Hawthorne Swift is a member of Unit 919, finishing six or seventh in the trials, and Morrigan Crow's best friend. They met at the Wundrous Welcome garden party where Hawthorne looped Morrigan into a prank consisting of a barrel of toads. Soon, Morrigan invited him round to the Deucalion, as he was constantly surprised that she lived in a hotel. Throughout the book, they grow closer. In Wundersmith, Hawthorne supports Morrigan when the rest of their unit will not.
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Biography[]
Early Life[]
Little is known at this time of Hawthorne's life prior to joining the Wundrous Society. He was born into the Swift family, the younger brother of Helena and Homer. Around the age of three he began dragonriding. Sometime between then and when he entered the Wundrous Society Entrance Trials Hawthorne met dragonriding champion Nancy Dawson who would become his patron.
Wundrous Society Trials[]
Hawthorne got away from his patron right after he arrived at the Wundrous Welcome. While eating, he was mesmerised by Cadence Blackburn to drop a dessert on Noelle Devereaux's head. After doing this, he met Morrigan Crow. Together, the two of them sneaked frogs on the party. Later Nancy Dawson came and found him, still laughing from the prank.
Later, Hawthorne was invited by Jupiter and Morrigan at hotel Deucalion in order to help Mog study for the Book Trial. Hawthorne and Morrigan explored the hotel for a lot of time before starting to study. Mog told him how she wasn't sure if she had a knack but Hawthorne reassured her by saying she must have one in order to be a candidate. He then proceeded to question her in order to help her prepare.
Hawthorne passed the Book Trial and shortly after telling Jupiter that Morrigan should have better also passed, went to dragonriding practice.
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Wundrous Society Years[]
Year One[]
Year Two[]
Year Three[]
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Physical Appearance[]
- "Same blue eyes, same splotchy freckles, same gangly limbs"
- ―Morrigan observing Hawthorne and his mother[src]
Hawthorne is described as tall and gangly-limbed with curly hair, often described as having a mischievous smile.
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Personality and Traits[]
- "Hawthorne was giving his friendship as if it meant nothing. He couldn't know that it meant everything"
- ―Nevermoor (novel)
Mischievous, fun and energetic- Hawthorne is a very loyal person and is quite trustworthy, having kept Morrigan's secrets and telling her that he's never broken a pinky promise.
He doesn't seem to care much about rules and formalities, including those of the Wundrous Society, but does care about the people and values within them. This was seen in the second book when he opposed the scholars who raised the idea of revealing Morrigan's secret, and was angry at the idea that they would be willing to betray Morrigan or go against the Wundrous Society's key values.
Hawthorne can become squeamish and nervous at times, especially when the topic of Ezra Squall comes to focus. In situations like these, or when information he's wary of comes up, Hawthorne can become more flustered and wary.
He is shown to have a focused, confident attitude when riding dragons. He's comfortable around dragons but continues to improve his connection with them through his dragontongue classes.
Hawthorne also can be quite imaginative, and has a good sense of humor. He seems to enjoy coming up with ideas, especially when it comes to pranks, becoming animated and excited about his areas of interest. He also has an adventurous side, and can be reluctant to engage with situations that seem boring, like the Gobleian Library initially.
Abilities and Skills[]
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Knack[]
Hawthorne’s "knack" is that he is a skilled dragonrider. He has been dragonriding since he was three, and his patron was a dragonriding champion. For the Show Trial, he performed a long and complicated routine of dragonriding, full of turns and twists, and the dragon even spelled his initials out into the sky in fire at the end. Morrigan, and the rest of the crowd, were very impressed, and he was put in first place.
Relationships[]
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Morrigan Crow[]
Morrigan is best friends with Hawthorne and has spent a great deal of time with him. They played a prank together on the Wundrous garden party, emptying a barrel of frogs into the party before fleeing together. They are often together and have told many secrets to each other. They spent a lot of time together in Hotel Deucalion throughout the books, studying for the Wundrous trial exams, exploring and playing board games. He loyally keeps Morrigan's secret that she is in Nevermoor illegally, and is unfazed when she confesses that she does not know her knack during the entrance trials; Morrigan usually tells him everything. Unlike most other people, when Hawthorne discovered that Morrigan was a Wundersmith, he remained loyal and didn't panic or start treating her any differently than before-apart from occasional teasing and bringing up the topic in general.
Cadence Blackburn[]
Hawthorne did not remember his interactions with Cadence during the Wundrous Society Entrance Trials (due to the effects of her mesmerism), though has a good laugh that Cadence made him drop the dessert on Noelle. Throughout their first year studying at The Wundrous Society, Hawthorne slowly becomes immune to her mesmerism, in part thanks to taking "Recognizing Mesmerism" classes. Besides himself, Cadence is the only person to show up at the Hotel Deucalion when Morrigan invites Unit 919 over and is also the only person besides him to never shun or blame Morrigan for the blackmail letters their unit received. He and Cadence visit Morrigan everyday she is in the hospital, including her birthday. They also, along with Lam, alert the staff at the Hotel Deucalion of Morrigan trying to fight the Hollowpox by herself; when she ends up in the hospital following, she tells Hawthorne and Cadence every detail.
Other Unit 919 Members[]
Hawthorne has a mostly positive relationship with his fellow unit members, though early on had some rough patches while he was sticking up for Morrigan, specifically during the Loyalty Trial with the blackmail. Following the Loyalty Trial, the tensions between the unit members fade and begin to stick up for each other and become the loyal members of their unit as they were meant to be.
Family[]
Hawthorne seems close with his family, although they bicker a bit. Morrigan notes that he's very similar to his mum. He has a dad, an older brother and sister, and a younger sister, Davina.
Dragons[]
Hawthorne has a rather one-sided connection with dragons that he is currently working to improve through dragontongue classes.
Etymology[]
Hawthorne comes from the English and Scottish surname. From the Old English haguþorn, hægþorn for the thorn used to make hedges and enclosures, usually given to someone who lived near a bush or hedge of hawthorn. The 'hawthorne' (as opposed to 'hawthorn') spelling is now found primarily in Northern Ireland.[1]
Swift comes from the English surname, originally a nickname for a swift/fast runner from the Old English swift "swift, fleet, quick." It also can be from an Irish surname that is the Anglicized form of Ó Fuada "descendant of Fuada." Fuada is derived from fuadach which means "wind-blown, pulsating, plundering."[2] Notable people with this surname include Jonathan Swift (essayist/satirist) and Taylor Swift (country and pop music star). Considering Hawthorne is a very 'swift' dragonrider, this is not only a play on words, but also a very apt name.
Trivia[]
- Loves Sweets
- Saint Nicholas supporter
- Rides a camel during the Chase Trial
- Climbs the tree to get to the candle in the Fright Trial
- Mesmerised by Cadence to drop a jelly sculpture on Noelle's head
Behind-the-Scenes[]
- Hawthorne is based upon a good friend of Jessica Townsend
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (First appearance)
- Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow
- Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow
Notes and References[]
Anah Kahlo · Archan Tate · Cadence Blackburn · Francis Fitzwilliam · Hawthorne Swift · Lambeth Amara · Mahir Ibrahim · Morrigan Crow · Thaddea Macleod | ||
Sumati Mishra · Arch's Patron · Baz Charlton · Hester Fitzwilliam · Nancy Dawson · Lambeth's Patron · Miss Mulryan · Jupiter North · Thaddea's Patron | ||