Hanja, often called Tantya Hanja ("aunt Hanja") is Lyze's aunt from the Northern Kingdoms. She's the sister of his mother Ulfa, and is sometimes called Prinka Hanja ("poor Hanja") because she has trouble flying and can't hunt as well as others. She's notorious for showing up around Lyze's family before something bad is about to happen, often the death of a family member. She only appeared in The Rise of a Legend.
History[]
Before the Books[]
Before the events of The Rise of a Legend, Hanja had once had a mate, but he died quite young. She later tried being a gadfeather, but her singing wasn't as good as other gadfeathers. She once attended the annual spring equinox gadfeather gathering, where she performed for one owl, an elderly Whiskered Screech who apparently loved her and her singing, but he died a few hours after hearing her, cementing her reputation as an ill omen, appearing before tragedy.
The Rise of a Legend[]
Hanja first appears as Lyze is hatching, much to the dismay of the other owls and Lyze's broody Gundesfyrr, who starts to panic. She offers some of her down for the nest, and comments about how Lyze will grow up to be handsome like his brother Edvard. When Hanja flies out to gather moss, news reaches the hollow that Edvard has died. When Hanja returns to the hollow, she sings the song of the First Slime ceremony to Lyze.
In chapter 8, Hanja is at a grog tree and sings the following song:
Come, gather around, owls
I'll tell you a tale.
It's a story you know
Perhaps all too well.
Hatched in a war
With no end in sight
Two young'uns fledged
For their very first flight.
To be a warrior, is that
What Glaux intended?
To fight to the death
In a war never ended?
Come soldiers and teachers,
Heed my call.
Lay down your weapons
And try to recall
The nights that were peaceful,
The hollows so snug.
But this war is forever raging
To the bitter end must we always fight?
Think twice of your own,
Your very first flight.
Will the first be the last and the last be the first?
Is this how our world
Shall finally be cursed?
— Hanja, The Rise of a Legend, pages 69-70
Description[]
Hanja is a Whiskered Screech Owl, "whose whiskers seemed longer then her wings" as Lyze describes. She has a condition where she's constantly leaning diagonally on her left wing, causing her right wing to grow much larger to compensate for the imbalance. She also wears a bronze H'rathghar grackle tail feather on her head.
Relationships[]
Ulfa[]
Ulfa and Hanja were exact opposites when it came to warfare and were, it seems, very different. Despite this, however, it cannot be said that the two sisters don't care for each other, as while Ulfa did seem to believe the rumors regarding her sister being a harbinger of grief, neither did she reject Tantya Hanja from her hollow. Furthermore, she instantly scolded Ifghar when he insulted Hanja's singing voice, implying she did not want her sister's feelings hurt, at least.
Edvard, Lyze, Lysa and Ifghar[]
Despite being their aunt, Hanja did not seem to be very close to her nephews and niece, possibly due to her being a rare, distant presence.
It is utterly unknown how she felt towards the eldest of Ulfa's children, Edvard, but unlike the other owls present at Lyze's hatching, she did not seem overly perturbed or saddened, instead focusing on the newly hatched Lyze, singing softly to him as his First Slime Ceremony began, implying she and Edvard might not have been that close, though she remembered him as a handsome Screech Owl. It was Hanja's visit that was rumored to be the true reason behind Edvard's sudden demise.
Lyze, her nephew
Of all of Ulfa's chicks, the one who's relationship with their maternal aunt is most explored is her second nephew, Lyze of Kiel, later known as Ezylryb. Hanja seems to be relatively fond of Lyze, noting on his hatching that she felt he was destined for greatness, an accurate prediction considering what Lyze would become later in life. Lyze's feelings for his aunt seems mixed, as he evidently believed the rumours of her reputation in his younger years, yet still reminded himself of the blood the two shared. Lyze clearly felt bitter to the fact that during the fire that destroyed his home, it was his aunt rather than his sister who escaped with her life. He also, however, felt pity and sympathy for his widowed aunt, knowing the isolated life she lived as an outcast shunned by others.
Lysa, her late niece
Tantya Hanja appeared to have cared deeply for her only niece, Lysa, who in turn seemed to at least feel a kinship with her. Hanja showed evident grief over Lysa's death, sobbing loudly over the suffocated chick's body in the wake of her demise.
Ifghar, her youngest nephew
Unlike his brother, who at least attempted to show kindness to their aunt, Ifghar, at least as an infant, did nothing to conceal a dislike of Tantya Hanja, whining when Hanja attempts to comfort him over his father's need to return to the battlefield instantly after his First-Meat-on-Bones ceremony that he didn't enjoy Hanja's singing, which he claimed made his ear slots hurt, at his mother's scoldings. It is unknown how Hanja reacted when she heard of Ifghar's treachery during the war, nor even if she was still alive at that point.
Trivia[]
- As Lasky mentions in the author's note, Hanja's song was heavily inspired by Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin. (Compare Come soldiers and teachers / Heed my call to Come senators, congressmen / Please heed the call)
Family Tree[]
 |  | Hanja | Unnamed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Edvard |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bo | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | Fiona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
= Male
= Female
= Gender Unknown