Song of Albion
The Song of Albion is a trilogy of fantasy novels by American writer Stephen Lawhead, consisting of The Paradise War (1991), The Silver Hand (1992) and The Endless Knot (1993).
The series combines Christian religious themes with Celtic mythology and tells the tale of a pair of university students who stumble into an alternate world (Albion).
[1] The series has been illustrated by a number of artists including Rodney Matthews, Daniel Horne, Anne Yvonne Gilbert, and Peter Holt.
[2] The book begins with Simon Rawnson, a British native and his American friend, Lewis Gillies, both graduate students at University of Oxford, embarking on a journey to a farm in Scotland where a legendary Ice Age creature known as an aurochs has been supposedly recovered.
While expecting it to be a hoax, Lewis is startled to find that not only is the aurochs real but that Simon disappears after entering a cairn nearby.
After enduring weeks of uncertainty and doubt, Lewis encounters the eccentric Professor Nettles who helps him understand what has happened: Simon had travelled into the world of the faery folk known as Tuatha de Danann.
Llew is sent to the island school of Ynys Sci to be trained as a warrior and is gradually assimilated into the culture and people of Albion.
Furious at having been defeated, the Cythrawl unleashes Lord Nudd, an evil king's son from ages past to destroy Albion and its peoples.
Eventually, it is revealed that Simon was manipulating the king's arrogant son into pursuing a kingship by heritage, rather than the established and true rite of selection by the Chief Bard, Tegid.
They escape and make their way to the bard's ancient meeting mound, where they hope to establish their support for Llew's claim to the throne.
There they establish an enclave of those who either support Llew or are fleeing Meldron's campaign of destruction across the land, led by the feared Wolf Pack.
He marries the daughter of a warrior chieftess, Goewyn, and begins his rule as High King, making the rounds to the various villages and provinces on the Isle of the Mighty.
Finally they emerge from the forest and discover a vast mining operation in which worker from the manifest world coerced to labor as slaves.
Llew and his men manage to eliminate most of these, but the Brazen Man, a mysterious figure with a bronze suit of armor, arrives and delivers him a gruesome package containing the head of Nettles, whom he apparently killed.
But Llew's body, while restored including its hand, is still dead, and he is brought back home and interred in a cairn built by Tegid.
He is eventually selected by Tegid Tathal, the chief bard, to be the next king, but Prince Meldron usurps the throne instead, with Simon backing him.
Llew flees with Tegid to establish a settlement in the north, where he gathers a collection of followers and refugees from Meldron's destructive wrath.
However, his sacrifice causes the Song of Albion to be unleashed upon the land in full force and cleanse it of its corruption and evil, and so restores balance to the two worlds.
He becomes a respected member of Meldryn's army after several years and ascends to the leadership of Prince Meldron's personal guard, the Wolf Pack, also changing his name to Siawn Hy.
He recovers and returns to the world of Albion after making a deal with greedy industrialists to strip-mine the Foul Land and exploit its resources.
Originally the High King of Albion, he is assassinated by Paladyr at the end of The Paradise War in a conspiracy involving his son, Prince Meldron, and Siawn Hy.
The Chief Bard to King Meldryn in The Paradise War, Tegid Tathal becomes Llew's mentor and guide in the ways and language of his people, and travels with him throughout much of the series.
Professor Nettles is an expert on Celtic folklore and is aware of the existence of Tuatha de Danann, apparently long before either Simon or Lewis.
Nettles takes it upon himself to protect Albion from those who would exploit it, and in doing so he joins a set of researchers who are investigating the cairn in Scotland with the idea of watching them.
