The many ethnicities of Randland

[ksbsnowowl]

In the series RJ uses several phrases to distinctly refer to the ethnic look and coloration of many of the national ethnicities in his world.  Some of them are easy to visualize, such as a "short, pale Cairhienin," but others, such as the olive skin of Ebou Dar are more difficult for me to really fix in my head with any certainty.

 

I thought it might make a fun thread to have people post pictures of how they visualize the "look" of these ethnicities.

 

Here is a list of some of them:

 

Andorans:  A rather mixed lot, depending on where in Andor you look.  Many do seem to have strawberry-blonde hair though.

Aiel:  Red or pale hair with sun-darkened tans on exposed flesh (nearly impossible to find a picture of this in today's world).

Cairhienin:  Short and pale, with dark hair.

Ebou Dari:  Olive skinned.  I imagine this to be like very light-skinned african americans; sort of a mulatto (sp) skin coloring.

Domani:  Their women are sultry, but I never could pin down a look for them.  Are they also described as olive-skinned? I can't recall.

Saldeans:  Short, compact, high cheekbones, and usually dark of hair, though there are exceptions (Sheriam, for one).

Tairens:  Juilin is always described as "dark."  Given the spainish influences on their dress, it might be reasonable to assume that Tairens have a spanish or hispanic look to them.

Athan Miere: Very dark skin, but with straight black hair.  Not ever described as having "African" facial characteristics (for lack of a better way to describe it).  I imagine they most closely resemble someone from India with a very dark complexion.

Illianers:  Seem to run the gamut, much like Andorans.

Murandians:  Dark of hair, squat. I always pictured the men as having dark stubble.

Seanchan:  They seem to be a wide variety of ethnicities, from dark skin to pale blondes with blue eyes.  Initially a lot of people assumed they were Oriental in look, though I'm not sure this was ever actually stated in The Great Hunt or not.

Kandor, Arafel, Shienar:  Nothing really distinct other than hairstyles.  I've seen blondes and brunettes from most of the borderlands, IIRC.

 

Anyway, it will be interesting to see some pictures of how everyone else pictures some of these ethnicities.

[SonjaG]

Well I have to say that I had quite different idea about what people look like.

 

Andorans: I think that the people from Two Rivers look almost hispanic, while majority of Andorans being North-European looking but this is just my image of them. Two Rivers people are described as quite dark which is why I think that they are hispanic looking. Also there has to be rather large minority of African looking people in Andor since no one suspected anything about Rahvin.

 

Aiel: I actually have the same image about aiel as you do.

 

Cairhienin: They are also quite North-European to me.

 

Altarans(assuming they all look like Ebou Dari): Olive skin actually means hispanic like colors more than "pale-African".

 

Domani: I always imagine them as coming from India. The dark skin and "exotic" clothes the women wear kind of remind me of India(I know they actually wear dresses but I still kind of imagine them other ways).

 

Saldaeans: They are to me Middle-Eastern with large noses and slanted eyes.

 

Tairens: I think that majority of nobles being spanish while most of commoners(?) being chinese or african. I have always thought Siuan being asian looking because of her name and in the books dark=african often.

 

Athan Miere: I have always thought of them as african looking because they are dark and come from south.

 

Illianers: I have for some reason always thought of them as coming from Greece. And I don't even know why.

 

Murandians: I think that they are Germans for some odd reason.

 

Seanchans: I also think that if human can be of some color you are likely to find all colors from Seanchan citizens.

 

Kandor, Arafel, Shienar: I think that majority of them are North-European looking but that some also look like Asian.

 

 

 

[trakand_01]

Andorans: North European (excluding scandinavia). Varying hair colours but generally dark blonde and darker. Caucasian in general. Re' Rahvin, I think it was probably accepted that he was a southerner or some such. Unless there was a thread which pointed him out as supposedly Andoran?

 

Aiel: Like the Celts and Vikings. We blonde/red-haired Brits are all descended from them.

 

Cairheinin: Were based on the French, were they not? So pale complexions, dark hair. Quite stark-looking. Think 15th Century like Anne Boleyn and others of her era(who attended school and court in France).

 

Altarans(assuming they all look like Ebou Dari): I agree, Olive skin is not uncommon in the UK. Italians, Greeks and some spaniards all have this skintone along with a good many turks and paler-skinned members of the western-asian countries.

 

Domani: Again, olive-skinned. Italian belly dancers have always come to mind when I think of Domani.

 

Saldaeans: Look almost Vietnamese.

 

Tairens: I dont remember Siuan being dark in skintone, just hair colour?? (although in my mind she is blonde - don't ask). I imagine a mixture of southern spanish and moroccan/egyptian looking. Juilin certainly has the moroccan edge to him, in my mind. Dark, but not stereotypical 'african'.

 

Athan Miere: Black-skinned and tattoo-ed. Moorish looking in my mind. Not african in the sense of Tanzanian or Kenyan, but perhaps more western-african (although the Moors were north-eastern african).

 

Illianers: Bayle Domon is Captain Birdseye in my head. For the rest of them, I dont think I've ever really associated them with a particular nation. Although the manner of speech is almost certainly based on Welsh.

 

Murandians: Turkish to me.

 

Seanchans: I struggle with this, because Tuon is black, whilst Selucia is white/blonde haired. I imagine them to be a nation such as the UK who has historically had such a high level of immigration that there is no strong stereotypical example of a Seanchan.

 

Kandor, Arafel, Shienar: I agree with the Asian thing - I imagine Shienarans to look arabian, kandoris to look perhaps almost indian/pakistani/bangladeshi.

 

Great thread!

 

[Hybrid]

Andorans: North European

Aiel: Not really sure, actually.  It's hard to picture that coloring in a desert environment--always messes me up.

Cairhienin: Yep, I'm thinking French.

Altarans: I'm not sure, but I'm thinking Italian or Greece (Mediterranean)

Domani: Middle Eastern maybe?  Not sure.

Saldaeans: Mongols.  The mid-Asia ethnicity which drew from gene pools to the east and the west.  So you get the slanted eyes and large noses, but not a full Asian look.

Tairens: Southern Spanish, which is what they were based on.  Maybe a bit of North Africa as well.

Atha'an Miere: Caribbean, maybe (Not Native American Caribbean, but African Caribbean)

Illianers: Not so sure.  I don't really remember the description that well.

Murandians: West Asian, so Turkish I guess.

Seanchan: Mixed ethnicity.  Seanchan is an entire continent, so you get the dark-skinned like Tuon and the light skinned like Selucia. 

Other Borderlands: Various Asian/Indian/Middle Eastern I think.

Shara: African for sure.

[Kaznen]

Andorans-British, period.  Look at the people who lived on Great Britain during the middle ages and you'll get the Andorans.

 

Aiel- Though they don't talk like 'em, I would say Tall Irish or Germans with a tan.  Remember they are quite pale underneath their cloths.  And naked Aiel do get sunburned.

[mb]

The following link I think could be a good reference on this subject.

 

http://linuxmafia.com/jordan/3_sources/3.14_countries.html

 

[ksbsnowowl]

Also there has to be rather large minority of African looking people in Andor since no one suspected anything about Rahvin.

All it ever says of Rahvin is that he is "darkly handsome."  "Darkly" is relative.  Someone like a Tairen is dark compared to an Andoran.  I never understood how people equated that with an african complexion.  Note how Tuon is compared to the complexion of the sea folk. Rahvin never was.

 

I think this is an excellent representation of Rahvin:

http://bp0.blogger.com/_4Cwvvts0d_k/R5P8SIWz9VI/AAAAAAAAAWc/JE9qWBfwGl4/s1600-h/rahvin.jpg

 

 

[Snowy Dawn]

The Domani women are always described as ``copper-skinned''. To me, this means that they look like American Indian women, tho' possibly Aztec, or points south rather than Canada or the US. But as noted in the FAQ, their food, and eating utensils are oriental, and there are clear allusions to Iran according to the FAQ. The women of Arad Doman also seem to be more important in their society than women would have been in Iran in the middle ages.

[DemandredFO]

SonjaG, maybe you were thinking of Illiam or the Illiad.

[Mr Ares]

Aiel - I would say Tall Irish or Germans.

I think RJ once said the Aiel were based on the Irish (racially, rather than culturally).

[Triggy]

I agree with trakand_01 for the most part apart from the Seanchan. To me, the combination of mixed ethnicity and the pattern of speech really reminds me of the USA and southern USA at that. Their origins are similar too with mass migration, cultural mixing but relative isolation from the rest of the world for a number of years.

[Charlz Guybon]

Seanchan is a continent larger than the the Westlands (which itself is quite large), it's not surprising they're populated by a myriad of different ethnic groups.

[trakand_01]

Seanchan is a continent larger than the the Westlands (which itself is quite large), it's not surprising they're populated by a myriad of different ethnic groups.

 

Not at all - the UK's only a fraction of the size and we're stuffed to bursting with all manner of nationalities.

 

Also there has to be rather large minority of African looking people in Andor since no one suspected anything about Rahvin.

All it ever says of Rahvin is that he is "darkly handsome."  "Darkly" is relative.  Someone like a Tairen is dark compared to an Andoran.  I never understood how people equated that with an african complexion.  Note how Tuon is compared to the complexion of the sea folk. Rahvin never was.

 

I think this is an excellent representation of Rahvin:

http://bp0.blogger.com/_4Cwvvts0d_k/R5P8SIWz9VI/AAAAAAAAAWc/JE9qWBfwGl4/s1600-h/rahvin.jpg

 

 

 

Even in that picture, he's at least mixed-race/asian in colouring. The more I look at it, the more he looks indian/sri lankan to me. Perhaps RAND AL'THOR can offer his judgement, as I believe he is Sri Lankan himself.

[Jordo]

This has always been one of my favorite parts of the books. I've been a long time reader, but I just made an account to post on this, lol,

What I understood from the cultures in WoT, is that after the breaking, the survivors picked up the pieces to start civilization again. I think the survivors inter-mingled their societies to make new ones. 

 

Aiel for example, part of Africa thrown in for their environment (Intense heat/drought, lions) part Indian for their tents (teepees) and spears, part Japanese from "bushido" or "way of the warrior". which reminds me of Jie' toh. (sp?), a little scottish for the red hair, lol.

 

Again, this is just some of my interpretation.

Here's a few more:

 

 

Shienar: Japan for the Samurai style of armor, Roman for the public baths, maybe some architecture? Havent read about them in a while, my memory is a little hazy.

 

Saldea: Mongols, as someone else mentioned on this thread.

High cheek bones, slanted eyes, masters at breeding horses.

 

Andor has always been England to me. Partly because there is actually an Andor in England.

 

Two Rivers is a nearby european country. The books say that the Two Rivers is under Andor rule,

so I always figured kinda of a wales or Irish community. After all, Bel-tine is a pagan Irish practice.

 

Just a few of them, but I've always like the mixed cultures in WoT.

 

Has anyone else noticed combinations?

 

 

 

 

 

[JB Sedai]

I've always imagined the Aiel to look like Australians.

It's quite a harsh climate down there, and the (mostly) British folk who live there aren't adapted to the heat.

A few people have said that the Aiel look Irish.  For an Irishman with an almost sunburned tan, look at an Australian farmer.

[Guest The Thin Inn Keeper]

Seanchan is a continent larger than the the Westlands (which itself is quite large), it's not surprising they're populated by a myriad of different ethnic groups.

 

Not at all - the UK's only a fraction of the size and we're stuffed to bursting with all manner of nationalities.

Especially when you remember that Randland has been around for a long time and is the remains of a far more advanced society than we live in today.

 

Presumably they experienced globalization, the movement of people as a result of war, famine, job seeking, immigration, etc., etc., just like us.

 

Of course, things then settle down, but the people would probably remain insitu.

 

Ref. The immigration into the UK after WW2. The majority of Pakistani and Indian immigrants were encouraged to come by the UK government at the time, and they're still there to this day.

 

Who's to say that this kind of thing didn't happen in the AoL or before?

 

As a result, you can pretty much find any color or creed anywhere in the world.