Rarena ta Keinoser

The Rarena ta Keinoser, literally meaning Chronicles of Rarena in Mirselec, is a historical chronicle focusing mainly on the events in the kingdom of Rarena in southern Masalne.

While the term is often taken as referring to a single compilation, there are in fact two chronicles of Rarena; the first, or the Old Chronicle (Erivikeino), spans from the time of the kingdom's alleged founders, in the 3rd century BDN, to around the late 4th century DN, and is widely believed to have been compiled in 442 DN; the New Chronicle (Navnokeino), compiled in 1131 DN, chronicles events from the founding of the Hesgarigani kingdom of Obidir all the way to around the late 11th century DN.

The Rarena ta Keinoser is just one of the many Keinoser or chronicles which are the main direct historical sources for the period of the Karelne ta Hyerisa; modelled much after the same format, their style can in the end be traced back to the seminal historical work of the Mirsel, the Senomordas ta Keinoser, edited by a historical scholar named Senomordas.

Description and Organisation

Like all of the Keinoser, even up to the 17th century Risevne ta Matkeinoser, the Rarena ta Keinoser is mainly divided two ways; the first, known as the Keinoser or chronicles, is a year-by-year account of major events that happened within that year, often in highly summarised form, while the second, known as the Dinansai or biographies, contains biographies of important opersonages, arranged either by geographical origin or by era. In the case of both the Rarena chronicles the former is used.

In its summarised form the yearly chronicles sometimes take up no more than three or four paragraphs, devoted mainly to happenings within the kingdom and with those kingdoms with which they have direct contact. Nonetheless, the width of the works' scopes means that the work is quite massive; while the Erivikeino is split into 9 volumes, 6 for the Keinoser and 3 for the Donansai, the Navnokeino has 5 volumes of each.

History of the Text

While the ultimate compilers of both the Keinoser are lost to history, the dates of their compilation can be dated with some certainty; the Erivikeino was compiled in either 442 or 446 DN, while the insertion of several corresponding reign years identifies the Navnokeino as being from 1131 DN. Ironically, of the two, the one which survives more intact today is in fact the Erivikeino; kept as a treasured book within Rarena, and copied profusely during the centuries when the kingdom was at the peak of its power, it presently survives in at least 5 complete manuscripts and another 9 near-complete ones.

The Navnokeino was not so lucky; not long after the Rarena-Masal Union of 1247, during the riots and fights both for and against the unions that raged in the streets of many Rarenan cities, the great library of the city of Erisaromac - which was located outside the Royal Palace - was set aflame, and the only two copies of the Navnokeino did not survive unscathed - one was almost completely destroyed, while the other one survived with only 7 volumes out of 10.