Addershag

The Addershag is a fictional character from the "Shannara" novels by Terry Brooks.

Biography

The Addershag's origins are unknown, though she is supposedly a Rover. She is blind but is able to see into the future, and can detect the presence of magic. She probably has other abilities, but the only revealed one is the ability to transform her hands into snakes.

The Addershag is first encountered by Wren Elessedil, who is searching for the Elves. She finds the Addershag in the cellar of a building, chained to a wall by men who want her to help them win games of chance. She detects Wren's wholly Elven parentage, as well as the magic of the Elfstones. She also gives Wren a dire warning to trust no one. When Wren offers to help her escape, the Addershag replies that she can escape anytime, and that her captors will suffer when she grows bored with them.

Over 100 years later, the Addershag is still alive and in good health without the use of Druid Sleep. She sometimes supplies aid to Walker Boh, impressed by his magic but making him aware that her own is a match. However, five years before "The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara", the Addershag is killed on the orders of Grianne Ohmsford, the Ilse Witch.

However, before her death, the Addershag took on an apprentice named Ryer Ord Star. The Addershag dismissed her because she would use her empathic abilities to alter the future that she saw. Thus, the Ilse Witch dispatched the Addershag to make Ryer Ord Star her spy. Ryer would accompany Walker on his voyage to Parkasia.