Hey friends, long time no write about the Name of the Wind, Kingkiller, etc. I’ve intended to do a Name of the Wind analysis reread (not to mention the other books) for some time now. —
You should assume spoilers henceforth! Forthwith! This post shall take a fortnight of hours to read!
Table of Contents
- You should assume spoilers henceforth! Forthwith! This post shall take a fortnight of hours to read!
- Note about me:
- Name of the Wind Analysis — Ch 8:
- Navigate to other chapters:
Note about me:
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Name of the Wind Analysis — Ch 8:
Go ahead and turn in your hymnal to the appropriate page and chapter number. I’m going to give old “Connor” the first towlines this time around:
⁃ “Edema ruh” very similar to ademre. A prehistoric separation? Implying another paring away of the Singers.
⁃ Relatives in Three Crossings, huh?
⁃ “Marion” as a puppeteer. A little too cute
⁃ The “hardest part of growing up Edema Ruh” strangers, viewed as vagabonds. Hard to be looked down on. Worse when the people are clods who have never read a book or traveled 20 miles.” Here’s where K is a villain to me, haha. It’s worse? Really? Pretty elitist attitude here. Established that these are all peasants owing fealty. Might even be tied to the land. Is it their fault they can’t read or travel or does that criticism for semlen and baron greyfallow. Probably “worse” that aristocracy creates perceived conflict among lower classes like peasants and ruh to keep itself in place.
— Connor Hathaway
We were court performers, Lord Greyfallow’s Men. Our arrival in most towns was more of an event than the Midwinter Pageantry and Solinade Games rolled together.
As for the bit about the pageant:
During warm days of Midsummer the Oak King is at the height of his strength; the Holly King regains power at the Autumn equinox, then his strength peaks during Midwinter, at which point the Oak King is reborn, regaining power at the Spring equinox, and perpetuating the succession.
In many traditions of modern pagan cosmology, all things are considered to be cyclical, with time as a perpetual cycle of growth and retreat tied to the Sun’s annual death and rebirth. This cycle is also viewed as a micro- and macrocosm of other life cycles in an immeasurable series of cycles composing the Universe. The days that fall on the landmarks of the yearly cycle traditionally mark the beginnings and middles of the four seasons. They are regarded with significance and host to major communal festivals. These eight festivals are the most common times for community celebrations.
In addition to the quarter and cross-quarter days, other festivals may also be celebrated throughout the year, especially in the context of polytheistic reconstructionism and other ethnic traditions. While festivals of the Wheel are steeped in solar mythology and symbolism, many Wiccan esbats are commonly based on lunar cycles. Together, they represent the most common celebrations in Wiccan-influenced forms of modern paganism, especially in Neopagan witchcraft groups.
Midwinter, falling on or about 21 December, has been recognised as a significant turning point in the yearly cycle since the late Stone Age. Ancient megalithic sites Newgrange and Stonehenge were carefully aligned with the winter solstice sunrise and sunset. While commonly referred to as “Yule”, after the Germanic and later Northern European winter festival of the same name, those celebrations by Germanic heathens likely followed the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. Historical sources indicate those observances coinciding with the full moon of the lunisolar month following the winter solstice, ranging between January 5 and February 2 in the Gregorian calendar.
The reversal of the Sun’s ebbing presence in the sky symbolises the rebirth of the solar god and presages the return of fertile seasons.[citation needed] From Germanic to Roman tradition, this is the most important time of celebration. Midwinter is observed as Alban Arthan among modern Druids.
Practices vary, but sacrifice offerings, feasting, and gift giving are common elements of Midwinter festivities. Bringing sprigs and wreaths of evergreenery (such as holly, ivy, mistletoe, yew, and pine) into the home and tree decorating are also common during this time. In Roman traditions, additional festivities occur during the six days leading up to Midwinter.
Imbolc is the traditional Gaelic name for 1 February and traditionally marks the first stirrings of spring. It aligns with the contemporary observance of Groundhog Day. It is time for purification and spring cleaning in anticipation of the year’s new life. In Rome, it was historically a shepherd’s holiday, while the Gaels associated it with the onset of ewes’ lactation, prior to birthing the spring lambs.
For Celtic neopagans, the festival is dedicated to the goddess Brigid, daughter of The Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
In the Reclaiming tradition, this is the traditional time for pledges and rededications for the coming year and for initiation among Dianic Wiccans.
Ostara is a name for the spring equinox in some modern pagan traditions. The term is derived from a reconstruction produced by linguist Jacob Grimm of an Old High German form of the Old English Ēostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess for whom, according to Bede, feasts were held in her eponymous month, which he equated to April in the Julian calendar.
Known as Alban Eilir in strands of neo-druidry, this holiday is the second of three spring celebrations (the midpoint between Imbolc and Beltane), during which light and darkness are again in balance, with light on the rise. It is a time of new beginnings and of life emerging further from the grips of winter.
Beltane, Beltaine, or May Day, 1 May, is traditionally the first day of summer in Ireland. In Rome the earliest celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and the Walpurgisnacht celebrations of the Germanic countries.
Since the Christianisation of Europe, a more secular version of the festival has continued in Europe and America, commonly referred to as May Day. In this form, it is well known for maypole dancing and the crowning of the May Queen.
Celebrated by many pagan traditions, in neo-druidry this festival recognises the power of life in its fullness, the greening of the world, youthfulness and flourishing.
Midsummer, which is marked around 21 June, is one of the four solar holidays and is considered the turning point at which summer reaches its height. Some Wiccan traditions call the festival Litha, a name occurring in Bede’s The Reckoning of Time (De Temporum Ratione, eighth century), which preserves a list of the (then-obsolete) Anglo-Saxon names for the months of the early Germanic calendar. Ærra Liða (first or preceding Liða) roughly corresponds to June in the Gregorian calendar, and Æfterra Liða (following Liða) to July. Bede writes that “Litha means gentle or navigable, because in both these months the calm breezes are gentle and they were wont to sail upon the smooth sea”.
In some neo-druid traditions the festival is called Alban Hefin. The sun in its greatest strength is greeted and celebrated on this holiday. While it is the time of greatest strength of the solar current, it also marks a turning point, for the sun also begins its time of decline as the wheel of the year turns. Arguably the most important neo-druidic festival, due to the focus on the sun and its light as a symbol of divine inspiration. Neo-druid groups frequently celebrate this event at Stonehenge.
Lughnasadh (/ˈluːnæsə/) is the Gaelic name for a harvest festival held on or around 1 August, while Lammas is an English name for a Catholic holiday on the same date. Wiccans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the god in bread and eating it, to symbolise the sanctity and importance of the harvest. Celebrations vary, as not all Pagans are Wiccans. The Irish name Lughnasadh is used in some traditions to designate this holiday. Some Wiccan traditions base their celebrations on the Celtic deity Lugh, for whom the holiday is named, while others draw on more eclectic sources. While Lughnasadh is one of the most common names for the holiday in Wicca currently, in early versions of Wiccan literature, the festival is referred to as August Eve.
Lammas is often referenced interchangeably with Lughnasadh, though the two are sometimes recognised as distinct and separate holidays. While Lughnasadh has Celtic origins, Lammas is a Christian holiday, often marked with the blessing of loaves of bread by the church. The name Lammas (contraction of loaf mass) implies it is an agrarian-based festival and feast of thanksgiving for grain and bread, which symbolises the first fruits of the harvest.[33][35]
The holiday of the autumnal equinox is known variously among neopagans as Mabon, Mheillea, Harvest Home, Feast of the Ingathering, Meán Fómhair, An Clabhsúr, or Alban Elfed (in neo-druidry). It is a neopagan festival of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and the Gods during the coming winter months. The festival is generally considered to be a feast-centered holiday.
Like Ostara, Midsummer/Litha, and Yule, the festival is generally considered one of the Quarter Days and is sometimes categorised as a minor sabbat, in contrast to the major sabbats of Imbolc, Beltaine, Lughnasadh, and Samhain. Celebrations of Mabon can differ greatly between Wiccan traditions. Many Wiccans draw inspirations from a wide variety of sources, such as the German Oktoberfest, the Slavic Dožinky, and the American Thanksgiving. The name Mheillea draws from the Manx harvest festival of Yn Mheillea while the name Mabon was coined by Aidan Kelly around 1970 as a reference to Mabon ap Modron, a character from Welsh mythology, and has become the most commonly used name for the holiday among Wiccans today.[36]
Samhain (/ˈsɑːwɪn/), or Sauin, is the name of a traditional Gaelic festival held around 31st of October. The name and date were adopted by Wiccans for one of their four Greater Sabbats. For Wiccans, Samhain is a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets, and other loved ones who have died. Aligned with the contemporary observance of Halloween and Day of the Dead, in some traditions the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the Wheel by the festival of Beltane, which is celebrated as a festival of light and fertility. Many neopagans believe that the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the year at Samhain, making it easier to communicate with those who have departed.
Ronald Hutton argues instead that the earliest documentary sources indicate Samhain was a harvest festival with no particular ritual connections to the dead. Hutton proposes that 1 November was a Germanic rather than a Celtic idea. All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the Church, whether they are known or unknown. (Hutton, Ronald (1996). Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. New York: Oxford Paperbacks. p. 364.)
Anyways.
All of that to say, I think each of the eight take over for one of the holidays and operate in their prime mode during each.
I like when Ben gets pine pitch on his hands unnecessarily and then over the course of a few paragraphs tries and fails to get it off before going to wash his hands. I think it’s funny background noise that K obviously doesn’t notice. And K notices really quickly that it doesn’t make any difference. As a teacher I remember doing things that I thought were helpful for understanding that just don’t come off at all and end up causing headaches. Just hit me funny.
— Connor Hathaway
AKA “Elodin all the way down.” You never know how something’s going to land. Sometimes the things you’re sharing are for people who aren’t in the room at all.
Abenthy.
A. Ben. Ji. (Or C. Or sof thee)
| Reconstruction | Proto-Sinaitic | Proto-Canaanite[25] | Ugaritic | Phoenician | Hebrew | Arabic | Greek | Latin |
| ʾalp ‘ox’ [26][27] | 𐎀 | 𐤀 ʾālep | א ʾālef | ﺍ ʾalif | Α alpha | A | ||
| bayt ‘house’ [26] | 𐎁 | 𐤁 bēt | ב bēṯ | ﺏ bāʾ | Β bēta | B | ||
| gaml ‘throwstick’ | 𐎂 | 𐤂 gīmel | ג gīmel | ﺝ jīm | Γ gamma | C, G |
His name is literally A.B.C.
And his donkeys are named Alpha and Beta. He’s the “old Ben” of the series and if there’s anything to subvert the hero’s journey more, it wouldn’t be the betrayal of the father. But the mentor figure — the threshold guardian himself. I think Ben is a Chandrian, maybe Haliax himself (showing up later as the Maer).
And what’s Temerant’s main demiurge’s name?
Aleph.
And then we have Jax.
And it seems that one was killed early on or some sort of betrayal were power was absorbed. I’ve always thought that merging of power or whatever happened is how we get Haliax.
The god of sun and shadow. Ale – Iax.
Also, for funsies, let’s just say the donkies are his main two servants.
If “Valaritas” means “folly” in an old language:
…it’s possible that “beware of Folly” is literally “beware of Valaritas,” which is precisely what seems to have screwed Kvothe over. The curiosity of the hidden truth that almost killed Elodin (or maybe did, and he’s currently the priest of the moon).
Navigate to other chapters:
I’ll put this at the end of each chapter so we can actually navigate the text
- Name of the Wind reread — Prologue
- Name of the Wind reread — Chapter 1
- Name of the Wind reread — Chapter 2
- Name of the Wind reread — Chapter 3
- Name of the Wind reread — Chapter 4
- Name of the Wind reread — Chapter 5
- Name of the Wind reread — Chapter 6
- Name of the Wind reread — Chapter 7
- Name of the Wind reread — Chapter 8
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