Tairn
Tairn is the huge black dragon of Rebecca Yarros's Fourth Wing (2023), one of the most powerful dragons of Navarre, who unexpectedly chooses the fragile cadet Violet Sorrengail as his rider.
| Type | dragon |
|---|---|
| Tradition | Rebecca Yarros (The Empyrean) |
| Category | Literature |
| Earliest source | Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros, 2023 |
| Wings | Yes |
| Breathes fire | Yes |
| Guards treasure | No |
| Nature | Ambivalent |
The Story
Fourth Wing is set at Basgiath War College in the kingdom of Navarre, which is at war. Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail has spent her life training to be a scribe. Her body is small and her bones and joints are fragile, but her mother, the general in command of the college, orders her into the Riders Quadrant, where cadets must survive brutal training and other cadets before dragons will even consider them. Many do not survive.
At the Threshing, when dragons choose their riders, Violet is chosen by Tairn, one of the largest and most feared dragons in service, who has not taken a rider in years. In the same moment she is chosen by Andarna, a small golden dragon. Tairn's bond also ties Violet to Xaden Riorson, the dangerous wingleader whose dragon, Sgaeyl, is Tairn's mate. The rest of the book follows Violet's training, her growing magic, and the secrets of Navarre. Later books reveal much more; we avoid spoilers here.
Appearance and Powers
Tairn is a black morningstartail, a breed named for a tail that ends in a spiked mace like the medieval weapon. He is enormous, battle-scarred, and fearsome, and he breathes fire. Navarre's dragons speak to their riders mind to mind, and Tairn's voice in Violet's head is gruff, impatient, sarcastic, and fiercely protective. Bonded dragons channel magic to their riders, who develop individual powers called signets.
Origins and Sources
Yarros was already a successful romance novelist when she wrote Fourth Wing, her first fantasy. She has said the main character's chronic illness reflects her own experience of living with a connective tissue disorder. The dragon-chooses-rider bond follows a tradition running from Anne McCaffrey's Pern through Christopher Paolini's Eragon.
Legacy
Fourth Wing became a huge bestseller and helped drive the "romantasy" boom of the 2020s, with sequels Iron Flame (2023) and Onyx Storm (2025). A television adaptation was announced for Amazon's Prime Video. Tairn is now one of the best-known dragons in current fiction. See the best dragon books.
Related
- Saphira: Saphira is the sapphire-blue dragon of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, which begins with Eragon (2002); she hatches for the farm boy Eragon and becomes his telepathic partner as a Dragon Rider.
- Ramoth: Ramoth is the golden queen dragon of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, first appearing in "Weyr Search" (1967), who bonds with Lessa and becomes the senior queen of Benden Weyr.
- Temeraire: Temeraire is the black Chinese Celestial dragon at the heart of Naomi Novik's alternate-history series beginning with His Majesty's Dragon (2006), who serves in Britain's Aerial Corps during the Napoleonic Wars.
- Toothless: Toothless is the dragon partner of the Viking boy Hiccup in Cressida Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon books (from 2003), a tiny, talkative dragon who became the sleek black Night Fury of DreamWorks' 2010 film.
- Dragon Books
Sources and Further Reading
- Rebecca Yarros, Fourth Wing (Red Tower Books / Entangled Publishing, 2023)
- Rebecca Yarros, Iron Flame (Red Tower Books / Entangled Publishing, 2023)
Cite this entry: “Tairn,” Draconika Encyclopedia of Dragons, https://www.draconika.com/dragons/tairn.