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El'the: The Lost Arcanum Rank for Those Who Can Give Names, Not Just Know Them

plausible mechanism · popularity 169 · 1 source thread

The Arcanum titles track naming ability: E'lir sees, Re'lar speaks a Name, and El'the can give a thing its Name.

About: The Arcanum, Naming

Also involves: Elodin, Kvothe, Fela, Auri, Shaping, The University

The theory§

This theory reads the Arcanum's three named ranks as a ladder of naming ability rather than ordinary academic rungs. E'lir, which means See-er, marks one who has demonstrated basic sympathy and the beginnings of sight; Re'lar, meaning Speaker, marks one who can speak a Name; and El'the, by extension, marks those who can not merely know but give a thing its Name, which is to say shapers. The reasoning hinges on Elodin: he alone promotes both Kvothe and Fela to Re'lar after they call the Name of the Wind and of Stone, and he speaks of an earlier age when naming was common and was the true measure of advancement. Kvothe's unconscious habit of naming aptly is offered as proof he is climbing this hidden ladder, as when he means to call a horse Twilight but instead names it One-sock, Keth-Selhan. The children's rings rhyme is read as a coded record of the art, left-hand rings for Names known and right-hand rings for Names given. Objections note that Mola reached El'the with no sign of being a namer, and that Fela was already Re'lar before she called the Name of Stone, complicating a strict rank-equals-naming reading; an alternative gloss of El'the as listener is drawn from the Jax story.

Evidence§

  • We know E'lir means See-er, and we also know that Re'lar means Speaker. … Kvothe and Fela were both promoted to Re'lar after calling the name of the Wind and of Stone, respectively. This makes it pretty clear to me that "Speaker" is referring to someone who knows a Name.
    Establishes the rank-ladder premise: titles track naming ability, Re'lar = knows a Name. — u/SethlordX7
  • El'the signifies those who don't just knows Names, but actually give things their Name. There is evidence the direct translation is "Shaper"
    States the core thesis: El'the equals shaper, one who gives Names. — u/SethlordX7
  • Elodin is the one who promotes both Kvothe and Fela to Re'lar for learning a Name, and he is also the one who spoke about how the University use to be a long time ago. He says that Naming was much more common back then, and it was a vital element for rising through the ranks.
    Elodin links the ranks to naming and to an older era where naming drove advancement. — u/SethlordX7
  • When Fela makes a ring of stone she goes to put it on her right hand, but Elodin stops her and says none of them are close to ready for that sort of thing. … makes me believe rings on the left hand are for Names you know, rings on the right are for those you have given.
    Reads the rings rhyme as a coded record: left hand for Names known, right for Names given. — u/SethlordX7
  • Kvothe has a knack for giving things names that end up being important, on accident. AKA, using his sleeping mind. … Keth-Selhan. He believes he is naming the horse "Twilight" but he's actually saying "One-sock"
    Offers Kvothe's unconscious apt naming as proof he is climbing the hidden ladder. — u/SethlordX7
  • Kvothe's ability to preternaturally name things is actually an example of his ability to see names which starts with an ability to see small names and grows into an ability to speak real names. E'lir ->Re'lar. As you said, this ability eventually grows into an ability to shape names, El'the.
    Refines the chain: naming ability grows seer-to-namer-to-shaper across the ranks. — u/ertgbnm
  • Mola made it to el'the, no mention of naming. Also, Fela made it to Re'lar before she called the name of stone. She was a Re'lar when Kvothe saved her in the Fishery.
    CounterCounter: Mola reached El'the without naming, and Fela's rank predated her Name. — u/jmanix98
  • I'm more inclined to think El'the means "listener," based purely off the Jax story where the old man tries to convince Jax to learn to listen.
    CounterCounter: alternative gloss of El'the as listener, not shaper, from the Jax story. — u/nosaystupidthings

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

rank etymology gives a reasonable fit; plausible confirmed

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