The Complete Lyonesse Quotes

“Life is a peculiar commodity, with dimensions of its own. Still, if you were to live a million years, engaged in continual pleasures of mind, spirit and body, so that every day you discovered a new delight, or solved an antique puzzle, or overcame a challenge; even a single hour wasted in torpor, somnolence or passivity would be as reprehensible as if the fault were committed by an ordinary person, with scanty years to his life.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Sir Pom-pom gave a scornful grunt. ‘As for me, I am bored with this constant trudging through the dust! The roads never end; they simply join into another road, so that a wanderer never comes to his journey’s end.’ ‘That is the nature of the vagabond.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Madouc returned to the booklet. ‘Here is another recipe. It is called “Infallible Means for Instilling Full Constancy and Amatory Love in One Whom You Love”.’ ‘That should be interesting,’ said Sir Pom-pom. ‘Read the recipe, if you will, and with exact accuracy.’ Madouc read: ‘ “When the dying moon wanders distrait and, moving low in the sky, rides the clouds like a ghostly boat, then is the time to prepare, for a vapour often condenses and seeps down the shining rind, to hang as a droplet from the lower horn. It slowly, slowly, swells and sags and falls, and if a person, running below, can catch the droplet in a silver basin, he will have gained an elixir of many merits. For me there is scope for much dreaming here, since, if a drop of this syrop is mixed into a goblet of pale wine and, if two drink together from the goblet, a sweet love is infallibly induced between the two. So I have made my resolve. One night when the moon rides low I will run from this place with my basin and never pause until I stand below the horn of the moon, and there I will wait to catch the wonderful droplet.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“They are talented villains, and each is unique. That one is Kegan the Celt. That is Este the Sweet, who might be the Roman he claims to be. There stands Travec the Dacian; there Galgus the Daut, and that misshapen wad of pure evil yonder is Izmael the Hun. They know two motivations only: fear and avarice.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Cory said abruptly: ‘Enough of these trials and tests; clearly you all are competent at slitting throats and drowning old women. Whether you can achieve more strenuous acts remains to be seen. Now then: seat yourselves, and give me all your attention, and I will tell you what I expect of you. Landlord, bring us ale, then step from the room, as we wish to make private conversation.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Gentlemen, this is Travec the Dacian, who is here on business similar to our own. Travec, you see here Este the Sweet, who claims to be the last true Roman. His weapon is a bow so small and fragile that it seems a toy, while his arrows are little more than slivers; still, he can sling them away with great speed and put out a man’s eye at fifty yards without rising from his chair. Next is Galgus, who is Daut and clever with knives. Yonder sits Kegan from Godelia; he favours a set of curious weapons, among others, the steel whip. I myself am a poor lost dove; I survive the ferocities of life only through the pity and forbearance of my fellows.’ ‘You are a notable group,’ said Travec. ‘I am privileged to be associated with you.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Elric spoke a mighty sermon, while Magre started the fire in his pit. Elric expounded, recited Scripture and sang the glories of the Faith. When he came to an end and declared his final ‘Hallelujah!’, Magre gave him a stoup of ale to ease his throat. Sharpening a knife he complimented Elric upon the fervour of his rhetoric. Then he smote off Elric’s head, cut, drew, spitted, cooked and devoured the sanctified morsel with a garnish of leeks and cabbages.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“But good mother Twisk!’ cried Madouc. ‘Have you forgotten? I shall soon return to Thripsey Shee!’ ‘True,’ sighed Twisk, ‘presuming that you avoid the dangers of the forest.’ ‘Are these then so terrible?’ ‘Sometimes the forest is sweet and clear,’ said Twisk. ‘Sometimes evil lurks behind every stump. Do not explore the morass which borders on Wamble Way; the long-necked heceptors will rise from the slime. In the gully nearby lives the troll Mangeon; avoid him as well. Do not fare west along Munkins Road; you would come to Castle Doldil, the seat of three-headed Throop the ogre. He has caged many a brave knight and devoured many more, perhaps including gallant Sir Pellinore.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Out there somewhere our fortune hides.
Though pain seems what our life provides
Our dauntless doctrine still abides!”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Our wants are many, our farthings few;
And oft we sleep in the rain and dew!
Our evening meal is a turnip stew;
In spite of all we’re a jolly crew!”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Suldrun’s son shall undertake
Before his life is gone
To sit his right and proper place
at Cairbra an Meadhan.
If so he sits and so he thrives
Then he shall make his own
The Table Round, to Casmir’s woe,
And Evandig the Throne.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“the morning Shimrod took his breakfast at the front of the inn, where he could look out across the square. He consumed a pear, a bowl of porridge with cream, several rashers of fried bacon, a slice of dark bread with cheese and pickled plums. The warmth of the sunlight was pleasantly in contrast to cool airs from the sea;”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“This is the most uncomfortable throne in the world!’ ‘So it may be. Still, do not squirm around so, as if already you wished to visit the privy.’ ‘For a fact, I do.’ ‘Why did you not think of the matter before? There is no time for that now. The king and queen are entering the chamber!’ ‘You may be sure that both have emptied themselves to their heart’s content,’ said Madouc. ‘I want to do the same. Is that not my privileged right, as a royal princess?’ ‘I suppose so. Hurry, then.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“For days wagons had been arriving from all directions, loaded with sacks, crocks and crates, tubs of pickled fish; racks dangling with sausages, hams and bacon; barrels of oil, wine, cider and ale; baskets laden with onions, turnips, cabbages, leeks; also parcels of ramp, parsley, sweet herbs and cress. Day and night the kitchens were active, with the stoves never allowed to go cold. In the service yard four ovens, constructed for the occasion, produced crusty loaves, saffron buns, fruit tarts; also sweet-cakes flavoured with currants, anise, honey and nuts, or even cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. One of the ovens produced only pies and pasties, stuffed with beef and leeks, or spiced hare seethed in wine, or pork and onions, or pike with fennel, or carp in a swelter of dill, butter and mushrooms, or mutton with barley and thyme.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Madouc took up the manure fork and raised it on high. Pymfyd dodged and threw his arm over his head. ‘What are you up to?’ ‘Patience, Pymfyd! This tool symbolises a sword of fine steel!’ Madouc touched the fork to Pymfyd’s head. ‘For notable valour on the field of combat, I dub you Sir Pom-pom, and by this title shall you be known henceforth. Arise, Sir Pom-pom! In my eyes, at least, you have proved your mettle!”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Madouc considered. ‘I would like a wand to do transformations, a cap of invisibility, swift slippers to walk the air, a purse of boundless wealth, a talisman to compel the love of all, a mirror—’ ‘Stop!’ cried Twisk. ‘Your needs are excessive!”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Aillas, constrained by a hundred heavy responsibilities, was somewhat more still and reflective than Dhrun. His status required that he mask his natural passion and intensity behind a face of polite indifference: to such an extent that the trait had become almost habitual. Similarly, he often used a mildness close upon diffidence to disguise his true boldness, which was almost an extravagance of bravado. His swordsmanship was superb; his wit danced and flickered with the same sure delicacy, coming in sudden flashes like sunlight bursting through the clouds. Such occasions transformed his face so that for a moment he seemed as youthful and jubilant as Dhrun himself.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Upon the death of Olam III, the Elder Isles entered upon a time of troubles. The Ska, having been expelled from Ireland, settled on the island Skaghane, where they rebuffed all attempts to dislodge them. Goths ravaged the coast of Dahaut, sacking the Christian monastery on Whanish Isle, sailing their long-boats up the Cambermouth as far as Cogstone Head, from which they briefly menaced Avallon itself. A dozen princelings vied for power, shedding much blood, wreaking much grief and bereavement, exhausting the land, and in the end achieving nothing, so that the Elder Isles became a patchwork of eleven kingdoms, each at odds with all the rest.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“The wash of so many peoples had left behind a complex detritus: ruined strongholds; graves and tombs; steles carved with cryptic glyphs: songs, dances, turns of speech, fragments of dialect, place-names; ceremonies of purport now forgotten, but with lingering flavour. There were dozens of cults and religions, diverse except that, in every case, a caste of priests interceded between laity and divinity.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Tanjecterly is only one of ten worlds, including our good Gaean Earth, which old Father Chronos swings on a noose. Some are the realms of demons, others are not even so useful as this. Visbhume opened a hole into Tanjecterly with his key, but it seems that sometimes holes open of themselves to let men fall through willy-nilly, to their vast surprise, and so to disappear for ever. But this is all to the side. A certain indomitable sorcerer by the name of Ticely Twitten made a study of these worlds and his almanac measures what he calls “pulses” and “quavers”. Time does not go in Tanjecterly, for instance, in consonance with time here. A minute here may be an hour there, or the opposite may be true.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Glyneth said: ‘You still have not answered me. How do we return to Earth?’ ‘I am so doing! Between Earth and Tanjecterly, the synchrony lasts six to nine days, and as we have seen has just ended. Then it sweeps away, along the radius of the black moon with the centre node. At the next pulse, the gate will open into another place, but none so easy as Tanjecterly. Hidmarth and Skurre are demon-worlds; Underwood is empty save for a moaning sound; Pthopus is a single torpid soul. These were discovered and explored by Twitten the Archmage, and he compiled an almanac, which is of great value.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Tanjecterly may be no more than one of Twitten’s idle fables; his caprices and pranks are well documented elsewhere. On the other hand, the almanac is said to be a work of great complexity and inner coherence, which would seem to lend the volume credence.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“The Ska have a long memory.’ ‘We dream as a people; we remember as a people! I myself have seen visions in the fire, and they came, not as illusions, but as recollections. We climbed the glaciers to find a lost valley; we fought red-headed warriors mounted on mammoths; we destroyed the cannibal half-men who had lived in the land for a million years. I remember this as if I had been there myself.’ Aillas pointed. ‘Sir, look where those waves come sweeping in from the Atlantic! They seem irresistible! After a thousand miles of steady onward motion they strike the cliff and in an instant they are broken into foam.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“So far as I am concerned, war is neither a game nor an occasion for gallantry, but rather an unpleasant event to be settled with the least possible hurt for one’s self”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Pirmence sighed and shook his head. ‘Who knows? I hate you, and yet truly I love you. I sneer at your callow simplicity, but I glory in your enterprise. I crave your success, but I strive for your despair. What is wrong with me? Where is my flaw? Perhaps I wish that I were you, and since this cannot be I must punish you for the fault. Or if you prefer the crude facts, they are these:”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“But I know nothing, and want to know nothing, of troubles and conflicts and war! I am a man of peace!’ ‘And I no less! But even men of peace must learn to fight. The world is often brutal, and not everyone shares our ideals. Therefore, you must be prepared to defend yourself and your loved ones, or reconcile yourself to slavery.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse

“Maloof controlled the exchequer, advised in regard to the imposition of taxes, fees, rents and imposts. Witherwood worked to codify the judicial systems of the land, reconciling regional differences and making the laws universally responsive, to persons of high and low degree alike. Sion-Tansifer, a relict from the reign of King Granice, advised as to military organisation and strategy. Foirry was an expert in the field of naval architecture. Pirmence, who had travelled widely, from Ireland to Byzantium, was in effect the Minister of Foreign Affairs, while Langlark had been commissioned by Aillas to establish at Domreis a university of letters, mathematics, geography and the several sciences.”
― Jack Vance, The Complete Lyonesse