Shea Ohmsford
Encyclopedia
Shea Ohmsford is a fictional character
and the protagonist
of Terry Brooks
' epic fantasy novel The Sword of Shannara
. In the universe, he is the last known person with the blood of Jerle Shannara
, making him the only one who can wield the powerful Sword of Shannara to vanquish the Warlock Lord
.
and his mother is human; she was a distant cousin of the Ohmsfords who left him with them before she died; he is apparently 'dropped' on the Ohmsfords' doorstep one day. They raise him as their own, and he grows up in Shady Vale. About twenty years after he had been abandoned, Allanon
walked into Shady Vale, bringing with him a warning: the Warlock Lord
is coming. It is now that he finds out about his famous bloodline and why evil is coming for him. Also, he receives a gift from Allanon: three magical blue stones called Elfstones.
However, Shea does not believe Allanon fully. He does not leave until a few weeks later, when a Skull Bearer
shows up in the Vale. Flick and Shea are forced to flee, with the Skull Bearer close on their heels. They manage to make it to Leah, where they reunite with their old friend, Prince Menion Leah. He agrees to guide them to Culhaven to find Allanon.
When they arrive, they find Allanon waiting. He calls together a council to discuss the possibility of hunting down the Sword of Shannara for use against the Warlock Lord. The decision is to send a small party to paranor
, the last known location of the Sword, and track it down. This party consists of Allanon, Shea, Flick, Menion, Prince Balinor Buckhannah
of Callahorn
, the Dwarf Hendel, and the Elven brothers Dayel, and Durin Elessedil from the Westland.
On the way to Paranor, Shea falls off a cliff into a river. Separated from the rest of his companions, he manages to make it out of the river to be captured by Gnomes. Shortly thereafter, Panamon Creel and the Troll Keltset find him and rescue him, only to have to face a Skull Bearer a day later. Shea uses the Elfstones to kill the creature, but he was only able to do so after much pleading and finally taking them off Panamon's injured person.
The three make their way north, getting closer and closer to the Warlock Lord. They find the Sword in the hands of Orl Fane, an insane Gnome who regarded the Sword as his "One Ring
",Orl regards the Sword as The Lord of the Rings
Gollum
regards the "One Ring
". In essence, he refuses to let it go because it is "his". but Orl manages to beguile his captors and escape with the Sword. After chasing him down and getting the Sword back, Shea confronts the Warlock Lord.
In the confrontation, the Warlock Lord attempts to overwhelm Shea's mind with fear, rationalizing that Shea would surrender and put the Sword down. He almost succeeds, but Allanon, who has been monitoring the confrontation from afar—he had not been able to cross the mountain prior to the confrontation—uses telepathy to communicate a few words to Shea: "Believe in the Sword, Shea. All else is illusion..." These words remind Shea of his mission, and he brings the Sword's power to bear upon the Warlock Lord, finally vanquishing him.
Shea then returns home to the inn, where The Sword of Shannara ends. In the time of the sequel
, The Elfstones of Shannara
, he is still alive. However, he does not appear in the novel to see his grandson, Wil Ohmsford
, move to Storlock to train to be a healer because he had taken ill. Shea dies sometime between the conclusion of Elfstones and the beginning of The Wishsong of Shannara.
Scholar Tom Shippey
believed that Shea was too familiar to those who had read The Lord of the Rings: he found that Shea and Flick were "analogues
" for the hobbits of Tolkien
's stories. Terry Brooks
stated in his autobiography that "[his] protagonists [Shea and Flick] are cut from the same bolt of cloth as Bilbo and Frodo Baggins."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of Terry Brooks
Terry Brooks
Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print...
' epic fantasy novel The Sword of Shannara
The Sword of Shannara
The Sword of Shannara is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by Terry Brooks. The first book of the Original Shannara Trilogy, it was followed by The Elfstones of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara. Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and historical adventure fiction, Brooks began writing...
. In the universe, he is the last known person with the blood of Jerle Shannara
Jerle Shannara
Jerle Shannara is a fictional character from Terry Brooks' Shannara series of epic fantasy novels. Only mentioned as a long-deceased person in the Original Shannara Trilogy, he is one of the main characters of the prequel novel First King of Shannara.- Biography :Jerle begins the story as captain...
, making him the only one who can wield the powerful Sword of Shannara to vanquish the Warlock Lord
Warlock Lord
The Warlock Lord is the principal villain of Terry Brooks' novel The Sword of Shannara....
.
Biography
Shea is half-Elven and the adopted son of the Ohmsfords of Shady Vale. His father is an ElfElves (Shannara)
Elves are one of the races in the Shannara series of epic fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. They are the only race of the faerie creatures still in the World, though they now have become mortal. Though Elves usually refers to the Westland Elves, Elves can be split into two: the "Land Elves" and the...
and his mother is human; she was a distant cousin of the Ohmsfords who left him with them before she died; he is apparently 'dropped' on the Ohmsfords' doorstep one day. They raise him as their own, and he grows up in Shady Vale. About twenty years after he had been abandoned, Allanon
Allanon
Allanon is a fictional character from the epic fantasy Original Shannara Trilogy and the trilogy's prequel, First King of Shannara; all four are by Terry Brooks. Described as Brooks' "most enigmatic character", Allanon is very secretive and appears only when needed...
walked into Shady Vale, bringing with him a warning: the Warlock Lord
Warlock Lord
The Warlock Lord is the principal villain of Terry Brooks' novel The Sword of Shannara....
is coming. It is now that he finds out about his famous bloodline and why evil is coming for him. Also, he receives a gift from Allanon: three magical blue stones called Elfstones.
However, Shea does not believe Allanon fully. He does not leave until a few weeks later, when a Skull Bearer
Skull Bearers (Shannara)
Skull Bearers are fictional minor characters from two books of the Shannara series, First King of Shannara and The Sword of Shannara, epic fantasy novels written by Terry Brooks. According to the fictional history of the series, the Skull Bearers were Druids once upon a time, but they were...
shows up in the Vale. Flick and Shea are forced to flee, with the Skull Bearer close on their heels. They manage to make it to Leah, where they reunite with their old friend, Prince Menion Leah. He agrees to guide them to Culhaven to find Allanon.
When they arrive, they find Allanon waiting. He calls together a council to discuss the possibility of hunting down the Sword of Shannara for use against the Warlock Lord. The decision is to send a small party to paranor
Paranor
Paranor is a fictional location in Terry Brooks' epic fantasy Shannara series. It is the home of the Druids, but it has fallen to enemies of the Druids several times since its initial construction...
, the last known location of the Sword, and track it down. This party consists of Allanon, Shea, Flick, Menion, Prince Balinor Buckhannah
Balinor Buckhannah
Balinor Buckhannah was the prince of Callahorn, a fictional country in the Shannara universe. He was a main character in The Sword of Shannara, an epic fantasy novel written by Terry Brooks. Balinor is the brother of Palance Buckhannah and son of Ruhl Buckhannah. He normally wears a green forest...
of Callahorn
Callahorn
Callahorn is a fictitious autonomous country in most of the Shannara series of books by Terry Brooks. It first appeared in the opening novel, The Sword of Shannara.- Location :...
, the Dwarf Hendel, and the Elven brothers Dayel, and Durin Elessedil from the Westland.
On the way to Paranor, Shea falls off a cliff into a river. Separated from the rest of his companions, he manages to make it out of the river to be captured by Gnomes. Shortly thereafter, Panamon Creel and the Troll Keltset find him and rescue him, only to have to face a Skull Bearer a day later. Shea uses the Elfstones to kill the creature, but he was only able to do so after much pleading and finally taking them off Panamon's injured person.
The three make their way north, getting closer and closer to the Warlock Lord. They find the Sword in the hands of Orl Fane, an insane Gnome who regarded the Sword as his "One Ring
One Ring
The One Ring is a fictional artifact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy novels. It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit , as a magic ring of invisibility. The sequel The Lord of the Rings describes its powers as being more encompassing than...
",Orl regards the Sword as The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
Gollum
Gollum
Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was introduced in the author's fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings....
regards the "One Ring
One Ring
The One Ring is a fictional artifact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy novels. It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit , as a magic ring of invisibility. The sequel The Lord of the Rings describes its powers as being more encompassing than...
". In essence, he refuses to let it go because it is "his". but Orl manages to beguile his captors and escape with the Sword. After chasing him down and getting the Sword back, Shea confronts the Warlock Lord.
In the confrontation, the Warlock Lord attempts to overwhelm Shea's mind with fear, rationalizing that Shea would surrender and put the Sword down. He almost succeeds, but Allanon, who has been monitoring the confrontation from afar—he had not been able to cross the mountain prior to the confrontation—uses telepathy to communicate a few words to Shea: "Believe in the Sword, Shea. All else is illusion..." These words remind Shea of his mission, and he brings the Sword's power to bear upon the Warlock Lord, finally vanquishing him.
Shea then returns home to the inn, where The Sword of Shannara ends. In the time of the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, The Elfstones of Shannara
The Elfstones of Shannara
The Elfstones of Shannara is an epic fantasy novel by Terry Brooks. It is the first sequel to The Sword of Shannara and the second book in The Original Shannara Trilogy...
, he is still alive. However, he does not appear in the novel to see his grandson, Wil Ohmsford
Wil Ohmsford
Wil Ohmsford is a fictional character from the Shannara series by Terry Brooks, appearing in two novels: The Elfstones of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara. He is the grandson of Shea Ohmsford and the grand-nephew of Flick Ohmsford....
, move to Storlock to train to be a healer because he had taken ill. Shea dies sometime between the conclusion of Elfstones and the beginning of The Wishsong of Shannara.
Reception and author's notes
A major theme of The Sword of Shannara revolves around Shea. Part of his quest, in addition to killing the Warlock Lord, includes finding a belief in himself, so that he will have confidence to go on. This is a search that every subsequent Brooks protagonist must undergo.Scholar Tom Shippey
Tom Shippey
Thomas Alan Shippey is a scholar of medieval literature, including that of Anglo-Saxon England, and of modern fantasy and science fiction, in particular the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, about whom he has written several scholarly studies. He is widely considered one of the leading academic scholars...
believed that Shea was too familiar to those who had read The Lord of the Rings: he found that Shea and Flick were "analogues
Analogue (literature)
The term analogue is used in literary history in two related senses:* a work which resembles another in terms of one or more motifs, characters, scenes, phrases or events....
" for the hobbits of Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's stories. Terry Brooks
Terry Brooks
Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print...
stated in his autobiography that "[his] protagonists [Shea and Flick] are cut from the same bolt of cloth as Bilbo and Frodo Baggins."