Arborlon

Shannara location


name=Arborlon
nickname=
capital=
inhabitants=Elves
location=the Westland
appearance="The Elfstones of Shannara"

Arborlon is the capital city of the Elves in the fictional "Shannara" series of novels by Terry Brooks. In the Original Shannara Trilogy, the first 3 books, Arborlon is located in the Westland of The Four Lands. In "The Elfstones of Shannara", the defense of Arborlon is one of the central plot lines. Arborlon is not visited again until "The Elf Queen of Shannara", where it is discovered that the Elves moved the entire city from the Four Lands to an island off the west coast by the use of a magical stone known as the Loden. Arborlon is the only city of Elves that Brooks has described in detail, but there is another city of Elves in the Westland known as Wing Hove. These Elves consider themselves a separate people from the Elves of Arborlon, although their descendants originated from Arborlon.

Geography

Arborlon in the Westland

In "The Elfstones of Shannara", Arborlon is described in great detail. It is situated atop a flat towering rock known as the Carolan, which rises steeply from the east shore of the Rill Song, a Westland river. Arborlon is high above the surrounding land, although it is within a dense area of forest as well. The city proper, where the Palace is located, is on the east side of the Carolan, with the Gardens of Life and other isolated cottages to the west. The entire area, including the Gardens of Life, are known as Arborlon, however. The Carolan provides a measure of security to Arborlon, serving as the city's boundaries on the east, north, and south. The entrances to Arborlon are to the west and the east, with impassible mountains to the north and south. On the west side of the Carolan, there is the Elfitch, a series of seven stone ramps and iron gates which lead from the top of the Carolan to the base of the bluff at the east bank of the Rill Song river. On the east side there are smaller stairways which lead down to the Valley of Rhenn to the east of Arborlon.

Arborlon on Morrowindl

Arborlon was moved to Morrowindl, an island about 200 miles across off the coast of the Westland, 200 years following the events of "The Wishsong of Shannara". The Heritage of Shannara series takes place approximately 100 years after Arborlon's removal from the Westland. "The Elf Queen of Shannara", third book in the Heritage series, describes Arborlon's removal and its new location. The Loden Elfstone was used to remove the entire city of Arborlon, including the Gardens of Life and other trees and vegetation, from the Carolan. Arborlon sits on a bluff similar to the Carolan on Morrowindl. When Morrowindl began to become dangerous due to the spawning of many dangerous creatures around the island, the "Keel" was constructed around Arborlon. It is a large stone wall, constructed by hand, but maintained by the magic of the Ruhk Staff and the Loden. The Keel has three sets of gates leading out of the city, one main gate and two smaller ones. There is also a moat just inside the city walls. There are dozens of places where the moat is bridged to provide access to the top of the wall of the Keel. By the end of "The Elf Queen of Shannara", Arborlon has been removed from Morrowindl and placed on its prior location in the Westland atop the Carolan.

Arborlon before the Great Wars

In "Armageddon's Children", the first book of the most recent trilogy The Genesis of Shannara, Arborlon is located deep in the woods of Oregon. The descriptions of Arborlon in "Armageddon's Children" match its initial descriptions in "The Elves of Shannara", showing how the city itself remained largely unchanged in the 2 millenia that separates the two books. In the third book of the Genesis series, "The Gypsy Morph", the Loden is used to remove and subsequently carry Arborlon from Oregon to an area near Spokane, Washington by a young Elf named Kirisin Belloruus.

Arborlon during the Great Wars

In its new location near Spokane, Arborlon is protected by the nuclear holocaust of the Great Wars by Hawk, the Gypsy Morph. He used the last of his magic to encircle and protect Arborlon and the other survivors. Arborlon remained intact while the landscape of the Earth was changed into the landscape of The Four Lands.