Tigana: Before the Prologue...

[fajrdrako]

Tigana: The Prologue

Before we get to the Prologue, we have two quotes: one from Dante's Paradiso, one from George Seferis, "Stratis the Sailor Describes a Man".

All that you held most dear you will put by
and leave behind you; and this is the arrow
the longbow of your exile first lets fly.

You will come to know how bitter as salt and stone
is the bread of others, how hard the way that goes
up and down stairs that never are your own.
- Dante, The Paradiso

What can a flame remember? If it remembers a little less than is necessary, it goes out; if it remembers a little more than is necessary, it goes out. If only it could teach us, while it burns, to remember correctly.
- George Seferis, "Stratis the Sailor Describes a Man".

I want to keep these in mind, and see at the end of the book whether I think they are important to the themes. The second one, I understand: it's a book about perceptions, memory, and change.

The first one... it's about the war between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, which was topical and important to Dante, and mostly forgotten now. But it's about war, loss, and exile - life in an unfamiliar world, and not by choice.

Yes, very apropos.

Then there's a map. I love books with maps. This is The Peninsula of the Palm, where the story is set. We have rivers and mountains, and a pretty compass rose with south marked, rather than north.

A note on pronunciation: pretend it's all in Italian. Which means terminal vowels are all pronounced, and it's all pretty straightforward. "Chiara" is "Key arra", "Ciorone" is "Chore own". But Ferraut? That looks French. Ah well. Just like in real life, place names aren't logical and languages get mixed up together.

Setting: a place with two moons. Two armies are encamped on the banks of the Deisa (visible in the middle of the map), about to do battle. We are in the viewpoint of Saevar, a sculptor, who is talking to Prince Valentin, who has two sons, Corsin and Loredan. The enemy leader is Brandin of Ygrath.

Trialla - a kind of bird, presumably. I infer that its song is pretty.

Named places: Ygrath (the home of the enemy they are fighting), Quileia (to the south on the map) and Barbadior - and Empire to the East.

Valentin does not want to fight, and feels it is certain his side will lose. He believes that the memory of his homeland and its accomplishments will live on, even when his army is defeated.

* * *

I don't usually like Prologues. I could rant about why I don't like then, and what I particularly don't like about them. But I like this one. It's beautifully written, with a contrast between the peaceful beauty of the night and the friendship between the men, and the violent battle they are about to face. It sets a scene, with a Prince who loves peace and art and his people, and an artist who loves the Prince and his family.

It's as if everything is poised to happen.