Lythande by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Lythande is a fictional character created by Marion Zimmer Bradley, who appears in a series of stories set in the shared universe of Sanctuary/Thieves World. Introduced as a traveling mage and minstrel, Lythande’s character is notable for her unique secret: she is a woman who disguises herself as a man to practice magic within a society that imposes strict gender-related constraints on magical practitioners. Her ability to wield magic is contingent upon keeping her true identity hidden; if discovered by a man, she would lose her powers. The collection, titled "Lythande," features several tales that explore her adventures, including her work as a magician for hire and her interventions in the troubles of others. The stories illustrate her struggles with loneliness due to her hidden identity and the precarious nature of her magic, as well as her moral obligations to assist those in need, often leading her into challenging situations. Through her journeys, Lythande navigates a world filled with danger, societal expectations, and the complexities of identity, making her a compelling figure in fantasy literature.
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Lythande
First published: 1986
Type of work: Stories
Type of plot: Fantasy—magical world
Time of work: Undefined but analogous to medieval/feudal Europe
Locale: Sanctuary/Thieves World
The Plot
In her introduction to this collection, Marion Zimmer Bradley tells of the inception of her character, Lythande. Author Robert Asprin proposed that a number of authors write stories taking place within a shared background, the fictional Sanctuary/Thieves World. Each author received a packet of information describing the gods and customs of the place. Many responded, and a series of anthologies was begun. Bradley’s five stories about Lythande appear in several of the anthologies and are collected in Lythande. One stipulation of participating in the Sanctuary/Thieves World series is that anyone may write about any character, as long as the story does not result in the character’s death or a significant alteration of the character’s established persona. Lythande includes “Looking for Satan,” a story about Lythande written by Vonda N. McIntyre and previously published in Thieves World (1981).
The collection concerns the adventures of Lythande, a traveling mage/minstrel. In the first story, the reader is made aware that every magician’s power is linked to a secret and that a magician wields power only as long as the secret remains undiscovered. Furthermore, no man may observe a magician eating or drinking, though a woman may.
Lythande’s secret is revealed to the reader. She is a female who, disguised as a male, became an Adept of the Blue Star order of magicians. Her disguise remained undiscovered until after the investiture of her powers, whereupon the Great Adept declared that Lythande’s womanhood must be her Secret: She must continue to appear to be male. On the day that any man discovers her secret, she will cease to be a magician. She may reveal her secret to another female, but only one who could be trusted with life and livelihood; less trustworthy women must be kept as ignorant as men. This results in a rather lonely personal life for Lythande, though she has the magical power she desired.
The six stories can be divided into two groups. The first concerns Lythande’s activities as a magician for hire. In “The Incompetent Magician,” the mage must recover an item lost by a colleague during an indiscretion. The inhabitants of a fishing community hire the sorcerer in “Sea Wrack” to rid their coast of a siren who sings of the heart’s desire, drawing fisherfolk to their death or driving them to madness. In the other four stories, Lythande is not hired; instead, she intervenes on behalf of someone in trouble, thus making it necessary to extricate herself from the consequences of becoming involved in others’ problems.
An illustrative example of these four stories is “Somebody Else’s Magic.” Lythande arrives too late to rescue a swordswoman from a violent assault. As she dies, the woman learns that Lythande is female and asks her to return the sword to the shrine of the Goddess Larith, which no man may enter. Lythande cannot return the sword, because if she succeeds, she will be revealed to all as a woman. The sword has a spell on it and demands to be returned. Although Lythande attempts to continue on errands of her own, she instead finds herself repeatedly on the path leading to the shrine. The mage attempts every known unbinding spell but is unsuccessful. She resigns herself to returning the sword and narrowly escapes having her secret revealed.