Dom Manuel

Freydis

A passionate and tumultuous love affair, marked by intense desire and eventual betrayal, as Freydis is a supernatural being who both aids and challenges Manuel.

Niafer

Manuel's loyal and long-suffering wife, who endures his absences and infidelities while remaining the anchor of his domestic life.

King Ferdinand

Manuel serves as King Ferdinand's champion and later son-in-law, a relationship of feudal obligation and political maneuvering.

Alianora

A brief but intense romantic entanglement with the Queen of Provence, driven by mutual attraction and political ambition.

Miramon Lluagor

A sorcerer and antagonist who competes with Manuel for power and control over magical forces, often opposing his goals.

The Head of Misery

A mystical, severed head that torments Manuel with prophecies and existential dread, representing his inner guilt and fate.

Sesphra of the Dreams

A dream-like figure who embodies Manuel's subconscious desires and fears, guiding him through surreal visions.

Melicent

Manuel's daughter, whom he loves deeply but often neglects due to his quests, creating a strained paternal bond.

Sister Math

A wise nun who serves as Manuel's advisor and spiritual guide, offering counsel on matters of morality and destiny.

Grandfather Death

A personification of death who haunts Manuel, representing his mortality and the inevitable end of his heroic journey.

Ruric

A loyal companion and fellow knight who fights alongside Manuel, sharing adventures and dangers.

Horvendile

A mysterious, otherworldly figure who acts as a guide and ally, helping Manuel navigate magical realms.

Epigraph

Referenced in the epigraph as 'jove Manuel,' the young and most valiant of the worthy.

I

Looms obscurely in the background of the Popular Tales, dispensing justice and arranging the future for survivors of other stories.

II

The central figure of the legends, a historical chieftain of Poictesme whose story is blended with the Dirghic Manu-Elul.

III

Compared to Achilles; portrayed from the outside with aloofness and ambiguity; his nature is tinctured with the cool unhumanness of his father the water-demon.

Figures of Earth

Introduced as a young swineherd, driven by an unexplained obligation to leave his home and pursue greatness.

Part I: The Book of Credit

Manuel is the recipient of the magician's offer, being shown the books of necromancy.

I: How Manuel Left the Mire

Introduced as a young swineherd, content and well-liked, but bound by a geas from his mother to make a figure in the world. He leaves his pigs to seek adventure.

II: Niafer

Manuel, young and confident, initiates the adventure to rescue Lady Gisèle and repeatedly praises Niafer's cleverness.

Ascent of Vraidex

Reveals his parentage to Niafer, claiming Oriander the Swimmer as his father and Dorothy of the White Arms as his mother. Praises Niafer's cleverness and dreads their future fight.

IV: In the Doubtful Palace

Arrives at the doubtful palace, brandishes Flamberge, and renounces wealth for Niafer.

V: The Eternal Ambuscade

Manuel chooses to let Niafer die rather than sacrifice himself, revealing his self-preservation and ambition. He later weeps for her, showing deep love and regret.

VI: Economics of Math

Returns to Math after his encounter at the pool, brooding over his adventures and his desire for something beyond pig-keeping.

VII: The Crown of Wisdom

Manuel sells a goose feather as the Zhar-Ptitza's feather, receives ten thousand sequins, and sculpts a figure of King Helmas, but is driven by a geas to seek his own ideal figure.

VIII: The Halo of Holiness

Arrives at King Ferdinand's court, cleverly uses a goose feather to gain the title Count of Poictesme, and models a clay figure of Ferdinand, but remains inwardly questioning.

The Feather of Love

Manuel returns to Alianora with a goose-feather, successfully deceiving the court. He marries Alianora, but feels misery despite his triumph.

Part II: The Book of Spending

Manuel is driven by hearsay and desire, using his cunning to cross through fire to meet the Queen.

X: Alianora

Betrothed to Alianora but still preoccupied with his geas and the memory of Niafer; he models a third clay image combining his and Alianora's features.

XI: Magic of the Apsarasas

Seeks wisdom from the birds and the Zhar-Ptitza, driven by a geas to create a splendid young man.

Ice and Iron

Manuel coldly accepts Alianora's marriage to the King of England, focusing on his geas to create images. He bids her a sad farewell, calling their love 'lust, not love,' and resolves to seek King Helmas's help.

XIII: What Helmas Directed

Seeks King Helmas's advice on his images and performs the summoning ritual for Queen Freydis.

XIV: They Duel on Morven

Traps Freydis, seeks the secret of animating images, destroys the enclosure's protections, and declares his love for Freydis.

XV: Bandages for the Victor

Reveals his love for Freydis is genuine despite the prearranged scheme; burns his hand in a noble gesture and accepts her care.

Part III: The Book of Cast Accounts

Manuel speaks to Misery, declaring the divine and unchangeable nature of his love.

XVI: Freydis

Lives with Freydis on Upper Morven, shows reluctance to pursue political ambitions, and struggles to express love in a way that satisfies Freydis, still comparing her unfavorably to Niafer.

XVII: Magic of the Image-Makers

Manuel wrestles with the price of image-making magic, fears acquiring the traits of the enchanters, and reveals profound loneliness and doubt about his own identity and the possibility of genuine connection.

XVIII: Manuel Chooses

Explains his disuse of Schamir and image-making, questions Freydis about raising the dead, and secretly departs from Freydis.

XIX: The Head of Misery

Manuel encounters a knight, kills him, then summons and feeds the Head of Misery.

XX: The Month of Years

Serves Misery for a month of days that pass as years, aging rapidly; debates the nature of misery and the immortality of the soul.

XXI: Touching Repayment

Manuel negotiates with Misery for Niafer's return, using knowledge from Alianora and Freydis to fashion a new body for her.

XXII: Return of Niafer

Sits at the feet of an image playing a flageolet, experiencing a vision of Niafer and Misery.

Manuel Gets His Desire

Now an aging nobleman, Manuel uses the tune from Suskind to resurrect Niafer, but pays the price of his youth. He becomes pragmatic, cautious, and self-complacent, yet retains his lordliness and desire to see the world.

XXIV: Three Women

Now an old gentleman, he meets Freydis and Alianora on the road, reaffirms his love for Niafer, and is summoned by both queens for future needs.

Part IV: The Book of Surcharge

Manuel is the craftsman who carves gods and idols to preside over the subjections of his lifetime, deliberately including a blemish in each.

Affairs in Poictesme

Manuel is persuaded by Niafer to give up his wandering and instead conquer Poictesme; he secures troops from King Ferdinand by demonstrating shrewd judgment, then leads a campaign relying on Tohil Vaca's military expertise and his own rhetoric.

Deals with the Stork

Manuel arranges for children via the stork, demonstrating his resourcefulness and adherence to Philistine customs.

XXVII: They Come to Sargyll

Arrives at Sargyll with Niafer, seeks Freydis's help, and discusses his past creations and the impending birth of his child.

XXVIII: How Melicent Was Welcomed

Becomes a father to Melicent; tries to placate Niafer and later declines Freydis's feast, reflecting on domestic joys.

XXIX: Sesphra of the Dreams

Manuel is tempted by Sesphra, confesses his disillusionment with love and marriage, and agrees to abandon his family.

XXX: Farewell to Freydis

Gray and staid, Manuel is confronted by Freydis about his past and his creation of Sesphra. He shows remorse and self-loathing but maintains composure.

XXXI: Statecraft

Negotiates with Miramon Lluagor to reclaim Poictesme, accepts Horvendile as overlord, and reflects on his obligations to provide for his wife and child.

The Redemption of Poictesme

Submits to a messianic ritual, suffers for three days, and emerges as 'Manuel the Redeemer' to lead the redemption of Poictesme.

Part V: The Book of Settlement

Reigning in virtue and honor, beloved and feared, maintaining his land.

Now Manuel Prospers

Now a powerful count, Manuel prospers but is secretly troubled by the cult of Sesphra and the memory of Freydis. He receives a goose-feather from Alianora and prepares to travel to England, reflecting on lost youth and love.

XXXIV: Farewell to Alianora

Travels to England to fulfill an obligation to Alianora; negotiates the transfer of the stork's note for a baby boy; returns to Poictesme and recounts the visit to Niafer.

The Troubling Window

Now a settled nobleman, troubled by a mysterious window and the loss of his adventurous spirit; he strangles his clerk Ruric for rebellion.

XXXVI: Excursions from Content

Grows restless and disillusioned with his prosperous life; opens the third window of Ageus and ventures into the gray nothingness, returning changed; reluctantly goes to war against the Easterlings but refuses King Theodoret's offer of marriage; spends more time alone in the Room of Ageus.

XXXVII: Opinions of Hinzelmann

Reflects on the geas of obligation and the emptiness of his success, expressing a longing for Suskind and a deep attachment to his daughter Melicent.

XXXVIII: Farewell to Suskind

Manuel performs his grimmest deed, slaying Suskind to save his daughter Melicent, and reflects on the death of his own youthful idealism.

The Passing of Manuel

Confronts his mortality, defends his heroic deeds, but admits to a life of striving without true contentment. Chooses death over sacrificing his daughter.

XL: Colophon

Manuel rides with Grandfather Death to the river Lethe, where his memories are washed away, and he is transformed into a young boy.