Corrina ni Gwydion was the oldest of High King Timon's four children. After her father won the Crown of the Resurgent Dream from High King Amrod and then perished, Corrina became High Queen. As an immortal Sidhe, Corrina was able to hold the Crown for nearly five centuries, making her the longest serving Sovereign in Danaan history.

Early life

Corrina was born to then Duke Timon ap Gwydion, the first of a pair of twins, and to a now forgotten woman at a fairy hold in what is now Wales. She was raised entirely by other Fae, both noble and common, and was kept sheltered from the human world during the first years of her life.

In her early years, Corrina was practically inseparable from her twin brother, Danwyth. The twins would spend their days in their father's gardens, playing endlessly among the flowers. In those days, the lives of Fae children were kept carefree, even as their elders dealt with a possibly threatening Roman Empire. Corrina's childhood was one of innocence and play, sheltered from the concerns of courtly politics and tribal warfare.

Early reign

Corrina became High Queen in 1511, after the Homecoming War. Her father wrested the throne from the genocidal High King Amrod only moments before dying himself, leaving his eldest child, Corrina, to negotiate a peace.

Corrina earned an early reputation for integrity and fairness during the negotiations with High King Dafydd which produced the Treaty of Mutual Recognition. The new queen earnestly sought what she believed was a fair peace. The end result was still absolutist and racist by today's standards but represented a significant step forward compared to the deep prejudices which had led to the war. While it is not now considered to have been satisfactory by most Danaans, it is viewed as the first step forward on the road to peace, freedom, and democracy.

The other issue which plagued the Resurgent Dream during the first century of Corrina's reign was the African slave trade, which began to make headway into parts of the Resurgent Dream, especially Wintermore, during the 1500s. Corrina moved slowly against this evil, although she did move. She began her opposition to slavery with a mildly worded edict which forbade the enslavement of any Danaan subject on Danaan territory in 1558. Corrina then slowly created stricter and stricter anti-slavery legislation until an edict of 1605 which not only banned all forms of slavery but guaranteed freedom to any slave who set foot on Danaan soil. It was this edict which allowed many runaway slaves from North America to escape to freedom in the Resurgent Dream over the next several centuries.

Marriage

Corrina was already married to Immanuel ap Gwydion at the time of her coronation. It is generally believed to have been a love match. Whether or not love was the initial inspiration for the match or whether they simply grew close over the years, Corrina and Immanuel were always considered to be close, affectionate companions by those who knew them best.

Corrina bore her husband three daughters: Aiwyn, Agwene and Vicotira. While Aiwyn was her heir apparent, she forswore her place in the line of sucession when she married Emperor Phaeton Draconis of Akaton, leaving Agwene to suceed the queen.

Early Corrinan politics

The Resurgent Dream had no true Parliament until 1600. Politics in the first hundred years of Corrina's reign was largely an affair of the court. Corrina's court, for the first dozen years, was dominated by Duke Ilarilet ap Gwydion, a deeply religious man who was constantly urging reforms upon the queen. He was a staunch traditionalist and his reforms were not of a modernizing character. Rather, he sought always to crack down on corruption, abuses, crime, and the immoral lifestyle of many noble courts.

Ilarilet's reforming habits earned him many enemies in the court. One such enemy, the ambitious but thoroughly hedonistic Lord Andafaher ap Fiona, began to plot against him with other disaffected nobles. The small cabal managed to frame Duke Ilarilet for treason, making it appear as though he had sought to seize the crown for himself in alliance the Queen of Fireforge. Ilarilet was tried, convicted, and found guilty. Andafaher became the queen's primary advisor for the next century. It was not until 1510 that the deception was discovered.

Tarana

High Queen Corrina was the first Danaan monarch not to rule from Shieldcrest. Instead, she set up a new capital in the Grand Duchy of Tarana. It was under Corrina that artisans began and ended the painstaking and centuries long task of carving the Marble City.

For a full century before the Marble City was habitable, Corrina held her High Court in a camp near the site of the future capital. She also spent lengthy periods of time on your among her vassals. However, she never set up a formal seat anywhere except for Tarana.

Once the Marble City was completed, Corrina spent all of her time there. Royal tours became virtually unheard of and she never once went abroad during her reign. Tarana was a full time court for all seasons.

Middle years

Starting in the late 1500s, Corrina began to centralize power. In 1591 she formally established a standing army, which subsequently increased greatly in size. In order to increase royal power, however, she required taxes. In the past, the Danaan Sovereign had lived entirely off the rents of his or her own lands and, in order to collect a tax, Corrina needed the permission of her subjects.

It was to approve of taxation and taxation only that Corrina summoned the first Danaan Parliament in 1600. The Parliament approved her tax proposals. After this, Parliament began to be summoned regularly for discussion of the Royal budget. As time wore on, Parliament became more and more powerful and distinctions within the Parliament between nobles, clerics, and burghers became less and less formal. In 1641, Corrina made Lord Percival ap Dougal, a Member of Parliament, her Prime Minister and gave him a mandate to form a government consisting of fellow members. Parliament, under Lord Percival, gained more power than it had ever wielded before. Most scholars identify this as the birth of constitutional parliamentary norms in the Resurgent Dream, although many more years would pass before the country finally became a liberal democracy.

Later years

As the years passed, Corrina's rule, once foreward looking, began to seem more and more anchronistic. ALthough the Resurgent Dream was largely isolated from the outside world, Danaans could not help becoming aware that their country seemed to be a relic from a distant past.

In the twentieth century, Corrina even went so far as to restrict or ban many modern technologies. She claimed that a largely Fae nation such as the Resurgent Dream could make up for the lack of technology using Draocht. However, this policy became less and less effective as time wore on.

Corrina's views on technology were soon defied openly by a number of prominent people, including the High Queen's own sister, Grand Duchess Beatrice. The Grand Duchess became a sponsor of modern technology, bringing in a great number of automobiles, airplanes, and even computers against her sister's wishes. Corrina eventually removed her reactionary policies on technology in the face of such stubborn opposition from a sister she lacked the heart to imprison.

Her hand was similarly forced on the issue of gay marriage. At a time when gay marriage was not recognized by the Resurgent Dream, it was legalized in Farinor alone. This did not disrupt things much. People married under the Farinor law understood they could not expect legal benefits in other parts of the country. However, that all changed when Elayne ni Fiona, then Queen and later Princess of Farinor, took advantage of her own law to marry Catherine ni Fiona, insisting that the marriage be recognized. The High Queen was furious, both because she rejected the idea of gay marriage generally and because a vassal had married without her permission. Eleanor ni Ailil promised Elayne and Catherine the aid of Wintermore against the High Queen, but Corrina still seriously pondered treating Elayne's marriage as an act of rebellion to be suppressed and punished by force. However, to avoid civil war, she finally backed down. Gay marriage became legally acceptable in a short period of time and is slowly gaining in social acceptability as well.

Legacy

Corrina ruled for so long that it is almost impossible to separate her legacy from the last several centuries of Danaan history. The Resurgent Dream's staunch anti-slavery policy is a legacy of Corrina's, as is the existence of Parliament. It was also during her reign that the Resurgent Dream developed a strong artistic and literary tradition, a tradition that has helped the Resurgent Dream's book publishing industry acheive the prominence that it has in modern times.

A number of prominent Danaans, including Corrina Ruth Goldfarb and Corrina Esther Goldfarb, the wife and daughter of the current Minister for Federal Affairs, are named after High Queen Corrina. This is especially common in the Jewish community, at least partially because of Corrina's policy of keeping her borders open to refugees during World War II.

Style and arms

Corrina's usual style was Her High Majesty, Corrina ni Gwydion, High Queen of the Resurgent Dream. In theory, she also had the right to add any number of other titles but was not in the habit of doing so except on the most formal of occassions.

At birth, Corrina was a Duchess, although the title was not attached to any specific territory. When her father won the Gryffon Throne from Amrod ap Gwydion and then passed away, she became High Queen.

• Her Grace, the Duchess Corrina ni Gwydion (46-1511)
• Her Most Esteemed High Majesty, High Queen of the Resurgent Dream, Grand Duchess of Tarana, Grand Marshall of the Royal Armies, Lady Constable of the Resurgent Dream, First Knight of the Order of Steel (1511-1990)
• Her Holiness, the Commander of the Faithful of Dana (1511-1990)

Corrina's arms were: Vert, a falcon maintaining an oak leaf or. These have been the arms of all Gwydion monarchs.

Surname

While Agwene belonged to the House of Gwydion, she had no surname, properly speaking. A few biographers have incorrectly used the Gwydion name as a personal surname for members of the House. However, this usage has never been defended by any legitimate heraldic authority.

Trivia

• Corrina is the namesake of more Danaans than any other Sovereign ever has been.
• In her entire five century reign, High Queen Corrina left the Resurgent Dream only twice, once to attend the wedding of Empress Aurora of Lavenrunz to Prince Andreus of Pantocratoria and the other time to attend the wedding of Elentari Sirithil of Menelmacar to Emperor Mephet'ran of the C'tan.

Children

Cultural references

• High Queen Corrina frequently appears as a sort of deus ex machina character in Danaan films.
• High Queen Corrina was famously portrayed by the Elven actress F'lila Afisyola in the 2002 movie ''Throne of Pearls''.
• High Queen Corrina is the most painted figure in Danaan history, with 6,170 known portraits in existence, including some by such famous artists as Pedr Parry and Cainwen Caddick.