[split] What does the name "Farseer" really mean? SPOILERS ALL BOOKS

['thul]

strength of body/mind makes ability stronger, though you also need talent and training. regal had a certain lack of all four of those aspects...

[Farseer]

I am so excited, I can hardly contain myself!!!

I'm heading back to our discussion on the significance of the number twelve and the Skill-pillars being represented or even actually present during Fitz' [[Naming Ceremony]] (a little of the conversation which is below)...bearing in mind also that the [[Witness Stones]] in Buck are used to judge those within the Six Duchies...

It says in AA, "It requires a Man to sponsor and name the candidate, and he must find a dozen other Men who concede the boy is worthy and ready" so, yes, it does seem that it requires thirteen, including the sponsor. Maybe Fool was the sponsor, naming him as Changer (puts a spin on the gender debate !), and the twelve were the Pillars? Going with the Pillars being the actual Skill-pillars, the Witness Stones (as an example) do deem ones who go there as either worthy or unworthy...

...it has just occurred to me that a jury consists of usually twelve jurors and also a judge, making a total of thirteen people present to return a verdict - the same number required for the Naming Ceremony to take place and the person being named to be deemed worthy!! That can't be a coincidence...can it?!

[Farseer]

Oh, further to my jury and judge thought, I forgot to also add references to the significance of a 'judge' in this case...

I have made a few posts about her but, prior to being known as 'Sacrifice' or King/Queen, the ruler of the Mountain Kingdom was known as a Judge (EDIT: the first being a wise, female prophet-judge...sounds Fool-like! END EDIT).

I will include some quotes when time allows but you can find details regarding the history of the title of Judge in AA, Chapter 19, 'Journey' and also in AQ, Chapter 23, 'The Mountains'. Both references are found in the blurbs that begin each chapter... ...and are both very significant, I have long believed...

['thul]

well, the witness stones (buckkeep skill pillars) were four in count, and four-sided, so they do not add support to the 12-basis, but they are very much symbolic nonetheless...

[zondervan1799]

[quote='Farseer' pid='986' dateline='1270395870']
I
"...'And all because the line of House Farseer failed. That is the future as it is woven. But wait! Farseer!' He cocked his head and peered at me, considering as a gore-crow. 'Why do they call you that, Fitz? What have your ancestors ever forseen afar to gain such a name? Shall I tell you how it comes about? The very name of your house is the future reaching back in time to you, and naming you by the name that someday your house will deserve. The Farseer. That was the clue that I took to my heart. That the future reached back to you, to your house, and named you so. I came here, and what did I discover? One Farseer, with no name at all. Unnamed in any history, past or future. But I have seen you take a name, FitzChivalry Farseer. And I shall see that you deserve it.' "

I was thinking about this the other day, and thought that 'Farseer' should be related to 'television' (far-sight, far-vision).

The first two uses in the OED entry are

1904 Daily News 3 June 7 Dr. Low talks very modestly of the ‘televista’ (the name he has given to his ‘seeing by wire’ invention).
1907 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 15 June 26292/1 Now that the photo-telegraph invented by Prof. Korn is on the eve of being introduced into general practice, we are informed of some similar inventions in the same field, all of which tend to achieve some step toward the solution of the problem of television.

I don't see any super-awesome connection between the Farseer family and the modern television or its uses, but I do note that the Farseers are known for their use of the Skill, which can be addictive and needs to be used in moderation. That the Skill allows one to see what goes on in a distance place (far-sight) and is addictive, draining the user of other desires, both recall television.

[Farseer]

Lots of things to come back to in this thread but I think it's interesting that we have not heard anything regarding a Naming Ceremony for Dutiful. By the time we come back to him in TM, he has reached an age whereby such a ceremony would have already taken place...and I would expect that, if it had done so, he would have shared this with Fitz? After all, Fitz did later become a father figure to him or, at the very least, an important link to Verity.

Something to keep an eye out for during a TM re-read. I must finish CoD first...so why the heck am I even here, let alone in this old thread?!

---

well, the witness stones (buckkeep skill pillars) were four in count, and four-sided, so they do not add support to the 12-basis, but they are very much symbolic nonetheless...

'thul, just coming back to this...

Ah, while I believe that the Witness Stones do play a part, they are not the only Skill Pillars in the realm and so I would include the others in my 'twelve' theory as well, and not just the Witness Stones. The Witness Stones would be simply four of the twelve.

In reality, now that I think of it, if we take into consideration that all four Skill Pillars that make up the Witness Stones are represented by the one rune, as they likely would be as all four pinpoint the one location (?), then they really only make up 'one'. Something to think on...

I have mainly pointed out the Witness Stones, not so much for their own number, but for their Six Duchies reputation as acting like a judge/jury, a group of which numbers (in our human world) as twelve jurors plus a judge...and this number mirrors the number required for a Naming Ceremony to occur - a sponsor plus twleve men.

While the sixteen facets of the Witness Stones could provide us with a clue as to the number of Skill Pillars or destinations within the realm, it is possible that some of the facets are duplicated...but, then again, maybe not. If rumour is to be believed, then the Witness Stones themselves are the 'gateway to the land of the pecksies'. While this is possible, and maybe even likely, they are also of Sa/El/Eda etc in my mind and it is therefore possible that they are also a gateway to/of 'the gods' (which Skilled Ones/Elderlings can use).

Erk...I digress!!

I think I will need to compile a list of known locations at some stage, but may go and have a look in the wiki first!

['thul]

Not all pillars have all destinations. RotE dragons have shown no tendency towards numeric magics that 'thul have seen. The map of skill stones described in TM did not have a severely limited count, nor did the ancient realms once controlled by elderlings have borders even remotely resembling modern-era borders.

[Farseer]

Just a quick visit here but I so very much want to come back to discuss it all...

**City of Dragons spoiler to about Chapter Three (so if you've read the publisher pdfs, as featured on the main news page, you'll be fine)*

Spoiler

The number twelve cannot represent the actual number of Skill-Pillars. There are five in the King of Chalced's Throne Room, (which I assume to be located in the map tower of an old Elderling city?), four for the Witness Stones at Buck, one at the plaza where Fool and Fitz had their joint 'vision', one in the quarry, one in the Stone Garden, one on Others' Island and one in the map tower of Aslevjal. That alone is fourteen without any others. Unless one 'Pillar' (as in each of the twelve Pillars of the Man Ceremony) does only denote or represent one destination or Portal Gate grouping...but I doubt it...I think! Who else went when they read of those five blocks of memory stone?!

['thul]

you forgot the ones all along the rain wild river (cassarick, fregong, etc.) as well as all those spread throughout the six duchies.

[Farseer]

Sorry 'thul. I was in a huge hurry when I posted so didn't have time to list them all...those ones you mentioned, and other others besides, were covered in "without any others".

I will come back and specifically compile a list that includes each one at some point, just so we have a point of reference (and discover some other 'twelve' connection ?! ), and I may then add that to the wiki as well.