Kvothe and Felurian - Kingkiller Chronicle
“I do not believe in faeries,” I tried to say, but it came out as barely a whisper.
It was Felurian. - Chapter 94, Wise Man's Fear.
Before Kvothe started his adventure with Tempi, Dedan, Hespe and Dedan, his life mostly revolved around the university. Though there were interesting things happening in the university. Like, his friendships with Wilem, Simmon, Fela. With Masters like Elodin, Alexar, Kilvin. His rivalry with Ambrose since the day he came to the Archives. His occasional visits and interesting conversations with Denna. Music at Eolian, loans from Devi and much more things...
But still there needs to be an adventure part that was lacking in The Name of the Wind. Even after the end of the first book, there wasn't any significant magic or adventurous thing that readers were expecting when they picked the book. So I think it was fair for Patrick Rothfuss to introduce the life different from that at the university. A life outside it, where Kvothe was tested for he learned.
To be honest, his stay at severen-low was getting boring. With all those political affairs happening around Maer. There was nothing exciting when he was in Severen. Except for the part where he meets Denna occasionally.
Then he was sent to find the bandits along with four other members.
This is where the story took a turn. Entirely different than before. New characters, their different stories. Stories they used to tell each other at night before sleeping. And most important of all, Tempi. It was a good idea to introduce Tempi, because of whom Kvothe went to Adem and learned their culture.
But do you think it was right to introduce Felurian?
I think it was, maybe. Mostly, a good fantasy series has a powerful and strong ancient female character. One whom many admire. One who people rate as the most beautiful woman in the world. Living in the forest. Or far from humans.
On Pat's blog, I found some similar characters that he talks about. And he also created a poll for it.
I haven't read the Discworld series yet. So I don't know much about Susan Stohelit. But I guess she was something very similar to Felurian. Strong, beautiful, independent, and immortal.
In lord of the rings, there was Galadriel. Lady of Lothlorien. Combination of beauty, knowledge, and power.
She was also the bearer of Nenya, one of the three elven rings of power.
But in the case of Felurian, there is a little difference.
In a series where nothing is exactly how it looks like, Felurian is the closest we can get to a well-kept promise. Dangerous, charming, sweet, and innocent. But most importantly- truly magic.
She is described as having pale, smooth skin that shimmers in the moonlight. Due to her erotic disposition, she is almost always nude. And she enjoys music. In Wise Man's Fear, Kvothe referred to her as ''Primal Lust Goddess''.
But there are so many questions circulating around Felurian and many theories which kind of leaves readers intriguing.
Does she only talk in rhyme?
Does she know about Chandrian?
She was around before the creation war. The Cthaeh also refers to her as a Pixie and if he doesn't lie then it must be true. I think maybe she knows which city survived the creation war. Because she appears to be older than the fae realm. So if Kvothe wants to find a way to defeat Chandrian, he might return to her in the third book. I think Felurian gave the shaed cloak to him for a reason. It might actually protect him from Chandrian.
Since people think she was alive during the creation war, some even believe she is Lyra- Lanre's wife. And after she dies and Lanre failed to revive her back, she came as Felurian. I don't really believe that's true. Can Lyra and Felurian be related somehow??...
.......possible.
When Felurian first spoke, it was easy to notice that the first letter of each letter was not capitalized. But being the curious guy Kvothe is, he asked her about Chandrian. She gets deadly serious and then her sentences are capitalized.
And the most interesting theory of all. The relationship between Bast and Felurian. Bast is called the "Prince of Twilight" and Felurian as "Lady of Twilight". So, naturally, people are curious about any connection between them. Possibly Bast is the son of Felurian.
Personally, I don't think Bast is her son. Since Bast specifically mentioned names his father as Remmen. It just doesn't fit in the story. Although they might be related somehow. Maybe, Bast is tagging along with Kvothe in an attempt to return him to Felurian. That could be why he spends so much time attempting to getting him to move along.
For now, this is it. Will post more about Felurian if I find anything.
Books by Patrick Rothfuss
The Name of the Wind - https://amzn.to/2QJ9jJb
The Wise Man's Fear - https://amzn.to/3wq2g7k
The Slow Regard of Silent Things - https://amzn.to/3fcUEzq
10th Anniversary Edition - https://amzn.to/3fdSC1Q
The Doors of the Stones - Not published yet.