[Mrs. Cadvan]

Right, well I've been thinking today (as my perverted little mind often does), about Cadvan. We know he doesn't feature directly in Book 3, and I for one will be relatively sad about that. And I know that Alison obviously cant give away plot details concerning him in Book 4. So here's a compromise!! (and here my voice get's all whiny)
Dear Mrs Croggon, would it be at all possible for you to tell us some background information about Cadvan, you know- like favourite milkshake, least favourite colour, etc etc, and maybe a bit of his history (that which isn't mentioned in the book). I would be ever so grateful and contented whilst I wait for mid 2006 to come round!
Asides, I thought the Cadvan-fans (now a small army) might as well have this thread for their lustful rantings, kiss-and-tell-Cadvan stories, and so on. :)

[Merenwen]

I just wanna say i second Mrs. Cadvan's idea and i wouldn't mind gettin extra info bout any other characters too :D ;) (ok so we're bein slightly cheekey askin u to come up with all this stuff BUT u don't get if u don't ask)

[alison]

Sounds like a fair request! Is there anything in particular you'd like to know? I'll do my best to find out...I'll have to do some research. :D

[alison]

Cadvan was born, the oldest of five children, into a poor family in a small village near Lirigon. His father was a cobbler. His mother died of a fever when he was six years old, after she gave birth to his youngest brother Morvan.

[Gemini]

Weee, a thread dedicated to Cadvan, about time :D . Actualy, did you know there are quite a few historical figures called Cadvan? Like Cadvan of Cambria Prince of Wales and there's a Dr Cadvan Giffifths... lol http://www.google.com.au/searchhl=en&q=Cadvan&btnG=Google+Search&meta=lr%3Dlang_en

[Gemini]

Actualy, i was interested in Cadvan heritage. Is there any Pilanel blood floating around in his veins... i forget why i wanted to know this, there was a theory or something, ah well, it'll be interesting to know anyway.

[Mrs. Cadvan]

Sounds like a fair request! Is there anything in particular you'd like to know? I'll do my best to find out...I'll have to do some research. :D

Wahay!
Well...what was Cadvan like as a child, a teenager, a young man? Whilst he was a student at Lirigon's school, what sort of 'crowd' did he hang about with?
What was his and Ceredin's relationship like? (yeah, I had to fit in the jealous fan-girl question somewhere :P)

[Fionnoula]

well done Mrs C...you have my eternal respect for this thread :p ...yummm Cadvan.... ;) ...thanks for creating him Alison :) ...he's a very Aragorn type figure..any lost thrones in his heritage?

[alison]

Actualy, i was interested in Cadvan heritage. Is there any Pilanel blood floating around in his veins... i forget why i wanted to know this, there was a theory or something, ah well, it'll be interesting to know anyway.

Almost nothing is known of Cadvan's family; certainly there were no kings. However, it wouldn't be unlikely that Pilanel blood was in there somewhere: there was a close and ancient relationship between the Pilanel people and the people of Lirhan, and intermarriage wasn't uncommon.

Off to the library to do some more research - I'm sure there's a scroll on the young Bards Nelac taught in Lirigon, if I can find it. From the accounts available, they were a pretty wild and talented bunch. Maybe I can find something on that poetry duel with Dernhil... ;)

[alison]

There's not a lot of information available on Cadvan's early life, before the deeds which made him famous throughout Annar; but perhaps more will come to light as time passes. More discoveries are being made all the time, as the field of Edil-Amarandh studies develops and grows. On your behalf, I wrote to the principal expert on the Naraudh Lar-Chane, Christiane Armongath, to see if she can throw any further light on the subject. She writes back:

We know that as a young Bard at the School of Lirigon, Cadvan was one of the most brilliant students of Nelac of Lirigon, and that great things were expected of him. The documents suggest that at that time - around fifty years before the events in The Gift - Cadvan was one of a particularly bright generation of young Bards that flourished around Lirigon: in particular, there were Ceredin (who became Cadvan's lover before her tragic death), and Malgorn, a childhood friend. Others named in the records of the time are Runilar, who later went to the School of Til Amon, and Norowen, later First Bard of Il Arunedh. They were instated together as Minor Bards and remained friends throughout their adult lives.

When Nelac of Lirigon was asked to be a member of the First Circle in Norloch, some time after Cadvan became a full Bard, Cadvan divided his time between Lirigon and Norloch, and most likely at that time met Saliman of Turbansk, who had travelled to Norloch expressly to study with Nelac. Cadvan met Dernhil of Gent, his other greatest friend, at Lirigon, when he challenged the young but famous poet to a poetry duel - and, to his own chagrin and to the delight of many others, lost. Dernhil was already on his way to becoming the most celebrated poet of his age, and this event did nothing to hinder his fame, as the Bard Turilien records in her Life of Dernhil :

The whole town was in a fever at Cadvan's challenge, and many turned out for the duel from both the School and the Town, so the Singing Hall was crammed, and the crowd spilled out into the central circle: and yet more came. It was like a festival, with Bards bearing banners for one or other of the challengers, and three Scribes seconded from the Library to record their stanzas. In some cases, rival supporters broke into fisticuffs, such were the passions aroused by the challenge; and many young ladies came to witness the event, wearing their brightest furbelows, hoping to catch the eye of one or other of the challengers, who were, it was generally agreed by the crowd, not only the most talented, but the most handsome, young Bards of their age.

Poetry duels have very complicated rules, but basically the duel required the two poets to extemporise poems in a set metres and forms, responding to each other's poems instantly. The poems were judged for technical finesse and emotional power, as well as for their wit. Sadly, although it is said that the poems were written down, we have yet to find any record of them. It seems that Cadvan did not lose very graciously, and stalked out of the Singing Hall "with a face clouded as black as any had seen". However, after this he and Dernhil became firm friends.

This particular event demonstrates Cadvan's arrogance: he was the leader among his friends, used to being the best at everything. This made him enemies as well as friends and admirers, and not everyone was displeased at his later downfall.