Eilantha

This page is specifically for tracking Eilantha's reincarnations through all volumes.

Common Traits of Eilantha's Incarnations
Eilantha is the daughter of Adsartha and Riveda. She is nearly always a child of Avalon; sometimes priestess, sometimes queen, sometimes both. Great things are usually expected of her, but in an indirect way; she is usually the conduit for fulfilling prophecies, rather than being the hero or savior herself. She often seems to walk the fine line between old and new spiritual practices.

Tiriki, The Fall of Atlantis and Ancestors of Avalon
Tiriki is the original Eilantha. Originally intended by Riveda to be a child dedicated to the dark, Black Robe path, he is thwarted by several factors: she was conceived before the ritual intended to create her, and then her aunt Domaris binds her and her mother to Caratra, the mother goddess, before she is born. In order to spare Tiriki the stigma of fatherlessness after Riveda's death, Reio-ta proposes he stand as her legal father when she receives her temple name. She is then raised by Domaris when the latter is exiled, in hopes that she will be further insulated from the guilt incurred by her parents.

Only as the wife and beloved of Micail does Tiriki emerge as an individual. When the refuges from the Sea Kingdom are separated while escaping Atlantis, Tiriki becomes the leader of the community that lands near the future site of Avalon.

Eilan/Helena, Priestess of Avalon

 * "I am called Eilan --" I answered swiftly, "and Helena..."
 * "Or Tiriki..." he answered, and I blinked, finding a strange familiarity in the name.

Eilan, child of High Priestess Rian, is born in Avalon, but truly as the child of two worlds; her mother made the Great Marriage with a British prince named Coelius, who kept a Roman household but also honored his British roots. After her mother's death, Eilan lives with her father, going by the name Julia Helena, and receiving a Roman education. When she returns to Avalon at age 10, she uses the name her mother gave her, Eilan, and is made a priestess. However, it is not her fate to stay in Avalon -- she and Constantius also make the Great Marriage, and as a result of Eilan secretly taking another priestess' place in the ritual, she is expelled by the Lady Ganeda.

Back in the Roman world, all know her as Helena, but even there her status is ambiguous; Coelius never formally adopted Helena as his daughter, since she was always meant to go back to Avalon, and as such she and Constantius cannot be legally married under Roman law. Still, they go together wherever Constantius is sent by the army, they are happy, and they have a child, Constantine. Helena believes her son is the Child of Prophecy spoken of during her initiation as priestess.

As Constantius rises in the esteem of the ruling Ceasars, Helena and Constantine's ambiguous status forces him to separate from Helena and officially marry elsewhere, once more putting Helena's identity and life in flux. She settles quietly in Londinium, and runs a school for girls. After putting down the rebellions of Carausius and Allectus, Constantius' victories continue over the next decade; Helena follows his progress from afar, but only once, during a riot, reveals to the public her prior relationship with Constantius in order to protect her household. Again fate intervenes, bringing Constantius, Constantine, and Helena together at Constantius' deathbed; when Constantius dies, Constantine is declared Augustus, hurtling Helena from relative obscurity back into political prominence, now as Flavia Julia Helena Augusta.


 * This section needs to be completed, as well as probably needing editing for length.

Igraine, The Mists of Avalon
Please add relevant quote(s) and information relating Igraine to Eilantha.

Rowan Moorcock, Heartlight
Please add relevant quote(s) and information relating Rowan to Eilantha.