MERROW a great mage, one of the six rulers of Atlantis, and Serafina’s ancestor. First ruler of the merpeople; songspell originated with her, and she decreed the Dokimí.
MERROVINGIA descendants of Merrow
MERROW’S PROGRESS Ten years after the destruction of Atlantis, Merrow made a journey to all of the waters of the world, scouting out safe places for the merfolk to colonize.
MEU DEUS Portuguese for my God
MIA AMICA Italian for my friend
MINA Brazilian slang for a female friend
MIROMARA the realm where Serafina comes from; an empire that spans the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic, Aegean, Baltic, Black, Ionian, Ligurian, and Tyrrhenean Seas, the Seas of Azov and Marmara, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, and the Bosphorus
MOARTE PILOTI death riders
MORSA an ancient scavenger goddess, whose job it was to take away the bodies of the dead. She planned to overthrow Neria with an army of the dead. Neria punished her by giving her the face of death and the body of a serpent and banishing her.
NAVI one of the six mages who ruled Atlantis; Neela’s ancestor
NEELA a Matalin princess; Serafina’s best friend; Yazeed’s sister; Mahdi’s cousin. She is a bioluminescent.
NERIA the sea goddess
NEX a darksong spell used to kill
NOCÉRUS a darksong spell used to cause harm
NYX one of the six mages who ruled Atlantis; Ava’s ancestor
OBRŞIE the leader of the Iele
OCHI a powerful spying spell in which the songcaster plants a GNDAC, or bug, near the person or thing being observed
OLT the river in Romania where the Iele are located
OMNIVOXA (OMNI) mer who have the natural ability to speak every dialect of Mermish and communicate with sea creatures
ONDALINA the mer realm in the Arctic waters
OPAFAGO cannibalistic sea creatures that lived in Miromara and hunted mer until Merrow forced them into the Barrens of Thira, which surround the ruins of Atlantis
ORFEO one of the six mages who ruled Atlantis; Astrid’s ancestor
OSTROKON the mer version of a library
PALAZZO Italian for palace
PERMUTAVI a pact between Miromara and Ondalina, enacted after the War of Reykjanes Ridge, that decreed the exchange of the rulers’ children
PESCA the language spoken by some species of fish
PORPOISHA the language spoken by porpoises
PORTIA VOLNERO mother of Lucia, one of Serafina’s ladies-in waiting; wanted to marry Vallerio, Serafina’s uncle
PRAEDATORI soldiers who defend the sea and its creatures against terragoggs; known as Wave Warriors on land
PRAESIDIO Duca Contorini’s home in Venice
PRAX practical magic that helps the mer survive, such as camouflage spells, echolocation spells, spells to improve speed or darken an ink cloud. Even those with little magical ability can cast them.
PRINCIPESSA Italian for princess
PYRRA one of the six rulers of Atlantis; Becca’s ancestor
QIN the mer realm in the Pacific Ocean; Ling’s home
QUE DIABO Portuguese for what the hell
QUERIDA Portuguese for darling
QUI VADIT IBI? Latin for Who goes there?
QUIA MERROW DECREVIT Latin for Because Merrow decreed it
RAFE IAORO MFEME worst of the terragoggs; he runs a fleet of dredgers and super trawlers that threaten to pull every last fish out of the sea
RAYSAY the language spoken by manta rays
REGGIA Merrow’s ancient palace
REGINA Italian for queen
RIPTIDE Mermish slang equivalent of very cool
RORRIM DROL lord of Vadus, the mirror realm
ROTTER an animated human corpse, devoid of a soul
RUSALKA ghosts of human girls who jumped into a river and drowned themselves because of a broken heart
SAGI-SHI one of three trawlers that Rafe Mfeme owns
SCULPIN venomous arctic fish
SEJANUS ADARO Portia Volerno’s husband, who died a year after Lucia’s birth
SERAFINA principessa di Miromara
SHOALING swimming with schools of fish near the surface of the water, a risky sport for merpeople
SHOKORETH Arabic word for deceiver
STILO a songspell that makes spikes sprout out of a water ball
SUMA Neela’s ayah, or nurse
SVIKARI one of three trawlers that Rafe Mfeme owns
SWASH Mermish slang; a shortened version of swashbuckler, suggesting a flamboyant adventurer
SYCORAX one of the six rulers of Atlantis; Ling’s ancestor
SYLVESTRE Serafina’s pet octopus
TAJDAR Foreign Secretary of Matali
TALISMAN object with magical properties
TAVIA Serafina’s nurse
TERRAGOGGS (GOGGS) humans. Before now they haven’t been able to get past the merpeople’s spells.
THALASSA the canta magus, or keeper of magic, of Miromara; addressed as Magistra
TĬNGJŬ Qin word for jerk
TORTOISHA the language spoken by sea turtles
TRANSPARENSEA PEARL a pearl that contains a songspell of invisibility
TREZI the songspell used to turn a corpse into a cadavru
TRYKEL AND SPUME twin brother gods of the tides
TSARNO a fortress town in the western Mediterranean
TUBARÃO Portuguese for shark
TUDO BEM, GATINHAS? Portuguese for Everything well with you, girls?
VADUS the mirror realm
VALLERIO, PRINCIPE DEL SANGUE Regina Isabella’s brother; Miromara’s high commander; Serafina’s uncle
VELO a songspell to increase one’s speed
VITRINA souls of beautiful, vain humans who spent so much time admiring themselves in mirrors that they are now trapped inside
WATERFIRE magical fire used to enclose or contain
WAVE WARRIORS humans who fight for the sea and its creatures
YAZEED Neela’s brother; Mahdi’s cousin
ZEE-ZEE a Matalin candy
ZENO PISCOR traitor to Serafina and Neela, in league with Traho
JENNIFER DONNELLY is an award-winning author of both adult and young adult books. For adults she has written a trilogy of best-selling books that includes The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose, and The Wild Rose. Her first young adult novel, A Northern Light, received many accolades, among them the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Carnegie Medal in the UK, and a Michael L. Printz Honor. Her second young adult novel, Revolution, was named a Best Book of 2010 by Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal, and the audiobook received a 2011 American Library Association Odyssey Honor. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. For more information, visit www.jenniferdonnelly.com.
COMING IN 2015:
Waterfire Saga Book Two
ROGUE WAVE