Old Kingdom Wiki
Register
Advertisement

This page is about the bloodline. For the book, see Abhorsen.

Sablirael

Abhorsen Sabriel, left, with the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, her sister Lirael, right. By Amita Sevellaraja.

The Abhorsen are those of the Five Great Charters hereditary bloodline whose charge is maintaining the border between Life and Death. However, inheritance is not always direct: the next Abhorsen could be a niece, cousin, sibling, or other relative of the current Abhorsen, rather than their child.

They are the only Charter bloodline whose contributor is known: Astarael. The bindings on her well can only be removed with the breath "of her children," those with Abhorsen blood. Additionally, the Hrule in "Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case" refers to Abhorsens as "Astarael's get" ("get" being an archaic term for "offspring").

The Abhorsen combines Charter Magic and Free Magic in their bells to compel and control the Dead, righting the wrongs created by necromancers or others who pervert the nature of Life and Death.  The arrival of a new Abhorsen or Abhorsen-in-Waiting is signalled by the arrival of the bells, necromantic, Free-Magic instruments infused with Charter magic.  As Abhorsens are servants of the Charter, they bear uncorrupted baptismal Charter Marks on their foreheads, unlike Free Magic necromancers who have long been severed from the Charter.  

Up until the binding of Orannis, every Abhorsen had been served by Yrael/Mogget.  

The Abhorsen stronghold, called Abhorsen's House, is located on an island in the Ratterlin near the Long Cliffs. The House lies in close proximity to an enormous waterfall; the associated rapids complement the magical wards of the House in keeping the Dead and other dangerous entities from accessing it.  Only the Abhorsen can break into the barrier separating Life and Death at Abhorsen's House, but never do so, as thousands of Dead enemies lie in wait there, hoping for just such an occurrence,

The Abhorsen share certain physical characteristics.  They usually inherit pale skin, which then becomes paler when leeched of its colour from the waters of death.  The Abhorsen also have dark, usually black, hair.

Symbol[]

Silver key(s) on a dark blue field.

Members[]

This is a list of the Abhorsens who have been mentioned so far.[1]

  • 1 - ♀ It is implied that the first Abhorsen's name was "Abhorsen" and that she was female.
  • 12 - Kalliel ♂ (dug the well in the rose garden of Abhorsen's Island, died in the caves, probably killed by Astarael, locked Mogget up)
  • 13 - ♂ (Kalliel's grandson, released Mogget)
  • 14 - ♂ Lerantiel (wrote the book “On the Making of Necromantic Bells and Other Devices”)
  • 46 - ♀ (Built the first Paperwing, great weather-witch, last of her line, Sabriel's great-great-great-great-grandmother's cousin)
  • 47 - ♂ (her nephew)
  • 48 - Jerizael (forbade Mogget using the albino form)
  • 49 or 50 - ♂ Alliel (a fountain is dedicated to him on Abhorsen's Island, and he is mentioned by a Clayr Librarian in "The Nine Gates of Death" short story)
  • 51 - ♀ Tizanael (Terciel's great-aunt)
  • 52 - ♂ Terciel (chained Kerrigor beyond Seventh Gate, trained with his aunt for a decade, father of Sabriel)
  • 53 - ♀ Sabriel (Queen, bound Kerrigor, married to King Touchstone I, mother of Sameth and Ellimere)
  • 54 - ♀ Lirael Goldenhand (Daughter of Terciel and Arielle [a Clayr], Sabriel's half-sister, Remembrancer, split the Destroyer)

Abhorsens Unplaced in the Lineage[]

  • Feriniel ♀ (Tyriel’s great-great-uncle’s daughter, took Mogget outside the house)
  • Maderael ♀ (Abhorsen 700 years before Sabriel was born, followed by Kariniel, gave back the bells and lived over a hundred years, using the alias "Ader." Mogget calls her "old witch.")
  • Kariniel ♀ (Tyriel's great-aunt, "hunt mad")
  • Tyriel ♂ (Abhorsen 600 years before Sabriel is born, father to Jaciel, Yannael and Teriel)
  • Teriel ♂ (Tyriel's son and Abhorsen-in-Waiting before being killed by a Free Magic entity)
  • Yannael ♀ (Tyriel's daughter. Assumes the role of Abhorsen-in-Waiting following her brother Teriel's death, however unbeknownst to any bar perhaps Mogget this title was actually passed to Tyriel's great nephew Belatiel)
  • Belatiel ♂ (Abhorsen approximately 600 years before Sabriel is born, succeeded his great-uncle Tyriel)
  • Cassiel (whose bells Lirael wields)
  • Yezael (a shed on Abhorsen's Island is named after this Abhorsen)
  • Keramitiel (killed on the riverbank outside the House by an archer)
  • Soraniel ♂ (banished one of the greatest of the Dead that had been chained past the Eighth Gate 200 years prior by Lerantiel)
  • Ulamael ♀ (lived in a peaceful time. Created the Garden of Ulameal, the all-seasons underground garden that provides the House with vegetables)
  • Bannatiel (possessed a staff with a hidden dagger)
  • Herranael (succeeded Jeremiel)
  • Jeremiel ♂ (great-great-great grandfather to Elinor Hallett according to Abhorsen Tizanael. Also the grandfather of Elinor's grandmother Myrian Clayr, according to Mirelle)

Others[]

The following are members of the Abhorsen bloodline but are not Abhorsens:

  • Ellimere ♀ (daughter of the Abhorsen Sabriel and King Touchstone, she carries on the Royal bloodline)
  • Sameth ♂ (son of the Abhorsen Sabriel and King Touchstone, he is the revival of the Wallbuilder bloodline)
  • Clariel a.k.a. Chlorr of the Mask ♀ (a member of the Abhorsen bloodline through her mother Jaciel; never herself an Abhorsen-in-Waiting or Abhorsen)
  • Jaciel ♀ (Clariel's mother)
  • Siranael (a rider of Tyriel)
  • Enriel (name on a plate on a door in Abhorsen Tyriel's residence of Hillfair)
  • Harmanael (name on a plate on a door in Abhorsen Tyriel's residence of Hillfair)
  • Elseniel (Keeper of the House at Abhorsen Tyriel's residence of Hillfair)
  • Palleniel ♀ (a seamstress in Abhorsen Tyriel's residence of Hillfair)
  • Rahiniel ♀ (Terciel's much older sister, who died when he was four, Tizanael's original Abhorsen-in-Waiting)
  • Herranael ♂ (Terciel's great-grandfather, Tizanael's brother)
  • Elinor (descendant of Jeremiel, of the line of Tizanael)
  • Gweniliel (daughter of Tizanael, died in an accident)

Trivia/Theories[]

  • In Goldenhand it is mentioned that the Abhorsen's lineage used to be more plentiful (Vancelle says in Chapter 20, on page 209: "... all from the days when the Abhorsens were more populous, and a score or more might visit at the same time.)
  • Nearly all Abhorsens have names ending in -iel or -ael. This may be a tribute to, or from faded memories of, the seventh Bright Shiner, Astarael, who began the Abhorsen bloodline. It also may be the equivalent of a "family name," which Old Kingdom denizens don't have.
  • After the death of Sabriel's father, she was the only member of the Abhorsen line left, as Lirael had not yet been born. Even Touchstone had Kerrigor sharing his blood. Hence, when Sabriel died and there was no one else to be Abhorsen, the spirits of past Abhorsens "broke the rules" and brought her back to Life until the bloodline could continue.
  • The origin of the name "Abhorsen" in the book's world is unknown, but Nix may have chosen the name referencing "Abhorson," the executioner in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. In Terciel and Elinor, it is said that the title Abhorsen is thought to be the name of the first of their line.


Advertisement