So when I was looking at the wiki to do a bit of research and collect my thoughts for this I learned that this is actually like... an official theory but whatever, I’m still gonna talk about it anyway.
So, Angela. She’s a herbalist and witch and has had an unrealistically long life span for a human. She’s loved and respected by every race, including the elves and Urgals, who are hard to win over. She is always in the right place at the right time, and even though she says she can barely use magic, she is able to save Eragon and Arya in the catacombs under Dras-Leona after defeating many enemies, presumably using magic.
She doesn’t seem quite human, right? But she doesn’t carry the characteristics of the other known races such as dwarves, elves, Urgals, Ra’zac, Werecats, and obviously dragons or other animals. My theory is that she is a Grey Folk.
For those of you who don’t know what that is, the Grey Folk were an ancient race in Alagaësia who lived before the elves and humans arrived. They were the ones who originally bound magic to the Ancient Language, allowing spells to be cast in a more concise and safe way and permanently changing the world. The spell they used to create this connection was intricate and ultimately led to the decline of the Grey Folk as a race, until they eventually died out and faded from history.
Angela has an abnormally long life span like the Grey Folk presumably did. Also, as demonstrated with the intertwined decline of the elves, humans, and dragons, she may be weaker and less able to use magic because of the severely lessened state of her race. She is respected by every race, meaning that she has probably done a lot of great or wise things in her lifetime. Especially for the Werecats, elves, and Urgals, because they seem to dislike or distrust members of the other races. Also, she is the only one able to repel Elva’s abilities and she was able to keep the Twins out of her mind, displaying a more accurate and deep understanding of magic than any other character has, including Galbatorix.
Finally, in her cryptic section of The Fork, The Witch, and The Worm, Angela says (and writes) two things that stand out to me. These quotes are gonna be slightly wrong because I don’t have my book with me. “I have the viewpoint of the ringmaker.” She says this in response to Eragon asking her how she sees the dwarves’ interlocking puzzle rings, as a metaphor to the universe and its theological elements. She is not only saying that she has a big-picture view of the universe but the view of someone who created it. There’s a lot to unpack there, but short of calling herself a god, it would make sense that she meant Grey Folk because they were the ones that put the universe into words and described the truest form of each object with the Ancient Language. Also, they created the tools for the manipulation of the universe by binding magic to language.
Similarly, when helping Elva escape from her room, Angela states that the guards “accounted for all possible exits, but not the impossible ones.” Therefore, she is saying that she can do (and in this case, make) impossible things. That seems not particularly human, and although it doesn’t have any particular links to the Grey Folk, it reveals that she has immense power.
Although there is more I can analyze, particularly in The Fork, The Witch, and The Worm, I think this is long enough already and shows/proves my point fairly well.
TLDR: Angela is a member of the ancient race the Grey Folk because she has an abnormally long life span, strange relationship to magic, and the ability to do and make impossible things.
