The Skill and The Wit (spoilers all RotE books)

['thul]

These beings suspect he inherited it from both sides, not just one.

[Farseer]

I'll have to come back to add anything of worth to the actual discussion re King Wisdom being Witted etc (once I find the post I was supposed to have placed here yonks ago!) but, in the meantime, I just wanted to say "Welcome!" to you, SwiftWitted. It's terrific to have you here on thePlenty!

I do recall something of Fitz speculating the origin of his Wit via the Farseer line though... and I know Chade encouraged the thinking that Fitz had received his Wit from his mother's line as this took the heat off Dutiful.

Hmm. There was definitely a few passages here and there regarding King Charger (the Piebald Prince) so possibly that's what I'm thinking of. Chade or Fitz denounced any Witted blood continuing on from Charger though as his Farseer line ended after his death by hanging (and subsequently being quarted and burned etc), and thus his line of 'Wit' also ceased. As for his having inherited the Wit in the first place, Charger's mother was of Farseer lineage but his father, who was Witted, wasn't...so this strain did not come, predominately at least, from the Farseer line.

Still, I do remember a slight mention of 'others' in the Farseer line but these were not named by Chade or Fitz. Will see if I can dig up something concrete from the TM books.

[Farseer]

Yes, just found this from Chade, speaking to Fitz, in Chapter Eleven of FE, 'Chade's Tower':

...But others point back a time, to the Piebald Prince and several other oddlings in the Farseer line, to say, "No, the taint is there, down in the roots, and Prince Dutiful is a shoot from that line."

It's after this that they mention that "the Piebald Prince died without issue" (confirming what I said earlier) but of the 'other oddlings' there is no mention. This suggests that there were other Witted ones who popped up earlier in the Farseer line.

Not sure if this is the quote you were after, SwiftWitted? I know that Fitz talked about the Witted in other areas such as the little chapter intros...

[zondervan1799]

Not 100% sure where to put this post, but,

as the Wit is required to wake the stone dragons, can we assume King Wisdom was Witted?

His name suggests it, anyway, since 'wit' and 'wisdom' are cognates.

[Narya]

I originally read the Liveship trilogy first, then the Farseer trilogy, then the Tawny Man trilogy (both a trilogies few times :whistle: ) and am now reading the Liveship trilogy again, and am amazed at how much of the Skill is slipped in there, without anyone (except Amber) apparently aware of what it is. Lots of illusions to being detached, raveling, in the stream, etc. Not much mention of wit-like characteristics. Interesting that it can be such a big deal in the Six Dutchies, but just something that happens around liveships, for Bingtowners.

[Farseer]

Yes, it's fantastic isn't it?! While it mostly seems to happen around Liveships, I wouldn't say that it *only* happens around Liveships. Will expand on that later as you've just reminded me that I STILL haven't come back and found my old posts for Valarya about Wintrow etc using Skill, and this all fitting into my far looser definition of 'Elderling' than most seem to have. Will get to that today, though now that I am home I'll be using this lovely Sunday to catch up on a lost day of school with my daughter.

[Narya]

I remember you posting something about Wintrow getting into a skill-trance when doing stain glass.

[Valarya]

I have a theory about why the Skill is so prominent in the Six Duchies, but not Bingtown/Rain Wilds.

See... we know the great cataclysmic event destroyed all dragons but Icefyre (after which he encased himself in Ice out of grief of a lost world). We also know that dragons create Elderlings, right? While I'm sure many Elderlings died in said cataclysmic event, surely there were some who survived. And since there were no dragons left in the world, eventually the surviving Elderlings died and no new ones were created.

What does this have to do with the Six Duchies? Just this: I theorize that one of the following is true:

1. King Wisdom was an Elderling
2. King Wisdom was alive when there were still Elderlings alive
3. King Wisdoms close ancestors were alive when the Elderlings were alive

... and his line survived the cataclysmic event. This is why they still have tapestries and other artifacts of Elderlings just sitting around Buckkeep, and why the Farseers still remember and train in the Skill. They never died out... so they REMEMBER.

All of the people in Bingtown and the RainWilds came from Jamallia decades after the Elderlings were long gone so they had no knowledge of uses of the Skill or even what it is/was. Not to mention the only tapestries or artifacts anyone descended from Jamallia has were plundered from the ruined cities.

I find it fascinating that, while people of the Rain Wilds are the ones turning in to Elderlings & caring for Dragons... no one deserves the title of top-Elderling more than our dear beloved Fitz.

As much as it pains me to admit it.. even Justin and Selene would be better 'fits' for Elderlings based on the fact they were already so closely linked to their magic.

['thul]

The culture of the six duchies was a closer "fit" to that of the elderlings than say, that of Chalced. It has been made abundantly clear in the books that Chalcedan morals and opinions have imprinted heavily on Jamaillian culture. Thus it could stand to reason that the "harlot queens" as the elderling queens were named in Homecoming stems not from Jamaillia, but from Chalced. Especially when considering that the rulers of Chalced were traditionally opponents of dragonkind/elderlings.

One thing you might have forgotten to consider when defining "the center" of elderling rule is that the era of the elderlings was not something that went in a matter of years or decades, but in a matter of many centuries or millennia. Even with extended lives the society will fluctuate over thousands of years. What may be the capital at one time might be a small backwater a few hundred years later. The island Icefyre chose as his resting place was once a major Elderling hold. As was Kelsingra. Same for Fregong. And buckkeep (or whatever they named that place so long ago).
Dragons did not care much about borders, but humans and Elderlings did. Thus their realm would change size and shape over time. Obviously Elderlings would fight those that would use dragon parts in medicine. Sometimes they would win, other times they would loose. Chalced is obviously a place where dragon-foes won out more than they lost.

[Norma J.]

I intend to ask a very different question about this passage in another thread but, for here and now, who or what is "Sayntanns"?

Saint Ann's? Is there anyone named Ann in these books?