Kevin's Watch

I'm still only halfway through A Man Rides Through, just started Book Four... damn it, I liked Lebbick! Anyway - who is this Norge guy? Ok, he's cool, but he just enters the spotlight that late in the story... Did I miss any mention of him before?

I'm to the part where SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER and then SPOILER SPOILER. In other words, I'm ahead of you. I don't really know what role Norge plays in the plot either. :helpless shrug: I liked Lebbick too, though he got on my nerves sometimes.

As a totally irrelevant point I just have to say that I have always had trouble relating to Norge because of his name.

The reason for this is that Norge is the native form of Norway (which is the english version of the name of the country). So for me this would be like if someone named a character "England" or "Canada".

I've always liked Norge as a character. He is never mentioned, as far as I can recall, earlier in the story though. When he first appears is the first we have heard of him.

~MsMary~

Ryzel wrote:As a totally irrelevant point I just have to say that I have always had trouble relating to Norge because of his name.

Similar for me with Geraden. In German, it's the plural of Gerade, which means straight line. Bad name for a dude who can barely walk straight without tumbling over.

Heh. Didn't know that about Geraden's name. That is pretty funny.

~MsMary~

I liked Norge...very phlegmatic guy, that's cool though...

Norge is a pretty straight forward guy. I always got nervous whenever Lebbick was in a scene...he always seemed to about to do something violent. Norge is quite sane in comparison.

Norge is from Tor-and because of that shares a very special moment with the Tor in the second book. But I'll hold off on that, for now, so we don't spoil certian people ( ) right away.

Just seeing Sev's name pop up as the originator of the thread brought back memories.

Sev, where are you?

I do like Norge!

I liked it just before the battle. When The King said something like:

"Where is the slug-a-bed prince?"
Norge shugged with such a little show of enthusiasm that King Joyse chuckled. "Make an effort to stay awake Castellan, our lives may become quite stimulating".
Norge allowed himself a wan smile.

A nice moment. Sorry if I got anything wrong in that last post... I was writing it off the top of my head.

Great quote Darth! Excellent memory!

danlo wrote:Great quote Darth! Excellent memory!

Thanks!

I think it's sad that we don't

Spoiler

Get to see his death in more description, he deserved more dignity

I liked this quote about Norge:

His immunity to distress was remarkable. Peering into the captain's face, the Tor began to remember him better. It was possible that Castellan Lebbick had promoted Norge simply because Norge was the only man who under him who never flinched.

~MsMary~

It always seemed to me that Norge was one of those characters who show up because the author needs them. He's basically a tool for SRD.

Spoiler

His entire purpose in the story is to give the Tor a 2nd-in command, someone to back him up when the king disappears to save Queen Madin, and someone to help get him and the army to Esmerel.

IMHO, he's one of the most contrived characters in the book, mainly because his use as a keep-the-plot-moving device is so obvious. I'm totally willing to suspend my disbelief in the case of mirrors that show and translate people to different universes, to inhabit a world (however temporarily) where ritually scarred swordsmen dream of blood and do nothing but try to kill people; where Kings play checkers and madmen are out to save the world.

But Norge just reads like a tool to me, and though the descriptions of him are wonderful, they don't do him justice. SRD usually camouflages his tools/devices much better. So it's sort of disappointing.

<puts on flame-retardant suit>

Beware! Spoiling below!
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I argee...if we were introduced to him earlier in cleverer way it would have been much more interesting (like, at least, getting drunk with the Tor and talking about home or being the man who reports back after chasing Kragen [after the Nyle meeting]...or some such device). But after Lebbick and aside from Ribald (and Artagel turning down the position) someone had to assume the position-it just happened to be Norge...

I found it a bit strange that Norge just appeared out of thin air after Gart's attack, it feels like SRD suddenly decided to kill Lebbick at that point, or had initially intended to appoint Ribuld as the Castellan and then changed his mind. I'd have expected a cameo or two from Norge earlier on, a bit like we had with Amorine in TC.

That said I do like the character. The way he calmly picked off Gart's apts in the midst of the attack provided a great image. We also find out that Norge's essential calm is not without it's limits when he is faced with the slug-beast.

I agree with Revan that

Spoiler

Norge's death deserved a few more column inches. Half a line doesn't really do him justice, and I wasn't even sure he was dead for a couple of chapters. It feels like his death was shoe-horned in so that Darsint could be given something to do in the epilogue, and further adds to the feeling that Norge is a stop-gap character. I don't think SRD was really in a position to do much else though, as we see Norge's death from Terisa's perspective, and it probably would have spoiled the narration to cut back to the battle at that point.

Whatever you may say about him. Norge remains, in my mind, a flat character. He is really one of the few characters in the series that I can completely forget about. (and did, till you jogged my memory). I spent the whole damn day reading SRDs gradual interview (damn that thing is long) and he mentioned that Lebbick is one of his favorite characters. Hence- Death. Donaldson really loves his tragic figures doesn't he?

Took me a second reading to like Lebbick. When I read the books in 7th grade, I hated his guts.

Spoiler

Now, I hate Eremis all the more for breaking him

What was this post called again? Oh yeah, Norge. He really does come out of nowhere to play an insignificant (in my mind at least) role.

To be fair, Norge was rather under-developed. I just liked what little we saw of him. By the end of the first book I pretty much hated Lebbick too but, ironically, I started to like him more after the Saddith incident. It was after this point that we had some passages from his perspective, and you need those if you are to understand a character with such internal toment. I imagine SRD didn't intend the reader to have much sympathy for Lebbick before those chapters.