As Eragon and Saphira travel through Alagaësia, they struggle between the primal desire to exact vengeance on those who harmed their families and the need to practice patience and work to protect all the threatened inhabitants of Alagaësia. Neither of them have reached their full power when their journey begins. Eragon is still a boy, still vulnerable to the pain of having lost his uncle Garrow to the Ra’zac, while Saphira is a newly hatched dragon who has lost much more than an uncle in Galbatorix’s deliberate destruction of the Dragon Riders and their dragons.
Both Eragon and Saphira are marked for death by Galbatorix unless they do the unthinkable and swear fealty to him—the one who killed those they considered family. Neither one of them envisions that as a viable possibility, so both know their lives are in peril until Galbatorix and his ilk are utterly defeated. Eragon still possesses a hopeful nature, much to Saphira’s disgust, which makes him struggle to protect the inhabitants of Alagaësia. Saphira’s more narrow interest in saving the last of her fellow dragons, however, echoes Eragon’s desire to do what they can to counteract Galbatorix’s evils. The question then becomes whether or not they can resist their inner urges for vengeance and blood as well as the external forces of evil that seek to destroy or recruit them. And indeed, when they learn from Oromis in Brisingr that a person’s true name changes as their nature does, it only underscores their vulnerability. Will their desires for vengeance and blood ultimately destroy them or, worse, recruit them to the side of evil? The interdependence is so absolute that they will either do this together, or the weakness of one will bring both of them down.
In their vulnerable position—bereft of family, home, the ability to fully trust others—dragon and Rider must depend upon their combined knowledge, wisdom, cunning, and honor in deciding who to trust and who to support in their quest to reach their full powers and find a way to defeat Galbatorix. This symbiosis is not without obstacles. Eragon finds that Saphira’s distrust makes him keep secrets from his friend and mentor Brom. It is painful for him when he first loses his ability to trust another implicitly, as he was able to do with his uncle, his cousin, and even Brom before Saphira’s egg hatched and her suspicious voice colored his thoughts so that he wonders more about what secrets Brom has kept from him than appreciates what Brom has already revealed. It is bitter comfort to learn, when Brom takes a fatal blow from the Ra’zac in Eragon’s defense and makes the deathbed confession that he too had been a Dragon Rider with a dragon named Saphira—and later in Brisingr when Oromis tells Eragon that Brom was his father—that he was worthy of trust. But Eragon’s hopeful nature is tempered into stronger steel by a touch of Saphira’s cynicism.
Through Saphira’s eyes, Eragon is forced to view everyone he meets through the suspicion that they could mean him harm—that they could, ultimately, betray Eragon and Saphira to Galbatorix. Through Eragon’s eyes, Saphira must become more vulnerable to those who could do her harm, or there is no hope that Eragon can grow strong enough to face Galbatorix. He needs allies to continue. Eragon knows this and Saphira concedes it as well. Brom died before training Eragon fully in magic or in the art of battle, and without training they have no hope of defeating Galbatorix and freeing Alagaësia from his tyranny. But they are caught between the need for help and the recognition that they bring trouble wherever they go, which makes them unwelcome company and a prime target for betrayal. It is only in the company of the Varden, opponents of Galbatorix, that they are relatively safe.
Paolini tests the bond between dragon and boy with a variety of characters representative of the ways evil can turn good intentions into destruction. Most representative of what can happen to Eragon and Saphira if they make the wrong choices is Murtagh. He joins them in fighting off the Ra’zac ambush that kills Brom and becomes a worthy compatriot, but he has a dark secret—he is the son of Morzan. The question for Eragon becomes this: Trust the man who fights at his side and has saved his life, yet has little desire to spare the life of any who is not his friend? Hold a man’s patrimony against him, when no man chooses his own father, or choose to judge him by his own actions? Eragon pulls toward trust and Saphira toward mistrust. But which of those instincts is most likely to lead to their destruction? As Saphira tells Eragon after Murtagh beheads the slaver, “sometimes there are no answers.” And even after their battle, when Murtagh lets Eragon and Saphira escape him, there are still no clear answers. Murtagh is no longer a man to trust. But has he turned completely evil, or can he turn back?
Always, Saphira is on the lookout for the next move that will get them both closer to their goal of capturing and defeating King Galbatorix, even as Eragon struggles to learn as much wisdom and magic as he can. For the most part, Saphira hovers above the action as Eragon struggles for the right balance of trust and cynicism, but she’s always ready to fly to the rescue when needed, and almost always in thought-communication with Eragon, guiding him with her dragon wisdom, warning him when necessary. Her cautious distance from the elves and dwarves and humans that Eragon must depend on in order to learn the skills he needs to survive serves as a reminder that her and Eragon’s combined power makes others, even allies, uneasy. Those who help Eragon may do so in part because they fear that power being used against them.
In Eldest Paolini brings Eragon and Saphira to near their full power individually. Together, yet apart, during their time with the elves, Eragon learns magic and dragon riding and Saphira grows into her full powers as a dragon. Eragon is seen as a leader, a Shadeslayer of renown. Saphira is seen as a hope for the rebirth of Alagaësia under a new, less tyrannical rule that allows dragons and Dragon Riders to resume their quest for justice and peace. Each of them separately is a powerful enemy to have. Together they have yet to fully explore the power of their interdependent strengths. I look forward to seeing what Paolini has in store for Eragon and Saphira. No doubt they will be tested alone and apart. But what new powers will they discover when they work together? Will Eragon’s feelings for Arya cause a rift with Saphira? Or is the bond between them so strong that no human-elf affection can dent it?
There is one more book in the Inheritance Cycle in which Paolini can explore this metaphorical symbiosis of good and evil, right and wrong, as Eragon and Saphira each learn to ease the other’s weaknesses and brace the other’s strengths. I expect there will be a heart-rending moment where Eragon and Saphira must face the death of one or both of them for the greater good of their world. I look forward to seeing how they hold fast to their true names and natures, save their people, and defeat Galbatorix once and for all.
I confess, I would be a Dragon Rider in Paolini’s world if given the chance. He makes it seem like the embodiment of human empowerment—ah, to have a dragon with sharp spines and strong wings to carry me far and wide. Not to mention an ancient wealth of dragon wisdom to temper my impatience and guide me toward my own, less epic, goals. So much better than being a princess and getting rescued by a prince.
Kelly McClymer has been a reader and a writer for as long as she can remember. The world of books offered so much to her growing up that she feels lucky to have given back with her own somewhat twisted imagination-fueled novels. Her list of books for young adults includes Getting to Third Date and the fantasy trilogy The Salem Witch Tryouts, Competition’s a Witch, and She’s a Witch Girl. Her latest effort, Must Love Black, out in the fall of 2008, is what she terms “goth meets gothic on the coast of Maine.”
Eldest ≠ Wisest
SUSAN VAUGHT
It’s (reflected even belief that ageequals wisdom titleEldest), but not always in the There is a wisdom thatis notalways the case as Vaught explains, there is also an experience,but instinctual wisdom than can be drawn upon by the characters in Paolini’s stories. But perhaps more importantly, Vaught notes the discernment Eragon uses in the application of his innate, youthgul wisdom-a discernment that, those around him.
Older and wiser.
Why do these words slide together like an unchangeable equation that always adds up?<
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Where is it written in permanent, glittering magical letters that more years of age must equal more wisdom?
Not in the dictionary, that’s for sure.
In the Oxford English Dictionary wisdom is defined as “Capacity of judging rightly in matters relating to life and conduct.”
American Heritage notes that wisdom is “The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.”
Despite the fact that age does not factor into the proper definition of the concept of wisdom, everyone in this world seems to believe that it does. So do the inhabitants of Christopher Paolini’s Alagaësia. It’s up to a young Rider named Eragon and his even younger dragon Saphira to disrupt this math and save the land of Alagaësia from the evil of King Galbatorix.
This isn’t easy, since most of the beings around them treat them like they’re nothing but ignorant children.
Despite being manipulated, disregarded, and even abused and attacked, both Eragon and Saphira demonstrate deep emotions and an instinctive understanding of the needs of the world and living creatures around them—an understanding that is often far greater than their companions’ or teachers’. It’s as if Alagaësia itself speaks to dragon and Rider, but this reality often goes unnoticed or gets mentioned only in passing as their elders continue to assume age alone makes them wiser. Some of the very decisions and actions that Eragon and Saphira’s elders dismiss or criticize as impulsive and foolish actually reflect this soul-deep wisdom and set the pair apart from everyone else in Eldest.
One of the first and most obvious instances of this innate wisdom is Eragon’s response to the Varden Council of Elders and its sneaky behavior. The Council slyly attempts to convince Eragon to swear fealty to the Varden instead of the Varden’s new chosen leader, Nasuada. Eragon immediately discerns and judges what is true in this situation: If he takes the steps urged by the Varden, he’ll make a puppet ruler out of Nasuada by implying the Council is more powerful than she is. Saphira helps him by using her own wisdom and instincts to determine that Nasuada speaks to them from her heart and that she might make a very good leader. Eragon then judges rightly with respect to his own conduct, circumventing the Council by indeed pledging his loyalty to the Varden but doing so directly to Nasuada herself. When he leaves Nasuada’s company, he’s immediately attacked by Arya, who assumes he’s done something stupid. After he explains his actions and decision, Arya is forced to admit, “Your position is not what I would wish, but better than I had hoped. I was impolite; Saphira . . . and you . . . understand more than I thought.”
Hrothgar, king of the dwarves, is the next being who places Eragon and Saphira in a difficult position with an offer that might or might not be a manipulation. Hrothgar bestows an honor upon Eragon by offering to adopt him and make him a member of the Dûrgrimst Ingeitum. No human has ever received such an offer, and Eragon realizes that the dwarf king has backed him into a corner. Accept and be subject to Hrothgar’s wishes and a binding alliance with the dwarves, or refuse and alienate the absolute ruler of Tronjheim, the city inside Farthen Dûr that shelters almost all the humans who actively resist the rule of Galbatorix.
Eragon once more shows a powerful ability to discern what is right and, in this case, what will be lasting, and he has the insight to accept the dwarf king’s gift. He worries that he might have been hasty, remembering Arya’s anger over his swearing of fealty to Nasuada; however, Nasuada recognizes the wisdom of his decision. “Now once again, all three races have a hold on you. . . . Perhaps it is best that we share your loyalty.”
With these two actions, at first believed to be impulsive but later recognized as intelligent, Eragon and Saphira navigate a treacherous political landscape. Ultimately their choices help keep the peace between humans, dwarves, and elves, and help hold together Alagaësia’s uneasy alliance against Galbatorix. Eragon and Saphira’s decisions, driven by their deep instincts, are in fact wise, though they are not the eldest in these situations and nobody sees the truth of the situations at first. Even Arya acknowledges this after some consideration, admitting, “I think you made the only viable choice.”
The next clear indication of Eragon’s intrinsic wisdom involves both visions of the future and dreams that pull him toward the tutoring of Togira Ikonoka, otherwise known as Oromis, the only other surviving Dragon Rider. After being forced to allow that Eragon’s dreams are in fact instances of prescience, Arya divulges, “Premonitions may be linked to the very nature and fabric of magic.”
Oromis later helps Eragon understand that magic arises from the energy of every living thing in Alagaësia. Thus Eragon’s ability to see the future, even in glimpses, proves that despite his youth he is inherently tied to the land which he is struggling to liberate. It is likely that this profound connection directs what at first might appear to be impulsive or rash decisions. Moreover, these dreams and visions give Eragon mature insights much like those that Saphira derives from her ancestral memories as a dragon. Eragon remains open to the subtle information he receives from his world, wisely refusing to fear it and instead letting it guide him. The energies of the land itself may be the source of Eragon’s insight and his advanced ability to discern or judge what is true, right, and lasting.
Once Eragon and Saphira journey to Ellesméra to continue their training with Oromis and his dragon, they again face dismissive attitudes. Oromis, his teacher, analyzes what he believes are Eragon and Saphira’s many mistakes, stating, “I have never met anyone such as the two of you. Every decision you make seems to have an impact far beyond what anyone could anticipate. You change the world with your whims.” He shows no recognition or understanding of the fact that Eragon’s “whims” tend to prove beneficial to their world and their cause—not to mention Saphira’s. The dragon has used her “whims” to guide Eragon unerringly through the first part of his journey, following the Ra’zac, then going to Gil’ead and the Varden. She knew it was right for Eragon to pledge himself to Nasuada and not the Varden directly. She knew it was right to go to Ellesméra and seek out Oromis himself. It’s beyond obvious that Saphira’s actions are guided by some deep source within her dragon’s heart and some deep, unassailable wisdom in her dragon’s mind that helps her to sense what is right and lasting.
As for Eragon, since he first instinctively called on magical fire to defend himself, each of his “whims” has led the fighting forces of Alagaësia closer to their goal of overthrowing Galbatorix. Yet Oromis still presumes to be wiser, because he is more experienced—because he thinks he can see the long-term outcome of the actions of dragon and Rider.
Oromis and Eragon go on to disagree over the most important tool for a person to possess. Eragon postulates that wisdom and a good heart are the most important qualities a person can possess, but Oromis insists that logic is the one most valuable skill. Eragon points out that logic can lead to conclusions that are ethically wrong. Oromis backtracks somewhat, agreeing that a virtuous nature is important, but he still believes it most important for a person to be able to think clearly.
Yet because Oromis is older, does it naturally follow that Oromis is right about this important point? Eragon initially seems inclined to think so but later remains troubled to the point that his connection to the world deepens and he has another prophetic dream. It is reasonable to assume that this symbolizes Eragon is more connected, more in tune, and perhaps closer to the truth than Oromis is. These questions have no definitive answer as yet, but Eragon’s intuitive wisdom should not be dismissed and ignored so handily.
In the case of Eragon’s sparring partner, Vanir, the overall elven better-than-you attitude extends to derisive and abusive behavior. The first time Eragon and Vanir battle, Vanir easily defeats Eragon because of his superior elven strength and speed. This victory causes Vanir to become arrogant and ultimately dismissive of the younger—and in Vanir’s mind, weaker—human. Vanir insults Eragon and then Saphira’s judgment for choosing Eragon as her Rider. Eragon’s reaction to Vanir’s disrespect fo
r his dragon is immediate. “Eragon ground his teeth. He could stand insults to himself, but not to Saphira.”
Eragon’s next blow is almost fatal, and Vanir blocks it only at the last second. The elf learns in a hurry that the “weaker” human can be both fast and treacherous, yet Vanir still shows no respect. Even though Eragon battles on through the excruciating pain of a back injury inflicted by an evil Shade, Vanir treats Eragon like . . . well, dirt. As a less-than, a nothing. “It sickens me that such gifts are bestowed upon one so unworthy,” the elf tells Eragon after besting him in a contest of magic. “You do not even understand what magic is or how it works.” Vanir believes, as do most, that Eragon is foolish and inept.
The elf—like so many others—does not recognize Eragon’s innate wisdom or the way Eragon is connected to the land and its magic. Saphira rages back against Vanir’s insult, noting, “I wouldn’t have chosen someone to be my Rider unless they could help your race, mine, and the elves, for the three of us share an intertwined fate.”
Despite his many defeats at Vanir’s hands, and no matter the hideous pain he suffers, Eragon persists in his training with the arrogant elf. Eragon even refuses to lose his temper again with his cruel sparring partner. Both of these actions demonstrate deep wisdom—a wisdom far greater than that shown by Vanir. Vanir should know better than to question the judgment of a dragon in choosing her Rider. Also, he should be reaching deep within his own nature to assist the only known Rider fighting for the welfare of Vanir’s race, not attempting to prove him unworthy.
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