'''Priestess of Avalon''' is a
2000 novel by
Marion Zimmer Bradley and completed posthumously by
Diana L. Paxson. It follows detailing the life of
Helena, first wife of
Western Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus and mother of
Constantine.
This series was started and became prominent from the titles published in Bradley's name, however the series is now being continued by Diana L. Paxson.
Plot introduction
It begins by showing her birth, with a
druid giving a prophecy of her life. It proceeds to show her as a young girl named Eilan, who becomes a priestess on the Isle of
Avalon.
Plot summary
As young woman, the British priestess Eilan, known to the Romans as Helena, falls in love with the charismatic Roman Constantius. The Roman noble takes her away from Avalon as she is banished for this forbidden love and, before long, Helen bears him a son, who will become Constantine the Great.
Helen's position in Roman society now gives her the freedom to travel about in the empire. Then her son Constantine becomes Emperor she slowly discovers brand new roles. She faces the spread of the new Christian religion, she seeks to understand the old knowledge of the goddess with the new religion. And, as Empress-Mother, Helena travels on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to find the answers to questions that arise between the old religion and the new.
Characters in "Priestess of Avalon"
★ Eilan – the priestess of the story, protagonist
★ Constantius – the Roman noble she marries
★ Constantine – Eilan's (Helen's) son
Release details
★ 2000, UK, Voyager ISBN 0-00-224709-7, Pub date 6 November 2000, hardback (First edition)
★ 2001, USA, Viking Books ISBN 0-670-91023-6, Pub date ? May 2001, hardback
★ 2001, USA, Penguin Group ISBN 0-14-180303-7, Pub date ? May 2001, audio cassette
★ 2001, UK, Voyager ISBN 0-00-648376-3, Pub date 21 May 2001, paperback
★ 2002, USA, Roc ISBN 0-451-45862-1, Pub date ? July 2002, paperback