Dane is a legendary Alamarri hero and reportedly the father of Hafter. Many Fereldan nobles claim their descent from his line.
Legend[]
No one knows how many stories about Dane are true, but there was once an Alamarri warrior named Dane. One of his legends says that he owned a pack of wolves, from which mabari are descended.[2] Dane is also credited with killing Fenshal, a monstrous dragon,[3][4] and also orchestrating a major campaign against werewolves allegedly during the early Black Age, which dramatically reduced the werewolf threat in Alamarri lands.[5]
According to the saga of Dane and the Werewolf, Dane had killed a rare white hart when he encountered a werewolf, who demanded tribute for the kill that had been made in his woods. Surrounded by a pack of werewolves, Dane had no choice but to strike a bargain: he would exchange lives and bodies with the werewolf. Dane lived as a werewolf for a year and a day while the werewolf lived the life Dane had left behind.[6] The truth of this tale has never been proven however. While Dane himself almost certainly existed, Fereldan scholars doubt that he spent a year as a werewolf.[7] Flemeth is also said to appear in many versions of Dane and the Werewolf.[8]
The River Dane in Ferelden—which is best known to modern Fereldans as the place where the rebel forces of Prince Maric Theirin, under the command of Loghain Mac Tir, defeated two Orlesian legions of chevaliers—is named after the hero Dane.
Codex entries[]
Codex entry: Dane and the Werewolf- Codex entry: How to Act Fereldan
- Codex entry: Mabari War Hound
- Codex entry: Werewolf
- Codex entry: Yusaris: The Dragonslayer
Trivia[]
- In Awakening, the the Warden-Commander will encounter an Avvar statue in the Wending Wood claiming to have been cursed and changed to stone by an ancient magister. The statue, regarded as War. informs the Warden that the magister has been defeated multiple times. War asks for the Warden's assistance in finding the remains of the magister who bestowed the curse, and to kill the Ancient Magister to finally free him. If the Warden elects to assist him, War will bestow the Winter Blade as a reward—a blade formerly belonging to the hero Dane. It can be inferred that Dane once may have slain the Ancient magister himself and left the blade as boon for others to aid in ending War's curse
- There are two swords attributed to belonging to Dane. The first is Yusaris, obtained by the Warden in Dragon Age: Origins. The second is the Winter Blade, obtained by the the Warden-Commander in Awakening.
- In Dragon Age II, Xenon the Antiquarian mentions a conversation with a "Dane fellow" about how hard it is to find his shop. It is possible they are one and the same.[9]
- A tavern in Lothering called Dane's Refuge is likely named as a tribute to him.
- The legend of Dane's encounter with a werewolf while hunting and his subsequent exchange of positions with the wolf bears many similarities with Pwyll's relationship with Arawn in the Mabinogion.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Mentioned as a rumor between two male humans who can be found in the Denerim Market District or in the Frostback Mountain Pass.
- ↑ Codex entry: Mabari War Hound
- ↑ Codex entry: Yusaris: The Dragonslayer
- ↑ The description of the Winter Blade also acknowledges that the hero Dane hunted Fenshal.
- ↑ Codex entry: Werewolf
- ↑ Codex entry: Dane and the Werewolf
- ↑
Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 2, p. 32
- ↑ Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 2, p. 28
- ↑ Xenon the Antiquarian/Dialogue