The Spellcoats
The Spellcoats (1979) is the third published novel in Diana Wynne Jones's series "Dalemark Quartet", but chronologically the first. The story takes place several thousand years before "Cart and Cwidder" and "Drowned Ammet". The time period is referred to as "prehistoric Dalemark" because by the time of the other books, only legends remain from this time. The people of prehistoric Dalemark do not have a written language, but some know how to write by weaving in a language of runes using yarn of many colours and textures. Plot. Tanaqui, the narrator, is a young woman living in  a small town called Shelling, which lies beside the Great River. She and her four siblings look different from the rest of the townsfolk, and instead of worshiping the River, their family has three idols—the so-called Undying. When the country is invaded by the Heathens (who are modelled after Europeans and are the ancestors of the people of Dalemark in the other three novels) who look like them, Tanaqui and her siblings flee to avoid being killed by the people of their own village. Tanaqui's narration in "The Spellcoats" is not her diary, nor is it being  told as many stories are. Rather, Tanaqui is weaving the story into a pair of "spellcoats" that she is making. The first spellcoat tells of how the five siblings (Gull, Robin, Hern, Tanaqui and Duck) travelled downriver on their boat. First, they encounter the mysterious magician Tanamil, then the Heathen king Kars Adon, and finally, at the sea, the evil mage Kankredin, whose aim is to take over the power of the river by taking over the five children's souls. In the middle of this Gull was bound like the One, Tanamil (Younger Amil or the young one) and  the Lady. The second spellcoat tells how, after their escape from Kankredin, the five siblings are captured by their own King, "the king of the natives" (who are modelled after Native Americans and Hawaiians and are the ancestors of the Holy Islanders in "Drowned Ammet") who has lost his kingdom and is drifting with the remains of his army trying to avoid the Heathens. The King keeps the children in his company because he needs one of the children's idols—the powerful One—to assist him in his pursuits. As Tanaqui continues to weave during her travel upriver with  the King, she realises that the spellcoats that Kankredin and his mages wore gave them the powers that were woven into their spellcoats. She becomes convinced that the words woven into her spellcoats will have the power to defeat Kankredin. Realizing that Tanaqui is the only one able to stop Kankredin and his mages with her weaving, her elder brother Hern convinces the combined forces of their own people and the Heathens to make a stand at the headwaters of the Great River, and hold off Kankredin while Tanaqui completes her second spellcoat. Tanaqui weaves frantically to catch up to  her "present," and finally she completes her spellcoat with a waking vision she experiences. In this vision, their eldest family idol called The One rises up, crushes Kankredin, and shakes the land into a new shape. We do not find out from Tanaqui's narration if she succeeds or fails, because she must finish the spellcoat and put it on the idol before the spellcoat's woven spell can take effect. In an epilogue written by Elthorar Ansdaughter, Keeper of Antiquities, we learn that the spellcoats were discovered hundreds of years later, during the approximate time period of "Drowned Ammet  and Cart and Cwidder", in the mountains of North Dalemark near Hannart. Elthorar notes the close correspondence between various figures in the stories and their apparent counterparts in the legends and folktales of the people of Dalemark. She also tries and fails to determine the places described, leading the reader to conclude that Tanaqui's vision came to pass, Kankredin was defeated, and The One reshaped the land. Like the other three novels of the Dalemark Quartet, "The Spellcoats" is a story about a physical journey, during which revelations occur. As in the other three books, the presence of magic  is not readily apparent at its beginning, but slowly creeps into the story. Characters. Closti's children. The five sons and daughters of Closti the Clam, born and raised in the village of Shelling across the River. Although their father never left Shelling, his children look like the heathens with their blond hair. Heathens. Blonde, bushy-haired, dark-skinned foreigners invading Dalemark. Riverlands natives. Natives of prehistoric Dalemark. Undying. Strange, immortal beings with mysterious powers. Humans see them as gods, but they claim they are not. Reception. Greg Costikyan reviewed "The Spell-Coats" in "Ares Magazine" #8 and commented that  As a whole, The Spell-Coats" is sufficiently good to warrant place on my Hugo Nomination ballot, and should help establish Jones' credentials as an excellent writer."