If wielded properly (and not just clanged around like you’re summoning your dinner) you can give back the Dead their memory and independent will and basically make them a person again. If wielded expertly, you can control the Dead (you know, make them walk and kill people and stuff) but if you don’t use it correctly, the bell could end up taking over you.ĭyrim is a musical bell and can allow the Dead to talk (neat!) but like most of these bells, if you use it incorrectly, it could take away your voice too.īelgaer is a very powerful bell. Kibeth is known as the walker and can be very finicky. You should probably just keep that one secured in its leather pouch. If you ring the bell, YOU will be sent into Death. Yay for bringing dead things back, but there’s a big catch. It is known as the waker bell because it can bring the Dead back to Life. Mosrael is the bell and has a harsh, rowdy sound. Sabriel uses it to bind Mogget after she accidentally releases the Free Magic creature from it’s previous cat form. This is a good bell to test your Charter Magic out on because even if you make a mistake, this bell is pretty forgiving. It is known as the sleepbringer and it has a sweet, low sound that brings silence in its wake. Ranna is the first and the smallest bell. Here are the bells in order from smallest to largest! The seven bells are kept on a leather bandolier, like an old brown belt, each in a leather pouch, starting with one the size of a small pill bottle and growing larger, till the seventh is almost the size of a jar. They are always Charter Mages, and they use the bells to defeat the Dead and compel them to return into Death and pass beyond the Ninth Gate, from which there is no return. While many such bell-wielders will be Free Magic sorcerers, the most highly-accomplished wielders of the seven bells come from the Abhorsen family. It is important to know what each bell means––you know, for your daily necromancing duties––and this info will come in handy when you read LIRAEL, ABHORSEN and finally CLARIEL when it comes out on October 14th! We first learn about these bells in SABRIEL by Garth Nix as she learns to use the bells to summon and control the Dead. This knowledge will come in handy the next time you find yourself in the presence of the walking dead.

Abhorsen trilogy