Ellinor Ainros o Haggand
Queen Ellinor Haggand
Queen to King Garland III Ainros, called the Grim.
Mother to Gwydion, who would be King. Mother to Magdalan, who was wed to Jair Towers of Cantef. Mother to Maeren, who was wed to Ilyan Glast of Arjhed.
Ellinor was a second daughter to Arnor Haggand of Ethelbrand, and would be chosen as second queen to King Garland the Grim of Aerwoth. Garland's first queen, Leyla, had very recently died in childbirth, and there was some anxiety about the succession. Leyla had given the king two daughters and no sons, meaning the closest heirs to the throne were the sons of the slain Prince Erick Ainros, who had recently warred against Garland (and from whom, some said, Garland stole the throne).
Ellinor was sought out with great haste. Clan Haggand was by no means a lesser family, but marrying a king was decidedly more than a second daughter might have otherwise hoped. Her elder sister Eileen had already birthed three boys and two girls for Marden Maelfen of Kelisfield, and Ellinor was expected to prove equally fertile. It is said she was reluctant to leave her home, but was allowed to bring both her widowed aunt Brianna and her favorite speller, Liedde, along with several of her servants.
Ellinor was not quite sixteen when she wed King Garland, who was thirty-five at the time. Sixteen was very young by Ethel standards, and indeed even Revellia had begun to climb out of their benighted notions of marriage, but Garland the Grim was set upon a fertile wife and paid great honors upon Clan Haggand. Many remarked that the king's first daughter, Carol, was scarcely two years younger than Ellinor. Carol was an enormously timid creature, called simple-minded by many, and was seen to weep openly at the wedding. Gentler observers noted the kindness with which young Ellinor spoke to Carol, calming her several times throughout the day.
History is often unclear on just who effected this wedding. The royal wizard Agathe the Younger is oft credited, citing her own familiarity with Ethel and the alacrity with which she contacted Clan Haggand. Yet in truth Agathe was still a speller at the time, in service to Agathe the Elder, who strangely is never credited with this alliance. Others insist the plan was Garland's himself, and indeed he displayed little resistance to remarrying so quickly after his first queen's death. Most likely, there is no mystery or controversy here at all. The king simply wanted an heir. The fact that he used a speller at the time to send missives rather than his royal wizard is not terribly unusual either.
Ellinor would bear only three children for the king, but the first of them was Prince Gwydion, who would grow to be Gwydion the Great. Many cite this as the impetus to the Second Brothers Rebellion, where Prince Allad (son of Garland's slain brother Prince Erick) would war with the king for five years from the Isle of Green. Such women as Helena to Hand, Agathe the Elder, Princess Eina (Allad's sister) and the mysterious Wynid Wild would play critical roles in this conflict, but Queen Ellinor seemed content to look after her children.
There is one minor event in this great conflict wherein Ellinor may be said to have played a role. Agathe the Elder died of Devil's Dance in 843 RA, a little over half-way through the Second Brothers Rebellion. The speller Liedde had known Queen Ellinor her entire life, served her faithfully and well, and had great experience. One might well expect the queen to advocate for her ascension to wizardry, to replace Agathe the Elder. Instead, King Garland chose Agathe the Younger as his new wizard. A Revellian queen is only as powerful as her king allows, of course, and Garland the Grim was not one to be easily cowed, yet there is nothing to suggest Ellinor so much as raised her voice on Liedde's behalf. Instead, many rumors circulated at the time of some heated, poorly-hidden conflict between Liedde and Ellinor. Liedde would soon return to Ethelbrand, and is oft said to have played a role in Ethel switching sides during the conflict. This too is muddied, however. Ethel was initially allied to Prince Allad the Rebel, only later supporting King Garland. If Liedde was bitter at having been denied the wizardry of Revellia, why would she help turn the tides in the king's favor?
In the end, politics are as playthings to the Hosts, for Garland was felled by Springlight Fever in 844 RA. Prince Gwydion was named king-in-waiting, and the office of High Magus (what we would now call a Regent) was granted to the rebel Prince Allad. Prince Allad frequently inquired of the now Dowager Queen Ellinor regarding the wellbeing and inclinations of Prince Gwydion (and her two daughters, Magdalen and Maeren, for whom suitable husbands were found in Ethel and Urudun), but she displayed little interest in governance beyond this.
Social
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Ethnicity
Life
4824
4871
47 years old
Family
Eyes
Dark
Hair
Brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Ghast
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