Tividar was a young knight in the time before the Ice Age, in the time known as the Dark. He might have been 13 or 14 during the story, probably 10 or so when he joined up. His city was fighting with a neighbor city for no real reason, and many died from the battles.
Tivadar's dream was for the humans to stop fighting each other and fight against the encroaching goblin hoards together. During a huge battle between the cities, Tivadar was granted his wish. The goblins chose that time to attack the humans, using surprise as their weapon. It is not known weather Tivadar survived the battle.
(Can't remember the names of the cities that were fighting, maybe in a bit...)
The Gathering Dark, by Jeff Grubb