The Official Gilden-Fire thread.

[ussusimiel]

Does that mean that he doles out the Faith equally with both left and right Fist?

It sounds as if he is more like a Giant rather than a Haruchai.

There should be an emoticon to represent a Giant

This was the closest I could find. I'm sure he won't be happy with it.

[oktophonie]

Hello. Long-time lurker, etc.
I just re-read Gilden-Fire (in the context of my first proper re-read of all the Chronicles in preparation for TLD). Lots of astute comments above, of course, but one paragraph stood out for me in particular:

Korik suppressed the tonal lilt of his native tongue to speak the language of the Lords flatly, so that what he said was both a decision and a promise. 'We will pass through.'

It's often described how the Haruchai speak in a rather flat, inexpressive, dispassionate way. But until I read this I didn't realise that, at least some of the time, they speak in this way deliberately. This changes my perception of them somewhat.

Also I can't help wondering about their 'native tongue'. Over the course of the Chronicles I suppose we never really get more than a few words of it (many in Gilden-Fire itself). Has anyone ever compiled what vocabulary we have of it? Or is that faaaar too geekish?

[ussusimiel]

Hi ingemisco,

Wecome to the Watch as an non lurker!

Now that you've broken cover why not introduce yourself here in the Summonsing.

In relation to The Chronicles and SRD we start at geekiness and drive on (I didn't know about my inner geek until I found the Watch!)

You suggestion might be worthy of a thread itself (if it doesn't already exist), except that my guess is that we don't have many actual words that the Haruchai use.

I did a search and came across a thread called Tan Haruchai. There are a few Haruchai experts on the Watch, like Fist and Faith, so if you get really obsessive give him a PM and I'm sure he'll be happy to help you out

Be Welcome and True!

u.

[Savor Dam]

Thanks for the forum-pimping of The Summonsing, u!

Welcome indeed, ingemisco. Please do come introduce yourself properly...and jump in anywhere else may interest you.

[Rau Le Creuset]

im totally going to buy myself a gilden-fire book.... im just wondering; does gilden-fire include the chapters from the illearth war that deal with Korik's mission? that would be cool to get the whole package in one book.

[Holsety]

im totally going to buy myself a gilden-fire book.... im just wondering; does gilden-fire include the chapters from the illearth war that deal with Korik's mission? that would be cool to get the whole package in one book.

You might want to look into Daughter of Regals. IIRC it contains Gilden-Fire along with a number of other Donaldson short stories. I don't really remember what most of them were about...I think I didn't like it as much as Reave the Just.

[wayfriend]

im just wondering; does gilden-fire include the chapters from the illearth war that deal with Korik's mission? that would be cool to get the whole package in one book.

No, I'm afraid not. It's really just one excised chapter.

[peter]

I think a re-write of the entire first series, forgetting the need to presrve the Land's ambiguous status in terms of reality, and inclucing all the stuff that was axed on the block of that now irrelevent demand [including of course 'Gilden Fire'] would be a Chrons lovers dream come true! [Actually, I suspect that I'm probably alone in this take, but I genuinely see so much more potential in the Land, the Earth and it's denizens that has not yet been realised. Would Donaldson ever consent to a new author taking up the reins and attempting to realise some of this untapped vein of matereal?]

[IrrationalSanity]

im totally going to buy myself a gilden-fire book.... im just wondering; does gilden-fire include the chapters from the illearth war that deal with Korik's mission? that would be cool to get the whole package in one book.

You might want to look into Daughter of Regals. IIRC it contains Gilden-Fire along with a number of other Donaldson short stories. I don't really remember what most of them were about...I think I didn't like it as much as Reave the Just.

I actually liked Daughter of Regals, though the story that really got me in that book was Mythological Beast...

But, "You are OK"...

[Rau Le Creuset]

I actually bought myself daughter of regals last week.. iv read regals, mythological beast and gilden-fire and I am very much enjoying it it's awesome!

@ peter

Why take away the dream vs reality? imo that's one of the best things about the first chronicles.. it makes a lot of things that happen very meaningful

[peter]

No Zeta Prime - we have the dream veres reality. I can compartmentalise that aspect of the chrons quite easily and not let any subsequent writtings detract [or come to that add unless I choose] from it. I had that nearly 40 years ago and I still do. To some extent we had to move on from it in the publising of the 2nd Chrons, and again in the 3rd, and on this basis I see no problem in exploring some of the massive potential as yet left untapped in Donaldsons creation. Donaldson is not the man to do it I think - the 3rd Chrons demonstrate that - but it could be done - it could be done.

[wayfriend]

peter, some of the things that were cut from the first Chronicles deserved to be cut. For example, Caer Bombadil was cut because of complaints it was too much like Tolkien. There are some scenes involving Covenant and the sheep of Mithil Stowndown that were just too disturbing. And then there was a Haruchai drinking song which, apparently, referred to tequila and ouzo without any explanation.

[Rau Le Creuset]

wait are you serious?? caer bombadil was actually going to be a character in the first chronicles???

[wayfriend]

According to documents that are stored at Kent State, an early draft of Lord Foul's Ritual had a chapter about Caer Bombadil, who was the forestal of the Old Forest. He rescued Covenant and Foamswallower (changed in later drafts to Foamfollower) from some willow trees along the banks of the Brandywine river. Bombadil's song was excised, but the idea of peace and tranquility from his song became the name "Soulsease", the name of the river in the final draft. Also

Spoiler

I can keep making up stuff like this all day. :P

[dlbpharmd]

Who told WF that today was April 1st?

[peter]

Wayfriend - you're a bad man! Ok - I concede. This is a fight I 'aint going to win.

(ps. I don't suppose there's any chance of you taking on the re-write. I was liking it!)

[Fist and Faith]

You'd have to take Covenant out of the First Chrons if you did it without the question of the Land's reality. Or have him believe it's real, believe he could use wild magic, and win the whole thing in the first few chapters.

[wayfriend]

I hope Zeta Prime isn't offended... I got a good chuckle when he posted that, out of all the things I mentioned, he thought the Bombadil one was the shocking one. In a humourous mood, I tried to show him I was pulling his leg ... by pulling it harder ...

Anyway ... yes, there are things that can't be taken out ... and there are probably also things that should have been taken out ... you'll never hear me say I wish that they were re-written.

[peter]

Get away with you! I had this really good idea of a story where TC was not Drool's first attept with the staff and that prior to Fouls and the Creators input he had had another go. This had resulted in some poor schmuck in an office being dumped down in the Westron Mountains. The first person he meets is a Haruchai kid of 8 or 10 years old who beats the crap out of him, then helps him survive. The story would progress with our talentless non-white gold weilder travelling to places were we haven't been [eg Home] and getting invoved in events in the broader world that impinge [in a temporal manner] and are impinged upon, by the events occuring simutaneously in the Land. Now tell me in the hands of a master storyteller that that could not be fun! Well......ok.......It seemed like a good idea at the time!

[Rau Le Creuset]

naw wasn't offended don worry ;D

I'm not gonna lie I was actually beginning to believe you though. somehow I actually thought it was a possibility. though there are a lot of similarities besides the factor of the ring that make Lord of the Rings and covenant very similar.

I was actually scared that the bombadil thing was true. hehehe xD