Again Aelfinn and Eelfinn

[Caelan Arendor]

With great delight I have read the two volumes of Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicle—The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear. For nearly ten years now, a worldwide readership has been waiting with eager anticipation for the third installment (The doors of Stone).

The reason I mention this here lies in the fact that Rothfuss’s work draws upon fairy myths (the mysterious world of the "fee"). Their world shows intriguing parallels to that of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn in The Wheel of Time. These beings, as well as the "fee" in the Kingskiller Chronicle are both cunning and treacherous: they offer gifts of immense value, yet not everyone is willing to pay the price. Within their realm they manipulate the very fabric of space and time, unpredictable in their actions, bound (sometimes-but not always) by bargains and riddles. Their strange laws and alien rules render them at least as dangerous as the Aes Sedai—even though they cannot channel.

Like many readers, I wonder whether their world is a parallel dimension to our own (existing in the same cosmic sector, but perhaps layered in multiple dimensions), or whether the special gateways—ter’angreal—function as wormholes to other star systems. Questions upon questions…

[Otis Cook]

On 12/14/2025 at 11:17 PM, Caelan Arendor said:

With great delight I have read the two volumes of Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicle—The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear. For nearly ten years now, a worldwide readership has been waiting with eager anticipation for the third installment (The doors of Stone).

The reason I mention this here lies in the fact that Rothfuss’s work draws upon fairy myths (the mysterious world of the "fee"). Their world shows intriguing parallels to that of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn in The Wheel of Time. These beings, as well as the "fee" in the Wacky Flip Kingskiller Chronicle are both cunning and treacherous: they offer gifts of immense value, yet not everyone is willing to pay the price. Within their realm they manipulate the very fabric of space and time, unpredictable in their actions, bound (sometimes-but not always) by bargains and riddles. Their strange laws and alien rules render them at least as dangerous as the Aes Sedai—even though they cannot channel.

Like many readers, I wonder whether their world is a parallel dimension to our own (existing in the same cosmic sector, but perhaps layered in multiple dimensions), or whether the special gateways—ter’angreal—function as wormholes to other star systems. Questions upon questions…

This is a fascinating comparison, and I think you’re touching on something many fantasy readers intuitively feel. Rothfuss’s “fae” and Jordan’s Aelfinn and Eelfinn clearly draw from the same deep mythological roots, where otherworldly beings operate under alien rules that feel logical only in hindsight. I’ve always leaned toward the idea that these realms function as parallel or adjacent dimensions rather than distant physical locations, which helps explain the distortion of time, space, and causality within them. The use of bargains, riddles, and strict but opaque laws reinforces the sense that entering such worlds is less about travel and more about crossing a metaphysical boundary. Whether through ter’angreal or hidden doors, the danger seems to come not from power alone, but from misunderstanding the rules that govern these strange realms.

[Caelan Arendor]

4 hours ago, Otis Cook said:

This is a fascinating comparison, and I think you’re touching on something many fantasy readers intuitively feel. Rothfuss’s “fae” and Jordan’s Aelfinn and Eelfinn clearly draw from the same deep mythological roots, where otherworldly beings operate under alien rules that feel logical only in hindsight. I’ve always leaned toward the idea that these realms function as parallel or adjacent dimensions rather than distant physical locations, which helps explain the distortion of time, space, and causality within them. The use of bargains, riddles, and strict but opaque laws reinforces the sense that entering such worlds is less about travel and more about crossing a metaphysical boundary. Whether through ter’angreal or hidden doors, the danger seems to come not from power alone, but from misunderstanding the rules that govern these strange realms.

By the way dear Otis, do you have an inkling on when to epect the third Rothfuss' volume? I read somewhere that he seems to have some serious mental issues, but of course it could be fake news, so I don't want to claim with certainty.

[Kalessin]

RJ succeeded with making the Aelfinn and Eelfinn something other than merely "people in funny suits" which bugs me about the likes of the Dragons of [Autumn/Winter/Spring] trilogy and other series in that wider series, and other fantasy novels. A lot of those sorts of elfin creatures are taken from Tolkien without the writer taking the trouble to find out the behaviour of the elfish/trollish creatures in the myths Tolkien used for his fantasy, which, as I say, they wind up being "people in funny suits". I'm afraid I don't care for "people in funny suits" - once when I was a kid, in the Papua New Guinean bush, and going through some section of the bush that the locals didn't use, I was told by a local who saw me, "Bai masalai i kaikaiim yu!" - the local woodland spirit will eat you! And that guides my reading of everything that involves woodland spirits, house spirits, water spirits, and the like. Of course, Tolkien "baptized" the woodland spirits and made them into "natural Catholics" - it's good that RJ "unbaptized" them, so they are closer to their original style, but the problem I find is that they're "semi-technocrats".

 

I would recommend reading https://www.oocities.org/thslone/masalai.html 

and likewise

https://www.amazon.com/One-Thousand-Papua-Guinean-Nights/dp/0971412715