KKC Theory Wiki

Grammarie

concept · importance 60 · 2 theories

“Fae magic of making things truly be”

also known as Glammourie

Appearance§

Grammarie has no visual form of its own and is recognised only through its results. Felurian's working of the shaed is a deliberate weaving action performed on shadow, a tangible craft. Bast's grammarie leaves a circle of holly green and living, looking ordinary yet persisting unnaturally long. In Bast's teaching it is rendered as intensifying an object's essence: a knife sharper and more knife-like, a fire visibly hungrier and hotter, with the implication that a powerful practitioner could shape shadow into the form of a man. The magic itself is invisible, known only by the altered, heightened things it leaves behind.

Description§

Grammarie is a Fae magic that Felurian defines to Kvothe as "the art of making things be," the counterpart to glamourie's "making things seem." Where glamourie creates illusion, grammarie alters reality itself, intensifying a thing into more of what it truly is. Felurian uses grammarie to weave Kvothe's shaed from shadow, a deliberate craft worked upon shadow as though it were cloth. Bast demonstrates the magic by working grammarie into a circle of holly so that it stays green and living far longer than it should. In The Lightning Tree, Bast teaches a child its principle, describing how one might make a knife more of what a knife is, or a fire hungrier and hotter, and hinting that the truly powerful could bend even a shadow into the shape of a man. Bast frames seeming and being as connected: beings build themselves from the stories they tell and become what they pretend to be. He tells Chronicler that grammarie is how Kvothe became the innkeeper Kote. As with all Fae magic, it is bound by the limit that the Fae have no power over iron.

Relationships§

  • Transformed Kvothe — Bast says grammarie is how Kvothe became Kote
  • Practiced By Bast — Bast works grammarie into holly and teaches it in The Lightning Tree
  • Magic Of The Fae — a Fae magic, bound by the Fae's powerlessness over iron
  • Created Innkeeper Waystone Inn — grammarie is how Kvothe became the innkeeper Kote at the inn
  • Defined By Felurian — Felurian defines grammarie as 'the art of making things be'
  • Explained To Chronicler — Bast tells Chronicler grammarie is how Kvothe became Kote
  • Counterpart Of Glamourie — counterpart to glamourie, 'the art of making things seem'
  • Used To Make The Shaed — Felurian uses grammarie to weave Kvothe's shaed from shadow
  • Explained In The Lightning Tree — Bast explains grammarie to a child in The Lightning Tree

Established facts§

  • Felurian defines grammarie to Kvothe as "the art of making things be," distinct from glamourie, "the art of making things seem."
  • Felurian uses grammarie to weave Kvothe's shaed, his shadow-cloak, in a weaving action upon shadow.
  • Bast works grammarie into a circle of holly so it stays green and living longer than expected.
  • In The Lightning Tree, Bast explains grammarie to a town child, describing making a knife more of what a knife is and a fire hungrier and hotter.
  • Bast hints that a powerful practitioner could take a shadow and bend it into something more, even the shape of a man.
  • Bast tells Chronicler that grammarie is how Kvothe became Kote.
  • Bast frames seeming and being as connected: beings build themselves from the stories they tell and become what they pretend to be.
  • Grammarie is a Fae magic, and the Fae have no power over iron.

Theories§

Appears in theories§

Top contributors§

People on r/KingkillerChronicle who built the theories above.