The Hero and the Crown (Robin McKinley)

Author Biography

Robin McKinley has won multiple awards for her young adult fantasy novels, including the 1985 Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown. She lives in Hampshire, England.

Published By: Greenwillow Books

Year: 1984

ISBN: 0-688-02593-5

Reading Level: Grades 8 and up

Reader’s Annotation:

Awkward, unfeminine, of questionable blood, and with no magical skills, Aerin is an outcast in the royal court despite being the king’s daughter. But when a deadly dragon and wicked wizard threaten the kingdom, she just might prove herself a hero.

Plot Summary:

Aerin, daughter of King Arlbeth of Damar, is a “substandard” princess: gangly, clumsy and tomboyish, lacking the magical Gift that every royal child should have, and shunned by many because her dead mother was a foreign commoner and a rumored witch. She finds refuge from her shame in horseback riding and in hunting and swordplay lessons from her cousin Tor, heir to the throne. These lessons are soon put to good use – as is a recipe she discovers for an ointment that creates immunity to fire. Slathered in it, she becomes renowned for slaying the small, verminous dragons that steal chickens from local villages.

Then Maur, the last of the enormous “great dragons” of legend, suddenly reappears to threaten Damar. With the king and his army preoccupied by human enemies, Aerin journeys forth to battle the dragon herself. This quest puts her skills and inner strength alike to the ultimate test, leads her to the Lake of Dreams and the hall of the immortal wizard Luthe, and eventually sees her confront Agsded. An evil Northern wizard more dangerous than any dragon… and who can only be defeated by his own blood relative…

Critical Evaluation:

This Newbery Medal-winning prequel to The Blue Sword takes place in the glory days of the fictional Middle Eastern kingdom of Damar, centuries before its colonization. It tells the story of the legendary Lady Aerin, who appeared in visions to the first book’s heroine Harry. Here we learn that the great warrior-queen was once an awkward misfit of a princess, with none of the talents expected of her, few friends, and low self-esteem. We follow her as her courage, intelligence, affinity with animals and talent for swordplay transform her into Damar’s beloved heroine. A heroine who saves her people from a dragon, a wizard and a brutal war, and who recovers the long-lost Hero’s Crown that brings divine protection to the land.

This plotline might sound clichéd by today’s standards, but McKinley brings it to life with poetry and sophistication that stand the test of time. Not least because Aerin’s victories never come easily. She spends much of the story physically ill: first from a poisonous leaf that she foolishly eats on a dare and later from near-fatal injuries after her battle with Maur. But her steely determination never once falters, as she drags herself out of bed, onto her horse, and soldiers on toward recovery and toward her goals. Nor does she let psychological trauma defeat her: not even when facing a villain with whom she shares an all-too-personal connection.

Furthermore, every victory is bittersweet. Battles leave scars, both literal and emotional, and villains’ influence takes longer to kill than the villains themselves. Aerin also develops romantic feelings for two different men, but can only marry one: a symbol of her ties to both the mortal world and the magical world, which prevent her from ever fully belonging to either. But none of this melancholy makes her story less heroic, her achievements less great, or the fantasy world of Damar less magical. It’s little wonder that this book won America’s most prestigious award for youth literature.

Curriculum Ties:

•Fantasy worlds

•Feminism

Challenge Issues:

•Mild profanity

•Violence

•Disturbing imagery
•Sexual allusions

•Illegitimate birth references
•May-December romance

Why This Book?

Whether for its action, adventure and fantasy, for its moving emotional complexity, for its feminist role model heroine, or all of the above, this book is a true classic of the YA high fantasy genre.

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