gleeman:
A traveling storyteller, musician, juggler, tumbler and all-around entertainer. Known by their trademark cloaks of many-colored patches, they perform mainly in the villages and smaller towns, since larger towns and cities have other entertainments available.
Great Blight, the:
A region in the far north, entirely corrupted by the Dark One. A haunt of Trollocs, Myrddraal, and other creatures of the Dark One.
Great Hunt of the Horn, the:
A cycle of stories concerning the legendary search for the Horn of Valere, in the years between the end of the Trolloc Wars and the beginning of the War of the Hundred Years. If told in their entirety, the cycle would take many days.
Great Lord of the Dark:
The name by which Darkfriends refer to the Dark One, claiming that to use his true name would be blasphemous.
Great Pattern:
The Wheel of Time weaves the Patterns of the Ages into the Great Pattern, which is the whole of existence and reality, past, present and future. Also known as the Lace of Ages. See also Pattern of an Age; Wheel of Time.
Great Serpent:
A symbol for time and eternity, ancient before the Age of Legends began, consisting of a serpent eating its own tail.
Halfman:
See Myrddraal.
Hawkwing, Artur:
A legendary king who united all the lands west of the Spine of the World, as well as some lands beyond the Aiel Waste. He even sent armies across the Aryth Ocean, but all contact with these was lost at his death, which set off the War of the Hundred Years. His sign was a golden hawk in flight. See also War of the Hundred Years.
Heartfang; Heartsbane:
See Dark One.
heartstone:
An indestructible substance created during the Age of Legends. Any known force used in an attempt to break it is absorbed, making heartstone stronger.
Horn of Valere (vah-LEER):
The legendary object of the Great Hunt of the Horn. The Horn supposedly can call back dead heroes from the grave to fight against the Shadow.
Hundred Companions, the:
One hundred male Aes Sedai, among the most powerful of the Age of Legends, who, led by Lews Therin Telamon, launched the final stroke that ended the War of the Shadow by sealing the Dark One back into his prison. The Dark One’s counterstroke tainted saidin; the Hundred Companions went mad and began the Breaking of the World.
Illian (IHL-lee-ahn):
A great port on the Sea of Storms, capital city of the nation of the same name. The sign of Illian is nine golden bees on a field of dark green.
Ingtar; Lord Ingtar of House Shinowa(IHNG-tahr; shih-NOH-wah):
A Shienaran warrior met at Fal Dara.
Kandor (KANH-dohr):
One of the Borderlands. The sign of Kandor is a rearing red horse on a field of pale green.
Kinch, Hyam (KIHNCH, HY-ahm):
A farmer met on the Caemlyn Road.
Ko’bal (KOH-bahl):
See Trollocs.
Lace of Ages:
See Great Pattern, the.
Lan; al’Lan Mandragoran (AHL-LAN man-DRAG-or-an):
A warrior from the north; Moiraine’s companion.
Leafblighter:
See Dark One.
league:
A measure of distance equal to four miles. See also mile.
Luc; Lord Luc of House Mantear (LUKE; MAN-tee-ahr):
Tigraine’s brother, who would have been her First Prince of the Sword when she ascended the throne. His disappearance in the Great Blight is believed to be in some way connected to Tigraine’s later disappearance. His sign was an acorn.
Lurk (LUHRK):
See Myrddraal.
Machera, Elyas (mah-CHEER-ah, ee-LY-ahs):
A man encountered by Perrin and Egwene in the forest.
Mahdi (MAH-dee):
In the Old Tongue, “Seeker.” Title of the leader of a Tuatha’an carvan.
Malkier (mahl-KEER):
A nation, once one of the Borderlands, now consumed by the Blight. The sign of Malkier was a golden crane in flight.
Mandarb (MAHN-dahrb):
In the Old Tongue, “Blade.”
Manetheren (mahn-EHTH-ehr-ehn):
One of the Ten Nations that made the Second Covenant, and also the capital city of that nation. Both city and nation were utterly destroyed in the Trolloc Wars.
Maradon (MAH-rah-don):
The capital city of Saldaea.
Merrilin, Thom (MER-rih-lihn, TOM):
A gleeman who comes to Emond’s Field to perform at Bel Tine.
mile:
A measure of distance equal to one thousand spans. Four miles make one league. See also span.
Min (MIN):
A young woman encountered at the Stag and Lion in Baerlon.
Moiraine (mwah-RAIN):
A visitor to Emond’s Field who arrives just before Winternight.
Morgase (moor-GAYZ):
By the Grace of the Light, Queen of Andor, High Seat of House Trakand (TRAHK-ahnd). Her sign is three golden keys. The sign of House Trakand is a silver keystone.
Myrddraal (MUHRD-draal):
Creatures of the Dark One, commanders of the Trollocs. Twisted offspring of Trollocs in which the human stock used to create the Trollocs has resurfaced, but tainted by the evil that made the Trollocs. Physically they are like men except that they have no eyes, but can see like eagles in light or dark. They have certain powers stemming from the Dark One, including the ability to cause paralyzing fear with a look and the ability to vanish wherever there are shadows. One of their few known weaknesses is that they are reluctant to cross running water. In different lands they are known by many names, among them Halfmen, the Eyeless, Shadowmen, Lurk, and Fade.
One Power, the:
The power drawn from the True Source. The vast majority of people are completely unable to learn to channel the One Power. A very small number can be taught to channel, and an even tinier number have the ability inborn. For these few there is no need to be taught; they will touch the True Source and channel the Power whether they want to or not, perhaps without even realizing what they are doing. This inborn ability usually manifests itself in late adolescence or early adulthood. If control is not taught, or self-learned (extremely difficult, with a success rate of only one in four), death is certain. Since the time of Madness, no man has been able to channel the Power without eventually going completely, horribly mad; and then, even if he has learned some control, dying from a wasting sickness which causes the sufferer to rot alive—a sickness caused, as is the madness, by the Dark One’s taint on saidin. For a woman the death that comes without control of the Power is less horrible, but it is death just the same. Aes Sedai search for girls with the inborn ability as much to save their lives as to increase Aes Sedai numbers, and for men with it in order to stop the terrible things they inevitably do with the Power in their madness. See also channel; Time of Madness; True Source.