Illian and the Horn

[Durinax]

Does anyone have any theories on why these two are linked in the legends and such?

[mb]

I recall past threads discussing similar things.

 

Full name of the Horn is Horn of Valere.

Maybe Valere was where Illian is.  (Valere being a person, city, or country; which one, I am not sure.)

 

[Durinax]

I am starting to think that they are linked together because the shadow will push the light back to the south and the Horn shall be sounded and the light will regain territory.

[redisgreat]

The Horn resided in Illian at one time. The fact that there is a Hunt for it seems to imply that the Horn was removed from Illian at some point. We know that Tear and Illian hate each other so it is possible that some of the lords of Tear stole the Horn at some point and hid it, or tired to hide it and it went 'missing'. The fact that it was found in the Blight is kind of weird. Not sure why that happened or why Rand was involved. Mat seems to be the one that is associated with it. Maybe it was he who had it made in the first place in one of his past lived!!

[Majsju]

The Horn resided in Illian at one time. The fact that there is a Hunt for it seems to imply that the Horn was removed from Illian at some point. We know that Tear and Illian hate each other so it is possible that some of the lords of Tear stole the Horn at some point and hid it, or tired to hide it and it went 'missing'. The fact that it was found in the Blight is kind of weird. Not sure why that happened or why Rand was involved. Mat seems to be the one that is associated with it. Maybe it was he who had it made in the first place in one of his past lived!!

 

No, the Horn never resided in Illian. The Breaking was still going on when the Aes Sedai went off to create the EOTW, where they hid the Horn, together with the Dragon banner. Quite some time time before Illian was even started to be built.

 

 

[mb]

Actually, the books do not tell whether the Horn ever resided in Illian or not.

There might have been a chance that the Horn was there and that the place had a different name during that time.

 

[ROB_88]

i recall a past thread about this somewhere around here. don't have the willpower to find it though.

 

IIRC we came to the conclusion that it's purely a cultural thing.

like the rulers of Illian basically said:

 

"hey, we need more tourism. what should we do?"

"we could make an event, how about we call out for a search of this legendary item, and make everyone come here to swear a completely unnesseracy oath first"

[MikeRiley]

That about sums it up. Illian gained significant prestige as the nation that calls the Hunt. It's possible the first hunt started with some local lords seeking glory and the king taking advantage of it to show his power - that he could send men to find such a thing. An announcement like that would draw other like-minded adventurers in flocks.

[mb]

Might have been that the rulers came up with the idea.  Though that would be most probable if there was some kind of significance between the Horn and Illian in the first place; and if that significance was known by the person/people who come up with the idea.

 

[acerbus80]

More than likely it's simply a cultural promotion on Illian's part.  As has been mentioned before, there is a certain amount of prestige in being the nation that seeks to find the artifact that could quite likely save mankind eventually.

 

Just think of what kind of prestige it would bring if the horn were actually found and returned to Illian.

 

Also, Illian and Tear have quite a bit of animosity toward each other.  Tear has the Stone, and until recently, Callandor.  How better to one up your arch rivals than by securing an artifact that can rival Callandor?

[Durinax]

I think it has been alluded too, to many times to just be a marketing ploy, in the next two books I am willing to bet that the horn is taken to illian and either sounded there or a major offensive for the light starts and uses the horn in some way