The Belgariad - A Heavily Underated Series

The Belgariad is a series not unlike many other: a quest brought about by a prophecy that leads the characters through the lands in order to make sure their cause wins.

However, it is Eddings' unbelieveable humour and sense of adventure that makes it one of the most marvelous pieces of literature.

If you'd rather buy them book by book, here is the Amazon list for that.

Welcome to the world of the Belgariad - where an age old war wages amongst the Kingdoms of the West and the Angaraks, and all is ruled by a prophecy that must be fulfilled.


So without further ado, lets review the map of the Belgariad.

Image Courtesy 'The Belgariad Unofficial Homepage'

Note: This map is not the entire map of the world of the Belgariad. However, it is the only area used in the Belgariad series.

As you can see, there are 12 major kingdoms.


Aloria:

• Riva


• Cherek


• Drasnia


• Algaria

Angarak:

• Cthol Murgos


• Mishrak Ac Thull


• Gar Og Nadrak


• Mallorea (not in map, not counted much in the Belgariad).

Neither:

• Sendaria


• Arendia


• Nyissa


• Ulgoland


• Tolnedra

Below, I'll describe the people of the kingdoms above.

Alorns:
These once united people are the heart of the west. They're brash, yet humorous people who resort to the sword for every problem. Their god is Belar, but not everyone worships him crazily.

• Rivans
  
  
  Very serious and kind people. Always dressed in a gray robe. Protectors of the orb (more about that later).
  


• Chereks
  
  
  Warriors and shipbuilders. Very smart as far as battle goes, and red beards and hair are a common trait in them.
  


• Drasnians
  
  
  Their main industry is spying. No jokes - its what they do. They're also very shrewd negotiators; if its business, they usually succeed.
  


• Algarians
  
  
  Horse lovers, they are no doubt the best horsemen in all of the west. Also very good at war.
  A select few can communicate with horses.
  

Angaraks:
They are the people of the god Torak - an evil (for the want of a better word) entity.
The next 5 nations are the Angarak people.

• Murgos
  
  
  Very close to the Grolims. They are the only other dominators of the Angaraks apart from the Malloreans.
  


• Grolims
  
  
  The priests of Torak. Partially adept in sorcery, and very particular about the human sacrifice.
  


• Thulls
  
  
  The main victims of the sacrifice. Stupid, troll-like creatures. Follow Torak because they fear him.
  


• Nadraks
  
  
  Good businessmen. Don't care that much about Torak, but they do value their lives.
  


• Malloreans
  
  
  They dominate the world of the Angaraks. The Murgos' worst enemies.
  The imperial nation of the east.
  

Neither:

• Sendarians
  
  
  Very simple, practical, farmers. They side with the Alorns on war opinions.
  


• The Arendish
  
  
  Think knights. Think thick-headed knights who "thee" and "thou" and are so ceremonial, that if you stay a day with them, you develop a lifelong habit of "thee"ing everyone you see. They worship Chaldan.
  


• Nyissans
  
  
  The snake people. Very fond of poisons. Also very skilled assassins. Side with whoever pays the most. Worshipers of Issa - the snake god.
  


• The Ulgo
  
  
  They worship UL, the father of all gods. They also consider religion a way of life as opposed to a duty.
  


• Tolnedrans
  
  
  The money nation. They worship Nedra, who is a got very fond of money.

Let's go through all the deities in the Belgariad series.

• UL
  
  
  The father of all the other gods. The god of the Ulgo. Very nice and omniscient.
  


• Aldur
  
  
  The eldest of the seven gods. He doesn't claim a race for himself, but is very secluded. Among his disciples are Belgarath, Polgara, Beldin, Belkira, Beltira, and, in a sense, Belgarion and Poldera.
  


• Chaldan
  
  
  God of the Arends. He signifies glory and honor. He isn't to significant in the stories.
  


• Belar
  
  
  God of the Alorns. His animal is the bear, and he's a strong, young warrior god.
  


• Issa
  
  
  God of the snake people. He rests behind Salmissra's throne in Nyissa. Usually in slumber.
  


• Nedra
  
  
  The God of money (to put it in one word). He blesses the Tolnedrans with wealth, and that is his priority.
  


• Mara
  
  
  God of the Marags. They were slaughtered by the Tolnedrans, and he grieves for his people. However, that changes, but I won't ruin it for you.
  


• Torak
  
  
  He is the evil god of the Angaraks. He demands human sacrifice, and wants dominion over all the world. I won't ruin what happens -yet.
  

Aldur, the oldest of the divine bretheren, had created an orb - The Orb of Aldur (the story of it's creation is obscure - sometimes Aldur is said to have created it, other times it's existence is eternal).



In this, he had stored magical power beyond human imagining. Then, his brother Torak got jealous of it. And so he journeyed to his Aldur's tower, smote him and stole the orb (short and sweet).



Now, the orb didn't very much appreciate its being stolen. Aldur, knowing that, led the armies of the west against Torak and his Angaraks. Torak, fearing for his nation, cracked the world and separated himself from the west by a sea. The orb, infuriated at being used against the earth, destroyed the left side of Torak's face (thus the nickname "old burnt-face").



After that little incident, the greatest disciple of Aldur, Belgarath*, took King Cherek Bear-Shoulders of Alorn and his sons Algar Fleet-Foot, Riva Iron-Grip, and Dras Bull-Neck set out to reclaim the orb. They stole it from Torak, who lay in a deep sleep, and fled. Torak aroused all of the Angaraks to get the orb back, but none succeded against Belgarath.

And so the Orb was taken back to the Aloria. It was then that Belgarath decided to have the giant Aloria split up - a country for Bear-Shoulders called Cherek, one for Fleet-Foot called Algaria, one for Bull-Neck called Drasnia, and an Island for Riva Iron-Grip, now the protector of the Orb.

Years later, Iron-Grip's decendants were assasinated (all but one) and years after that the Orb was stolen.

And then, the Belgariad begins.

*Main Characters