Rand's hair is...

[The_Hallam]

...straight or curly?

 

In almost every drawing/painting I see it's depicted as straight, but in a recent WH reread it said his hair was curly. I don't think he had time for a perm. Has it always been like this?

[White_star]

Yes, most pictures/drawings of him do not get his hair right (among other things).  He is suppose to have unruly hair, and it is suppose to be slightly curly especially around the ears and at the neck.  It is also suppose to be slicked back since he runs his hand(s) through it so much.

 

I'm sorry I don't have exact quotes handy to back this up, but this is what I've gathered from the descriptions I have read. :)

[The_Hallam]

Here's the one I mentioned. From WH, Ch 12:

 

"Sighing, Rand leaned against a corner of the table and raked gloved fingers through the dark, reddish curls that hung to his neck."

[Guest Dreadlord]

If anyone else saw Eastenders when Shaun Slater was going crazy and whatnot he reminded me of Rand a hell of a lot at that point. His hair wasnt curly but Ive never pictured it like that, but everything-his height, build, mannerisms, fit Rand. But Shaun even went through a phase of paranoia, thinking he would go loopy like his mum. The actor even pulled off the looking dangerous while being stood still thing

[The_Hallam]

If anyone else saw Eastenders when Shaun Slater was going crazy and whatnot he reminded me of Rand a hell of a lot at that point.

 

I know I didn't, but now I've got that theme song stuck in my head. I had to look this Slater guy up, and I see exactly what you mean. He does look a lot like how many people picture Rand.

 

His hair wasnt curly but Ive never pictured it like that,

 

This was kind of my point. It's interesting that most readers have internally morphed Rand into a generic "everyman" in terms of looks. If we weren't regularly reminded that Rand has Aiel blood and red hair, I wouldn't be surprised to see artists painting his hair blonde.

[sleddog116]

I kind of had the same thought about Perrin - The books say he had curly hair (and I might be wrong there, so someone correct me), but I had always thought of him as having straight hair.

[Kaznen]

Could be Rand's hair starts to curl when it get a certain length.

 

Mine does.

[triadruid]

Yeah, most of the times they talk about Rand's hair being curly it's damp with sweat/rain, or it's curling at the nape of the neck because he hasn't cut it (actually does anyone EVER get their hair cut in the series??).

 

Perrin's whole head of hair is curly. I actually have no idea about Mat, without a reread.

[pxnsolid]

Aside from the point that its unruly, and curls around his neck and ears, he also in one of his PoV's wonders how women make their hair curly, while thinking of Min. That leads me to believe that his isnt curly per say, but mine lso does this as it gets long enough.

[sleddog116]

Could be Rand's hair starts to curl when it get a certain length.

 

Mine does.

 

Same here.

[Jambo]

Sweating also tends to curl your hair and, especially during the 'middle' books there seems to be a lot of talk about the heat and sweating.

[ksbsnowowl]

My hair was always straight, until I grew it out.  Now it gets wavy as it gets longer.  The hairs at the nape of my neck get really curly in humidity or when I sweat.  I imagine Rand's hair is much the same.

 

Also, is it just me or has Rand's hair grown longer through the series?

[The_Hallam]

Could be Rand's hair starts to curl when it get a certain length. Mine does.

 

So you're saying his whole head of hair might start to curl at a certain length, or the ends start to curl when the hair reaches a certain length? I'm guessing you meant the latter?

 

Again from WH, Ch 12:

"Sighing, Rand leaned against a corner of the table and raked gloved fingers through the dark, reddish curls that hung to his neck."

 

He's raking his hand through his curls, curls that hang to (and not just at) his neck. This quote would suggest that his hair is curly all the way through.

 

Curly hair is different to wavy hair.

[Kaznen]

When my hair starts to curl it takes part of the uncurled strand with it.  I get the feeling that Rand doesn't spend much time grooming these days, except for a shave and brushing the teeth.  But I don't think he has been getting his hair cut and properly brushing it.

 

That's propally how it's getting curled, it's all tangled.

[The_Hallam]

It's sweaty, it's tangled, it curls at a certain length... while these explanations seem to make sense on the surface, it's difficult to infer such information about a world that has been filtered through an author. For example, the last thing that anybody would think reading the passage that I partially quoted from WH would be, "Wow, Rand's hair must be really sweaty, tangled, a certain length, etc." or "Jeez, dude's so busy he doesn't even have time to cut/brush his hair... it's gone all curly!" It's even less likely that Jordan (RIP) when he wrote it intended for us to react that way when we read it.

 

The explanation need not be so complicated: Rand's hair is not straight, it's curly. Again, it's interesting that so many people want to try and keep it as straight as possible! :D

 

Saying that, there is one way out of this for all you curly-hair deniers, and that's to look to the big man himself. RJ's own hair wasn't exactly straight. Judging solely from the photos I've seen, I wouldn't call it curly at all, but perhaps he might have. It also seemed to have bunched up slightly around his ears.

 

If RJ gave Rand his own hair, I may be willing to concede defeat ;) In the meantime, let's all look out for quotes about Rand's hair. Woo!