So you're wondering, "Why doesn't Dorothea sing in the book 'Dorothea's Song'?" Good question. Maybe you thought that I made a mistake and just didn't think about it? Nah, it's not like that at all. In an early version of the novel, there was a scene in which Eilinel and Gloom rest at a waterfall and they sing for the group. Eilinel uses her harp and Gloom the dragon sings with such beauty that Mohan and the rest of the group are in awe. I decided to cut the scene out as it didn't flow well with the rest of the novel.
Dorothea didn't sing in any of the earlier drafts of the novel, but I did want to stay true to the roots of the inspiration to the novel. Many, many years ago I read "La Chanson de Roland" in my French class and learned that the English translation was loosely "Roland's Song." The poem told the story of the French knight Roland and how he served King Charlemagne in his fight against the Saracens in Spain.
The poem is one of the oldest French documents. It is eastimated that it was written around 1140. I remember being impressed with the poem as it told an amazing story of knights, battles and Roland's courage as he blew his horn loud enough to burst his temples (ouch). The story filled me with this sense of inspiration that the fantastic deeds in the poem had survived in written form for over 800 years. And with that, I decided that I would call my book "La Chanson de Dorothea" or "Dorothea's Song." The book isn't so much about Dorothea singing but the book itself is a "song" that will be passed on through the generations. The elven people of the Bois d'or (the magical elven forest in my book) will sing the song for hundreds of years to come.
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