Character guide

Sir Oliver Tressilian

major

Also known as Sir Oliver, Tressilian, Oliver, Noll, Oliver Tressilian, Oliver-Reis

Sir Oliver Tressilian is the master of Penarrow, a startlingly Italianate manor on the Cornish coast, a man of youth, fortune, and good digestion who takes his ease while others scheme. His world is one of family rivalry and divided loyalties, and the very contentment that defines him early makes him vulnerable to the treachery closing in. His transformation from country gentleman to something far more dangerous is the engine of the novel's first half, and the reader watches a man of leisure become a man of consequence.

Mistress Rosamund Godolphin

major

Also known as Rosamund, Rosamund Godolphin, Godolphin

Rosamund Godolphin moves in the tense borderland between the Tressilian and Godolphin families, where old grievances and new desires collide. When confronted by a man who claims to own her body and soul, she answers with scorn and quiet confidence rather than tears, revealing a spirit that will not be broken. Her refusal to be a passive prize makes her the moral counterweight to the novel's darker impulses, and her choices shape the fates of every man who wants her.

Sakr-el-Bahr

major

Also known as Sakr, Sakr - el - Bahr, The Captive Sakr

Sakr-el-Bahr commands a galeasse in the corsair fleet, a man whose name alone quiets murmurs and whose counsel Asad-ed-Din both needs and resents. Six months chained to a galley oar forged him into something harder than flesh, and the memory of that horror drives every calculation he makes. He is the novel's most dangerous presence, a man whose loyalty is always in question and whose vengeance, when it comes, will not be gentle.

Marzak

supporting

Also known as Marzak - Ben - Asad, O Marzak

Marzak-ben-Asad occupies the uneasy position of heir to Algiers while watching a renegade captain command the loyalty his birthright should ensure. He is quick to panic when danger threatens and quicker to lash out at those who counsel patience, his courage always giving way to self-preservation. His jealousy of Sakr-el-Bahr makes him a tool for others' ambitions and a threat in his own right, and his recklessness repeatedly endangers the very fleet he sails with.

Asad-ed-Din

supporting

Also known as Asad, the Lord Asad - ed - Din, Lion of the Faith Asad - ed - Din

Asad-ed-Din, the Lion of the Faith, rules Algiers with a voice that once hurled men into death without protest, but he has lain too long in port while his fleets sailed under other captains. When his crew murmurs for Sakr-el-Bahr instead of him, the humiliation cuts deep, and his pride becomes a weapon others can turn against him. His devoutness and his jealousy are both played upon by those around him, making the Basha a pivot on which the novel's Mediterranean intrigues turn.

Master Lionel Tressilian

supporting

Also known as Lionel, Master Tressilian, Lionel Tressilian

Lionel Tressilian shares blood with Oliver but none of his strength, a man whose first instinct under threat is to strike at those closest to him. When cornered, he lashes out with the cruelest weapon he has, the accusation that Oliver's mother was a wanton, and he crumbles the moment stronger hands seize him. His betrayal is the wound that never closes, and his presence in the story is a constant reminder that the worst enemies are often the ones who share your name.

Sir John Killigrew

supporting

Also known as Sir John, John Killigrew, Arwenack, Killigrew

Sir John Killigrew moves through Cornish society as a man of standing whose friendship with the Tressilians gives him a stake in their fortunes. When suspicion and betrayal tear the family apart, his instinct to uphold order collides with his personal affections, forcing him to weigh reputation against justice. His presence in the early chapters anchors the local world Oliver leaves behind, and his later willingness to speak for the wronged gives the story one of its few reliable voices of conscience.

Jasper Leigh

supporting

Also known as Master Jasper Leigh, Leigh, Captain Leigh, Captain Jasper Leigh

Master Leigh is the kind of mariner who would trepan his own mother for a purse of gold, and he proves it when he delivers Sir Oliver into the hands of his enemies. Yet he is no mere villain: his cowardice, his greed, and his craven instinct for self-preservation make him a recurring instrument of fortune, useful to stronger men and dangerous to trusting ones. His path crosses Oliver's again under the corsair's flag, where the tables turn and the rascal must serve the man he betrayed.

Fenzileh

supporting

Also known as O Fenzileh, the spying Fenzileh

Fenzileh rules the lesser women of Asad-ed-Din's harem with a rod and a whisper, her authority exceeding even the Basha's in the small tyrannies of the household. Her consuming desire is to see her son Marzak raised above the Christian renegade whom Asad loves as a son, and she will scheme, spy, and poison a mind to achieve it. Her enmity toward Sakr-el-Bahr gives the Algerian chapters their domestic menace, a counterpoint to the open violence of the sea.

Lord Henry Goade

supporting

Also known as Lord Henry, Henry, Harry

Lord Henry Goade is a man of the world, at home in courts and on ships, whose clear eye and steady nerve make him a natural ally to the friendless. When Oliver returns to England under the shadow of his brother's treachery, Goade is among the few who listen before they judge, and his testimony carries weight where a stranger's would not. His presence in the later chapters gives the narrative a voice of English fairness against the clamor for vengeance.

Master Peter Godolphin

minor

Also known as Master Godolphin, Peter, Peter Godolphin

Rosamund's brother, a gentleman of Cornwall.

Tsamanni

minor

Also known as the insidious Tsamanni, the wazeer Tsamanni

A wily wazeer in the court of Algiers.

Ali

minor

Also known as O Ali - Reis, O valiant Ali

A corsair captain loyal to Sakr-el-Bahr.

Biskaine-el-Borak

minor

Also known as Biskaine, So Biskaine, the trusty Biskaine

A trusted lieutenant of Sakr-el-Bahr.

Ayoub-el-Samin

minor

Also known as Ayoub, O Ayoub, O wazeer Ayoub

A wazeer in Algiers, often advising Asad.

Vigitello

minor

Also known as the Italian Vigitello

An Italian renegade in Algiers.

Ralph Tressilian

minor

Also known as the late Ralph Tressilian

Oliver's deceased brother, mentioned in backstory.

The Skipper

minor

An unnamed ship's skipper.

Nick

minor

Also known as Nicholas, Old Nicholas

An old servant or sailor.

Ibrahim

minor

Also known as O Ibrahim, the luckless Ibrahim

A luckless corsair or official in Algiers.

Othmani

minor

A corsair or official in Algiers.

Yusuf-ben-Moktar

minor

Also known as Yusuf

A Tagareen corsair in Algiers.

Larocque

minor

A French renegade or corsair.

Pitt

minor

Also known as the Cornish Pitt

A Cornish sailor in Oliver's crew.

Master Anthony Baine

minor

Also known as Master Baine

A justice in Cornwall.

Sir Andrew Flack

minor

Also known as Sir Andrew

A Cornish gentleman.

Bagnolo

minor

Also known as The Italian Bagnolo

An Italian in Algiers.

Master Tobias

minor

A servant or minor official.

Don Paulo de Guzman

minor

Also known as Don Paulo

A Spanish captive or official.

Dragut-Reis

minor

Also known as Dragut, the wily Dragut

A famous corsair, mentioned as a historical figure.

Hamet

minor

Also known as O Hamet

A minor character in Algiers.

Lal

minor

A slave or servant in Algiers.

Malpas

minor

A location or minor character in Cornwall.

The Morisco

minor

Also known as the young Morisco

A young Morisco slave or sailor.

The Spaniard

minor

Also known as VIII The Spaniard The Swallow, the Swallow

A Spanish ship or captain encountered.

Yusuf the Tagareen

minor

A Tagareen corsair in Algiers.

Rose

minor

A female servant or minor character.