Kvothe potential angel or god?
I think I finally understand what Tehlu did in that damn story.
When Kvothe starts telling his story. he starts with a misdirect and starts talking about all of creation in a big bang sense of things of how their version of god created himself.
later you find out about Tehlu becoming the son of himself. and Kvothe built up his name through the stories that he created. so when they say Tehlu and all his angels and people pray in Tehlu's name. and through Dena's theme of trying to change her name. and Lanrae becoming immortal by his wife calling his name back from the doors of death...
Kinda sound like something a Shaper would do. as for the wings. kinda sounds like when Namers shape their rings.
what if Tehlu did the same. and took on the name of a god. in the way that Kvothe built up infamy through gossip Tehlu could have built up his divinity through deeds. and one of them is in the pursuit of Haliax aka Lanrae after the fall of the seven cities.
Then the fire settled on their foreheads like silver stars and they became at once righteous and wise and terrible to behold.
songs of power make me think of a quote or misquote in the series is " to know the name of a thing is to have power over it. " or something similar is said by one of the masters at the university. but Fulurian says something along the lines of that's not true mastery being given.
let me show in the instance of this in wise man's fear. " Her smile was fierce and full. She was as lovely as the moon. Her power hung about her like a
mantle. It shook the air. It spread behind her like a pair of vast and unseen wings.
Close enough to touch, I felt her power thrumming in the air. Desire rose around me like the sea in storm.
She raised her hand. She touched my chest. I shook.
She met my eyes, and in the twilight written there, I saw again the four clear lines of song.
I sang them out. They burst from me like birds into the open air.
Suddenly my mind was clear again. I drew a breath and held her eyes in mine. I sang again, and this time I was full of rage. I shouted out the four hard notes of song. I sang them tight and white and hard as iron. And at the sound of them, I felt her power shake then shatter, leaving nothing in the empty air but ache and anger. "
Kvothe didn't gain mastery over her he just broke the power of her name for a time.
a reference to a silver fire.
" I spoke a name. I moved my hands and wove my breath gossamer-thin. It billowed out, engulfing her, then burst into a silver flame that trapped her tight inside its changing name. "
and though not a silver star. a notable reference is made in the same passage in the same fight with Felurian.
"I saw myself reflected in her eyes, naked among the cushions.
My power rode like a white star on my brow.
Then I began to feel a fading. A forgetting. I realized the name of the wind no longer filled my mouth, and when I looked around I saw nothing but empty air. "
this could also explain the drastic change in religion that happened in the 4 corners. and why the Priest didn't like the stories that Skarpi was telling.
that also explains the story that Trapis tells. because of Trapis' faith.
Patrick Rothfuss, who explained on his blog that Trapis is actually a disciple of a schism of Tehlinism referred to as the Mender Heresies. This belief states that Tehlu became human in the form of Menda.
but I'm thinking Menda became an Angel in the form of Tehlu. what if becoming one of Tehlu's angels is the highest form of naming?
we know that after Kvothe is beaten and laying in the snow he imagines death visiting him with wings of fire and shadow. thinking of how offended Kvothe was when chronicler implied that rumors say Kvothe became one of the seven. how wild would it be if Kvothe became one of Tehlu's angels?
I mean look how he starts his own story. " In the beginning, as far as I know, the world was spun out of the nameless void by Aleph, who gave everything a name. Or, depending on the version of the tale, found the names all things already possessed.”
Chronicler let slip a small laugh, "
now if we go a little further you get this boast.
" Kvothe continued, smiling himself. “I see you laugh. Very well, for simplicity’s sake, let us assume I am the center of creation. In doing this, let us pass over innumerable boring stories: the rise and fall of empires, sagas of heroism, ballads of tragic love. Let us hurry forward to the only tale of any real importance.” His smile broadened. “Mine.”
The way Kvothe shames the name like fabric makes me think of the waves of power from the Wheel of Time book series by Robert Jordan. the way a name is torn and then let go makes me think of how the weaves would dissipate. but you could tie or knot off a weave. I mention this because I've brought up the dream Kvothe had while in the snow of Abenthy teaching him story knots though he had no real such memory. this was before he looked into Dena's story knots. if he did see one of Tehlu's angels after being beaten. and he dreamed of story knots. could it have been the same as a divine message?
I think of the implication of that towards The Yillish story knots. and how the university has spools and spools of story knots in an old room.
@rhetoricandlogic I know it's been a while. and this is super long. I just had to get around to digging it out of my drafts.
Which is no small feat in way of effort. given all the aimless little short stories, and full-on pages of longer stories that I've squirreled away. I'll save my Puppet in the archives trying to take on the name of the archives. theory for another time.
Hold on. Wow. wow. wow. Things to think about.
That’s really interesting. Especially the part with Felurian. Those two passages having almost the same words with the white star can’t be by chance. It just can’t. That’s really quite a thing to think about.
