quick question; R.J.'s inspiration.

[athena]

Hi there I don't know if there's somewhere else to post questions like this and if there is just let me know. I know R.J. has used real world cultures and names as inspiration for his books and I was wondering if anyone had any idea where he got Aes Sedai from, I was recently on a website about Celtic deities and such and came across what we now call Fae or Faeries were once considered Tuatha De Danann or Aes Sidhe which means "people of the Sidhe" the Tuatha'an could also have been derived from that formal name the Celts used. There could already be an explanation for where R.J. got his inspiration for Aes Sedai and the Tinkers but when I saw it I couldn't believe the similarities and just had to ask.

[Kadere]

As far as I know, he got the idea for "the power" from the same "dream/vision" he had of the final scene of the books. He then added the idea of women being the only ones to use it because years before he'd read a novel about a woman who wasn't allowed to be taught magic because she was a woman. He then thought it would be interesting to take that idea and then switch the sexes, because he didn't know of any story like that restricting men.

 

I've never heard him say anything about Celtic cultures influencing him, but I don't know. He's a smart guy, who probably knows something about it.

[athena]

Oh, thanks for the info though, I didn't know where he got his inspiration for the "the power"!! I had

read somewhere that he used some of our cultures as a basis for some of the countries and people in Randland so I thought maybe someone had heard how he came up the names of Aes Sedai and the Tuatha'an. I'd like to know what novel he read to get that idea though!!

[Guest Majsju]

Well, he has used quite a few references ti Irish culture when coming up with names, Tuatha De Danann probably the most obvious, but also Bel Tine, Tam al'Thor, Tel'aran'rhiod...So it's not far-stretched to think he got Aes Sedai from the Aes Sidhe.

 

Here's a good collection of various references, if you scroll down almost to the bottom,

 

http://www.darkfriends.net/wheel/0_admin/0.01_intro.html

[athena]

Wow! :D thanks! there was all kinds of good stuff in that link! And it does mention both the Aes Sidhe and the Tuatha De Danann! How cool is that? I'm really into checking out old pagan religions and anything dealing with the Fae or just anything kinda "out there" and I got excited thinking maybe thats where he got those names from! I would really love to just pick his brain but thats never gonna happen. I was pleased to learn that the Illianers are somewhat derived from the Greeks and my being one, that was pretty cool for me! I'll have to re-read the series agian to see what I can pick out to see if I recognize anything!