Dragonflight

While snippets from Pernese Teaching Ballads have prefaced each of the subsections of Dragonflight, we previously did not have much background on this lore. Part 2 provides additional information on the way the Ballads are transmitted and interpreted. While some, like F’lar, use the Ballads as proactive tools for determining action, others, like R’gul, fall back on the tradition’s static nature as a means of stifling progress and change. Even then, R’gul’s reading of the Ballads does not hold up to scrutiny: As Lessa discovers, some of the songs contradict the present-day traditions of Pern. Most strikingly, the Weyr’s obsessive protection of the queen dragons and unwillingness to let them fly in battle has clearly not always been the case. An ancient Ruathan Weyrwoman, Moreta, was a fierce combatant against the Threads. However, Lessa would have never accessed this important knowledge were it not for the staying power of lore and song. This suggests that tradition is a balancing act; by its nature, tradition seeks to preserve the status quo, but the very fact that it does this can also provide the means for societal rejuvenation.

The end of Part 2 represents a turn of the tide: The imminent return of the Threads, which was once F’lar’s belief alone, is now more and more becoming everyone’s problem. Up to this point the novel’s conflicts have been domestic, fought between different human powers in Pern (the Weyr versus Fax and the other Holding Lords, F’lar versus R’gul, etc.). Now F’lar calls on the Lords to put aside their differences and accept reality: They must reinstate tithing and support the Weyr, as the true enemy of all Pern is approaching. Notably, F’lar does not simply convince the Lords of this in debate. He must strongarm them by taking hostages with his dragons—an arguably cruel measure that F’lar believes preferable to fighting. While the Weyr formed to protect Pern, it also must impress upon the Lords that dragonriders are a powerful force, worthy of respect.