Fincayra Research Paper

This story takes place on the mysterious isle of Fincayra. Fincayra is overrun by a great evil brought forth by the enormous wild boar Rhita Gawr. Rhita Gawr is the arch nemesis of the great stag Dogda who is fighting for the side of good. The land now lay in shackles under the crushing relentlessness of king Stangmar who was ruler of the land. Only but a small portion of the isle of Fincayra called Drumawood had yet to be tainted by the evil that was rapidly spreading throughout the trees and killing off the natural beauty of the area. Before the evil of Rhita Gawr had made its way to the isle of Fincayra, it had been a plentiful as well as beautiful place. There were living streams running through the area, fruit laden trees strewn about
the land, old trees that had the ability to talk in their own language as well as saplings only begging to mature that bordered the isle from one coast to the other. Much of this natural beauty had long disappeared from the small isle of Fincayra; a never-ending shadow enveloped it, as the evil of Rhita Gawr grew steadily stronger. Many of the once ancient trees in the area died of the long loss of rain and lack of sun and were cut down to mere stumps of wood lining the area. The small isle of Fincayra is situated in the middle of an ocean with no other large landmasses that surround it. This story takes place throughout several weeks and is written in the olden days. The weather and landscape surrounding the main character starts to change from vast shores, flat land and mild weather to the rocky mounds that create the "Dark Hills" to the east of the isle of Fincayra with more extreme weather.

The protagonist of the story is a young boy named Emrys. At the beginning of the book, he cannot remember his name for he has some sort of amnesia. He wears a leather tunic with a high collar as well as a pouch slung over his back. In his hand, he carries a walking stick shaven of its bark, which was given to him by a tree. Around his neck, he wears a pendant called the Galator, which protects him throughout his journey. Emrys is a very courageous young boy and can find it within him to defeat many foes during the story. What make's Emrys truly unique is the special abilities he comes to posses throughout the story. As he develops as a character, trying to find his past, he finds that he has the unique ability to use magic, yet fears to use it as it has caused death in his past. In one of his rages against another boy who treated his mother as though he was to kill her, he had accidentally burned his eyes and could no longer see. Yet miraculously a second sight using his mind granted him the ability to see. After this event, he had sworn never again to use magic.

This story begins when the young boy Emrys, washes ashore not knowing his name and without any memory of his past.
A woman by the name of Branwen takes the young boy in and cares for him for many years. As Emrys ages he realizes he has an extraordinary power to be able to communicate with nature and is more open to his environment. Branwen who cared for young Emrys throughout his years was a healer and the townsfolk ridiculed her for this special ability. Emrys lost his sight when a group of the town boys tried to burn Branwen and Emrys had saved her using his newfound abilities to set fire to trees by the boys. He had killed one of the boys and while trying to save him he had burnt his eyes. As he recovered from burns to his eyes, he discovered that although he was blind, he could see with his mind. Yet after fully recovering, he still did not know his identity and set off for the ocean so that he could find out who he really was. After building himself a makeshift raft, he sailed to the isle of Fincayra where he met a girl named Rhia and made friends with a great Merlin hawk who protected him from many enemies. He found out that the land was destroyed by the blight of king Stangmar who lives in the shrouded castle. He decides to go to the shrouded castle when Rhia was taken by Goblins. Along the way, he meets a dwarf named Shim and he accompanies Emrys on his journey. Emrys is saved by a hairless hag named Domnu when he almost dies in a dark, black and unsafe Haunted
Marsh. He finds her backdoor when his pendant called the Galator knocks against a stone and the ground opens up and swallows him. He makes a wager with Domnu that if she helps him get to the Shrouded Castle he would give her the Galator, which protects him, but if he returned, she would have to return the Galator to him. As he enters the shrouded castle, he finds Rhia in a cell in the dungeon and tries to escape with her. On the way, they are stopped by the evil king Stangmar. Regretfully Emrys learns a secret that will change his life forever.

Seeing Emrys' powers develop over time in this novel was a great experience. How he started as a simple boy and over time became more courageous and more powerful. His character developed in a manner appropriate for the experiences he went through. In addition, I liked how the land of Fincayra was well-described and easy to picture. It was easy to tell where the plot took place and the vivid descriptions of each area created a sense of awe as they were traversed by Emrys. The one thing that I did not really like was how briefly the story ended, just when it started to get the most interesting the story cut off. The author seemed to have rushed, or even cut the ending to make a sequel to the book.

I believe that the story was trying to teach that if power is given to you, it is up to you to choose how you use it. The main character Emrys in this story has to make that choice by the end of the novel. He is presented by the dilemma that if he breaks the promise he gave to god never again to use his powers in return for his eyesight he can save many people and help much more than was. There are many opportunities for Emrys to use his powers for good yet there is a simple promise holding him back. I believe that it would be all right for him to break a promise even if it is made to god, to be able to do some good in the world.