHERS The Shoney: Ruler of the fin folk
Shair Shair: The Shoney’s wife
Shellia: Their daughter; also known as the drauger
Whush: A fin man
Man in the Moon: An old god; exiled to the moon
Yarthkins: Also known as landvættir; spirits of the land
Pangur Ban: Large white cat from Ireland
