Distressed Dude: Sybel is forced to rescue Prince Coren from her own beasts more than once.

Her paternal grandfather therefore grew up without ever knowing him.

Disappeared Dad: Sybel's great-grandfather never realized he'd fathered a child, as it's said he had only slept with her great-grandmother once.

One of the main catalysts of the defrosting part is red-headed Coren. Multiple characters refer to her as being white or icy.

Defrosting Ice Queen: Sybel, of course.Death by Childbirth: Sybel's mother died right after giving birth to her, with the implication it was because of this.Child by Rape: Sybil, quite possibly, given that her father controlled her mother by magic.Cats Are Magic: Sybel's magical menagerie includes the huge black cat Moriah, who is legendary for her knowledge of spells and secret charms.Sybel may be drawn into the affairs of mankind after all. Then, when Tam is twelve years old, Coren reappears. He is also a cousin of Sybel's, on her mother's side, so, although she has no experience with or interest in children, she reluctantly agrees to keep him safe, and soon comes to love him as she loves her beasts. The baby, Tamlorn, is a possible heir to the throne, and being hunted by the King. One day a frightened man, Coren of Sirle, shows up on Sybel's mountain with a baby. With her powerful magic, Sybel seeks little but to expand her collection, calling beasts out of legend to join her on Eld mountain. With both her parents dead, Sybel knows little of the world of mankind she keeps company with the collection of magical beasts started by her grandfather, which includes the wise boar Cyrin, the Black Swan of Tirlith, the spell-casting black cat Moriah, the dragon Gyld, and many more. The beautiful young sorceress Sybel (child of the Wizard Ogam and a noblewoman he called with magic) lives on a remote mountain deep in the Eldwold.

The story has a fairy-tale-like quality, but, as usual with McKillip's works, the myths and legends mentioned in the story are almost entirely her own invention. McKillip the very first book to win that award. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a 1974 World Fantasy Award-winning novel by Patricia A. 'But one day you will find out how good it is to have someone who chooses to come when you call.' Then he looked back at her, his eyes the color of clear mountain water. 'Perhaps.' He gathered the reins in his hands, turned his mount toward the road that wound downward to Mondor. 'Go home to your world of the living, Coren.

The forgotten beasts of eld