Deanna, also known as the Lady of the Hunt, is one of the main deities present in Erilea, being the original Goddess of the Moon.
Biography[]
Deanna has always been depicted in lore as the Goddess of the Moon, and the eternal rival and sister of Mala Fire-Bringer. However, she and the other eleven gods came to Erilea entirely by accident, having become trapped in the world after passing through a temporary Wyrdgate. Eager to get back to their own world, Deanna and her brethren made a deal with Brannon Galathynius after the Valg wars started, promising that if he used the Lock to open a Wyrdgate through which they could go home, they would take Erawan with them.
However, Brannon's daughter Elena, unaware of the existing agreement, used the Lock to seal Erawan away. The gods were furious and demanded repayment for the broken deal, leading to the decision to have Elena spend the next thousand years waiting for a descendant of Brannon with the power to forge the Lock anew and sacrifice themselves so the gods could go home.
When Aelin Galathynius was born, Deanna and her sister Mala, ancestors of the young princess, watched over her carefully, although for Deanna it was just in anticipation of the fulfillment of the original agreement.
Crown of Midnight[]
Chaol Westfall states that Mab had been made into a goddess, known as Deanna, Lady of the Hunt. He recalls a memory of Celaena feeling uncomfortable at receiving the golden arrow of Deanna at Yulemas
Heir of Fire[]
Chaol muses on Celaena's skills as being similar in her Ashryver bloodline with Aedion, due to their great-grandmother being Mab, who was crowned as Deanna in recent generations.
Celaena states that although Mab was immortalized into Godhood thanks to Maeve, Mala had a sister in the moon long before Mab took her place. Rowan tells her that Deanna was the original goddess, and mortals had given her some of Mab's traits.
Queen of Shadows[]
Aelin decides to gift Nesryn the arrow of solid gold, which she specifically mentions being a blessing from Deanna, her own ancestor.
Empire of Storms[]
While Aelin delves deep into her well of magic in Skull's Bay in order to fight the Valg, the third Wyrdkey inside the Amulet of Orynth around is her neck, and it merges with her magic. Aelin is also using her carranam bond with Rowan. Deanna happens to be waiting in the temporary Wyrdgate at that moment, which opened due to Aelin's contact with the Wyrdkey. She enters through the Amulet of Orynth and possesses Aelin. In Aelin's body, she proceeds to uncover a deeper well of power granted by her sister Mala, because her blood flowing in Aelin's veins gave Deanna access to Mala's reserve of power.
Deanna tells Rowan to tell Aelin that "every key has a lock" and that "all the allies in the world shall make no difference if she does not wield the Lock, if she does not put those keys back with it. Tell her flame and iron, together bound, merge into silver to learn what must be found. A mere step is all it shall take."[3]
Deanna turns all Aelin's standard Fire Magic into Moon-Fire. It is described as being the cold white light stolen from the stars. Rowan also notes that the fire would be so cold it burned.
The goddess decides that instead of obliterating Morath's forces, she will destroy Rolfe's fleet and the inhabitants of Skull's Bay. Rowan's interference in Deanna's path allows Aelin to take back her body, and she quickly diverts her power, obliterating most of Morath's fleet.
From her actions, it is later deduced that she had not been watching Aelin her whole life, but like a spider, she had been hunting her, waiting for the opportunity that Aelin unwittingly gave her at Skull's Bay to possess both Aelin and her power.
When Aelin speaks with Elena later, the latter tells her that Deanna is a Goddess, having different codes and morals to mortals. Some time later Aelin presumes that Deanna's possession of her was a reminder that she belongs to the gods, and was promised to them.
Kingdom of Ash[]
When Aelin sacrifices herself to forge the Lock, she asks the gods to honor their promise and take Erawan back to his own world. But instead of this, Aelin bargains that the gods spare Elena's spirit rather than banishing Erawan from their world. Deanna is quick to laugh at Aelin and say that the gods would make no promise to mere mortals and that they never had any intention to banish Erawan. Deanna then erases Elena's existence from the world completely by shattering her spirit before using the Lock to return to her world.
Having been first through the Gate, Deanna does not see Mala stay behind and gift Aelin a portion of her power, which she uses to open another Wyrdgate within the gods' world to the hellscape she encountered in the catacombs of Rifthold. As the gods begin to scream in terror at what comes through, Aelin shuts the Wyrdgate between her world and theirs. Their fates are left unknown, and it is assumed that they died.
Personality and traits[]
Deanna was exceptionally cruel and uncaring towards mortals, concerned only with returning to her homeworld. She had no regard for human life. In fact, she displayed almost sociopathic and childish tendencies during her brief appearances, both when she possessed Aelin—and took pleasure in turning her power on innocents—and her callous destruction of Elena.
Physical description[]
Deanna is never described in detail, only depicted as crowned with a star and armed with a bow and a golden arrow.
When Deanna possessed Aelin, it was shown that her eyes were a different color to Aelin's, being turquoise ringed with silver rather than gold.
Due to her confusion with Mab it can be presumed that she was marginally attractive, to be mistaken for Fae.
Powers and abilities[]
Deanna, along with the other gods have been mentioned to possess the following abilities:
- Omnipresence: She, along with the other gods were able to spread their beings to vast distances, and be present in multiple areas in the world at once.
- Immortality:As a goddess, Deanna was a being of higher existence, to whom time is fluid. It was also mentioned in Empire of Storms that Deanna was immortal, so it's assumed that all the gods are immortal.
Appearances[]
- Throne of Glass (mentioned only)
- Crown of Midnight (mentioned only)
- Heir of Fire (mentioned only)
- Queen of Shadows (mentioned only)
- Empire of Storms (first appearance)
- Kingdom of Ash (presumably dies)
Trivia[]
- Sarah J. Maas most likely based her off 'Diana' the Roman goddess who - similar to the Greek goddess Artemis - was the protector of virgins, the hunting goddess and also a moon goddess in later times.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Heir of Fire
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Throne of Glass
- ↑ Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas: Chapter 35