Masters, Earthpower, Anele and the Ranyhyn

Book 1 of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

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Barnetto
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Masters, Earthpower, Anele and the Ranyhyn

Post by Barnetto »

Simple question, and it is briefly recognised in the book, but left unanswered.

If the Masters are so concerned wtih any use of Earthpower that they deem it necessary to lock away Anele (due to him being a person naturally imbued with loads of the stuff), why don't they have a similar problem with the Ranyhyn, the ultimate beasts of Earthpower?

I know that they are not in the Land when this story opens so it isn't an issue, but Stave shows no indication that he is perturbed by their appearance or that they ought to be treated with the same concern as Anele.
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Post by wayfriend »

I presume because the Ranyhyn don't weild Earthpower as a Lord does.

So the Earthpower of the Ranyhyn can't be misused in the service of Lord Foul.

Then again, the Masters have the Haruchai's love of the great horses. How could the refuse them?
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Post by Vraith »

Yea, they are of Earthpower, but don't use it.
I think you'd see them [before current events, anyway] rounding up anyone who actually called/rode the Ranyhyn, though.
hmmm....and in a way, they'd [maybe] have to cage/remove themselves, too: it is at least implied [maybe says somewhere] that the Haruchai are of, or imbued, or connected with Earthpower [prime example, the effects of the Bloodguard vow without any use of Lore on anyones part].
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Post by Barnetto »

But Anele (at the start of Runes) shows not sign of being able to wield Earthpower either (without his staff). He appears to be akin to a human version of the Ranyhyn (in the sense of a being of Earthpower).

(I don't think that his ability to read/listen to stone is wielding Earthpower? That is just Lore that he has learned through long years as an Unfettered?)

I guess that the Masters concern may be more about others misusing Anele (given his patent vulnerability), rather than Anele himself misusing Earthpower?
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Post by wayfriend »

Anele was the heir of the new generation of Staff weilders, following Sunder and Hollian. He was basically the equivalent of a Lord. So the Masters feared what he might do on that basis, I think. I do not believe that they trusted in his insanity to the point where they thought he was harmless. If anything, an insane Lord could do very serious harm.

Then there is also the matter of Anele, walking around, telling people the truth about the Land's past. Again, I don't think that the Masters believed that his insanity was enough to ensure he would not do this.
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Post by Barnetto »

True, I'd forgotten (already!) the issue of the history of the Land and keeping the people in the dark.

Though as regards the Earthpower element, I had assumed that, unlike the Lords (or the later ones at least) who learned and earned their knowledge, the issue with Anele was of a different source. Anele's earthpowerfulness (to use an inelegant phrase) arose from the fact that Hollian had been raised from the dead through the use of extreme earthpower arising from Caer Caveral's self-sacrifice. That use of earthpower had imprinted itself on him in the womb. I had assumed that was the reason for the Masters' concerns, that he was naturally and intrisically steeped in earthpower in a way that the later Lords were not (but perhaps Berek was).
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