Saphira
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| Inheritance Trilogy character | |
 Saphira as painted by John Jude Palencar on the cover of Eragon |
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| Saphira | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Hair colour | none |
| Eye colour | Blue |
| House | Unknown |
| Allegiance | Eragon |
| Film portrayer | Rachel Weisz (voice) |
| First appearance | Eragon |
Saphira is a female sapphire-blue dragon from Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy. Her scales and eyes are the color of sapphires and glitter like them. Her eyes see blues in more vibrant and exotic tones, while reds and greens are more faded. Her talons, and her neck, back, and tail spikes, are all bone-white. On the cover of the book she has two serrated teeth, as well as normal teeth and her head is triangular. Later in Inheritance, she gains the ability to breathe flame. At first, the flame is blue tinged with orange, but later it is fully blue. Of the last five dragons in existence (one has not hatched yet, but is known to be male) she is the only known female, and is thus the hope of reviving the dragon race.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Egg
Saphira was born to Iormúngr, a male dragon bound to a Dragon Rider, and Vervada, a formidable and wild female dragon. When introducing herself formally, Saphira refers to herself as "Saphira, daughter of Vervada" (In a similar manner, most beings - dragons, elves, dwarves and humans - refer to themselves as "son/daughter of So-and-so"). Unfortunately, both of Saphira's parents perished during the The Fall. As Vervada only allowed one egg to go to the Riders, this means the others were probably destroyed, or hatched and were killed.
Saphira's sapphire-like egg was found and taken by Galbatorix during The Fall, along with a ruby egg and an emerald egg (the third dragon is confirmed to be green). Galbatorix tried desperately to get her egg, as well as the others, to hatch, but he was unsuccessful. None of the dragon infants responded to the touch of anyone he had selected as possible riders.
Sometime during the King Galbatorix's rule, an ex-Dragon Rider known as Brom (his dragon - also named Saphira and the inspiration for the sapphire Dragon - was killed) and a scholar discovered a secret entrance into Galbatorix's palace. Since they were part of the Varden, a group of rebels opposed to Galbatorix, they decided to send one of their best men in to steal all three eggs from Galbatorix. Unfortunately, something went wrong and only Saphira's egg was rescued from the King's grasp. Something happened to the spy, however, and the egg disappeared. This led to the greatest hunt in centuries. Brom and Morzan, two old friends before Morzan betrayed the Riders during The Fall, were now racing to retrieve the egg. The search finally came to a head in Gil'ead, where Brom and Morzan battled for possession of the egg. In the end, Brom slew Morzan, reclaimed Saphira's egg, and returned it to the Varden.
Both the Elves (who were allies of the Varden) and the Varden each wanted the Rider for themselves, for historically most Dragon Riders were Elves and the Elves feared that a human Rider could be corrupted like Galbatorix. They also considered themselves vastly superior to humans, a sentiment the Varden did not appreciate. Heated arguments arose over where the egg should be kept and which group should guard it. The dwarves then added to the clamor by saying they weren't sure they even wanted a Rider, for they had suffered greatly at the hands of the Thirteen Forsworn. Before the fights got out of hand, the ex-Dragon Rider, Brom, found a settlement - Saphira's egg would travel between the Elves and the Varden, staying a year with each, to see where it would hatch, and if for a human or an Elf. When it hatched, the Rider would train with Brom for a year or so and then the Elves would finish the Dragon Rider's education. It was decided that the egg would be sent back and forth by the daughter of the Elven Queen, The Princess Arya of Ellesméra. She possessed powerful magical skills and was well trained in combat, and so was chosen to guard and protect the dragon egg. She was accompanied by armed Elven guards on her journeys.
The egg however, did not hatch for any of the Varden or Elves for fifteen years, and they let it pass from their minds almost completely, only mentioning its stubbornness. The Elves did not like the arrangement and did not think humans to be worthy of the position of Rider, but the arrangement provided a desperately needed semblance of equality. Unfortunately, after these fifteen years, an ambush was planned for Arya and her guards. This ambush happened because of a traitor or traitors in the Varden who knew where they would be and how to intercept and take the egg. These traitors were in Galbatorix's employ, and therefore Galbatorix sent a Shade known as Durza and a group of Urgals to retrieve the egg and capture at least one Elf. They would take the Elf to discover the location of Ellesméra, the Elven capital of their forest kingdom. Although her guards were killed in the ambush, Arya's steed sensed the danger and bore her away from the Urgals, only to be shot down. Desperate to ensure the safety of the dragon egg, Arya used an imprecise piece of magic to magically teleport the egg to the village of Carvahall, which was where Brom was living at that time. It was the closest place besides the Elven cities, which were protected by magic so that nothing could enter their boundaries by magical means. Unfortunately, Arya's magic was imprecise and the egg missed its target, landing in the Spine, a remote and deadly mountain range bordering the Palancar Valley, where Carvahall is situated.
It was here that Saphira chose a human.
[edit] Birth
A 15-year-old boy, Eragon, saw the egg appear while trying to hunt game in those very mountains at the same time the egg appeared - in a sudden blast. Eragon picked it up, thinking it something he could sell for food, as the explosion that accompanied its arrival scared away all the animals. After a week or so, Saphira apparently decided that Eragon was the one most suited to help the people of Alagaesia and the one most suited to be her companion - and hatched for him. At first, Eragon thought of killing the young blue dragon, as it presented danger to his family, but could not find it in his heart to kill it.
Eragon touched Saphira which gave him a mark on the palm of his hand, the Gedwey Ignasia, or 'shining palm', symbol of the Dragon Riders. In the process, she gave Eragon the gift of magic, although he was unaware of it for a time. This also linked their minds telepathically. The bond between them developed rapidly, and Saphira was kept hidden from the rest of Eragon's family for a time, as Eragon feared that his uncle Garrow and his cousin Roran might decide to kill the dragon. Eragon lived with them, as his mother Selena had left him with Garrow, her brother, as a baby and Eragon was unaware of who his father was. Eragon went to whom the villagers considered a storyteller, Brom, and asked about dragons, arousing the man's curiosity and suspicion. Eragon also inquired about some names so that he could choose from them to name his dragon. When Eragon returned and listed names, he found that Saphira disliked all the male names, and therefore discovered she was female - a fact she very smugly revealed when he asked her. She rejected most female names until the very last one. She finally chose the name Saphira, although at the time neither she nor Eragon understood the significance of the name.
Since then, Saphira has been Eragon's constant companion and his closest confidante. She allows him to ride not only on her back, but also inside her mind, through an extension of their telepathy. They share all their knowledge with one another, and one is often the other's conscience. Any other attachments they gather come peripherally to the one they share.
[edit] Brom's Dragon
Saphira is also the name of Brom's dragon, who was killed during the fall of the Riders. This loss haunts Brom for the rest of his life, and leads Brom to advise Eragon to "protect Saphira with your life, because life is not worth living without her." Although never mentioned in the series, Paolini has confirmed that Brom's dragon was blue.[1] Although a Riders's magic often is the same color of his or her dragon, Brom's magic is brown.
[edit] Name Origin
According to Christopher Paolini, the name Saphira is derived from the word 'sapphire,' The name "Sapphira" also appears in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles 5:1-11, as the name of a woman accused of hoarding money promised to the Christian movement.[2] (A frequent feature of dragons in fairy-tales is a hoard of gold.)
[edit] Portrayal in film
In the film adaptation of the novel, Saphira was toned down to form a more realistic image however, in the trailer of the film Saphira seems to have feathered wings that match her scales in hue, despite the above poster seeming to show her with typical dragon wings. Also, in the trailers you can clearly see that her fire is regular orange fire, while in the book is was orange with a hint of blue, later totally blue.
An executive from 20th Century Fox has confirmed that Saphira will speak in Eragon.[3] and will be voiced by Rachel Weisz.
| Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Trilogy | |
|---|---|
| Books | Eragon | Eldest | Book 3 |
| Films | Eragon |
| Main Characters | Eragon | Brom | Arya | Galbatorix | Murtagh | Roran | Ajihad | Nasuada | Angela | Saphira | Oromis | more... |
| Places | Alagaësia | Beor Mountains | Carvahall | Dras-Leona | Ellesméra | Farthen Dûr | Hadarac Desert | Helgrind | Surda | Teirm | Urû'baen | more... |
| Events | Blood-Oath Celebration | Battle of the Burning Plains | Battle for Carvahall | Dagshelgr Invocation | The Fall |
