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READER’S WIKI
NB! The wiki may contain spoilers – you have been warned. 😘
GAIDIN
Wheel of Time: Gaidin is the Old Tongue word for a warder. The bonded “body guard” of an Aes Sedai. The Gaidin are traditionally male, and they are easily recognised because of the distinctive cloaks they wear. Made of fancloth, they appear to be shifting in colour and help disguise the wearer by making their movements seem more diffuse.
GENTLE/GENTLING
Wheel of Time: Gentling is the masculine form of severing. Cutting a channeler off from their access to the One Power. (It’s called stilling in a woman.) Channelers who wield more power than they can handle may also “burn out,” which has the same effect. No more magic.
To be severed from the source of the One Power is the ultimate punishment. It is done to all male channelers to prevent them from succumbing to insanity, and to female channelers who have have broken some fundamental White Tower law.
Channelers who are severed rarely survive. They can still feel the Power, but they are unable to touch or wield it. This brings on depression and, unless they can find a reason to live, they slowly waste away.
GITARA MOROSO
Wheel of Time: Gitara Moroso was an Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah. She had been the advisor of Queen Mordrellen Mantear of Andor; and she was the Keeper of Chronicles under Tamra Ospenva.
Gitara foretold that the Dragon would be reborn on the slopes of the Dragonmount during the last days of the Aiel War. At the time of her foretelling, she was 306 years old and the oldest living Aes Sedai. She died after she had fortold the coming of the Dragon.
GLEEMAN
Wheel of Time: A gleeman is the common folk’s bard. A travelling (normally) entertainer who perform in villages, at taverns, in towns and at inns etc. Wherever there are willing eyes and ears and freely given coins.
To be a gleeman, you have to be an excellent storyteller and have some talent in music, acrobatics etc so you can entertain all types of people all night long.
Gleemen are easily identified as they wear a cloak made of colourful patches and tend to lug around an instrument or two. They are welcome (or at least tolerated) everywhere, and they are one of the only three groups of people the Aiel will allow to cross the Spine of the World.
GRAND ALLIANCE, GREAT COALITION
Wheel of Time: The Great Coalition, or Grand Alliance, is the name for the allied Westland armies that fought in the Aiel War. They consisted of troupes from ten of the fourteen kingdoms.
The Aliance had 170,000 troops against the Aiel’s 80,000 but they still suffered heavy losses before the Aiel retreated after two year’s of constant warfare. After the “victory,” the coalition fell apart as the kingdoms couldn’t keep the peace among themselves.
GREAT SERPENT (RING)
Wheel of Time: The Great Serpent is an ouroboros, a snake or a serpent/dragon that swallows its own tail. It’s an ancient infinity symbol, a reminder of the never-ending wheel of time.
Aes Sedai wear a golden Great Serpent ring (unless they’ve chosen to hide it for some reason) and the shawl of their Ajah. Accepted wear the ring on the left hand’s middle finger.
THE READER’S WIKI is a slowly growing collection of glossary/wiki entries where I collect terms from the titles I delve into.
NB! The wiki may contain spoilers – you have been warned. =)
I try to list all the (potentially) new terms as I write my blog posts and link to the wiki page where they are explained. Linked words are always this colour and underscored.
Let me know if the word/concept you’re looking for isn’t there and I’ll try to add it as soon as I can.
