Prophecies of the Dragon

[trakand_01]

What are the Prophecies of the Dragon; can anyone list them? I leant my copy of the BWB to a friend and so cant look to it for reference.

[Majsju]

Not including KOD

 

http://www.darkfriends.net/wheel/4_prophecy/4.5_karaethon.html

[RobertAlexWillis]

As far as I know, there is no actual "list".

 

When a character says "Prophecies of the Dragon", they're usually referring to the Kraethon Cycle.  We only get snippets of it.

 

Among other prophecies that deal with Rand al'Thor (although not always as "the Dragon") are the Jendai Prophecy and the Prophecy of Rhuidean.

 

This site has a "Prophecies, Visions, Dreams, and Foretellings" page that references alot of them, in the books.

 

www.encyclopaedia-wot.org

[trakand_01]

Great, thanks!

[Luckers]

Hey Trakand.

 

Before I respons, i just want to say I got your PM, but for some reason I can't respond to you. I'm not being rude :). And the answer the that question is Thirteen, and I thank you for the compliment (but in truth its coz we're nerds).

 

Ok. On topic. These are from my notes, and may not be perfect.

 

Firstly we have the obvious ones, that have been fulfilled bluntly.

 

1. That the Dragon shall be born on Dragonmount to a maiden wedded to no man.

2. That the Stone shall not fall until the Dragon holds the sword that cannot be touched.

3. That the Stone shall not fall until the People of the Dragon come to the Stone of Tear.

 

Power of the Shadow made human flesh,

wakened to turmoil, strife and ruin.

The Reborn One, marked and bleeding,

dances the sword in dreams and mist,

chains the Shadowsworn to his will,

from the city, lost and forsaken,

leads the spears to war once more,

breaks the spears and makes them see,

truth long hidden in the ancient dream.

 

 

Power of Shadow made human flesh = Asmodean.

 

The Reborn One, marked and bleeding, dances the sword in dreams and mist = Rand, marked with the dragons, uses a power wrought sword to fight the dust demons created by the bubble of evil in Rhuidean.

 

chains the Shadowsworn to his will = the binding of Asmodean.

 

from the city, lost and forsaken, leads the spears to war once more, breaks the spears and makes them see, truth long hidden in the ancient dream. = Rand leads the Aiel from Rhuidean, the city lost and forsaken. He tells them of the Way of the Leaf--the truth long hidden that breaks them when they see it.

 

Into the heart he thrusts his sword,

into the heart, to hold their hearts.

Who draws it out shall follow after,

What hand can grasp that fearful blade?

 

Callandor and Narishma. Though what 'follow after' implies is anyones guess.

 

Then we have more detailed prophecies. Firstly, the ones we can interpret.

 

Five ride forth, and four return. Above the watchers shall he proclaim himself, bannered cross the sky in fire

 

This refers to Toman Head. The five are Perrin, Rand, Mat, Hurin and Ingtar. Ingtar dies, thus four return, and the banner in the sky with fire is obvious.

 

Twice and twice shall he be marked, twice to live, and twice to die,

Once the heron to set his path. Twice the heron, to name him true.

Once the Dragon for remembrance lost. Twice the Dragon for the price he must pay

 

1. Heron one, done by Ishamael.

2. Heron two, a result of Ishamael burning his sword.

3. Both dragons gained from Rhuidean.

 

As to their meaning, its faily generic. The interaction with Ishamael certainly played a part in him accepting his path as the dragon, the second heron is clear--the display in the sky named him the dragon. The first dragon for rememberence is the rememberence of the Aiel history, and the second dragon... too generic. Rand pays lots of prices. My best guess is that it refers to him hardening himself, but yeah....

 

Moiraine cites prophecies to Perrin.

 

What does it mean that he shall 'slay his people with the sword of peace, and destroy them with the leaf'?

 

He reminds the Aiel, his people, of their peaceful ways under the Way of the Leaf, and thus hurts them deeply with the knowledge of their betrayal of the Way.

 

What does it mean that he shall bind the nine moons to serve him?

 

The nine moons is the symbol of the imperial Seanchan court. It seems clear the relevance.

 

The unstained tower breaks and bends knee to the forgotten sign.

 

The nine Aes Sedai kneeling at Dumai's Wells following the schism in the White Tower.

 

The north shall he tie to the east, and the west shall be bound to the south.

 

Rand shall hold the east and north, the Seanchan shall hold the south and west.

(note: the continuence beyond this gained from the answers the finn gave rand imply that these two groups would join in alliance thus making all groups one.)

 

Finally the more esoteric ones.

 

And it shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered, and the Shadow shall lie across the Pattern of the Age, and the DO shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man. Women shall weep and men quail as the nations of the earth are rent like rotting cloth. Neither shall anything stand nor abide...

Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow...and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people, and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation.

 

Mmm. Detailed. Bleh, the point is obvious.

 

Twice dawns the day when his blood is shed.

Once for mourning, once for birth.

Red on black, the Dragon's blood stains the rock of Shayol Ghul.

In the Pit of Doom shall his blood free men from the Shadow.

 

This ones a point of series contention. How does a day dawn twice? An eclipse? Balefire does not answer it, it doesn' turn back time so that events happen anew, it simply removes and event and progresses forward. And what is the signifigance of these dawns being for mourning and birth?

 

And the Dragon's blood... does that literally mean Rands blood, or could it refer to his children, or maybe the Aiel?

 

And his paths shall be many, and who shall know his name, for he shall be born among us many times, in many guises, as he has been and ever will be, time without end. His coming shall be like the sharp edge of the plow, turning our lives in furrows from out of the places where we lie in our silence. The breaker of bonds; the forger of chains. The maker of futures; the unshaper of destiny.

 

Bleh. Could fit any of a hundred things, or indeed all of them.

 

He has yet to break the nations, or shatter the world....

 

Yeah, he's already doing this. I would point out the significance of the connection to the social breakdown with the shattering of the the world. Must he break the planet to fulfil the prophecies about him breaking the world once more?

 

What chains has he broken, and who put into chains?

 

Fits alot, though the second is probably Asmodean. Maybe Semirhage.

 

Beyond the horizon, hidden fires swell, and serpents nestle in the bosom. What was exalted is cast down; what was cast down is raised up. Order burns to clear his path.

 

Fairly generic, but possibly refering to Taim given that it is state in LoC.

 

There can be no health in us, nor any good thing grow, for the land is one with the Dragon Reborn, and he one with the land. Soul of fire, heart of stone, in pride he conquers, forcing the proud to yield. He calls upon the mountains to kneel, and the seas to give way, and the very skies to bow. Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears, and the soul of fire, love.

 

Generic, and referring to Rand's ncreasing isolation and emotional crippling.

 

Master of the lightnings, rider on the storm, wearer of a crown of swords, spinner-out of fate. Who thinks he turns the Wheel of Time, may learn the truth too late.

 

Bleh.

 

The seals that hold back night shall weaken

And in the heart of winter shall winter's heart be born

Amid the wailing of lamentations and the gnashing of teeth,

For winter's heart shall ride a black horse,

And the name of it is Death.

 

Scary, especcially since is probably refers to Rand.

 

And it shall come to pass, in the days when the Dark Hunt rides, when the right hand falters and the left hand strays, that mankind shall come to the Crossroads of Twilight and all that is, all that was, and all that will be shall balance on the point of a sword, while the winds of the Shadow grow.

 

Dark Hunt = Darkhounds?

 

Right and Left hands strike me as references to Mat and Perrin, which at that time were straying and faltering--Mat was straying with his divergence from Elayne and the stated plan, Perrin was faltering because of Faile).

 

It seems unlikely that it means Aran'gar and Osen'gar... neither faltered or strayed, and that has not implication on the Light.

 

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.

 

Mat, his luck, and his interaction with Tuon/the Seanchan.

 

When the Wolf King carries the hammer, thus are the final days known. When the fox marries the raven and the trumpets of battle are blown.

 

Perrins final choice of the hammer, and Mat's marriage to Tuon both mark the beginning of Tarmon Gai'don.