Following is a quote from David Eddings, found in Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series, volume 35.
"My current excursion into fantasy has given me an opportunity to test my technical theories [of writing]. I made a world that never was, with an unlikely theology splattered against an improbable geology. My magic is at best a kind of pragmatic cop-out. Many of my explanations of how magic is supposed to work are absurdities - but my characters all accept these explanations as if there was no possibility of quibbling about them, and if the characters believe, then the readers seem also to believe."
In other words, creating a logical, internally consistent fantasy world was not part of David Eddings' agenda.
Every newsgroup that covers any literary character or characters inevitably gives birth to Casting threads, and alt.fan.eddings is no exception.
There are some things you should know before you suggest that Sean Connery should play Belgarath. First, there are no plans to film ANY of Eddings' works. Second, anyone that you can think of to cast in an imaginary film of Eddings' works has already been suggested by someone else. Third, that knowledge hasn't stopped anyone else from posting THEIR casting suggestions, so why should it stop you?
Just don't be surprised at the moans of dismay from the old-timers.
It's also been suggested by one or two old-timers that it's a good idea if you do want to restart the casting thread to give it a subject header that is easily identified, such as "The Belgariad: the movie!" That way those who have seen it 958 times before can spot it quickly and avoid it.
On the Polgara Scrapbook, David quite clearly states his position. There will be no spin-offs of any sort, as he will not allow anyone to touch something he spent twenty years writing.
[sarcasm alert] Gosh, you're kidding! Wow, what an insight! We'd have never noticed if you hadn't mentioned it!
David Eddings has obviously developed what he considers to be a very serviceable plot, well suited to the type of fantasies that he writes. And since his many fans (i.e., us) continue to buy his books, he doesn't feel any pressing need to develop a new plot. That Eddings is capable of coming up with different plots is evident from his two non-fantasy novels, neither of which involves a quest for a blue stone. In addition, while the plots of Eddings' two fantasy series are similar on the surface, there are many differences to be found in terms of themes, character development, etc. There has been much discussion of this on the newsgroup, and most people seem to agree that the Elenium is darker than the Bel/Mal, in terms of theme, issues dealt with and the general mood of the story. And as Rumor often pointed out there is more adventure in the Bel/Mal and more political intrigue in the Elen/Tam. The difference is, in fact, radical enough that a number of people have admitted to being initially put off by the Elenium because it was different from the Bel/Mal. For this reason, some have advised a 1-2 month waiting period after finishing one series before starting the other.
Absolutely not.
Inconsistencies come in three flavors: 1) Editing mistakes, 2) Sheer boneheaded errors, and 3) Illogical actions.
Editing mistakes are those errors that crept in during the printing process. These generally consist of misspellings or incorrect character identifications. Boneheaded errors are those where the writer simply forgot that he has already named (or described) something, and later gives it a completely different name (or description). Illogical actions are things that happen that, based on other information in the story, seem REALLY stupid.
At more than one point in The Seeress of Kell, the "bull- god of the Arends" is identified as "Chamdar" rather than "Chaldan."
Gethell/Gethel (the King of the Thulls) and Xbel/Xbell (a dryad) appear at various times with their names spelled either with one 'L' or two 'L's. In the case of Gethell, the two 'L' version is used most frequently, and appears to be the proper spelling. Xbel appears an equal number of times spelled both ways, but since no other dryads have double letters in their names, I'm willing to assume that Xbel is the correct spelling.
Donal Fellows has a fairly comprehensive compilation of the endless Dryad threads. To take a look, check out his homepage. (URL given at the end of this FAQ).
Although to date three possible explanations for this have been offered, below is Rumor's explanation. Another possible explanation can be found in the nvFAQ. Keep in mind that PtS was discarded when considering this question. The general consensus is that Eddings wasn't thinking clearly when he wrote the section where Polgara briefly writes about this subject.
Why daughters of dryads are always dryad, and sons are always human:
When dealing with gender-based issues of genetics, it is simplest to assume that the "sex chromosomes" X and Y are involved. To recap: humans have 23 chromosome pairs, or 46 chromosomes. One of those pairs is either XX (a female) or XY (a male). Unlike all the other pairs in you, the X and Y are very different from each other, which is why girls are made of sugar and spice and Boys Will Be Boys.
Occam's Razor demands the simplest explanation, and it is this: there is a fundamental difference between the X that human girl recieves (hX) and that a dryad recieves (dX). When a dryad and a human male mate, one gets a child with either a dX-hX combination (dryad girl) or dX-Y (human boy).
Let's deal with the girl first. The dryad X has some differences from the human X, and these must be in the form of different gene expression. This could mean different genes on dX, or extra genes, or simply a different pattern of expression; I have decided on the third case: dryad X chromosomes are inherently no different from human X chromosomes. In fact, they are the same chromosome except that they express genes differently. This different pattern predisposes a girl to becoming dryad. Now, in human females, in every cell of the body, one of the X's randomly condenses so that most of it is not used by the body. We only need one X for most things. So, in the dryad body, it is always the human X that condenses. There is precedence for this occurring in several animal species, where either the maternal or paternal X is chemically changed in the fetus and marked for condensation. This also happens in discrete parts of non-sex chromosomes in humans. The point is that in all the cells of a dryad, the dryad X is the only one being used, so her entire body develops according to the dryad X chromosome.
Now, we have a problem with dryad daughters. If you recall what I said above, a dryad has two XX's from her parents. One is a dX, and one is an hX. But a dryad always passes on a dX to her children, because all her daughters are always dryads. The explanation for this comes from recent genetic studies on imprinting. Imprinting is what I described above, where a physical alteration of the DNA causes certain patterns of expression to occur. Imprinting usually turns certain genes on or off, but may alter their regulation in other, subtler ways. It is typically used to distinguish maternal chromosomes from paternal chromosomes in the cell (so that the two chromosomes express genes differently). These imprinted changes can be passed on through generations, and this does occur in humans. Think of it this way: when a human boy is born from human parents, half his chromosomes are maternal and half are paternal. His body knows that, and it turns out that's a very important thing to know, even though the chromosomes pairs are exactly the same. But when that boy has kids, any and all of the chromosomes he passes on must be seen as paternal by the child. So his reproductive organs can imprint his maleness onto all the chromosomes.
Now I will get to the point. A female dryad can do the same thing. Listen closely to this part: the human X and dryad X are the same. The only difference is that they express some different genes, depending on their imprinting pattern. This is why a dryad mom can make both her Xs into dryad Xs; just by altering the imprinting pattern. Dryad Xs therefore express different genes than a human X, because of their imprinting pattern. The astonishing corollary of this deduction is that all human X chromosomes have the capacity to produce dryads buried within them.
Now, the boys. Boys of a dryad/human mating have a human Y from their father, and an X from their dryad mother, which has been previously determined to be a dryad X in all cases. So all boys of these two parents have the dryad X. Why aren't they dryads? Well, they're boys, you say. Excellent deduction! Something about boys prevents them from becoming dryads, just like something about boys prevents them from becoming girls (this is an accurate statement - the default state of a fetus is female, and it is not until testosterone produced primarily due to the Y chromosome alters the body that a fetus becomes male). So obviously there is a gene (or genes) on the Y that blocks the female-specific effects of the dryad X, probably in the same way it blocks female characteristics from the human X. In fact, since 'dryadness' is a female thing, it's possible the Y doesn't have any extra genes than us Earthian creatures, but just blocks dryadness through the same mechanism that it blocks femaleness. No need to get into the details, then.
However, we run into a potential problem down the road. Assuming these boys make it back into Tolnedran society, they'll be walking around with a dryad X. We know it happens in some cases, because the Borune males mate with dryads, and they must have had sons in order for their line to continue. So when these sons of drayds mate with a human female and have a daughter, the daughter will be dX-hX, just like any dryad. The simplest explanation why the dryad line seems to disappear in males is that males probably re-imprint the X they carry so that it becomes hX.
Why "half-dryads" are full dryads:
Forgetting any genetic explanation I've made, we still have the unshakeable truth that half of a dryads genes are from a human male. Therefore all full dryads, which are the product of a human male and dryad female, are actually half-dryads, genetically. "Full-dryad" is the same as "half-dryad." You cannot have a dryad with all dryad genes and no human genes, because fathers will always be male. This means that, 'lo and behold, Polgara doesn't know what she's talking about. A dryad, no matter how you cut it, is a full dryad.
For realism's sake, I would guess that for the 'dryadness' to appear some environmental influence must also be present to make a small girl become a dryad. In realistic molecular genetics terms, the dX cannot be all that different from hX, or the embryos will not be viable and if they are, dryads would not resemble humans nearly as much as they do. So the chromosomes can only be different up to a threshold; but although dryads look like humans, they're still pretty different in other ways. So we need something else to cause more change. Two ideas come to mind for an environmental trigger. One or both may be necessary. First, bonding to a tree. Perhaps this has some biochemical effect on the child that completes the dryad change. Secondly, developing specifically in a dryad womb. It is very likely that certain chemicals/steroids/proteins that can only be produced by a dryad mother are passed into the womb to affect fetus development. Without one or both of these influences, the female fetus/child becomes a normal human (or close enough to one that no one knows the difference).
If this occurs, then a son of a dryad may not necessarily have to reimprint his dX chromosome, since the child's "dryadness" would be quelled by the lack of appropriate environmental triggers.
We've already witnessed that Belgarath, Polgara, Beldin and the other sorcerers have lived for centuries. So doesn't this mean that Garion will have the same life span? What will happen to the Rivan line? Will Garion abdicate when Geran is old enough to take over? And what about Ce'Nedra, won't she live a long time, too, at least until her tree dies?
Everybody seems to have an opinion on this one. First of all, we never learn if the sorcerers are, in fact, immortal or if they just have a very long life span. And secondly, we never know if long life is part of the natural order of sorcerers or if Belgarath was allowed to live for 7000 years because the Prophecy needed him. There are two major schools of thought on this one. The first is that the sorcerers are, in fact, immortal and will live forever. The second is that the Prophecy's work is done and things will resume their natural order, and the sorcerers will die in the normal course of time now. Take your pick, because there doesn't seem to be enough evidence to prove either theory.
As for the Rivan line, most people seem to agree that if Garion is, in fact, going to live for a long, long time, he will hand over the crown to Geran when Geran reaches a suitable age. Garion was never that thrilled to be a king in the first place, and there doesn't seem to be any reason why he would want to extend that role for several centuries.
And with regard to Ce'Nedra, there are two major schools of thought on that as well. Some people believe that she will live as long as her tree (how long her tree will live is a whole other tangent thread), while others believe that the Prophecy tweaked things a bit so that Ce'Nedra will live as long as Garion does.
As with most of these questions, there are two schools of thought on this one. Some people believe that the mark signifies Garion's place in the Rivan line, and point to the fact that all the Rivan kings had the mark, even after they went into hiding and never touched the Orb. Others believe it is the mark of Garion's sorcery, and point to the facts that 1) we are told that all the sorcerers had some sort of mark signifying their talent -- Polgara has her white lock, Belgarath has a mark over his heart, etc. and 2) the mark on Garion's hand throbs, itches or burns when he uses sorcery, and also has some sort of connection with Polgara's white lock. It's also been suggested that the mark simply served both purposes.
We have no clue. Eddings only made one comment on what was on the amulet. In Queen of Sorcery, Garion looks at his amulet and notices that it has a strange geometric design. That's it. For some reason, Garion never bothers to look at his amulet ever again. Why? Don't ask me.
So, of course, there has been speculation on what is on the amulet Various things have been said, like a wolf, the orb, the Rivan sword going through a crown, and a circle. Because Garion ain't that dumb, I think he would have noticed that his amulet had a design of one of these rather than think of it as a strange geometric design.
Aphrael posed the idea that the design on Garion's amulet was in fact a moebius strip. "Something about two things becoming one or maybe it was one thing becoming two. I don't know...I was feeling weird that day."
Amy Sheldon thought it might have been a rune; a character that stands for an entire word (like in the Chinese language). Of course, this started up a whole lot of speculation of what the word was...
Finally, Adara suggested that it was a Celtic knot design. The pattern is described as being "Based on a design from the Book of Kells, an 8th Century illuminated manuscript kept at Trinity College in Dublin".
`Bel' and `Pol' both mean beloved and nothing more. It's just that `Bel' is the male form and `Pol' is the female form. Beldaran is an anomaly, but languages (especially English) are full of them, so you'd better get used to it...
(NOWHERE in either the Belgariad or Malloreon does it state that 'Bel' or 'Pol' means disciple. Aldur added it to his original disciples' names, presumably as a sign that they were his "beloved disciples", but simply adding 'Bel' to a name no more makes a character Aldur's disciple then adding 'Fido' to your name would make you into a dog.)
How do you know he isn't? Everyone is used to calling him 'Durnik' (and he's used to being called Durnik), so just because he's a disciple now, and officially entitled to add 'Bel' to his name doesn't mean everyone is going to start calling him a totally different name.
The titles of the Belgariad all have two parts to them. One part refers to a chess piece or move (e.g. Pawn, Gambit) and the other part is a reference to some form of magic, or magical person.
There is quite a strong connection with chess throughout the Belgariad. The game between the LP and the DP can be seen as a complicated game of chess involving the characters (some people have gone as far as associating each character with a type of chess piece). It has also been speculated that the strange geometric design on Garion's amulet is in fact a chessboard.
The Mallorean titles are slightly more obscure. They use the title of an individual and the place where they are located. (e.g. Seeress of Kell)
Well, Belgarath mentions that sorcerers can't undo what another sorcerer does because everyone thinks differently. But Zedar ain't stupid, and so, should be able to think of another way to get out, right? So, Belgarath must have thought of a pretty elaborate way to keep Zedar down there. However, one should remember that Zedar is stuck in rock for all eternity, which means that he has sufficient oxygen and food for all eternity also. Or, it means that Belgarath made provisions for his well-being for throughout eternity.
Two possible solutions have been proposed.
a) Zedar is stuck in rock like how Relg goes through it.
b) Zedar is in suspended animation.
(It should be noted that this is unlikely, as it wouldn't be that awful
a punishment if Zedar didn't know he was trapped.)
No.
It is never said. In the prologue and epilogue of PtS, the twins are mentioned many times, and are quite clearly not referred to by name or sex. This is quite deliberate. The reason given is that no one can now come up with any suggestion for stories about the twins, because absolutely nothing is known about them.
This is thought to be, as with the twins, an attempt to keep a few loose ends lying around in the world of the Belgariad. The wolf refered to is the one found by Poledra in the Mallorean. He is now Geran's pet/friend, and in the epilogue of PtS he is described as having rather more intelligence than your average wolf.
Some of the various explanations are: he is just an ordinary wolf, it's just that wolves are very intelligent creatures, he is an embodiment of the Light Prophecy, enjoying his retirement, or finally, he is David Eddings himself.
The first time Polgara and Poledra merge form into the SuperOwl(tm), Polgara remarks that it was the inward turning of themselves that made them invisible. But that cannot be the whole reason, for it should be possible for someone to turn their thoughts inward without merging with someone else. The turning of thought can be seen as creating a shield against searching thoughts. The merging process in combination with turning inward enables them to remain unseen by Torak. It is possible that the merging means they can create the shield and be aware of events happening outside of their merged form. Whereas the shield Garion and Polgara made was imperfect at the join, a combined form could create a perfect shield.
It seems to be on purpose. In one of the letters to the Polgara scrapbook, David speaks about this, and says not to bother pointing them out. In the book, Polgara says that she has a different viewpoint and remembers things differently to Belgarath. Now, given the fact David has put this in, it means he knows there are differences and doesn't want to change them. It is more realistic to think that Polgara and Belgarath cannot remember something exactly when it's something that occurred 3000 years ago.
The books were meant to be read in the order in which they were written. The Belgariad, followed by the Malloreon, followed by the two prequels. The Rivan Codex should be read after the two series, but it could be read before the prequels. However, a large segment of the book is an earlier version of a chapter in BtS, so it's generally a good idea to read the Codex last. If you read them in any other order, what suspense and surprise there is will be eliminated.
The difference is pretty simple. "Elene" refers to an ethnic/racial group, that group which dominates all of western Eosia, in the nations of Elenia, Arcium, Deira, Thalesia, Pelosia, Lamorkand, Cammoria and Rendor, as opposed to the Styric or Tamul races. "Elenian" refers to the citizens of a particular Elene nation, Elenia. Not all Elenes are Elenian, nor are all Elenians necessarily Elene, since a rural Styric living in Elenia could also be classified as "Elenian."
A patriarch is one of the 168 members of the upper level of the Hierocracy of the Elene Church. A primate, from all indications, is one rank below a patriarch. If the patriarch of a particular city or district is incapacitated, the primate acts in his stead. They have been compared to the Roman Catholic ranks of cardinal vs. Bishop. The major difference is that patriarchs can vote with the Hierocracy and primates can't. This is why it was so important for Annias to buy support among the patriarchs.
Aside from concluding that the ancient stone of power was developing Alzheimer's, the only explanation seemed to be that Bhelliom deliberately lied. There has been much debate about why. We know, of course, that the story about instant death if one touched Bhelliom was false and that Bhelliom itself could decide who got to touch it. Rumor believes that Bhelliom was very proud and egotistical, and didn't want to admit that so many people had been allowed to touch it. Others agree and add that Bhelliom was afraid that this would be seen as a sign of weakness and as its alliance with Anakha was still relatively new, it still didn't trust even its own creature.
Someone jokingly suggested that Sephrenia had never "seen" Aphrael fly because she always had her eyes closed in terror. But otherwise, there has not yet been a logical explanation for this one.
The Elenium titles are all related to types of precious stones. The Tamuli is the hardest. The closest anyone has come up with is that they refer to cities. The only problem is "The Shining Ones" but that could refer to the city of Delphaeus, as Delphaeus means both the city and The Shining Ones.
At the end of the Tamuli, Cyrgon is dead and Klæl is banished. If Styric spells are nothing more than requests to a God, how do Zalasta's spells work at Sephrenia and Vanion's wedding when he has no God left to appeal to?
This one was argued back and forth a bit. The one solution that was given stems from the apparent relationship between Edæmus and the Delphae. Before he departed to prepare the way for their eventual journey, he seems to have granted the Delphae the power to act on their own without requesting his assistance. It seems logical to conclude, then, that a God or other source of power could just as easily have given Zalasta the power to act on his own. Where he got that power from is another matter entirely. Rumor and Aphrael concluded that it was Klæl. As Rumor pointed out, a God is of this (i.e., Sparhawk's) world and has reason to feel threatened by a human with the power to act on his own. But for Klæl, Zalasta was little more than a tiny speck who meant nothing. He would never be able to destroy or contend with Klæl. The only two entities from whom Klæl had anything to fear were Bhelliom and Anakha. So it would be no loss for Klæl to grant Zalasta the power to act on his own. It is also possible that Zalasta's staff was actually an object of power. This is however rather unlikely, as it doesn't seem as if these objects were exactly plentiful in the world, and someone would probably wonder where such a powerful one had gotten to.
This is one of those cases of not enough information. There are two possibilities here. Either the renegades somehow found another Elder God besides Azash who still had power despite his confinement, or else not all of the Younger Gods were as lily-white as we're led to believe. In the first scenario, it could be that the Elder Gods could still grant spells to individuals in their confined state, but because of their lack of worshippers they were somehow cut off from being powerful enough to command Bhelliom. On the other hand, it's been proposed that it's entirely possible that there was resentment among the Younger Gods, and, that there were one or two who would actually grant spells to renegades. It's doubtful, however that the resentment extended so far as to go along with Zalasta's plot to destroy Aphrael, therefore necessitating Zalasta's alliances with Azash and Cyrgon. It has also been suggested that the younger Gods produce something of a "pool" of magic that their followers can dip into for non-major spells so that the Gods don't have to grant every single one. If this were the case, Zalasta and company may have been able to tap into that pool with Cyrgon's help. It should be noted that such a pool was never even remotely mentioned in the books and we've seen Aphrael take a direct hand in what would seem to be some rather mundane spells, so such a theory is pure speculation at best.
It seems that we have to go on the assumption that Wargun was an erratic drunk who was not thinking rationally. Add to that the fact that he probably wouldn't have believed that the Bhelliom had magical powers and could cure Ehlana, and chances are, he wouldn't believe that Sparhawk had a valid reason for wanting the stone. As for the question of letting Wargun help capture the stone and then stealing it from him, it's important to note that time was of the essence. Half the knights whose lives were supporting Ehlana's had already died. And, as Rumor pointed out, it would take a while just to move an army from Pelosia to Thalesia. Besides, chances are that Wargun would have taken his own soldiers with him and sent Sparhawk to Arcium. Considering that the most important thing in Sparhawk's mind was restoring Ehlana, he couldn't afford to gamble on the whims of an erratic, drunken king.
If Danae is going to be Queen of Elenia and she is immortal, will she have to grow old and die like a normal person?
Aphrael makes it clear at the end of the Elenium that she knows she will have to play by the normal rules in her incarnation as Danae. As much as she may be tempted, she isn't about to upset the Elene population of Eosia by remaining a child for several centuries. So it's likely that at the appropriate time, Danae will fake a nice, peaceful, painless death and move on to her next incarnation.
a.f.e. is the home of Eddings fanatics worldwide. The newsgroup has
a high level of traffic, several hundred posts a day, up from only a
couple dozen only a few years ago. The control message sent to
alt.config came from Bob Snyder, on behalf of Lydia Leong. The date was 17 May
1992. The reasons given for the creation of the new group was that the
existing place for discussion about Eddings,
rec.arts.sf.written, had a lot of flame wars about whether Eddings was a good
writer or not. It was felt that fans' questions were being lost as a result of
these flame wars. Interestingly, alt.fan.eddings was created with the idea that
it should also be a home for discussion about the Belgariad MUSH as well. A
fuller history of the newsgroup, and a full copy of the control message can be
seen at
<http://www.members.tripod.com/~afecodex/>
This popular habit was started around the summer of 97. There had always been a few people using aliases, but more and more people started using them until it was decided that some sort of system was needed to ensure that no two people took the same alias. Teut monitors who has what alias and any questions regarding aliases should be directed to alias@tolhoneth.org. Teut maintains a site listing all aliases currently in use. It can be found at <http://www.thebusstop.demon.co.uk/afe/alias.html
The "Silver Suggestions" are alt.fan.eddings' guide to good
netiquette and is posted, twice a month, by Itagne (or rather, his
daemon Mordja). They are a collection of statements which people should
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along with a variety of other files that the new user (or a returning old user
who never read the documents in the first place) might find of interest.
There are no formal rules. Most people seem to agree that this is a pretty pleasant newsgroup with friendly people and low spam and troll ratios. But there are three things we can all do to make sure things stay friendly and relaxed. They are called the Three Commandments.
1.) Thou shalt not flame without malicious provocation.
Pretty self-explanatory. If someone says something that upsets you or that you disagree with, tell them calmly, in polite language, and without resorting to name-calling or personal attacks.
2.) Thou shalt not profane the works of thy authors David and Leigh Eddings.
So maybe you didn't like all of Eddings' books. Not everybody does. But don't come out with belligerent statements like "This book sucks!" Instead, state in intelligent, mature language that you had problems with this particular book or series and explain why. Maybe there is even someone else here who can offer you a new perspective on it that will make you appreciate it more.
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This one follows pretty logically from the other two. What is meant by "foul or offensive language?" Basically, if you wouldn't say it in front of your parents or other respected adults, or in the presence of particular racial, ethnic or gender groups, don't say it here.
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afec stands for alt.fan.eddings.creative. It is essentially a fanfic newsgroup, and an offshoot of afe. The afec FAQ can be obtained from the afe dispatch daemon or from Aquarius' website at <http://www.kryogenix.org/afe/afecfaq.shtml>.
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