In the manner of the Haruchai

[wayfriend]

"It speaks in the manner of the Haruchai." Faint lines of perplexity marked the space between Call's brows. "Its speech is alien — yet comprehensible."

"It says that it has rent the Raver. It does not say slain. The word is 'to rend.' The Raver has been rent. And the shreds of its being Nom has consumed." With an effort, Cail smoothed the frown from his forehead. "Thus has the Sandgorgon gained the capacity for such speech."

It suddenly struck me to be more curious about this passage.

Nom consumes a Raver. This, I infer, grants to Nom some of the abilities of the Raver so consumed. This idea appears to be confirmed in the Final Chronicles. (And there have been discussions about this as a common theme in the Final Chronicles. For example, the Harrow wanted to consume Linden.)

If Nom was bestial, a being for whom the idea of communication is alien, then absorbing Raver abilities might grant Nom the basic ability to communicate - to speak and to listen, to convey meaning and to understand, to use language. Basically, this is what I have always believed, until looking at things more closely.

This may not be the case. Nom certainly recognizes his name. And he seems to have understood what Covenant was saying in the dungeon of the Sandhold. And he certainly understood what Covenant wanted before the gates of Revelstone. In some manner, Nom can communicate, even if it's not an activity he is prone to.

But then there is another matter. Nom doesn't just speak, he speaks in the manner of the Haruchai.

Mental speech. The mind-to-mind communication of the Haruchai, which is more than just talking, it is a sharing of thoughts and memories that allows the Haruchai to never forget anything that any one of them has done.

Is this what Nom gained? Not the capacity for speech, but "the capacity for such speech"?

Did a Raver have that capacity? Ravers know how to speak in the manner of the Haruchai?

All clues seem to point in that direction. Donaldson chooses his words carefully.

I wonder what the implications of this are.

[Orlion]

If that is so, it could be that the Sandgorgons now have a much deeper understanding of the history of Land, at least from the viewpoint of the Raver.

I wonder how much the Raver's attitude towards such things affect how the Sandgorgons see things...

[shadowbinding shoe]

It also raises the question how similar is the Haruchai's ability of mind speech to the ravers' ability (of possession)? Is the group consciousness and racial memory of the Haruchai a form of possession on the individual haruchai preventing them from making individual choices that the Overmind doesn't like.

[Thorhammerhand]

IMHO, there is no 'overmind' as it were.

The Haruchai are able to communicate mind to mind and capable of altering their stance on certain issues. LA being aloud to depart, Liand holding on to his orcrest are two decisions that come to mind, (in Fatal Revnent alone, I can think of others. Ask and I'll send a list).

It is also possible that the Haruchi have a different language to English that their metal communication is carried out in. Numerous times in the books the speaking Haruchi will pause as if trying to translate an idea from one language to another but the words in English do not suffice to convey the words total meaning, Bannor, in LFB, explaining how the bloodguard 'suffice'.

[Vraith]

It also raises the question how similar is the Haruchai's ability of mind speech to the ravers' ability (of possession)? Is the group consciousness and racial memory of the Haruchai a form of possession on the individual haruchai preventing them from making individual choices that the Overmind doesn't like.

I don't think so. Many of them make their own decisions...they simply have to abide the consequences [the casting out of Stave is the most recent example]. They persuade and argue and have trials and judgement, but not possession.
I'd actually say that they ALL make their own individual decisions.
The apparent "groupthink" behavior is a result of the fact that they all know the exact same history...multiple millenia of it [imagine if every single Catholic had precisely the same memories of the church since its founding...and they don't know it as a reader knows a text, they know it as the author knows it, too].

And I'm almost positive Thor, that somewhere it is said flat out that they have their own spoken tongue, and also that mindspeech is much different than spoken language, that the spoken simply cannot convey what the mental does, so you're right about that.