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The 'Three Friends Together' Are Embrula: Felurian, Auri, and Vashet

fringe connection · popularity 78 · 1 source thread

The Maer's 'three friends' lesson encodes Lanre's true power and maps onto Kvothe's three Fae-touched companions.

About: Felurian, Auri, Vashet

Also involves: Maer Lerand Alveron, Haliax, Selitos, Naming, The Shaed, Caesura, Myr Tariniel, Kvothe, Iax, Lyra, Aleph

The theory§

Maer Alveron teaches Kvothe that all power is either inherent or granted, and that 'three friends together' grant a man the strength of three. The theory reads this lesson as a hidden key to Lanre's victory: Lanre had no gift for names, yet in the lore only three people could match Selitos in Naming, so his triumph required the granted power of Namers. Kvothe is cast as repeating Lanre's pattern, returning as if to Myr Tariniel armed with his shaed and the sword Caesura just as Lanre came in his silver sword and black iron scales. His three Fae-touched companions are the 'Embrula' who grant him Naming in stages: Auri's friendship convinces Elodin to take him as a student, Felurian's lay first draws out his power when he speaks her name, and Vashet's training in Ademre lets him call the name of the wind to still the sword-tree. The reading is contested, with an alternative holding the Maer's 'three friends' point literally at Simmon, Wilem, and Fela, and noting that 'Embrula' is capitalized and so likely a proper name rather than a word for Fae women.

Evidence§

  • This is when Alveron is explaining how there are only two categories of power. Inherent, and Granted. … granted power is the strongest, but it's not *yours*. It's power that does not belong to you, it can only be granted to you by someone else.
    OP frames the core lesson: granted power is strongest but borrowed, not your own. — u/Smurphilicious
  • That's why "three friends together" is so important. Because Lanre didn't defeat Selitos, it was "three friends together".
    Links the Maer's lesson to Lanre's victory being granted, not inherent. — u/Smurphilicious
  • Selitos knew that **in all the world there were only three people who could match his skill in names: Aleph, Iax, and Lyra**. Lanre had no gift for names—his power lay in the strength of his arm.
    Book quote: Lanre lacked Naming, so his triumph required three Namers' granted power. — u/Smurphilicious
  • Do you remember what Kvothe is wearing when he returns to Alveron? The two things that Kvothe acquired before his return? His shaed, and Saicere.
    Maps Kvothe's return gear onto Lanre's silver sword and black iron scales. — u/Smurphilicious
  • More than that, all three gifts are granted by *Embrula*. Faen women. Felurian, Auri, and Vashet. … only women can teach the Lethani.
    Identifies the three friends as Fae women granting Kvothe power to judge and punish. — u/Smurphilicious
  • Only through his 3 friends is Kvothe able to master naming. His relationship with Auri convinces Elodin to take him as a student, it is in the lay of Felurian that his true power first comes out, when he speaks the name of Felurian, and it is only in ademre, after Vashet’s training that he calls the name of the wind to still the blade tree.
    Commenter adds: the three friends each grant Kvothe a stage of Naming mastery. — u/jkatz42
  • I'm confused how we get to Vashet being a Fae woman?
    CounterCounter: questions the premise that Vashet qualifies as a Fae woman. — u/WuKongPhooey
  • The three friends Rothfuss had in mind for the Alveron quote are Simmon, Wilem, and Fela, without any direct or necessary parallel to the legendary lore. … You're forcing the *three* theme too hard here.
    CounterCounter: literal reading names Sim, Wil, Fela and rejects the forced trio mapping. — u/Bhaluun

Book refs: WMF, NOTW

Tier reasoning§

tier verified: invented 'Embrula' framework layered over a throwaway lesson, fringe is correct

Contributors§

Source threads§