Aiel
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- For the writ, see ayel.
In Robert Jordan's fantasy series The Wheel of Time, the Aiel are a race of people. They live between the "wetlanders" in the west and the Sharans in the east, in a desert which the Aiel call The Three-fold Land and which everyone else calls the Aiel Waste. They have earned a reputation as skilled warriors; little else is known about them in the wider world. Aiel can be recognized through their height, characteristic pale eyes, and red or blond hair. Physically, they are reminiscent of the Celts; culturally, of Native Americans and Frank Herbert's fictional Fremen. Their short spears with sword-like blades, their three-pronged encircling tactics, their outrunning of horses, and their washing of spears in blood are all derived from the Impi warriors of the Zulu. Their division into clans and septs--with fierce loyalty--mirrors Scotland.
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[edit] History
Modern Aiel are descended from the Da'shain Aiel, servants of the Aes Sedai during the Age of Legends, and sworn never to touch a sword (a non-violent philosophy known as the Way of the Leaf). Some time after the Breaking of the World, however, the Da'shain Aiel turned from one people into three: today's Aiel (which means "dedicated" in the Old Tongue), the Tuatha'an (also known as Traveling People or Tinkers), and the Jenn Aiel (literally, True Dedicated). The split between the Aiel and Tuatha'an was acrimonious; certain members of the Aiel refused to continue the task entrusted to them by the Aes Sedai, and left in order to search for the type of peace they had enjoyed during the Age of Legends. The remaining group of Aiel themselves split when some members of their group killed in self-defense (though in doing so, they used only instruments which had practical uses, namely knives and spears, and refused to use a sword). Over time, more and more Aiel joined those who would kill in self-defence, leaving only the Jenn Aiel who would still hold to the Way of the Leaf. The two groups remained together, the violent Aiel defending the Jenn Aiel, and this compound group made their way across the Spine of the World into the Aiel Waste. They were helped, during their journey, by members of the people who would later become the nation of Cairhien. In the waste, the Aiel prospered while the Jenn Aiel dwindled; the last Jenn died hundreds of years ago, leaving only a holy city, Rhuidean.
Today, the Aiel have all but forgotten their ancient ways; only their leaders remember that they once served the Aes Sedai, and no trace of the Way of the Leaf remains in their culture other than a total unwillingness to touch a sword, and the forced pacificism of gai'shain.
[edit] Reputation
Not much is known about the Aiel by the outside world. Any wetlanders (as they call those who live to the west) entering the Waste are killed on sight; only peddlers, gleemen and Aes Sedai are given free passage. Tinkers can also move freely in the Waste if they so choose, as no Aiel will go near them. Aiel have a reputation for being vicious fighters, and "black-veiled Aiel" is a common epithet for belligerence.
The Aiel once allowed a fourth class of wetlander to traverse their lands: the citizens of Cairhien, in honor of the help they had given the Aiel during their wandering. The Cairhienin were allowed to travel through the Waste to Shara, where the Cairhienin were able to obtain precious silks, spices and other luxury goods. The Aiel also gave Cairhien a small tree: Avendoraldera, a cutting of Avendesora, the Tree of Life. Unfortunately, several centuries later, a Cairhienin king with more ambition than sense, Laman Damodred, cut down Avendoraldera to make himself a throne. The Aiel, outraged, boiled out of the Waste to bring back Laman's head. Four of the twelve Aiel clans went, led by a charismatic Tardaad clan chief named Janduin, but the assassination-in-force was complicated when several wetlander armies mistook the Aiel for an invasion force and started fighting back. The Aiel cut them to ribbons, and by 978 NE they had pushed the multinational force all the way back to Tar Valon. The battle there, known as the Blood Snow, saw the Aiel succeed in killing King Laman; the next day, they went home. Those who do not know the intentions of the Aiel in killing Laman insist that at the Blood Snow, the multinational army won over the Aiel. However, the Aiel had crossed the Spine of the World just to kill Laman, and once that was achieved, they returned to the Aiel Waste. Wetlanders call this the Aiel War; the Aiel call it business as usual. Since then, however, the Aiel have been even more hostile to the Cairhienin than to other wetlanders, calling them "treekillers" and "oathbreakers."
[edit] Customs
The Aiel have a number of cultural practices that are quite strange to outsiders. For example, women frequently become soldiers and fight alongside men. In addition, the taboo against nudity is much weaker amongst the Aiel than in some cultures (much to the astonishment of many of the series's main characters). The Aiel moral code is called ji'e'toh, an Old Tongue word which roughly translates to "honor and duty" or "honor and obligation"; it codifies the Aiel responses to honor and shame (which is essentially synonymous with obligation). Outsiders consider it labyrinthine—one Aes Sedai who studied it for a month reportedly ended more confused than she started—but the Aiel live and die by it.
[edit] Gai'shain
One of the most bizarre convolutions of ji'e'toh has to do with the taking of gai'shain, "those sworn to peace in battle." Aiel earn honor and prestige for deeds in battle—or accumulate shame by misdeeds—but killing an opponent earns the least honor; any fool can kill, just as any fool can die. What earns the most honor is touching the opponent who is holding a weapon, but without harming them (similar to the system of counting coup among certain Plains Indians). An Aiel so shamed is considered to have toh—obligation—to the person who touched them, and will march straight to that person and demand to be made gai'shain, at which point they don white robes, become that person's servant for a year and a day, and forswear to touch a weapon during that time. Becoming gai'shain is a way to annul toh; it is totally voluntary and can be used to atone for non-battle-related shaming as well. Gai'shain are not slaves, and any wetlander who suggests it is soon straightened out.
Wise Ones, blacksmiths, children, and women with a child under the age of ten cannot be taken gai'shain. Exact "ownership" of the gai'shain is a variable matter; though each gai'shain swears only to one person, they can be and are often instructed to obey commands from other people as well.
[edit] Gender differences
Though only men can become clan chiefs, only women can hold property. The owner of any given roof (house) or holding (settlement) is the roofmistress, and she must give permission to step under her roof. Only women, likewise, can become Wise Ones. Only women can ask for marriage; a man may accept or decline, but may not ask, although he may make his interest known in other ways.
[edit] Culture
The Aiel are organized on several different levels. There are twelve Aiel clans, each of which has a clan chief; clans are further divided into septs, and septs subdivide into holdings which are individual settlements; each clan and sept also has a central hold. (As a parallel, clans are like countries, septs are like states or regions within the country, holds are like cities.) Aiel warriors also affiliate themselves with various warrior societies (which cross sept and clan boundaries), of which there are twelve: Mountain Dancers, Thunder Walkers, Stone Dogs, Brothers of the Eagle, Maidens of the Spear, etc. The lines of loyalty amongst clan, sept and society are tangled; but, roughly, allegiance to one's warrior society trumps clan allegiance. This appears counter-intuitive until one remembers that the clans are in a state of almost perpetual twelve-way warfare; since Aiel from any clan can join any society, and will not raise spear against fellow society members, this allows open lines of diplomacy between all clans at all times. (Some Aiel even sojourn with their societies to avoid participating in clan feuds.)
[edit] Clans and septs
The thirteen Aiel clans (including the ancient Jenn Aiel), and their known septs. [1]
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The twelve Aiel clans are similar to the Tribes of Israel. There is a thirteenth clan, not counted among them: the Jenn Aiel, who built the city of Rhuidean, a repository of Aiel history, equivalent to the Hebrew Levites. In modern times, the Jenn Aiel are believed to be entirely extinct.
In book nine of the series, Winter's Heart, it is mentioned by the Wise One Therava that the tribe of Shaido has 83 septs in total, so the total number of septs in a tribe could be much greater than the number of known septs in a tribe.
[edit] Warrior Societies
- Far Dareis Mai (Maidens of the Spear)
- Shae'en M'taal (Stone Dogs)
- Aethan Dor (Red Shields)
- Seia Doon (Black Eyes)
- Far Aldazar Din (Brothers of the Eagle)
- Rahien Sorei (Dawn Runners)
- Sha'mad Conde (Thunder Walkers)
- Hama N'dore (Mountain Dancers)
- Sovin Nai (Knife Hands)
- Cor Darei (Night Spears)
- Tain Shari (True Bloods)
- Duadhe Mahdi'in (Water Seekers)
- Mera'din (the Brotherless, described below)
[edit] Rhuidean
After the Breaking of the World, the Aiel, like all people, wandered the land looking for safe refuge from the depredations of the insane male channelers; this brought the Aiel to the Three-fold Land in the first place, and the Aes Sedai who accompanied them, with the Jenn Aiel clan, built the first and only city there, which they named Rhuidean. The city was never strongly inhabited, and was abandoned after the disappearance of the Jenn Aiel; however, it is still used for raising clan chiefs and Wise Ones.
[edit] Wise Ones
Aiel women who can channel are not sent to the White Tower; instead, they remain among the Aiel and become Wise Ones. Some Aiel women are also skilled in walking Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams; they too become Wise Ones (even if they cannot channel). Wise Ones do not have to channel or dreamwalk, though. Wise Ones undergo a grueling testing period, culminating in a second and final trip to Rhuidean; inside there are ter'angreal which administer the final test.
[edit] Clan Chiefs
Aiel clan chiefs must also undergo this test. They come out marked with an iridescent dragon tattoo around one forearm -or do not come out at all. Women receive no such marking. Two of three who go, do not return; what happens to them and what is learned in Rhuidean has been a mystery to most Aiel until recently. Eventually, it is told, a man will emerge from Rhuidean at daybreak with two dragons, one on each forearm: a Car'a'carn, a chief-of-chiefs, He Who Comes With The Dawn.
[edit] Prophecy
The Car'a'carn will lead the clans and destroy them: "He shall spill out the blood of those who call themselves Aiel as water on sand, and he shall break them as dried twigs, yet the remnant of a remnant shall he save, and they shall live" (The Shadow Rising, pg. 285). Of late, Rand al'Thor has been proven to be that man. The arrival of "He Who Comes with the Dawn" has caused a number of upheavals to the Aiel way of life.
[edit] Maidens of the Spear
Aside from the distinction of being a warrior society that only accepts women, Far Dareis Mai have become significant to Rand (the story's main character). Rand's mother, Shaiel, was a Maiden of the Spear; Maidens traditionally must either forfeit their children or their spears, but Shaiel (by dying in childbirth) was able to sidestep that decision, and Rand is the first child the Maidens have been able to reclaim. Every Maiden considers him a member of the family, though particular role (son, older brother, younger brother) varies from woman to woman. They also consider his safety their personal concern, and Maidens attend him as bodyguards at all times; on the few occasions Rand has managed to give them the slip, they have expressed extreme displeasure (a beating). They are a source of conflict for Rand; they refuse to abandon him, but people near him have a tendency to die, and it pains him to see women killed. Of all his duties as Car'a'carn and Dragon Reborn, he loathes this one the most.
[edit] Shaido
At least one of the twelve clans, the Shaido (pronounced shah-EE-doh [2]), has splintered off from the Aiel proper; its now-deceased leader, Couladin, claimed to be the real Car'a'carn and led the Shaido across the Dragonwall into Cairhien. His claim was bolstered by markings on his arms identical to those Rand received in Rhuidean, placed there by Asmodean in an attempt to distract Rand from his plans. After Couladin's defeat at Cairhien, the Shaido were led by Sevanna, the wife of the former Shaido clan chief. Under her leadership the Shaido wreaked havoc throughout the wetlands. Eventually their main force was defeated, Sevanna was captured, and what was left of the Shaido went back to the Waste in disgrace.
[edit] The bleakness
At Alcair Dal, Rand also revealed the secret he learned in the Rhuidean test, the secret that drove two out of three Aiel to insanity: that the Aiel had once been the Da'shain Aiel, and served the Aes Sedai, and followed the Way of the Leaf. To a culture that lives and dies by its oaths and fighting prowess, the news that they were all descendants of pacifist oathbreakers was devastating, and many Aiel have since succumbed to the resulting "bleakness". Some take on permanent gai'shain white, in the hope of paying off a debt that can never be repaid. More forsake spear and cadin'sor and attempt to live the Way of the Leaf in the wetlander cities — or among the Tinkers! — as their ancestors would have. Others simply disappear. And some of them run to join the Shaido, in denial of the truth, hoping for a return to an earlier, simpler time.
[edit] Brotherless
Because of this, the Shaido gained many spears, but these runaways, having abandoned their clan and sept, were scorned by the Shaido, and their warrior societies did not accept them. This resulted in the unofficial creation of a thirteenth warrior society, peculiar to the Shaido: the Mera'din, the Brotherless, those who have lost everything (no Maidens of the Spear have been known to succumb to the bleakness as yet, possibly due to their loyalty to al'Thor).
As of the latest novel, the heads of the other eleven clans remain loyal to al'Thor. But battle and the bleakness take their tolls, and the number of loyal Aiel diminishes daily.
