97 pages • 3 hours read
Samantha ShannonThe Priory of the Orange Tree
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Symbols & Motifs
The Orange, Mulberry, and Hawthorn Trees
These three trees recur throughout the text as sources of magic and immortality, but each has its distinct mythology. All three trees give extremely long life only to the first person who consumes their fruit; such people are known as “Firstblood.” The orange tree gave great life to Cleolind, and the mulberry and hawthorn trees did the same for Neporo and Kalyba, respectively. The three trees are also in different locations: the mulberry tree on the island of Komoridu, the hawthorn tree in the Inysh forest of Haithwood (“haith” being an archaic name for hawthorn), and the orange tree at the site of the modern Priory in the South. However, while the orange tree still thrives, guarded by the Priory, the other two trees have perished. The orange tree lives because the sisters of the Priory use their magic to defend the world from wyrms, which is the trees’ true purpose.
The trees are a source of “siden,” a term that Ead and the sisters of the Priory often use. Siden is terrene magic: the magic of fire and earth. It is implied that the trees draw siden from the earth’s core through their roots. The trees therefore symbolize the positive aspect of magic and the bounty of nature. The universe has gifted the trees to humans as a source of magic; however, humans must use this magic wisely or the trees will perish. That is why Kalyba’s tree died; she used her magic not to protect humans and defeat wyrms, but for unseemly purposes. Though the cause of the mulberry tree’s death is unknown, the novel implies that it was because of humans’ repeated attempts to reach it. The trees yield their power at their will; Cleolind found the orange tree when she was wandering wounded in the Lasian valley, and Neporo discovered the mulberry tree when she traveled to a distant island. Relatedly, the trees warn humans against the empty pursuit of immortality: The Pursuit, named for its search for the mulberry tree, never finds the living tree. Like the power of nature broadly, immortality is not for those who seek it for its own sake.
Sterren, the Celestial Gems, and Ascalon
The text often refers to sterren as a counterpart of siden, or earth-magic. Kalyba clarifies to Ead that sterren is “the power of the stars” (463)—a cool, airy magic that falls on earth from a particular comet that passes every 1,000 years. The comet (known as “Kwiriki’s Lantern” to the East) leaves behind a liquid called “star rot” that is the source of sterren. Star rot is far rarer than the fruit of the orange tree since Kwiriki’s Lantern has not passed earth for 1,000 years at the time the novel begins. During the last comet sighting, Kalyba gathered star rot, thus imbibing the power of sterren. Since Kalyba has also eaten the fruit of the hawthorn and the orange trees, she possesses both siden and sterren. The symbolic value of these concepts is more significant than their ontology: Sterren and siden symbolize the importance of balance in the universe. Each should counter the other for there to be harmony. The excess of either can plunge the universe into chaos.
The sword Ascalon represents the combined power of sterren and siden since Kalyba used her fire magic to forge the weapon from star rot (ironically, Kalyba dies by another sterren blade she forged, demonstrating the repercussions of misusing magic). Ascalon’s dual origins are why it is the only weapon strong enough to defeat the Nameless One. It is also a symbol of hope and devoutness in Virtudom, with people often making the sign of the sword to ward off evil. Ascalon is also a riff on Avalon, the legendary island on which King Arthur found his powerful sword Excalibur.
The two celestial gems are shards left behind by Kwiriki’s Lantern and the only sources of sterren now available. Because sterren—cool, sky magic—is necessary to neutralize the excess fire of the Nameless One, the celestial gems are crucial in binding him again.
Wyrms and Eastern Dragons
Dragons form the text’s most prominent motif and are a part of the mythology of every region in the novel’s world. Entire faiths form around their relative positions on dragons as either monsters or gods. However, from the very outset, the text distinguishes between fire-breathing dragons and the dragons of the East. The former are often referred to as Draconic creatures, wyrms, or wyverns. Wyverling is another frequently used term for a hybrid of a wyrm and another animal; the cockatrice is a hybrid of wyrms and the noble hawiz bird. Thus, wyrms and their ilk represent evil, the corruption of goodness, and an imbalance in the universe. The largest and most terrible wyrm, the Nameless One, was formed when the magma within the earth “came suddenly together, forming a beast of unspeakable magnitude” (68).
Dragons, on the other hand, are noble, and “do not answer to the Nameless One” (109). Worshipped in Seiiki and other Eastern regions as living gods, water dragons are marvelous, sentient beings who live alongside humans and take human riders. Like wyrms that utilize earth-magic, dragons draw their magic from the stars. The first dragons came not from eggs, but from Kwiriki’s lantern itself. The people of the West lump wyrms and dragons together in an example of their ignorance. The East has a more complete knowledge of dragons, knowing that fire-breathers exist but are distinct from water dragons. Eastern dragons represent the power of goodness and cooperation, especially since they take human riders.
The narrative iconography of wyrms and dragons draws on real-world dragon mythologies. In fact, the word “wyvern” is an archaic English term for a two-legged, fire-breathing, winged dragon. In Western folklore, knights often defeat such dragons. However, in the mythologies of China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and the countries of Southeast Asia, dragons are more serpentine, associated with water, and symbolize auspicious powers.
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By Samantha Shannon
