There are quite a lot of words in the series that are either obscure, in a foreign language, or simply made up by Chris. The following list should help you understand them all. Most are fully explained in the text as you come to them, so no need to think that you have to have a degree in languages and a memory the size of a planet to enjoy the books. You don’t. But here’s a general note: The Co:pern:icans use a lot of colons in their language, but almost all of their words are exactly the same in meaning as those we are familiar with in English. For instance — re:gressive, tele:scope, mech:anism. Only those that are substantially different in meaning have been included below.
auma — an Inuit word meaning “fire”; Chris, however, uses it in the Last Dragon Chronicles to mean inner spirit or animating force, the fire within. Dragons are the animating spirit of the natural world. The more auma something has, the more lively or creative it is, and the closer to Gaia it becomes. Auma can be sensed, “read,” followed by someone sensitive to it, or raised, usually by specific intention and focus of thought.
aumatic — containing or responsive to auma.
bonglers — everyday name for wind chimes with a relatively low note. As opposed to chinklers, those with a higher-pitched or tinklier sound.
Ci:pherel — a natural dragon who can “read” a person’s auma and thereby detect whether they are telling the truth, or are who they claim to be.
coelacanthis — stasis; a state of suspended animation.
Cluster — an Ix assassin, consisting of a few to a multitude of negative Fain entities. Also called Comm:Ix or Ix-risor.
commingle — to mingle or mix together. Used in the series to mean a conjoining of minds, or of whole personalities, usually involving an entity from a race of beings called the Fain.
Comm:Ix — see Cluster.
:coms — communications that are the equivalent to our e-mail, telephone, or video. Also called e:coms, t:coms, or v:coms.
construct — an imagineered being, in all other respects the equivalent of a human person, animal, or item.
dark fire — the most destructive force in the Universe. Can be brought into being only by an inversion of a source of spiritual purity, such as a selfless act of love, or a moment of inspired creativity. A dragon born of dark fire would be a monster, known as a darkling.
darklings and semi-darklings — semi-darklings are potential antidragons, created and controlled by the Ix. They have no separate volition of their own. Attempts to delumine them, i.e., give them independent life via the introduction of dark fire, thereby making them into full darklings, prove fruitless until the events of The Fire Ascending.
delumination — the means by which semi-darklings would be brought to independent life as full darklings, via the introduction of dark fire.
digi:grafs — digitally created photographs.
dream it — a phrase used predominantly by Liz Pennykettle to lull someone into a state of relaxation so they can “live” what she is telling them, rather than just imagine it.
fain — on Co:pern:ica, a creative energy possessed by all, and used to imagineer constructs.
Fain, the — a race of thought-beings who have no physical body and exist in another dimension. They have the ability to commingle with any physical life form, the ideal being that of a dragon. This latter, highly desirable achievement is called illumination.
firebird — creature between a dragon and a bird in looks and temperament.
Fire Eternal, the — another name for love, and as such, the title of a book of poems written by Tam Farrell. Also the spiritual fire (white fire) at the center of the Earth, the source from which every natural dragon in this world springs. The greatest creative force in the Universe.
fire star — a portal used by the Fain and the Ix to travel between their world and the Earth. It had been out of alignment with the Earth for a very long time, but is coming into an appropriate position once again by the time of the third book, Fire Star.
fire tear — a single tear cried by a dragon immediately before it dies. All the fire that was within the creature is contained in this tear, which falls off its snout onto the ground. It then finds its way back to the fire at the center of the Earth, from whence it originated. A dragon can be made to cry its fire tear before its due time by not loving it, or by otherwise making it extremely sad.
fire within, the — see auma.
fluenced — influenced, caused to do as intended by means of magicks.
fosh — Lucy’s way of referring to fish. Taken from Allan Ahlberg’s book Ten in a Bed.
fraas — sparks shed when a dragon’s fire tear is produced just before its death. At the place where it lands, its energy will linger; benefits may accrue to any who touch it.
Gaia — the principle that the Earth is a living and breathing entity in its own right, with needs, feelings, desires, and intentions of its (her) own. She works in spirit form to keep the Earth in balance and has, in Chris’s books, the ability to bring this about by appearing in many different guises, as circumstances demand, to those who can see her. As they help her, so she in turn helps them. Also called Gaia principle or Mother Earth.
gardenaria — a construct similar to a human-world garden. It may be changed around or added to simply by desiring it so, and holding that intention.
Grand Design — the Higher’s overall plan for Co:pern:ica and its citizens.
Great Re:duction — the loss of plant and animal life on Co:pern:ica caused by too much imagineering by its population.
healing horse — a unicorn.
helegas screen — Co:pern:ican TV/computer outlet, which can also be projected straight onto a wall.
icefire — the substance with which Liz Pennykettle makes her clay dragons come to life. Given to her as a “snowball” when she was a young child.
illumination — the result of the commingling of a Fain entity with a natural dragon. A highly desired spiritual goal and achievement.
i:lluminus and i:sola — the former is the illuminated being comprised of a Fain entity and a natural dragon, while they are commingled. The latter refers to the dragon element only of the pair, when the two are physically separated.
imagineer — to create and manifest objects and even people by mental power and intention alone.
inua — soul, inner self.
Inuit — native peoples of the Arctic regions, meaning “the people.”
Inuk — the singular form of Inuit, meaning “a man” or “a person.”
inversion — positive emotion such as love transformed into negative emotion such as fear, and used against enemies of the Ix, traditionally the Fain and their natural dragons, but now encompassing human beings also. The Ix’s intention is to induce humans into negative thought patterns and despair (such as believing there is no hope for the world to solve its problems of pollution, global warming, etc.), so that they can use these to power their semi-darklings, and ultimately to fuel a full darkling. Inner white fire turned into dark fire.
i:sola — see i:lluminus.
isoscele — the final triangular scale of a dragon’s tail.
Ix, the — the negative element of the Fain; a breakaway group. They wish to gain control of the dark energy of the Universe.
Ix:risor — see Cluster.
kabluna — white man; white person.
katt — feline similar to Earth cat, kitten. Also called kitt-katt.
Ki:mera — the thought-world inhabited by the Fain and the Ix in a different dimension from the Earth.
krofft — homestead.
librarium — a real building holding millions of real books (i.e., not constructs), looked after by a curator.
mark of Oomara — a symbol of power which can be used for good or evil. The three jagged parallel lines of it represent the lives of men, bears, and dragons — always running alongside each other, but never meeting. The mark, wherever it is found (on Zanna’s arm or emblazoned on a polar bear’s head, for example) brings an expansion of consciousness. Can be a blessing or a curse.
minits — minutes in Co:pern:ican time.
motested — meeting house.
moyles — the final rows of teeth at the back of a natural dragon’s jaws.
mukluks — Arctic boots, made of skins, often trimmed with fur.
nanuk — polar bear.
nanukapik — literally “greatest bear.” A leader from the ancient times when dynasties of bears ruled the ice and lived in packs.
natural dragon — a real dragon, large and fire-breathing, as opposed to Liz Pennykettle’s clay dragons.
nauja — seagull.
Naunty or Nunky — everyday expressions of Aunty and Uncle, used by Lucy, and later by Alexa.
obsidian — a volcanic rock from which the Ix intend to create their darklings.
parthenogenesis — means of reproduction using only an unfertilized egg. How Liz and Lucy were created.
portal — gateway able to be used for time or distance travel.
Premen — early group of beings comprising of a Fain entity commingled with a human being. They ruled the Earth in those far-off days.
Prem:Ix — a human being permanently commingled with an Ix entity.
Pri:magon — a priestess.
properly — the series uses the normal definition of this word, but a note here to say that Lucy uses it grammatically incorrectly. This is deliberate, as part of her character.
puffle — descriptive term for some of the Pennykettle dragons, including Gloria, the dragon on the toilet tank in the bathroom who “puffles” a nice rose scent in place of a more traditional type of air freshener.
qannialaaq — falling snow.
secs — seconds in Co:pern:ican time.
semi-darklings — see darklings.
SETH — an acronym for Spatial Enigma and Time Horizons, it refers to an analytical computer program that can detect whether time-slips have occurred, and the probabilities of “portals” being available to use for the purposes of time travel, etc.
sibyl — wise woman, prophetess, witch.
snuffler — descriptive term for some of the Pennykettle dragons, including Gwillan, who as part of his household duties snuffles up dust (as an alternative to a vacuum cleaner), but then puffles out the dust, as ash, later.
spins — Co:pern:ican “years.”
spiracle — part of the ventilation system of a dragon, which can be closed at will.
Stencilla — the template used by the Higher to design their perfect society.
stig — retractable thorn that decorates an adult natural dragon’s skeleton, particularly along the wings.
taliriktug — strong arm.
therma:sol sheet — an imagineered and therefore pleasantly warm — or cool, as desired — fabric.
third eye — the pineal gland, alleged to be a channel of creative energy, the focus of extra senses (the “sixth sense” and more) in humans and other beings.
time nexus — an unseen field that spatially connects the three worlds of Earth, Ki:mera, and Co:pern:ica. Creatures familiar with the “enchantments of time” (such as dragons, unicorns, and firebirds) have the ability to open portals between these worlds and therefore “Travel” across the nexus.
tornaq — a talisman of fortunes, the correct use of which enables insight into one’s true path of destiny. In the books, this particular talisman is a piece of narwhal tusk, a variant form of a birdlike dragon called Groyne. Groyne can freely morph into different shapes, become invisible at will, and Travel through time and space, along with anyone who happens to be holding him, when in his tornaq form.
unnatural eye — an eye in which there is a deliberate defect in the duct, in every natural dragon. This is a kind of sac, a safety mechanism, in one eye only, that won’t allow the whole fire tear to pass. A dragon shedding its tear in this way will always retain a little of its spark, and thus be enabled to hibernate for many thousands of years until the tear has fully regenerated.
Wearle — a dragon colony.
wearling — a young dragon belonging to and brought up in a dragon colony.
white fire — “the fire that melts no ice.” The title of a book written by David Rain. Also see Fire Eternal, the.
whuffler — descriptive term for some of the Pennykettle dragons. They are responsible for the “central heating,” given that there are no radiators to be seen anywhere at number 42 Wayward Crescent.
wuzzled — sleepy or dazed.
wuzzled off — went to sleep, or a gentle euphemism for “died,” depending on the context. Usually used with regard to animals, but can be expanded to include humans.