Fantasy, read in 1981, protagonist named Been/Berem/Belen?

[Boaz]

Since my first search ended so quickly and successfully, I want to see if you can find another book for me.... but I don't have many details.

I read a fantasy paperback from my school library in 1981. The protagonist's name was something like Been, Belen, or Berem. He was not Beren Erchamion of The Silmarillion. Like most fantasy protagonists, I think he was the legal heir to a throne... He was a melancholic figure. He had a male and a female companion on his travels. Part of the story took place in a great canyon/cavern. I think I remember logs somehow being important.. And at the end, the protagonist left/set sail...

I apologize for not having that many details.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

It's a bit of a stretch I'm afraid. But there wasn't a lot to go on. Could it be the second Elric book - Sailor on the seas of fate.? It's not really a ship and he has a lot of odd adventures. But he is the legal heir / emperor of Melniborne and a melancholic figure if ever there was one.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[hitmouse]

Not SOTSOF. I reread that last month. Together with Elric of Melnibone helped to define what were to become the standard constellation of fantasy clichees for the next 30 years. Good books. Tight writing: a modern emulator would triple the length with unnecessary padding.

 

[Toby Frost]

I think there was a Berem in the Dragonlance books, but I don't recognise any of the other details. His main trait (IIRC) was that he was immortal, and green gem was stuck to him (on his forehead, maybe).

 

[Boaz]

Thanks for the responses. I do not recall much action nor a dark tone to the book nor the cover... but it did have a map. When I was fourteen, the only qualification I needed for a fantasy book was a map. The map was one page with a general standing rectangle shape. The protagonist started in the north, traveled south to the canyon, and then back north up the east coast... I think.

 

[Boaz]

I've been thinking about this and poking around on the net... and I definitely remember the map to The Riddle Master of Hed. But the name seems wrong. Maybe I'm confusing multiple books in my head.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Probably you are (as you suspect) confusing multiple books, because for certain the plot you have described sounds nothing like The Riddle Master (whose hero as you probably know is named Morgon, and except for a great deal of time spent in caverns in one of the volumes nothing else fits either). 1981 was a long time ago; easy to mix up memories.