IELE river witches
ILLUMINATA a songspell to create light
ILLUSIO a songspell to create a disguise
INFANTA Maria Theresa of Spain, whose ship was brought down by a pirate seeking her blue diamond. She gave a fake diamond to the pirate and the real one to Serafina.
IRON repels magic
ISABELLA Serafina’s mother; the regina of Miromara before she was assassinated by her brother, Vallerio
JEAN LAFITTE a pirate; one of three ghosts who keep Manon Laveau company
KARGJORD a hilly, desolate barrens at the northernmost reaches of the Meerteufel’s realm; the Black Fins’ headquarters and military training ground
KEEPER OF JUSTICE represents the law in Miromara
KHARIS priestess of the death goddess Morsa
KOBOLD North Sea goblin tribes
KOLEGIO mer equivalent of college
KOLFINN Astrid and Ragnar’s father and the former admiral of Ondalina; now deceased
KOLISSEO a huge open-water stone theater in Miromara that dates back to Merrow’s time
KORA the mermaid ruler of the Matalin region of Kandina; leader of the Askari
LAVA GLOBE a light source, lit by magma mined and refined into white lava by the Feuerkumpel
LENA a freshwater mermaid—and owner of several catfish—who hid Serafina, Neela, and Ling from Traho
LIBER MAGUS one of the Miromaran magi, the keeper of knowledge
LING a teenage mermaid from the realm of Qin; one of the six summoned by the Iele to destroy Abbadon; descendant of the mage Sycorax; she is an omnivoxa
LUCIA VOLNERO once one of Serafina’s ladies-in-waiting; now a pretender to the Miromaran throne, a member of the Volnero, a noble family as old—and nearly as powerful—as the Merrovingia
MAELSTROM a powerful whirlpool in the sea
MAHDI ruler of Matali; Promised to Serafina; cousin to Neela and Yazeed
MALIGNO a creature made out of clay and animated by blood magic
MÅNENHONNØR Ondalina’s moon festival
MÅNENKAGER a cake, eaten during Månenhonnør, made of pressed krill and iced with ground mother-of-pearl, so it shines like the moon; baked with a silver drupe coin in it for good luck
MANON LAVEAU a swamp queen mermaid who lives under the Mississippi River near New Orleans
MARCO a terragogg who, together with his sister, Elisabetta, helped Becca after she was attacked by the Williwaw; he is the latest duca di Venezia, whose duty is to protect the mer
MARKUS TRAHO, CAPTAIN leader of the death riders
MATALI the mer realm in the Indian Ocean; Neela’s home
MATALIN from Matali
MEERTEUFEL one of four goblin tribes
MERL Mermish equivalent of girl
MERMISH the common language of the sea people
MERROVINGIA descendants of Merrow
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.
MIROMARA the realm 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
MOONSTONE Navi’s talisman; silvery blue and the size of an albatross’s egg, with an inner glow
MORSA an ancient scavenger goddess, whose job it was to take away the bodies of the dead. She angered Neria by practicing necromancy. Neria punished her by giving her the face of death and the body of a serpent and banishing her.
NÄKKI murderous shapeshifters in the northern Atlantic; they are outlaws and arms dealers
NASHOBA a cruel Choctaw warrior in life; in death, leader of the Okwa Naholo
NAVI one of the six mages who ruled Atlantis; Neela’s ancestor
NEELA a teenage mermaid from the realm of Matali; one of the six summoned by the Iele to destroy Abbadon; Serafina’s best friend; Yazeed’s sister; Mahdi’s cousin; a descendant of the mage Navi. She is a bioluminescent.
NERIA the sea goddess
NYX one of the six mages who ruled Atlantis; Ava’s ancestor
OCCULA a songspell used to see over a far distance
OKWA NAHOLO white people of the water, in Choctaw; spirits of murderous warriors who were cursed by the sun god to live in the swamps of the Mississippi forever; their black hearts contain memories of the crimes they committed and kill anyone who looks upon them
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; Astrid’s home
OODA Neela’s pet blowfish
OPIE Marco’s pet octopus
ORFEO the most powerful of the six mages who ruled Atlantis; a healer; his talisman was a green emerald; he was devastated by the death of his wife, Alma, and vowed to take on the gods to get her back; Morsa gave him a black pearl to cheat death, and he created Abbadon, a monster powerful enough to attack the underworld; Astrid’s ancestor
OSTROKON the mer version of a library
PERMUTAVI a pact between Miromara and Ondalina, enacted after the War of Reykjanes Ridge, that decreed the exchange of the rulers’ children
PORTIA VOLNERO mother of Lucia and a powerful duchessa of Miromara; wanted to marry Vallerio, Serafina’s uncle
PRAEDATORI soldiers who defend the sea and its creatures against terragoggs; known as the Wave Warriors on land
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.
PUZZLE BALL Sycorax’s talisman; a small, ornately carved white ball containing spheres within spheres, with the image of a phoenix on the outside
PYRRHA one of the six mages of Atlantis, a brilliant strategist; Becca’s ancestor
QANIKKAAQ a giant maelstrom in the Greenland Sea where Orfeo’s talisman was found
QIN the mer realm in the Pacific Ocean; Ling’s home
RAGNAR the admiral of Ondalina; Astrid’s older brother
RÄKÄ a goblin drink made from fermented snail slime
RAZORMOUTH DRAGON one of the many types of dragons that breed in Matali and are the main source of the realm’s wealth; they are feral and murderous
RORRIM DROL lord of Vadus, the mirror realm
ROTTER an animated human corpse, devoid of a soul
RUBY RING Nyx’s talisman; a large stone, with many facets, in a gold setting
RURSUS the language of Vadus, the mirror realm
RYLKA Kolfinn’s commodora
SALLY WILKES a runaway slave; one of three ghosts who keep Manon Laveau company
SCAGHAUFEN capital of the Meerteufel sea goblin tribe
SCUOLA SUPERIORE mer equivalent of high school
SEEING STONE a garnet stone that, when cast with an occula spell, allows the viewer to see something/someone over a far distance
SERAFINA rightful regina of Miromara and leader of the Black Fin Resistance; one of six mermaids summoned by the Iele to destroy Abbadon; descendant of the mage Merrow
SHADOW MANSE Orfeo’s palace
SICARIO Lucia’s scorpion
SIREN a mermaid who sings for currensea
SIX WHO RULED the mages of Atlantis, each of whom possessed a magical talisman that enhanced their powers
SKAVVENERS sea elves that pillage battlefields and disaster sites and stalk the feeble, sick, and injured
SKØRE TÅBER Meerteufel goblin for crazy fools
SNASK pickled squid eyes, a goblin snack
SOMNIO a songspell to induce sleep
SOPHIA one of the best Black Fin fighters and a trusted confidante; she saved Serafina’s life during
the raid on Miromara’s treasury
SPIDERLAIR a swamp named for the arachnids that hunt on its banks
STILO a songspell that makes spikes sprout out of a water ball
SUMMA CUM LAUDE Latin for with highest honors
SYCORAX one of the six mages of Atlantis; Ling’s ancestor
SYLVESTRE Serafina’s pet octopus
SYZYGY when the sun, moon, and earth are aligned—tides are at their highest and magic is at its strongest; royal mer weddings can only take place during a syzygy
TALISMAN a magical object, given by the gods, that enhances one’s powers
TAROT a set of seventy-eight cards with pictures and symbols that is used to see what will happen in the future
TERRAGOGGS (GOGGS) humans
THALASSA the canta magus, or keeper of magic, of Miromara; addressed as Magistra
TOTSCHLÄGER a trusted goblin commander
TRANSPARENSEA PEARL a pearl that contains a songspell of invisibility; transparensea pebbles are not as strong as transparensea pearls
VADUS the mirror realm
VALLERIO, PRINCIPE DEL SANGUE Miromara’s high commander; Serafina’s uncle, who orchestrated the invasion of Cerulea, during which Sera’s mother, the regina, was assassinated; father to Lucia Volnero
VELO a songspell to increase one’s speed
VERITA the goddess of justice
VITRINA souls of beautiful, vain humans who spent so much time admiring themselves in mirrors that they are now trapped inside
VORTEX a songspell used to create a whirl
WATERFIRE magical fire used to enclose or contain
WAVE WARRIORS humans who fight for the sea and its creatures
WILLIWAW a wind spirit at Cape Horn; possessor of Pyrrha’s talisman
YAZEED a merman from Mitali; a Black Fin second-in-command to Serafina; Neela’s brother and Mahdi’s cousin
JENNIFER DONNELLY is an award-winning author of both adult and young adult books, including the historical thriller These Shallow Graves, and three other books in the WaterFire Saga: Deep Blue, Rogue Wave, and Dark Tide. 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.