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Tinkers May Be Fae or Ruach, Explaining the Customs Around Them

plausible identity · popularity 81 · 1 source thread

The superstitions and gift-giving customs around tinkers exist because tinkers are Fae or Ruach, quietly steering Kvothe's path.

About: Tinkers

Also involves: The Fae, Felurian, The Amyr, Kvothe, The Ruach

The theory§

This theory holds that many tinkers are not ordinary itinerant traders but Fae, Ruach, or agents allied with the Amyr, moving disguised among mortals, and that the unusual customs governing how tinkers must be treated exist to protect them. It draws on Felurian's account that the Fae sometimes cross into the mortal world glamored as humble travelers, even 'as a pack mule laden,' when the moon brings the realms close. The pattern most often cited is that tinkers repeatedly offer Kvothe items that prove pivotal: the rope he declines and later wishes he had against the draccus, the waterproof boots he refuses before suffering wet feet, and goods that nudge him toward the Fae. The tinkers' apparent foresight extends to Abenthy, who names himself a tinker 'and more,' and who breaks off Kvothe's deeper instruction with the warning that anything further would be too dangerous. The 'pay thrice for every insult' tradition is read as a manufactured superstition shielding them, and the broken-house tinker who bargained with Jax ties the order to the lost magics of the folded house. A grounding counter-reading notes that ordinary self-interest, not to harm the one trader who brings medicine and goods no village holds, plus mundane road-superstition like that surrounding the Romani, can explain the customs without any hidden nature.

Evidence§

  • Felurian explains the moon, and when it's at a certain shape the Fae realm is so close you you cross it as easy as you can cross a door. She then says that some of the Fae visit the mortal world sly, enshaedn, or glamored, wearing gowns of a queen, or as a pack mule laden.
    OP's premise: Fae cross into the mortal world disguised as humble travelers. — u/DominickNL
  • The tinkers all offer things to Kvothe that would be helpful in his quest. The rope he doesn't buy that would have helped him deal with the Draccus in a way that doesnt send it rampaging through town. They also offer him things that get him to the Fey.
    Core pattern: tinkers offer exactly the items Kvothe needs and that nudge him toward Fae. — u/ManofManyHills
  • When Kvothe encounters one the first time he refuses to take the rope and later curses himself for not having one. The next time he refuses waterproof boots, and later curses himself for having wet feet. Abenthy calls himself a tinker and more, and at one point stares off in the distance when Kvothe asks him to teach him more and comes back saying “No. Anything more would be too dangerous.”
    Refines foresight claim with rope, boots, and Abenthy who breaks off teaching. — u/Enervata
  • The tinkers at a minimum seem to have the ability to foresee the immediate futures of those they encounter and offer things that would benefit them. … I think the Cthaeh has the superior version of this ability, and the tinkers have a more minor version. … If anything it strongly implies tinkers are fey.
    Argues tinkers possess a minor Cthaeh-like foresight, implying they are fey. — u/Enervata
  • Was thinking Amyr. They’re everywhere collecting intel, and manufactured a tradition or superstition not to mess with them. Plus that bit about Tinkers paying “Thrice for every insult made”.
    Alternative agent reading: customs are a manufactured Amyr superstition shielding them. — u/vercertorix
  • The Tinkerer who made that deal with Jax inherited the “broken house.” … My tinfoil theory is Tinkerers are Aleph and his angles - slowly fixing the broken house delivering the items needed to those who actually listen.
    Ties tinkers to the broken house and lost magics via the Jax tinker. — u/luckydrunk_7
  • It makes sense you wouldn't knife the guy who provides the maidens helper and cures the flux before moving on. You can ask him to help with things the priest will hold over your head for years to come.
    CounterCounter: ordinary self-interest, not hidden nature, explains protecting a useful trader. — u/Mobile_Net2155
  • Just like Romani in our world there’s just a lot of superstition. The evil eye, Romani witches, etc, is all a thing in our world. Why would tinkerers be different
    CounterCounter: mundane road-superstition like the Romani explains the customs. — u/Szygani

Book refs: WMF

Tier reasoning§

single distinct theory; tier 'plausible' fits the speculative-but-grounded evidence

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