Wheel of Time FAQ - Answers to everything WoT

Don't know if anyone has seen this before. 5 to 6 years ago, I use to read it daily.

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

I saw a post about the Mat and Odin connection and remembered this site. Check out section 3, soures of knowledge. It has very detailed information linking the characters and story to all kinds of legends and mythologies. Very interesting stuff and will give you some clues as to what to expect.


I have copied a few references you may not have been aware of below:

Aes Sedai: "Siddhi" is a Sanskrit term which describes the side effects of achieving enlightment through yoga. Among these are invisibility, astral projection, ability to make life-saving medicines, control over the world of spirits and demons, and "the life essence that preserves youth". [Ho-Sheng Hsiao]

Asha'man: Jimmy Sjöberg and others have pointed out that there are many similarities between the Asha'man and the Nazi SS. SS stands for Schutzstaffel (Guardian Group) and was originally created to protect Hitler. Asha'man means Guardians, and one of their functions is (nominally) to protect Rand. Both organizations use black as their color. The leader of the Asha'man is called "M'Hael," which is "leader" in the Old Tongue. The leader of the SS was the "Führer," which is "leader" in German. There were 12 officer and 9 enlisted ranks in the Waffen-SS; of these, 5 officer and 1 enlisted rank(s) contained the two words Sturm (storm) and Führer (e.g. Sturmbannführer, Obersturmführer, Sturmscharführer). This is also seen within the Asha'man in the Tsorovan'm'hael (Gedwyn's title, from [TPOD: 21, Answering the Summons, 407]). Julius T. Thiele observes, "The SS was organised into 12 main departments with the according department heads. Outranking all of these was the Reichsführer SS (in this case Himmler). Reading this, I was put in mind of a constellation consisting of Taim + 12 of his trusted lieutenants, which represents a convenient number for applying the classic 'convert-to-Darkfriend' method." The name itself, "Asha'man" may be a play on "shaman.

Semirhage: Legendary Assyrian queen mentioned by Herodotus, wife and successor to Ninus, mythical founder of Nineveh. Noted for being so excessively lustful and depraved she even legalized incest within her realm. Dante Alighieri puts her in the Second Circle of Hell with those who committed the sin of lust.

Rand and Tyr: Tyr was a Norse god of war and of justice. This is a parallel with Rand bringing strife to Randland, and with his concurrent attempts to rule justly and by the rule of law. (Note: Tyr is not connected to legality as a maker of peace or a bringer to justice, but more as the embodiment of laws as power, of the fight that is fought in court instead on the battlefield. The god of justice in the Norse pantheon is Forsete, of which next to nothing is known. [Karl-Johan Norén]) Tyr's arm was snarfled off by the monstrous wolf Fenrir (Perrin?) when the gods chained him. (The gods thus defeated one of their greatest enemies, at the loss of one of their greatest assets, Tyr's right (fighting) hand.) If this parallel is valid, then this could be evidence that Rand will lose his hand-- RJ said at a signing in Atlanta that he deliberately made Mat like Odin and Rand like Tyr. Furthermore, Tyr offered to put his hand in Fenrir's mouth as an assurance that the chains would be removed. Hence, it was a willing sacrifice. This may be analogous to Rand sacrificing his life or body parts at Tarmon Gai'don (or before). *** This doesn't look like it was updated for book 11 where it was proved true.

Wow, that's pretty interesting. I'm perused the FAQ quite often, but its extrememly extensive and I haven't gotten through all of it. Thanks for the post.