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- Avalon is a novel, written by the American author Anya Seton. It was published in 1965. It is a fictional story about the lives of Rumon and Merewyn, set against a broad historical background. This book is a 10th century historical romance of a descendant of Charlemagne: Rumon and the intertwining of his fate with Merewyn, a lonely girl brought up in savage Cornwall, sustained by great pride in her lineage from the legendary King Arthur. It is the last quarter of the tenth century, a time of conflict between Church and State, a time of threat from Viking invasions. Amidst the violence comes a knight called Rumon, whose love for the beautiful Merewyn leads them both across the seas to an unknown western land. Plot Summary The last quarter of the tenth century was a time of conflict and searching. There was conflict between the Church and State, and between Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. At the same time the Norsemen voyaged into the unknown, looking for new lands to pillage, and so discovered America. Rumon, descendent of Charlemagne and of King Alfred, was a searcher. He had visions of the Islands of the Blessed, perhaps King Arthur's Avalon "where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow. " Rumon came from Provence to visit the court of his cousin, King Edgar, and so began a quest that was to last his whole life, take him to far places, bring him sorrow, joy, privation, and honor. Merewyn grew up in savage Cornwall- a lonely girl, sustained by stubborn courage and by pride in her lineage from the legendary King Arthur. Chance- or fate- in the form of a shipwreck off the Cornish coast brought Rumon and Merewyn together and from that hour their lives were intertwined. Bound by his vow to her dying mother, Rumon brought Merewyn safely to England and kept from her and all the others the shameful secret of her birth. But there his responsibility ended. Alfrida, Queen of England, dazzled him with her beauty and held him in subjection to her will. Freed by the revelation of Alfrida's murderous actions, Rumon finally turned to Merewyn, only to find that he had lost her. His search led him across the Atlantic to an unknown land, to disappointment, and at last the fulfillment and peace. The stories of Rumon and Merewyn are spun out against a broad background of history and place, which include Iceland, Greenland, North America, England harried by Vikings; St. Dunstan's efforts to reform the English church; Eric the Red's ill conceived colonization of Greenland. It is a saga of yearning and mystery, tragedy, saintliness, and love.
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