Al'Lan Mandragoran is one of the main characters of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan.
Lan is very similar in characterization to Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Jordan described the character thus: "Lan is simply the man I always wished I could be."[1] Al'Lan Mandragoran is the last survivor of the royal line of Malkier; his kingdom was overrun by the Shadow when he was but a baby. Lan is often described as having a face of stone and chilling blue eyes. None can defeat him in physical combat. According to the authors, he is the number one blademaster. His symbol, the symbol of the Malkieri Kings, is the golden crane.
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Lan was born in 953 NE, the year Malkier was betrayed to the Shadow. When he was an infant and Malkier was falling, his parents placed the sword of the Malkieri kings in his hands, named him Dai'shan of Malkier, which literally means "Diademed Battle Lord" in the Old Tongue, and swore the ancient oath of Malkieri kings and queens in his name. His mother placed a locket around his neck for remembrance, his father the ring of Malkieri Kings, and twenty of Malkier's best swordsmen carried him to Fal Moran in Shienar. Only five reached the city alive, all wounded. The surviving men then began teaching the child all they knew, learning weapons and the Blight for a childhood.
At age sixteen, Lan was given the hadori, a thin strip of braided leather holding his hair back, and became a man. He began his one man war against the Shadow that he could not win, with the oath graven on his mind. To stand against the shadow so long as iron is hard and stone abides. To defend the Malkieri while one drop of blood remains. To avenge what cannot be defended. He has nothing left to defend, only to avenge. He will court death itself without a second thought.
The al' on the front of his name is the Malkieri honorific for king; his wife, Queen of Malkier by marriage, is sometimes called "el'Nynaeve" by the same custom. This caused some confusion when Rand al'Thor visited Shienar; in his case, the al' prefix merely meant 'son of'.
Malkieri maintain a solid reputation as fighters, a reputation that has been well earned throughout its history, and carried on by the remnant of Malkieri that survive to this day. Prior to its defeat by the Shadow, Malkier stood between Shienar and The Blight, and it was to Malkier that Shienararan lancers rode to do battle with the armies of the Dark One. This assistance was only called on in times of the most dire need, as Malkier was always well prepared, well defended and tactically capable of meeting every attack by their enemies.
The Hadori that Lan wears is a gift from the men that carried him from the Blight as an infant. The Hadori is traditionally bestowed upon young men, at their request, by their father. It is worn to denote the wearer having made a pledge to battle the Shadow until death. Such men must ask the gift of the Hadori from their father, as it is their father who must judge their own sons' abilities to carry on the war with honour and skill. Wearers of the Hadori can take up a trade other than soldiering or war, but pledge nonetheless to fight evil in all its forms for the remainder of their days, and to teach their sons the skills needed to follow them in this oath. Men who wear the Hadori are graced with a certain reputation for sudden and seemingly un-provoked violence; this may seem the case to a casual on-looker, but one may rest assured that the Malkieri on the hilt side of the dispute has witnessed something worthy of action.
The Ki'Sain is worn by married Malkieri women, and consists of a coloured dot painted onto the middle of the woman's forehead. The colour can denote many things, and changes with the status of the wearer. Red denotes a married woman, white denotes a widow, but the ki'sain, like the hadori, denotes an oath from the wearer. This oath is that all sons of the wearer will be dedicated to fighting the Shadow until death. Malkieri have often asked that man or woman they marry adopt these particular customs, both the wearing of the Hadori and the ki'sain.
Lan is greatly respected by citizens of the other nations of the Borderlands, both for his status as the last (and uncrowned) King of Malkier, and for his prowess in combat. It is said that if he ever raised the Golden Crane of Malkier, an army of Borderlanders of all nationalities would join him in a fight to reclaim lost Malkier from the Great Blight. Knowing this, Lan refuses all efforts to crown him at the head of a dead nation. He will not lead other men to their deaths, believing that if life is to be lost in Malkier's memory, it should be his alone.
Despite his fatalistic streak, Lan keeps several customs of Malkier alive, even at the cost of personal discomfort or endangerment; his wearing of the hadori is just one of these. His coming-of-age according to Malkieri traditions is detailed in the prequel novel New Spring.
Moiraine Sedai newly raised Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah and noblewoman of House Damodred in Cairhien, searching for the Dragon Reborn, met Lan in Kandor soon after the Aiel War. Fearing that he was a man of violence, Moiraine crept up behind Lan as he practiced Ko'Di, or the Oneness, a form of meditation used by swordsmen. As she snatched up his sword, he reacted, throwing her into a nearby pond in the thought that she was a thief. After some explaining on both sides, Moiraine claimed the right of a woman travelling alone. This right, when invoked, means any Malkieri wearing the Hadori must shelter the claimant until they reach their destination safely. After a battle with the Black Ajah and losing the last of the men that carried him to Shienar, Bukama Marenellin, Lan left Moiraine to continue his never ending battle with the shadow. Moiraine, however, caught up with him and convinced him that his war against the Shadow in the Blight was the same war she fought, only her battle was the more important in that war. From there, he accompanied her on her search for the Dragon Reborn. After roughly two decades, their search brought the pair eventually to Emonds Field, where Moiraine had narrowed the identity of the Dragon Reborn to three boys; Rand al'Thor, Perrin Aybara and Matrim Cauthon.
Lan's skills as a Borderland warrior have served him well in service as Moiraine's Warder. He once rode a horse to death, another lame, and continued the journey on foot, carrying her to Anaiya Sedai for Healing. During the events of The Eye of the World, he and Nynaeve al'Meara fell in love, but his duty was ever to Moiraine; when Lan and Nynaeve's paths split after events in Tear, he went with his Aes Sedai to the Aiel Waste, sending Juilin Sandar after Nynaeve to "look after her". This sequence of events led to Moiraine's and Lanfear's apparent demise at the doorframe ter'angreal on the docks of Cairhien.
When a Warder's Aes Sedai dies, the Warder is hurt grievously in some psychological way, and usually goes on a suicide mission to avenge the Aes Sedai's death. Moiraine prevented this by altering their bond so that, upon her death, it would pass to another. This use of near-Compulsion infuriated him at the time, especially considering his uncertainty regarding his feelings for Nynaeve. Almost the moment Moiraine was lost, Lan set out to find this other, specifically Myrelle of the Green Ajah, who happened to be with the Salidar rebels under Egwene's command. Myrelle has promised to release Lan of his bond in order that he may bond as Warder to his wife, Nynaeve al'Meara, an Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah.
He has also been influential in Rand al'Thor's life: he was the Dragon Reborn's first regular tutor in the use of the sword, and has also passed down a good deal of advice and general wisdom regarding the difficult situations Rand has had to deal with as the Dragon Reborn.
At Fal Dara in Shienar at the beginning of The Great Hunt we learn through Rand's narration that Lan has taught him many forms vital in sword combat. Indeed, Rand reverts to these forms on many occasions throughout the series, and they have proven life saving. In The Fires of Heaven Lan believes Rand to be close to the level of Blademaster. Blademasters are only acknowledged by two methods: Facing a number of opponents, over the course of a single day, in varying conditions, under the judgment of a panel of seven current blademasters; or facing a single Blademaster in combat and killing him.
Whilst he does not wield a Blademasters sword (depicted by a heron inscribed on both sides of the blade, both sides of the scabbard, and both sides of the hilt) Lan is no doubt one of the most accomplished swordsmen of the Age. Lan has faced innumerable Trollocs, countless Myrdraal, men whether un-taught or Blademaster. Some of his most notable victories were during the Aiel War (he survived, which was no mean feat in itself) shortly after in Canluum where he defeated six attackers at once, and in Far Madding where he defeated Toram Riatin, a Blademaster of rare skill and long standing. This combat alone would allow him to claim the title, but Lan will only ever carry the sword of Malkieri Kings, an unmarked soldiers blade made by Aes Sedai with the power before the Breaking of the World. But for its lack of herons, the blade is identical to a Blademaster's sword.
Lan's regard for the Two Rivers' youthful ta'veren has not lessened over the course of the series; he regularly intervenes with his own strong opinions when he feels that they are being pushed along a course not of their choosing. Somewhat contradictorily, Lan also feels that "death is lighter than a feather, and duty heavier than a mountain"; regardless, he sees doing one's duty as paramount, even if some small choices are available along the way (according to him, even if you have no choice in what happens, you can still "face it on your feet").
In The Eye of the World the unlikely romance of Nynaeve al'Meara and Lan took its first uneasy steps. At first, Lan spurned his feelings for Nynaeve, claiming that he could not dress her in widows garb for a bridal gown. Nynaeve’s persistent streak prevailed however and he soon succumbed to his love for her. When they parted in Fal Dara Lan gave Nynaeve his signet ring, embossed with the Golden Crane, the symbol of the Malkieri Kings. In times when Nynaeve is especially alone or frightened she looks to Lan’s ring for comfort.
After the death of Moiraine, Lan’s former Aes Sedai, he left in search of Myrelle Sedai of the Green Ajah, to whom his bond was passed. Knowing that Warders rarely survive the death of their Aes Sedai due to the extreme mental trauma of the breaking of the Warder's bond, and having successfully saved two other Warders from the same fate, Myrelle attempted to save Lan's mind by sleeping with him. Egwene al'Vere, The Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai in Salidar, discovered him there and told him that Nynaeve was in Ebou Dar, hunting the Bowl of the Winds.
Egwene transported Lan there by Skimming so that he could protect Nynaeve from harm. While protecting Nynaeve from afar, Moghedien attempted to kill Nynaeve with balefire (though she missed and instead sliced through the boat Nynaeve was in), nearly drowning her. When Lan pulled her from the water, Nynaeve’s mental block from saidar was gone. Later that day, they were married on a ship according to Sea Folk customs and thus Nynaeve became uncrowned Queen of Malkier, earning her the honorific el’Nynaeve. The Sea Folk have a custom regarding marriage which was imported into their vows: since a husband and wife may change rank in relation to each other many times, the spouse who gives the orders at any given time in public must take them in private. This has resulted in Nynaeve, who is very much used to giving orders, losing quite a bit of her bossiness, and tempering their relationship from being quite so volatile.
Nynaeve remedied this in Knife of Dreams however. Lan felt that Rand didn't pay enough attention to the Borderlands, especially considering that the Last Battle, which was coming ever nearer, would almost certainly be fought in the Blight. So, Lan decided to ride to Shienar to fight, and Nynaeve made him pledge to take on any who would wish to ride with him. She then sent him to Saldaea on the coast of the Aryth Ocean at World's End, so he would have to travel hundreds of miles to reach his destination. She then travels to village after village in the Borderlands to find the scattered remnants of Lan's Malkieri countrymen, who then leave to join Lan in the ride to the Blight.
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