Bhelliom

Bhelliom (also called the 'Sapphire Rose' and 'Blue-Rose') is a fictional sapphire jewel of unlimited power from "The Elenium" and "The Tamuli" by David Eddings.

According to the folklore of the books, and later confirmed by the narrative, the Bhelliom was crafted into the shape of a rose bloom by the deformed troll Ghwerig, after he unearthed it in his home in northern Thalesia, also trapping the five Troll Gods within it. In order to use its power, Ghwerig crafted two rings from fragments of Bhelliom to force the Blue-Rose, as he called it, to do his bidding. The rings were stolen by Aphrael, the Child Goddess, who sent Sephrenia to give them to Sparhawk's and Queen Ehlana's ancestors. Later the Thalesian King stole Bhelliom and mounted it on his crown. A later Thalesian King died in a little known battle during the Zemoch War, started by the Elder God Azash to obtain Bhelliom, and the crown with Bhelliom were lost in a pond for five hundred years.In "The Elenium", the major plotline centered on Sir Sparhawk finding the Bhelliom, so as to be able to cure Queen Ehlana from the effects of the poison she had been slipped by Primate Annias of Cimmura, in his attempt to usurp the throne of Elenia, whereby he would have the funds and power to become Archprelate, leader of the Elenian Church.

Bhelliom is thrown into an ocean at the end of "The Elenium". It is retrieved in the second book of "The Tamuli". Although portrayed during "The Elenium" purely as an object of great power, during "The Tamuli" it was revealed that Bhelliom is in fact a sentient being, whose purpose is the creation of planets; the Troll Gods, which were released from the gem later in the series, refer to Bhelliom as "World-Maker". It is also revealed that Bhelliom implanted the notion into Aphrael to have the rings on Sparhawk's and Ehlana's ancestors, and that the rings themselves were nothing more than a deception designed to fool Ghwerig. Bhelliom resumed it's journey among the stars at the end of The Hidden City.

Bhelliom's Character

The character of Bhelliom was initially cast as an object of infinite power and without any will. It was only in the second book of "The Tamuli", "The Shining Ones", that the reader is shown that Bhelliom is, in fact, able to think for itself and has its own personality.

First of all, it should be known that Bhelliom has inconprehensible power. It easily created an escarpment that stretched the entire north end of a continent. Bhelliom speaks in a formal, archaic manner, befitting its great age and its somewhat distant manner. It is a distrustful being, and has placed a curse on itself to kill any creature who dares to pick it up. Even with Sparhawk, who it was supposed to work together with, Bhelliom is rather reserved with the Pandion Knight. However, in the "Tamuli", it is shown that Sparhawk is Bhelliom's child and as such it grows to care and work willingly for Sparhawk and at times expressing pride in Sparhawk's actions. The only character it apparently truly cares about is Aphrael, but only because of Aphrael's magical touch, which has the power to make creatures fall in love with her. It also seems to care for the Earth, for he made it and calls it his daughter.

Like most of the characters in the Sparhawk universe, Bhelliom has its own quirks and peculiarities. Bhelliom can exhibit certain 'human' emotions like embarrassment, impatience and confusion, which makes Bhelliom seem more approachable than one would expect. It also has certain limitations (eg. it can be compelled by Gods, or by the two rings crafted from its fragments) which serves to balance its otherwise immense and almost unlimited power.