The Definition of Solas
I was minding my own business, cashing in my shards at the Forbidden Oasis when I read the inscription by the door and came across the definition of Solas’ name.
Here is the inscription:
Emma solas him var din’an. Tel garas solasan. Melana en athim las enaste.
Translated to:
Arrogance became our end. Come not to a prideful place. Now let humility grant favor.
Now, I’m not a huge grammar enthusiast or a linguistic scholar so I can’t go into any great technicalities, but if you approach this translation like a puzzle or a codebreaker, it’s easy to pick out two Elven words that directly translate to English words.
Standing out in two places is the word 'solas’. One is ‘solas’ exactly as we know the word from our Fade-walking friend, and the second is a derivative of solas ‘solasan’.
In the translation you have two similar words that stand out in the first and second sentences, ‘arrogance’ in the first and ‘prideful’ in the second. Two emotions that could be said to be two sides of the same coin. It’s difficult to have one without the other.
Emma solas him var din’an. Tel garas solasan.
Arrogance became our end. Come not to a prideful place.
Arrogance and pridefulness often go hand in hand, so it would make sense in a language that one word would be modified from the other. In this case, the Elven word for ‘prideful’ is modified from the root word ‘arrogance’, ‘solasan’ from ‘solas’.
Every other word in this translation is obscure and much harder to parse the meaning of. These two tell-tale words were meant to stand out.
So what does that tell us about our spirit-loving Elven scholar friend/occasional lover and possible DA4 villain?
Arrogance is literally Solas’ name. Not even his bloody middle name, it’s his name.
Solas is the one-word diva personification of Arrogance. Like Madonna. Solaaaas.
(Anyone who has played Tresspasser is going ‘no shit, son!’)
I suppose the question is: was Solas always his name or was it the name he gave himself when he woke up? Has arrogance always been his destiny or is his name a sign of self-reflection? Have fun thinking about that for a while.
Whatever it says about Solas, It’s nice to know the developers left us a little easter egg, hidden outside an Elven temple in the Forbidden Oasis.
Enjoy seducing Arrogance in your next playthrough of Dragon Age Inquisition!
