[Wot-l] A question...(a little off topic--hope you don't mind)

Mon Jan 21 19:50:28 UTC 2008

Wow! Thanks for the info. I agree that he has to be atleast 70, but what I don't get is that most people do not seem to live that long. Maybe its just that he is the only non-Aes Sedai we've met that has lived to be that old, but I still have this feeling that there is something rather large we don't know about him. Anyway, thanks for all the info, that was quick!
-Josh
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Terez 
  To: The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan 
  Sent: Monday, January 21, 2008 1:51 PM
  Subject: Re: [Wot-l] A question...(a little off topic--hope you don't mind)

  Josh,

  How long do you think it really takes to travel to all the places that he's gone?  Not too terribly long...it would probably take, at most, a year to travel to Shara, for instance - a year taking delays into account.  How much would he have seen simply during the journey itself worth mentioning?  Perhaps a total of 2 or 3 years to visit Shara, stay a year or so, and return - that's an estimate on the high side, in my opinion.  Longer to stay longer, of course.  He was young when he captured Cowin Fairheart - presumably around 25 or 30, perhaps even younger - but he was already known then as "Farstrider".  But it was implicit in Agelmar's words that he did much more traveling after that - quite probably before he wrote his book, which was published 13 years after he captured Fairheart.  He disappeared 13 years after that.  We can estimate that Farstrider is currently between 70 and 80 years old.  That's pretty old, but not old enough that we should wonder how he's still alive.  We know that Ishamael probably caused Noal's current mental state - it appears to be caused by extensive Compulsion - and though it's unclear, exactly, what he was Compelled to do, I don't think that the extent of Farstrider's adventures necessitate the explanation of fabrication, especially considering that we already know many of his fanciful stories to be true. 

  It's been proposed, along the same line of thought as yours, that Farstrider visited the Tower of Ghenjei when he was young, which is where he got all of his "adventures" from.  Although it's possible, it seems unlikely.  Noal seemed to think that the Tower of Ghenjei was on the Shadow Coast somewhere, for one thing, and he claimed that Farstrider had always meant to find it, but never had.  For another, the only reason Mat got memories when he visited the Aelfinn was because he wished for the holes in his memory to be filled.  Why would Noal also get memories from the 'Finns?  Why would Ishamael Compel him to forget his visit to the Tower of Ghenjei?  And again, why must we assume that his travels are fabricated? 

  This is what we know of Farstrider's adventures:

  He was "tamed" by Susa...somehow or another.  :)  (tEotW, Ch. 4)

  He captured the traitor Cowin Fairheart (tEotW, Ch. 47)

  Ishamael claimed to have used Farstrider to plant the rumors of the Dark One's intention to "blind the Eye of the World and slay the Great Serpent" in the Ogier Stedding (which would have been around the time of Farstrider's disappearance).  (tEotW, Ch. 51) 

  He wrote many books, was the subject of many stories, and he vanished in 981 NE after having returned from the Blight, where it is rumored he traveled all the way to Shayol Ghul.  (tEotW, Glossary)

  He had "adventures among the Sea Folk and journeys to the lands beyond the Aiel Waste"  (tGH,  Ch. 31) 

  He had a horse named Jeade'en, or "True Finder", that could always find the way home.  (tSR, Ch. 22)

  Rhuarc's claim that the Sharamen were liars and that they had many different names for their land was verified by Rand's memory of Farstrider's book, though Rand thought the tales "too fanciful to be true".  (LoC, Ch. 17) 

  He traveled on a Sea Folk vessel and learned to bathe in cold salt water (WH, Ch. 19)

  He has been to "Shibouya" (Shara), "where women who could channel had tattooed faces, over three hundred crimes carried a penalty of death, and giants lived under the mountains, men taller than Ogier, with their faces on their bellies." (WH, Ch. 28)

  Noal has been to places warm enough to make Ebou Dar seem like Shienar.   Everyone he had cared for in his life is long dead.  Looking at the bay of Ebou Dar after the Return arrives, he comments that he has never seen so many ships in one place before.  He fishes well, and he knows how to make a fish and pepper stew from Shara.  Noal notices a very dark-skinned Seanchan with blue eyes, and notes that he has seen the like before, but he cannot remember where. (CoT, Ch. 1) 

  Noal has been to "Co'dansin" (also Shara) and knows of the Ayyad.  He recites a quote from the Prophecies about Mat (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).  Noal has been trying to remember this bit for some time.  (CoT, Ch. 28) 

  Farstrider is believed to have done a translation of the Karaethon Cycle, which is probably true, since he quotes the obscure bit to Mat.  This bit was dropped in Rand's point of view, by the way, certainly to give clues as to Noal's identity, considering the proximity. (CoT, Ch. 35)

  Noal tells stories of the Ayyad to Olver.  Mat asks Noal if he is related to Farstrider.  Noal says Farstrider was a cousin.  It is obvious that he is lying, because he tells of Farstrider's abandonment of his wife with deep personal pain.  He also mentions being made a fool by someone - probably Ishamael, since he shows signs of the post-Compulsion confusion mid-sentence. (KoD, Ch. 6) 

  Noal tells of Malkier and other places in the Borderlands.  (KoD, Ch. 9)

  Noal talks of Sea Folk women.  He says that not many know the tale of the Tower of Ghenjei any more, and that Farstrider had always intended to go looking for it, thinking it was along the Shadow Coast.  Noal thinks that he would like to go there..."something Jain bloody Farstrider never did".  He says that he has heard that it gleams like burnished steel, and that it's 200 ft. tall and 40 ft. thick, and that there is no opening in the tower that can be seen. He listens to Mat's stories about his experiences with the 'Finns intently, and asks Mat if he was related to Farstrider, says that Mat's adventure topped anything he ever did, and anything Farstrider ever did too, and then asks if he can be the unknown third person Moiraine spoke of in her letter. (KoD, Ch. 10) 

  Noal tells of the walled trading city in Shara, apparently the same one that Rhuarc spoke of, or perhaps the port that the Sea Folk visit.  (KoD, Ch. 25)

  He is said to have traveled to the frozen land north of the Blasted Lands, but he disappeared on that trip.  (BWB, Ch. 15) 

  Farstrider is one of three main sources of knowledge about Shara - the bit about the natives lying to foreigners is repeated.  (BWB, Ch. 16)

  ________________________

  From these bits, we can surmise that Farstrider has: 

  1.  Been to Shara, perhaps more than once.
  2.  Been on a Sea Folk ship, perhaps more than once.
  3.  Been to the Blight, and perhaps also to Shayol Ghul and north of the Blasted Lands.
  4.  Traveled the Borderlands extensively. 
  5.  Probably been in the Waste, though stories of that wouldn't be so exotic as the others - perhaps he doesn't tell stories of the Aiel for that reason - nearly everyone has seen them now.  Also, Aiel upset Olver. 
  6.  Been a prominent member of Borderland society, perhaps a high-profile thief-catcher (Susa probably fits in here somewhere - perhaps Susa was his wife).
  7.  Most likely been Compelled by Ishamael.
  8.  Possibly been in Graendal's company and Compelled by her as well - a man fitting his description was seen in her lair, and she has also been to Shara, perhaps inspired by his stories.  The man fitting Noal's description is highly suspicious because he does not meet Graendal's standards for her slaves, yet he sits among them for no apparent reason (tFoH, Prologue). 
  9.  Probably gone to other places in Randland proper as well.
  10.  Possibly been to Seanchan as well, but it seems more likely that he knew the dark skin and blue eyes from elsewhere

  _________________________ 

  I don't see how all of that is too much for Farstrider to have done before he published his book.  As previously noted, he was already known as Farstrider when he captured Fairheart, and the book was published 13 years later.  With all the traveling that Mat has done in less than two years, mostly without assistance from the Power, it seems easy to imagine a determined wanderlust like Farstrider traveling quite a few places and doing quite a few interesting things in a period of what appears to be about 20 years. 

  I hope this info helps,

  Terez

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