Shadow Stalker: Demonsbane Mercedes Lackey
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ย. 2024
- A song from the CD Shadow Stalker, by Mercedes Lackey. About Vanyel defending farmers from a sadistic Hardorn Border Lord. Sung by Heather Alexander, I think.
Lyrics:
DEMONSBANE
Along a road in Hardorn, the place called Stony Tor
A fearful band of farmers flees Karsite Border war.
A frightened band of farmers, their children, and their wives,
Seeks refuge from a tyrant, who wants more than their lives.
Now up rides Herald Vanyel. "Why then such haste?" says he.
"Now who is it pursuing, whose anger do you flee?
For you are all of Hardorn, why seek you Valdemar?
Is Festil no protection? Bide all his men too far?"
"Oh, Vanyel, Herald Vanyel, we flee now for our lives,
Lord Nedran would enslave us, our children and our wives-
He'd give our souls to demons, our bodies to his men.
King Festil has not heeded, or our peril does not ken."
Now up speaks Herald Vanyel. "The Border is not far-
But you are all of Hardorn, and not of Valdemar.
You are not Randale's people-can call not on his throne-
But damned if I will see you left helpless on your own!"
So forth goes Herald Vanyel, and onward does he ride.
On Stony Tor he waits then, Yfandes at his side.
With Nedran's men approaching, he calls out from on high,
"You shall not pass, Lord Nedran! I shall not let you by!"
Now Herald Vanyel only stands blocking Nedran's way
"Now who are you, fool nothing, that you dare to tell me nay?"
Now up speaks Herald Vanyel in a voice like brittle glass;
"The Herald-Mage called Vanyel-and I say you shall not pass!"
Now there stands great Lord Nedran, and behind him forty men,
Beside him is his wizard-but he pales, and speaks again-
"So you are Herald Vanyel-but this place is not your land.
So heed me, Herald Vanyel; turn aside and hold your hand."
"Let be; I'll give you silver, and I shall give you gold,
And I shall give you jewels fair that sparkle bright and bold,
And I shall give you pearls, all the treasures of the sea,
If you will step aside here, and leave these fools to me."
"What need have I of silver more than sweet Yfandes here?
And all the gold I cherish is sunlight bright and clear.
The only jewel I treasure's a bright and shining star,
And I will protect the helpless even outside Valdemar."
"Now I shall give you beauty, slaves of women and of men,
And I shall give you power as you'll never see again,
And I shall give you mansions and I shall give you land,
If you will turn aside here, turn aside and hold your hand."
"Now beauty held in bondage is beauty that is lost.
And land and mansions blood-bought come at too high a cost.
And power I have already-all power is a jade-
So turn you back, Lord Nedran if of me you are afraid!"
Lord Nedran backs his stallion, the wizard he comes nigh.
"Prepare yourself, bold Vanyel, for you shall surely die!"
The wizard calls his demons, the demons he commands,
And Vanyel, Herald Vanyel, only raises empty hands.
The wizard calls his demons, the sky above turns black.
The demons strike at Vanyel, he stands and holds them back.
The demons strike at Vanyel, they strike and hurt him sore,
But Vanyel stands defiant, to raise his hands once more.
The sky itself descending upon bare Stony Tor
Now hides the awful battle. The watchers see no more.
The wizard shouts in triumph-too soon he vents his mirth.
For Vanyel calls the lightning, and smites him to the earth!
The clouds of black have lifted; upon the barren ground
Stands Vanyel hurt, but victor, the demons tied and bound.
He looks down on Lord Nedran; his eyes grow cold and bleak-
"Now shall I give you, Nedran, the power that you seek-"
Now Vanyel frees the demons, and Nedran screams with fear,
He sets them on the Karsites, who had first brought them here.
He sets them on the Karsites, and on the Karsite land.
They look down on Lord Nedran. They do not stay their hand.
Now Vanyel calls the farmers. "Go tell you near and far,
How thus are served the tyrants who would take Valdemar.
I am the bane of demons, who flees them I defend.
Thus Heralds serve a foeman-thus Heralds save a friend!"
"And this is a totally true story why our sorcerer killed your lord and his people and stole some of your farmers..."
He had *damn* good reasons.
Since the lord was a foreign Karsite invader on Hardornian land, and the Hardornian farmers all fled to Valdemar, so no witnesses, this should be easily covered up :)
oh yeah , the first time we heard this song , my sister and little brother and i , my sister was joking that Vanal got Gandalf mad at him by stealing his "you shall not pass" line
I freaking love this song...and hate that I still haven't read these books yet.
Is there something keeping you from reading them?
Brace yourself. Amazing books, VERY tragic.
@@TreespeakerOfTheLand actually being able to find them DX
Mood
@@VacantAsh420 maybe in a public library ? If they haven't been banned for featuring a gay character
I always imagine Vanyel having a few visible scars just from that epic battle.
I remember that in the books, there were scars on his abdomen or chest, that he passes off as encounter with Karsite demons. I don't have the books at hand, so I can't check it.
I concur; though I would imagine that the stories that are told from that day by the farmers, are going to be a lot more telling than a couple of scars.
@@shannon1234550 I understand he had scars on his hands from trying to destroy his own life
@star2000shadow, that's two of us. During my English professor years, a couple of my colleagues were taken aback by my tastes -- wasn't I supposed to be the Chaucer/Arthurian legend prof? Yep. And Lackey's creation of Vanyel very nearly equals the tales of Merlin, in my book; in addition, Vanyel perfectly epitomizes the Arthurian fight-for-the-right mythos.
I understand that Talia grew up with the stories about him
she could have used the Arthurian stories to base the Herald mages on
this a good song, reminds me of the trials in life, the easy way out and the hard way.
It is Heather Alexander-one of my favorite Mercy Lackey songs, and the first one I ever heard.
the events in the song sounds as good as how I read them in the story. I imagine that both Van and his Companion where more than a match for the evil lord
Great to finally hear these songs, thx for uploading. Vanyel was my fav ML character. BTW, actor Michael Praed was the model for Vanyel on the cover illustrations like the 1st one in your clip. Check out the YT clip "Lost In Your Eyes - Robin Of Sherwood" from the 80's TV series Robin of Sherwood and you'll see the likeness. I like to imagine him singing some of Vanyel's songs since he's a singer as well though he's obviously much older now.
Catchy and epic.
"I protect all helpless, not just those of Valdemar."
Proceeds to sic demons on innocents because their lord angered him...
as someone who's read the books, trust me, the Karsites were NOT innocent at this point. Think the people of the Salem Witch Trials, but a lot more outright murder and blood sacrifice, and even ignoring their own god's warnings and desires in favor of what the believed their god wanted (basically, some really corrupt priests got in power, made everything worse for everyone, it got so bad that the Karse theocracy became a bloody dictatorship that required some pretty heavy divine intervention and SEVERAL years of reconditioning before it healed, but for centuries the Karsites were more than happy with being murderers and sacrificing innocent children to witch hunts all because their priests told them to).
I mean even in the song he sics the demons on the men chasing farmers to rape and harvest their souls "our bodies to his men" he kills the demon summoning wizard then the demons kill Lord after giving him many chances to leave. Just in the context of the song.
Strictly speaking, you would have to read the books to understand. -- It's explained elsewhere that demons are at least nominally intelligent beings summoned from another place (sort of like D&D's planes) against their will and they do not like being bound to anyone's command. So, the moment Vanyel ended the wizard and his control over them, they would have first turned on their captor and likely his master who ordered it. The only way to stop that would have been to bind them himself (which would have earned him their ire) or to banish them somehow (which he might not have specifically known how to do). -- Regardless Lord Nedran and his men were hardly innocent and although some innocents may have been harmed, given that Karse's theocratic priesthood was in the habit of summoning demons to do their dirty work, they were probably capable of banishing them without too much trouble.
@@dangercats77 Having also read the books myself, it's somewhat more complicated than that. And much of it has do with the love of power. Ever heard the phrase 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" ? There's a big difference between being "happy with being murderers and sacrificing innocent children to witch hunts because their priests told them to" and doing what they've been told is right their entire lives. And lest you should say "well they should've known it was wrong", it's always good to remember that going against what you've been taught at the cost of your life or living in fear of the probably fatal consequences of going against those in power because you thought it was wrong from the start are equally shaky positions that strike fear into the heart of all. The instinct to survive is quite strong.
Remember, vanyel is only human. If he sees someone suffering, he will gladly do everything to save them. Will he also risk his life to save some strangers from an enemy country? Those "innocents" he isn't saving might grow up to be soldiers to kill his people
It sounds a bit weird to me, because in Polish, "Valdemar" is a name. It's like calling a country 'Theodore'.
"Hail Reginald Boreadnes, First of his Name, King upon the throne of the Kingdom of Bob!"
Valdemar apparently derives its name from its founder and first king of the same name, so...
The continents of North and South America, and the United States of America are named after the Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci. Fun with words.
@@Egalitariat-likesecretariat There are worse things to name a country then Bob. Consider "Whence do you come?" "I come from the great land of Eunice!"
@@Phantomsbreath
"I hail from the village of Svezjezdan."
i hope i get the book that this is from this christmas , i have the first one and got to read a little bit of the next book but i really hope i can get the next two
Yes, that's Heather.
Only I hold the keys to hell. And it follows with me
Vanyel sounds like a nice guy.
You should read the books! Mercedes Lackey's Magic Pawn, Magic's Promise, and Magic's Price. ..though this song in particular is not covered by the books, it happens sometime between Promise and Price I'm pretty sure.
He is an great guy, but tragic character. Overall, a good character.
A True Paladin.
Not scars. Trophies.
Francis hanson you shall not pass vwithour my reckoning.
What book series is this for. The songs sound great and I really want to read the books now.
The last herald mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. "Magic's Pawn", "Magic's Promise", "Magic's Price".
Kevin15047 Thanks, currently done reading the series. Love the music as well at the books. Very Vivid.
Just seen this I'll go read it now thanks you lot
the # of TRILOGYS the author has writen JUST within that Universe.. " the Heralds of Valdemar" is too high for me to count!
she began with the" Arrows of the Queen" trilogy thenthe enxt triloty ..then the next after that.... and then the next...
my Librarian asked. " DOESNT SHE EVER SLEEP?"🤣
So is the singer Mercedes Lacky or Heather Alexander?
The singer is Heather Alexander, Mercedes Lackey wrote the books and many of the songs derived from them. Lackey also sings a few songs as Queen Selenay, but not all of them. Mercedes Lackey has a thin, slightly throaty soprano, lovely voice but not powerful. She sings "Her Father's Eyes", "The Cost of the Crown", but my favorite song of Selenay's, "Battle Dawn", is sung by Shandeen O'Neill. If you like Heather Alexander, she sang most of the songs (maybe all, not sure) in the album "Shadow Stalker", about Herald Mage Vanyel.
Well, the singer was called Heather Dale, but has come out as a trans man and now goes by Alexander James Adams. But according to Wikipedia, he still credits music he released as Heather Dale to Heather Dale. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_James_Adams
@@sophiepoussinette5634 all of Shadow Stalker was Heather.
@@owenmcgee891 yes, still my favorite album because I loved Heather's voice before she transitioned. And now I'm waiting for the TV series (and hoping the music is more like this and not like the more recent Sun and Shadow album)
@dudupouette I know what you mean! He is SOOOOO hot!!! And so sweet and sensitive! I would totally turn into a dude for him.
is that the name of his companion?
Yfandes? yes! this IS FROM Mercedes lackey's HERALDS of Valedmar series...i cant count as high as the # of trilogies by now!🥰
this one is from " the last Herald Mage "trilogy which can explain it a lot better than i ever could.. that's "Companion" with a capitol C you can find out why!😘
Sword or pistols?
I love these songs, but at some point I truly wish another artist could re-record them. This artist is ok. Great voice, but a bit too theatrical for MY taste. I know a lot of people who like Alexander. And I do, too. But I won't have any problems liking another even better. LOL
Molly Denam I can totally understand this. Variety is always good!
I would like to hear another version myself.
At the same time, these are supposed to be Bardic music, so I see theatrics as part of the piece.
I love it still XD
Nutty. There's a reason that these things are in the past
What?