Change, Resistance And Legend

Two processes continue to occur: first, change; secondly, individuals and groups continue to act as they did before. Thus, Rufinus and now also Maeloch spy and secretly negotiate on behalf of Gratillonius who tries to restore Armorican defences after the destruction of Ys. But Niall orders his men to dismantle and raze even the ruins of Ys while one of Gratillonius' daughters commits infanticide, thus terminating one line of descent from the last King of Ys.

A third process that is always with us is the transformation or metamorphosis of past events into enduring legends. Gratillonius' future wife, Verania, sings:

"'I remember Ys, though I have never seen her...'"

-The Dog And The Wolf, VIII, 3, p. 162.

And we remember Ys from Volumes I-III of this Tetralogy. Verania's song is a haunting echo of the legend and of its summation in this series. She, like the two co-authors, is a link between the fabulous city and present readers.