Okay this is kinda not easy...

[Greebo-Is-The-Best]

ok.. Polgara/Belgarath forced the Borunes to take Dryad wives.. right?

But dryads live for about the same time their oak tree live (3000 years or so)

So.. wouldnt some of Ce'Nedra's grandmother's grandmother's greatgrandmother's great... etcetc still be alive?

[unique_dragonfly]

Oh wow, my head hurts just thinking about it. But you are right, she should have ancestors alive. Unless, those ancestors were only half dryad. Belgarath did say that the dryadline tended to breed true on the Bourne side, so maybe Ce'Nedra is a true dryad where her mother was only half? BUT if she was only half dryad then why was her name Ce'Vanne?

[Alexa]

I don't think Polgara or Belgarath had anything to do with the choice of dryad wives. And Ce'Nedra was definetly only half dryad.

[Greebo-Is-The-Best]

''I don't think Polgara or Belgarath had anything to do with the choice of dryad wives. And Ce'Nedra was definetly only half dryad.''

Yes... they did read "Belgarath the Sorcerer"

[Alexa]

Originally Posted by Greebo-Is-The-Best

Yes... they did read "Belgarath the Sorcerer"

I beg your pardon ?

[SmoothasSilk]

Belgarath the Sorceror is a book that explains a LOT of the history mentioned in The BELGARIAD, a whole lot more. You find out a lot of things.. I am reading the BELGARIAD to my mother at the moment, and I am up to book five. I hope to read all of them to her, including Belgarath and Polgara.

[Faceless Woman]

There is no such think as a half dryad. They are all full dryad even thought they all have human fathers because there are no male dryads.
And Belgarath did make the deal which forced the Borunes to take dryad wives, in exchange for logging rights, or was it not having logging rights in order to get the honour of a dryad wife?

[devilsgrin]

it was indeed to seal the Wood of the Dryads away from loggers that the Dryads sent one of their princesses to be wife of the Borune Duke's Son.
FW you are correct in saying that there are no male dryads.
As Polgara mentions in her book, something was done to the first princess so that she could actually produce a male child - which a normal dryad would not.
However in regard to the female descendents, almost all of these would likely have been produced from a Male off-spring of the original dryad and her borune husband. Meaning that the females would have had many dryad traits without being completely dryad, though Destiny/Prophecy certainly wanted Ce'Nedra to be a full dryad so likely had a hand in her being much more Dryad than many of her ancestors since Princess Xoria (was that her name - i can't recall at the moment).
There, as far as written, are no other cases of marriages between Borunes and Dryads. The subsequent marriages between Borunes and these pseudo-dryads are the result of cousins marrying cousins as the Borunes "are obsessed with Dryads". Though it is clear that most if not all of these women regard themselves as Dryads - as do the dryads themselves regard them. Their lifespans however are certainly not that of a dryad. Tolnedrans are rather suspicious people and having one of the Great Houses ruled by dozens of Dowager Duchesses who all happen to be Dryads and Centuries old wouldn't go over well.

[Faceless Woman]

Isn't there a bit at the end of either Polgara or Belgareth, no Polgara definately,... no it was the end of the Mallorean...
Whenever it was, it said that Garion and Ce'Nedra would have hundreds of dughters because the would both live for a really really long time. So maybe if the prophecy intervened to make Ce'Nedra full dryad, but then how would she have a son? Although she did need the acorns to have children at all, iirc.
Whatever. David got a bit confused, I think. And so am I.

[devilsgrin]

i'm pretty positive it was at the end of the Malloreon - and tied in with the
"guard well the son of the guardian, for he shall have no brother" prophecy bit.
it certainly seems like david got a bit muddled with the whole Dryad thing. However, my theory is that prophecy messed with the Borune Dryads so that they could have male children, and Ce'Nedra got even more of a dose of messing with - it had to make her: a dryad in terms of lifespan and reproductive cycle - yet still able to give birth to one son, then back to normal with dozens of dryad daughters and no more sons; and it had to give her the fire of The Queen of the World.

[Sahnny]

Dryads could give birth to sons, and it is explained in Belgarath/Polgara- don't remember which. If the offspring is male, it's human, if it's female, it's a Dryad. There are no halves.

The expanded lifespans is definately a problem. I'm guessing that perhaps only older Dryads are ever married to the Borunes, and the daughters retired to the woods at some point.

[devilsgrin]

i'd rather doubt that a 1000 year old dryad would ever leave her tree to marry a borune.
Your forgetting that prophecy likes to tamper with things. in this case dryad reproduction. it clearly states in Polgara that a dryad would never normally give birth to a male offspring. if they did, they wouldn't need to capture human males to procreate, they would have a fresh supply of equally uninhibited forest loving partners already on hand.

[unique_dragonfly]

In The beginning of the Mallorean, when Ce'Nedra was concerned about her fertility, Polgara was summoned to Riva and she gave Ce'Nedra a tonic made out of Oak Buds. Shortly after that Ce'Nedra seduced Garion in the forest above the Citadel, and became pregnant. Ce'Nedra didn't need the tonic when she became pregnant with Beldaran. Maybe it was the tonic that made Ce'nedra have a boy.

[Faceless Woman]

Iirc, she needed the acorns to get pregnant at all, and the fact that she was concerned meant that in theory her mother didn't. This makes me think that Prophecy did intervene.

[unique_dragonfly]

But she didn't need the tonic to get pregnant with her daughter Beldaran.