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Perrin Aybara





DESCRIPTION

Perrin is stocky with the thick arms and shoulders of a blacksmith. He has curly brown hair. His eyes were dark brown, although later in the series they became golden, and he also grows a beard. He is about 6'1" or 6'2" (1,85 to 1,88 m) and about 235 to 240 pounds (106 to 108 kg).


YOUTH

Perrin is a broad-shouldered, shaggy-haired man who was training to be a Blacksmith before being forced to leave Emond's Field with Moiraine Damodred and his friends, Rand Al'Thor and Matrim Cauthon . Unbeknownst to anyone except Moiraine Sedai, all three were '' Ta'veren '', and under the Dark One's eye. Moiraine intended to bring them to the White Tower for safekeeping. Perrin, for his part, was hardly interested in adventure; a methodical, placid man of great strength and equal gentleness, he would have been happy living out his days in the Two Rivers as a blacksmith.


WOLFBROTHER

Unfortunately, the journey went afoul, as most do when the Dark One takes interest, and Perrin and Egwene Al'Vere found themselves separated from their friends. The two were travelling to Caemlyn (or attempting to) when they met a man in the woods named Elyas Machera . Elyas was a Wolfbrother , a man with unusual connections to Wolves . He recognized the latent ability in Perrin as well, and introduced him to a pack of wolves, which included Hopper and Dapple. Perrin's wolf name is Young Bull.

Communicating with the wolves changed Perrin somewhat. The irises of his eyes are now gold; he can see, hear and smell better than any man, even to the point of smelling the emotions people are feeling and is able to see very well in the dark and for long distances. He can communicate in a form of telepathy with other wolves, using them for reconnaissance and occasionally as irregular shock troops in battle. Due to the little known fact that wolves live in the Dreamworld as well as in the real world, he has a natural affinity with '' Tel'aran'rhiod '', the World of Dreams. The number of people whom Perrin has told about the full extent of his abilities can be counted on one hand.

Being a Wolfbrother has its costs, though. While following Rand's trail to Tear with Moiraine, Lan Mandragoran , and the Ogier Loial , he met a man in a small town whose brother was a Wolfbrother. The man had gone feral, losing all touch with his human side; to his own mind, he was, in fact, a wolf. Perrin fears the same fate though he wants to know how Elyas Machera manages to remain in control of himself.


THE HAWK AND THE FALCON

Perrin soon became friends with one of Rand's companions, , who eventually accompanied the party to Tear. Originally known as ''Mandarb'', the Old Tongue word for "blade," she changed her nickname to ''Faile''—"falcon"—when she found out that Lan Mandragoran 's horse was called Mandarb. In Tear he also made acquaintance with Berelain sur Paendrag, the First of Mayene, the latest in a long line of Mayener rulers descended from Artur ''Hawk''wing. Both showed romantic interest in Perrin, and though he did not return Berelain's sentiment, jealousy and possessiveness brought the two women to conflict several times. In the end he chose Zarine. It has been intimated that Zarine (being the eldest surviving child of Davram Bashere) might inherit the throne of Saldaea if her cousin, Tenobia, does not wed before her death. If that were the case, Perrin would have some link to the `Broken Crown'.

Its somewhat clear that Berelain may be the Hawk from Min's vision, since she is descended from Artur Hawkwing. She seems to leash him to her with rumors and suspicions among his followers during Faile's captivity among the Shaido


LORD OF THE TWO RIVERS

After Rand, Perrin's childhood friend, conquered the Stone of Tear and was declared the Dragon Reborn, Perrin heard rumours that The Children Of The Light had been terrorizing the Two Rivers . They were actually trying to get Rand to return, but Perrin did it instead, bringing Loial, Faile and their Aiel friends Gaul, Bain and Chiad. After a harrowing passage through the Ways, they arrived at Emond's Field to find Perrin's family dead, and not only Whitecloaks but Trolloc s in the area. While the Two Rivers folk waffled, Perrin took charge, not because he wanted to ''be'' in charge but because he knew what to do. He united the Two Rivers region and repelled both forces. During the campaign, however, the Two Rivers unanimously accepted him as their new lord and ruler; this, combined with his yellow eyes, has led to them styling him Lord Perrin Goldeneyes of the Two Rivers. Perrin, a blacksmith at heart, thought it madness. He was much more pleased when Faile agreed to marry him. After spending '' The Fires Of Heaven '' on his honeymoon (he was not present in that book's narrative at all, the first but not the last time a main character would disappear so), he raised an army and led them to Cairhien to help Rand, taking part in the battle of Dumai's Wells.


THE PROPHET OF THE DRAGON

Rand, always in need of trustworthy commanders, sent Perrin, Faile, the Two Rivers army, Berelain, her Mayeners, some Aiel Wise Ones, oathsworn Aes Sedai , and two Asha'man , to Ghealdan. There a man named Masema Dagar, the so-called Prophet of the Dragon, was causing all sorts of trouble. Perrin's orders were to find Masema (all three were old pals from The Great Hunt ) and bring him to heel. Tempers flared immediately, not the least between Faile and Berelain.

It should be mentioned, The Prophet has gone completely mad, unlike the asha`man who would appear obviously demented Masema radiates a madness to the wolfbrothers and often seems to show signs of noticeable madness when in stress, or talking about The Lord Dragon.

The task was harder than expected: Masema promised to bring a couple hundred, but brought the whole army along with him instead, and refused the use of a gateway, which would have reduced the months-long journey to an hour or two. Even worse, Perrin's forces were attacked by the Shaido , and Faile taken captive along with several of her guests and retainers (including Queen Alliandre of Ghealdan and, unbeknownst to almost everyone, Morgase Trakand Former-Queen of Andor ). Perrin abandoned his task in order to rescue her, eventually joining forces with the Seanchan during '' Knife Of Dreams ''. In the process, he totally dissolved the Shaido threat, and won the respect of the Seanchan, who now call him the Wolf King. He has reunited with his wife, but with '' A Memory Of Light '' and '' Tarmon Gai'don '' looming, it is questionable how long the two will have in each other's company.


THE AXE AND THE HAMMER

The night Perrin left the Two Rivers, he received his signature weapon from his blacksmith master: a moon-bladed hand Axe , crafted on contract but never sold. Perrin has acquainted himself well with it, using muscles accustomed to swinging ten pounds of steel. In Tear, however, just before Rand took the Stone, Perrin stopped for an unplanned night's work at a Tairen forge, and in payment (and gratitude) the blacksmith gave him the Hammer he had used. These signature implements perfectly encapsulate Perrin Aybara, a simple man forced to become a war leader.

Perrin prefers the hammer; he prefers the creative, constructive aspects of blacksmithing, and hates the axe's capacity for bloodshed. Not long after meeting Elyas Machera, he asked if he should throw the axe away, but Elyas told him only to do so once he found himself enjoying its use. Perrin eventually discarded it, just before meeting with the Seanchan, renouncing his responsibilities as Lord Goldeneyes to rescue his wife as Perrin Aybara. Ironically, he now uses his ''hammer'' as an implement of violence on the battlefield.

Hammer and axe are both associated with Perrin's Norse god counterpart, Thor (cf. Thor's axe-hammer Mjolnir ) - just as Mat Cauthon is Jordan's Odin , and Rand al'Thor is Tyr . Thor is the god of thunder, of agriculture, of farmers and common folk. Tyr deals in justice and absolutes; Thor is more concerned with fairness, with moral right and wrong, echoing the not-infrequent conflicts between Rand and Perrin. That said, while comparisons between Perrin and Thor are obvious and appropriate, Perrin's connection with Perun is even stronger. No doubt Robert Jordan drew on both.


PERUN REFERENCES


  • Perun is associated with weapons of stone and metal. Perrin is a blacksmith.

  • Perun was often accompanied by wolves, and sometimes sent them to do battle for him. Perrin can speak to wolves, and has asked them to join him in battle.

  • Perun was a god for the common man. Perrin, a common man if ever there was one, became a leader and lord only because his people made him one.

  • Perun's weapons were the axe, the hammer, and the arrow. Perrin's weapon is his half-moon axe, he also uses a hammer, that he gets from working for a blacksmith in Tear and, like most people in the Two Rivers, he is skilled with a longbow.

  • Perun is associated with the bellow of the bull. Perrin's wolf name is Young Bull.

  • Perun's name, in Christianized versions of the slavic mythology, is usually replaced with St. Elias. Elyas Machera, like Perrin, can speak with wolves.

  • Perun's eye was the sun. Perrin's eyes, like the sun, are yellow.




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