Fuente:

http://personal.ars-informatica.ca/paul/wot/wot.php?page=mat

Información:

** Mat Cauthon **

This "... odd black-hafted spear with a short sword blade in place of a spearpoint, slightly curved and single-edged ..." follows the design of a basic Western glaive; some such are richly ornamented and a perfect match for Mat's ashandarei. Glaives however can widely vary in appearance; the Japanese naginata has a far more stereotypical form and is also an excellent match. This is, incidentally, the form depicted on the cover of CoT:

detail, cover art from Crossroads of Twilight, Copyright © 2003, Robert Jordan

Not untypically, the cover art deviates from Jordan's description in multiple respects. The haft should be black, and "A line of some strange cursive script [that] ran its length, bracketed by a pair of birds inlaid on metal even darker than the wood. Ravens ... Another pair were engraved on the blade ..." All these are overlooked .

Specifically, these words were inscribed upon the haft, in a script Rand could not read, and presumably in the Old Tongue:

"Thus is our treaty written; thus is agreement made.
Thought is the arrow of time; memory never fades.
What was asked is given. The price is paid."

Thought and Memory are the names of Odin's twin ravens in Norse mythology; their identification with Mat is no coincidence, as discussed also below.

The blade itself was 2' in length , of black metal; the raven markings are at the point of the blade . The "... iron-hard black haft ..." could be either round or oval in cross-section; if modelled on the naginata, it would be oval.

The length of the weapon is unclear: Mat standing straight has the sword blade beginning just level with his head . That is, if the blade starts level with the start of his head, the length of the weapon is about 82", if level with the top of his head, about 95". If a length of 20" is assumed for the 2' blade, the overall length becomes either 78 or 91" respectively. Either length is typical for a polearm, though the shorter length seems more likely for a weapon used out of formation, and is more typical of the Japanese naginata.

Also worth of comment, not only for sake of the imagery involved, which surely is Jordan at his finest, are Mat's medallion, and the ring he acquires in ACoS. His medallion consists of "... a silver foxhead that almost filled his palm ..." , or 3" or so across - a gift from the Eelfinn, the Foxes, themselves:

"The pupil of the fox's eye was a tiny circle split by a sinuous line, one polished bright, the other shaded in some way. The ancient symbol of Aes Sedai ..."

Since only the one eye is mentioned here, and elsewhere, the foxhead likely consists of a side-profile view , though one eye might be missing - no coincidence, given the prophecy below.

Mat's ring foreshadows his fate: to marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons. "Inside a border of large crescents, a running fox seemed to have startled two birds into flight ... He certainly needed to be crafty as a fox ... the medallion had made him fond of foxes." Indeed, the crescent border consists of nine crescent moons . Mat himself is the fox. The two birds are undoubtedly ravens, like the twin ravens engraved on blade and haft of his ashandarei - symbols of the Seanchan Imperial family. Tuon's sigil is the Raven-and-Roses, and when Mat marries her, he becomes Prince of the Ravens .

"Fortune rides like the sun on high
with the fox that makes the ravens fly.
Luck his soul, the lightning his eye,
He snatches the moons from out of the sky."

Tuon's fortune-telling is very similar:

"Beware the fox that makes the ravens fly, for he will marry you and carry you away. Beware the man who remembers Hawkwing's face, for he will marry you and set you free. Beware the man of the red hand, for him you will marry and none other."

Mat is Jordan's Odin - the primary god of war of Norse mythology, instigator of battles, and bringer of victory. Odin's two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, or Thought and Memory, are clearly named on his ashandarei. The ashandarei is analogous to Gungnir, Odin's spear: strong, slender, dwarven-forged, never missing its mark. Odin's ring, Draupnir, does not clearly match Mat's, though it represented Odin's supremacy over the Nine Worlds. Unless, of course, the Nine Moons represent something similar ...

Odin who, seeking wisdom, died on the World Tree Yggdrasil and lived again, who sacrificed an eye to Mimir's well, surely inspires Mat's fate:

"To die and live again, and live once more a part of what was!"
"To give up half the light of the world to save the world!" ...
"Go to Rhuidean, son of battles!"

And so Rand finds Mat hung low from the branches of Avendesora, the Tree of Life, breathless, pulseless, even as Odin hung from the World Tree and lived again . That Mat, like Odin, should sacrifice an eye - "To give up half the light of the world to save the world" seems inescapable, given Egwene's dream of Mat: "... blood streaming down his face, the wide brim of his hat pulled low so she could not see his wound ..."

Mat echoes Odin down to the broad-brimmed hat the latter often wore. Though Mat changes his shirts and coats routinely, his hat is constant: black, wide-brimmed and flat-crowned; it otherwise goes undescribed .

Finally, Odin is destined to lead the glorious dead into Ragnarok, the Last Battle, in a final, annihilating fight against chaos. A myth that probably led to his association with the Wild Hunt - led by a multitude of heroes in other nations, but by Odin in parts of Scandinavia. Mat calls forth the Heroes of the Horn, initially at Falme, and undoubtedly will do the same for Jordan's Last Battle, as well.

The Wild Hunt, by Peter Nicolai Arbo (1872)

Robert Jordan's very neat incorporation of Norse mythology does not stop there. Rand is Tyr himself, down to the missing fingers (see the Dragon Scepter), and Perrin is Thor (see Perrin's hammer).

See also the reborn Shen an Calhar, the Band of the Red Hand, Mat's personal, ultimate fighting force.

Fuente:

http://personal.ars-informatica.ca/paul/wot/wot.php?page=perrin

Información:

** Perrin's axe **

This axe consisted of "A broad half-moon blade on one side of the head and a curved spike on the other ..." . "The ashwood shaft was as long as his arm, and smooth ... to the touch." . It is likely that it is primarily intended for single-handed use: Perrin uses it from his saddle while standing in the stirrups and moving forward , i.e. he'd need the other hand to hold the reins. At least once, however, he uses his axe in both hands .

Child Byar, an obvious connoisseur of battle axes, lauds it as "Excellently balanced ... Plainly made, but by a very good weaponsmith, perhaps even a master ... Not a villager's weapon, ... nor a farmer's."

This "great-bladed" axe is "By weight of metal ... a good five or six pounds lighter than the hammer ..." ; more specifically, Perrin's ten-pound hammer "weighed more than twice as much as the axe blade ..." This axe head, then, weighs some four to four-and-a-half pounds, including *both* blade and spike.

Such a "... great, steel half-moon" would feature an 8 to 10" face, likely closer to 10"; larger faces thin the blade excessively, within the weight restraints given above. Many of the larger, two-handed European battle axes had 8 to 9" blade faces, with a rare 10" face; the smaller battle axes very typically had a 5" face ... for those who think that a 10-inch blade isn't very big ...

The spike found opposite of the half-blade is described as curved, but far more commonly is described as thick. It is likely that the curve is a slight one; a noticeable curve would have been mentioned in the axe's description far more frequently. Perrin, "... with the spike foremost ... drove the spike into the Trolloc's temple" , and instantly kills it; to do so would require at least the 5 to 6" length standard for such spikes. An excessive curve to the spike would've made this maneuver very difficult.

The larger European war axes often sported a 5 to 6" spike opposite the blade; these were typically slightly curved, or straight. Very commonly, the spike was quadrangular in cross-section, occasionally triangular. Perrin's axe most likely follows this model.

Finally, the ashwood haft is defined as "... a pace long..." , 36" in real-world units, about as long Perrin's arm, including outstretched hand. I have previously argued for a somewhat shorter handle, some 26 to 30" long, given the apparent flexibility of some of Jordan's measurements. A longer axe becomes unwieldy; Perrin's axe is easily concealed beneath his cloak, and never described or perceived as long-handled, unwieldy, or clumsy, though he takes it everywhere.

Plainly made, and presumably lacking the simple ornamentation shown on the cover of TDR; Sweet also lops off the upper tip of the half-moon. The illustration on page 202 of RJWoT (left) has since eclipsed Sweet's version, and fits the facts far better.

Perrin's hammer is described separately.

Fuente:

http://personal.ars-informatica.ca/paul/wot/wot.php?page=perrin_hammer

Información:

** Perrin's hammer **

In a random smithy in Tear, Perrin picks up "the heavier of two hammers. About ten pounds, he estimated, and a larger handle than most people, who did not know metal working, thought was necessary." It feels right: one day he will be a blacksmith once again. Smith Ajala has him keep the hammer, to "help you to that day."

The hammer has a handle as long as his forearm, and Perrin wears it with haft thrust through the loop attached to his wide plain leather belt .

From the Prophecies of the Dragon:

"When the Wolf King carries the hammer, thus are the final days known. When the fox marries the raven, and the trumpets of battle are blown." .

painting by Mårten Eskil Winge, 1872

Perrin is breaths away from becoming King of Saldaea. Queen Tenobia is unlikely to ever wed; the Broken Crown may well reflect the break in the line of succession. Faile is Davram Bashere's eldest surviving child; Davram is Tenobia's uncle, and first in line to the throne. . When Davram Bashere's accuses Perrin of marrying Faile for the Broken Crown, he tells us the Wolf King may well become reality .

"Sleep, my wolf king," Faile tells him .

One more sign that Tarmon Gaidon is near ...

Both Perrin's hammer and axe lead us to Perrin's Norse god counterpart, Thor - just as Mat Cauthon is Jordan's Odin, and Rand al'Thor is Tyr. Thor is the god of thunder, of agriculture, of farmers and common folk; Perrin saves the Two Rivers from the Trolloc invasion. Tyr deals in justice and absolutes; Thor is more concerned with fairness, with moral right and wrong, echoing the not-infrequent conflicts between Rand and Perrin.

Physically, Thor is exceptionally strong, large in size, and bearded. Perrin's great strength needs no examples, Thom Merrilin tells Perrin he has "almost the size of an Ogier" , and Faile convinces him to grow a beard . Thor's weapon is the axe-hammer Mjolnir, historically referred to as club, axe, and hammer, sometimes interchangeably, though it is most commonly depicted as a hammer with a large head and short handle. A weapon that slays giants and levels mountains; Perrin's hammer takes down Trollocs and Myrddraal with a single blow .

Perrin wields both axe and hammer; he is Warrior and Smith. A very reluctant warrior: "With the hammer he could make things, had made things, at a forge. The hammerhead weighed more than twice as much as the axe blade, but it was the axe that felt heavier by far every time he picked it up ... there was something comforting in holding [the hammer]." When his axe nearly kills him, Perrin snarls "Blood and ashes, how I hate you!"

Perrin eventually abandons the axe for the hammer , signalling his commitment to his role as builder, not destroyer. He will use the hammer to protect his own, but his focus is life, not death.

Oh, I know: the analogy's not perfect. Odin is the Norse god associated with wolves. And Rand is named al'Thor, not al'Tyr. I'm sure Jordan is aware, and that his slight-of-pen was intentional.

See also:

Perrin's axe
on the Dragon Sceptre, and Rand al'Thor as Tyr
Mat Cauthon and Odin

Fuente:

http://personal.ars-informatica.ca/paul/wot/wot.php?page=drag_sceptre

Información:

** The Dragon Scepter **

"A green-and-white tasseled ... two-foot length of spear ... ended as smoothly as any craftsman could have worked it." The point was long and sharp, the tassel attached just below the sharp head, and the short shaft was carved with Dragons Of Seanchan origin, and abruptly sliced off by a closing gateway, the shaft ends abruptly, smoothly, and likely at an angle: it's probable that it came arcing in, thrown at least somewhat from the side.

The colors are odd, but only because Lady Morsa's party, who sent this spear his way, was carrying spears with green and gold tassels ; perhaps another (minor) Jordan oversight.

Semirhage's fireball irrevocably alters the Dragon Scepter's appearance, as well as Rand's anatomy. Only the spearpoint, a few inches of charred haft, and some blackened tassel remain.

Rand al'Thor has much in common with the Norse god Tyr: the sky god, the sword god, god of single combat, of order and absolute justice. Tyr was honoured with sword dances; Rand dances the sword. Tyr loses his right hand binding Fenrir, and then wields his sword in his left with unsurpassed skill. And he is fated to die at Ragnarok, the Last Battle, even as he slays Garm at the gates of Hel, the land of the dead.

Coincidental? Impossible. Robert Jordan draws heavily from Norse mythology. Mat Cauthon is Odin: hat, spear, ring, ravens, death-by-hanging-from-tree, loss-of-eye, master of battles, bringer of victory ... Perrin Aybara is axe- and hammer-wielding Thor: protector god, god of agriculture. And Rand al'Thor, while not Thor himself, is Tyr.

See also:

Tam's heron-mark sword
Laman's sword
the Crown of Swords
Legion of the Dragon

Fuente:

http://personal.ars-informatica.ca/paul/wot/wot.php?page=tam

Información:

** Tam's heron-mark sword **

The sword was single-edged, slightly curved, and delicate compared to other swords of the time. It closely resembles the heron-mark sword depicted to the right, one produced by Museum Replicas under Jordan's eye, though, as the following text shows, Tam's heron-mark blade also differs from it in some details:

"The blade, very slightly curved and sharp only on one edge, bore another heron etched into the steel. Short quillons, worked to look like braid, flanked the hilt. It seemed almost fragile compared with the swords of the merchants' guards; most of those were double-edged, and thick enough to chop down a tree."

This makes it likely that the sword is modelled on a Japanese katana or tachi (very few swords of Western origin have a slightly curved blade, even fewer of these are two-handed). The longevity of such blades, and the exquisite skill required in their forging, also suggests a katana or tachi as model. Tam's sword differs from these in that a Western-style crossguard consisting of short quillons is used rather than an oval crossguard, or tsuba, in the Oriental style.

The "... long, two-handed hilt ..." is leather-wrapped, and referred to repeatedly as "nobby."

The approximate overall length of his weapon is probably some 37 to 42", a standard length for two-handed katana or tachi, and for many swords of Western design. Indeed, the Museum Replicas heron-mark blade is in the katana style; both hilt and quillons differ from Tam's sword. It is 42½" long, with a blade length of 32½" and a weight of 1 lb. 9 oz. - values that are likely close to those of Tam's sword.

Three herons designate the sword as a blade-master's weapon:

"... a long, leather-wrapped hilt inset with a bronze heron. Another bronze heron stood on the scabbard, and yet another was scribed on the sheathed blade."

Only one side of sword or scabbard is marked: in each mention of the sword, only three herons are present; when Thom later indicates the two herons on Rand's coat, Rand comments that "The sword makes five. Hilt, scabbard and blade." Presumably, each heron is found on the outward-facing surface of hilt, scabbard and blade.

My guess is that each heron is of the same size, though this isn't mentioned specifically. The bronze heron on the hilt is probably some 2 to 2 1/2" in size, with a maximum length of 3" - when the heron-mark is branded into his palm, a perfect figure is impressed on it. Rand's a big boy, but nowhere are his hands described as meathooks, which Jordan would surely have done, if their size were unusual.

One can even place the heron on the hilt with some accuracy, if one assumes Rand is right-handed. He must be: a left-handed swordsman cannot make it through six books without comment. During his second confrontation with Ba'alzamon , Rand is marked with a heron on his right palm. He'd been holding his sword before him, in both hands. If right-handed, this would put his right hand above his left, closer to the crossguard, and thus would place the heron a few inches from the crossguard, and on the right side of the hilt (the outward-facing side of the hilt when sheathed).

In the sword form Heron Wading in the Rushes, the sword is " ... held reversed in both hands over his head ..." , that is, with blade pointing down toward the ground as the beak of a heron hunting for prey. Rand uses this attack in his first attempt to kill Ba'alzamon, knowing it will likely cause his own death also . Ingtar predicts the same: "You will put your sword in the other man with that ... but not before he has his through your ribs."

This tells us much: to have the blade reversed, with edge facing one's opponent now places the left palm over a single heron on the hilt. Heron Wading in the Rushes allows for a single forward thrust or stab, moving the blade from a vertical position through an arc to horizontal. The dominant hand would be placed above Rand's non-dominant left, for greater thrusting power. This places the left palm next to the crossguard, and confirms the heron placement cited above.

Curiously, the heron burn would be upside down, an apparent oversight on Jordan's part. Repositioning the hand to have the heron burn rightside up leaves the swordsman able to skewer himself, only.

Finally, the scabbard is described as black and apparently was unadorned except for the heron.

Rand al'Thor's connection to the Norse god Tyr - god of justice, of swords and war - is explored in the section on the Dragon Sceptre.

See also:

Laman's sword
the Crown of Swords
Legion of the Dragon