Sep-15-2011, 05:52 AM (UTC)
(This post was last modified: Sep-15-2011, 05:56 AM (UTC) by Farseer.)
Hopefully I will get to come back to this thread one day and respond to the recent-ish posts ^ but, in the meantime...
...I know we have talked about connections with Fool to his name vs being 'a fool', or 'jester' etc and how this has worked into the his role/the plot etc but what of Amber?
A lightbulb regarding her name has only just appeared over my head though the rest of the world (including you!) has possibly known this all from the very beginning. Amber is an appropriate name to match the changing/deepening colour of Amber's skin, certainly, but I've only just realised that it's the perfect name to suit her occupation and other things as well!
Of course, Althea often described Amber and her colouring, fluidity etc as looking to be like one of her wooden creations but I have never, until right this second, made the simple leap to consider that amber, too, comes from trees, as does wood. Even before obtaining the Skill power from Verity, Fool showed that he'd had an affinity with wood re his puppet creations, and Amber was also rather intrigued by Althea's declaration of 'sisterhood with wood' (Vivacia).
Even more, amber is a 'fossilized' resin that comes from prehistoric or ancient trees, adding more to the fact that a WP lives considerably longer than humans and also given the importance of trees to the residents of the Mountain Kingdom (the Chyurda were forbidden by Eyod to cut them down and therefore wood could only ever be sourced from tress that had fallen or died naturally...as was the case for the wood given to Verity as part of his marriage arrangement with Kettricken, as far as I can remember). Added to that is the Wit sense that Fitz experiences when he is near the ancient trees on the way to the quarry eg he had never thought he'd be distained by a tree. I know I have spoken about trees elsewhere, sorry!
Further, when Amber spoke to Wintrow, he felt an 'experience' that was akin to a time when he had once been struck by lightning (or the lightning struck very close to him, I can't recall exactly!) and, as we know, lightning is simply a natural electrical discharge. Some say that the origin of the word 'electricity' dates back to the ancient Greek times (elektron = amber) when it was discovered that sparks could be produced by rubbing amber against various substances.
Amber, the resin, often also provides a window into history/the past due to the objects that can be preserved in it. The Whites of Amber/Fool's line were able to predict the future, I think (!!), due to their watchfulness and knowledge of what had taken place in the past.
Okay, these are all probably a bit flimsy, at best, but still interesting to think about, and they all just popped into my head while discussing the role of a lapidary with my daughter during school....which I had better get back to!!
...I know we have talked about connections with Fool to his name vs being 'a fool', or 'jester' etc and how this has worked into the his role/the plot etc but what of Amber?
A lightbulb regarding her name has only just appeared over my head though the rest of the world (including you!) has possibly known this all from the very beginning. Amber is an appropriate name to match the changing/deepening colour of Amber's skin, certainly, but I've only just realised that it's the perfect name to suit her occupation and other things as well!
Of course, Althea often described Amber and her colouring, fluidity etc as looking to be like one of her wooden creations but I have never, until right this second, made the simple leap to consider that amber, too, comes from trees, as does wood. Even before obtaining the Skill power from Verity, Fool showed that he'd had an affinity with wood re his puppet creations, and Amber was also rather intrigued by Althea's declaration of 'sisterhood with wood' (Vivacia).
Even more, amber is a 'fossilized' resin that comes from prehistoric or ancient trees, adding more to the fact that a WP lives considerably longer than humans and also given the importance of trees to the residents of the Mountain Kingdom (the Chyurda were forbidden by Eyod to cut them down and therefore wood could only ever be sourced from tress that had fallen or died naturally...as was the case for the wood given to Verity as part of his marriage arrangement with Kettricken, as far as I can remember). Added to that is the Wit sense that Fitz experiences when he is near the ancient trees on the way to the quarry eg he had never thought he'd be distained by a tree. I know I have spoken about trees elsewhere, sorry!
Further, when Amber spoke to Wintrow, he felt an 'experience' that was akin to a time when he had once been struck by lightning (or the lightning struck very close to him, I can't recall exactly!) and, as we know, lightning is simply a natural electrical discharge. Some say that the origin of the word 'electricity' dates back to the ancient Greek times (elektron = amber) when it was discovered that sparks could be produced by rubbing amber against various substances.
Amber, the resin, often also provides a window into history/the past due to the objects that can be preserved in it. The Whites of Amber/Fool's line were able to predict the future, I think (!!), due to their watchfulness and knowledge of what had taken place in the past.
Okay, these are all probably a bit flimsy, at best, but still interesting to think about, and they all just popped into my head while discussing the role of a lapidary with my daughter during school....which I had better get back to!!
"I am the Catalyst, and I came to change all things. Prophets become warriors, dragons hunt as wolves."
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