Alanna of Trebond

Alanna of Trebond
The Song of the Lioness character
Cover of Alanna: The First Adventure, Alanna's first appearance.
Created by	Tamora Pierce
Information
Aliases	Alan of Trebond Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau The Lioness
Gender	Female
Occupation	Knight
Title	The King's Champion Baroness of Pirate's Swoop
Spouse(s)	George Cooper
Children	Thom of Pirate's Swoop, Alan of Pirate's Swoop, Alianne Crow
Relatives	Thom of Trebond (Brother)
Major Appearances
Alanna: The First Adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Lioness Rampant

Alanna of Trebond is a fictional character in Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe. She is the main character in The Song of the Lioness series and a minor character in a number of others. A young noble girl, Alanna disguised herself as a boy by the name of Alan, and trained to become a knight. Her true identity was eventually discovered, but she went on to become the first female knight in Tortall in a hundred years and the King's Champion.

Although noble-born girls usually go to the convent to learn how to be noblewomen, Alanna and her twin brother Thom devise a plan to send her to learn to be a knight instead. Alanna is a stubborn tomboy with a temper, but she earns the trust of her fellow knights in training; George Cooper, the king of thieves; and Jonathan, prince of Tortall. Alanna often questions her own character because of her double identity, small size, and magical abilities, but she leans to ovecome that as she becomes a knight. As a grown woman, she was a talented warrior, but neglected being a part of her children's lives growing up because of her work. Alanna has coppery red hair and purple eyes, with purple magic to match.

See Alanna: The First Adventure.

Alanna: the First Adventure follows Alanna's growth as a page in the royal court, where she keeps her gender a secret, while learning to fence, fight, ride, and study alongside the male pages. Alanna befriends the heir to the throne and the charming King of Thieves, copes with the magical power she possesses and her mistrust of it, faces the palace bully, struggles with her suspicions of the prince's cousin Duke Roger, and finally travels to the southern desert, where the Bazhir tribesmen guard a Black City that has invaded her dreams. There, she and her friend Prince Jonathan defeat the much-feared Ysandir, a race of demons that has kept the Black City captive for generations. In the process, Jonathan learns that Alanna is a girl. Despite this, he chooses her as his squire when he has become a knight.

See In the Hand of the Goddess.

Alanna, now squire to Prince Jonathan of Conte, has to protect her dreams of knighthood and friends through their first war with Tusaine. She slowly learns more about her gift, using it primarily to heal, and continues to hide her true gender while both George and Jon have fallen in love with her. She continues to be suspicious of and protect Jon from his power-mad first cousin, Roger, on the way to her becoming a full-fledged knight.