71 pages • 2 hours read
Robert JordanThe Great Hunt
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1990A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Horn of Valere
The fantasy genre is filled with totemic symbols of power, including Tolkien’s One Ring, Harry Potter’s scar, King Arthur’s sword Excalibur. In The Great Hunt, that symbol is the Horn of Valere. When sounded, the Horn has the power to summon Artur Hawkwing and his army to the service of whoever possesses it. Magic is often a nebulous and difficult to perceive with the senses, and these symbols provide a clear, concrete representation of that power that can be seen, touched, and, in the case of the Horn, heard. The Horn, like the Holy Grail of Arthurian legend, is a tangible object that can be sought, giving the narrative the momentum of the quest. The characters also imbue it with great value: Ingtar obsesses over its recovery to the exclusion of all else; Selene pushes Rand to take the Horn for himself in defiance of his original mission; the city of Illian celebrates an annual cultural ritual around the hunt for the Horn. All this attention creates a mystique of tremendous importance around the Horn and focuses the characters’ attention on a physical object that readers can easily visualize and endow with their own concept of magic.
The Heron-Marked Blade
A gift from his father Tam, the heron-marked blade is a rare symbol of status, marking the bearer as a blademaster. The sword is the standard weapon of the fantasy genre, and skill with the sword is often the sign of a leader. Arthur Pendragon is destined to rule Camelot after the Lady of the Lake chooses him to carry it. In The Lord of the Rings, only the true King of Gondor, heir of the ancient warrior Elendil, can wield the sword Anduril after it is reforged. A symbol of power and leadership, the heron-marked blade confers an authority on Rand he does not want. Despite his repeated assertions that he is only a simple shepherd, the Warder Lan comments, “You hold yourself as if the sword belongs at your waist” (7), suggesting that Rand’s blade, rare even among heron-marked blades, is naturally suited to him, as if he has already begun to earn it. Rand’s sword is one of many clues that the shepherd from Emond’s Field is more than he appears.
The Dagger
The ruby-hilted dagger, which Mat finds in the shadow city of Shadar Logoth, is tainted with the evil of the Dark One. Mat’s possession of it corrupts him and binds his life to it until he cannot live without it. He is so connected to it, he can sense its presence, and he uses this sense to track its location in the residence of Lord Turak. When Padan Fain steals it along with the Horn, Mat begins to slowly waste away. His face is hollow and his eyes are sunken, though ironically his energy never flags. The dagger echoes the theme of addiction. It is evil, but Mat cannot live without it. It feeds his life force, but it is a false sustenance. Lke an addict who feels a temporary high, only to discover that his life is slowly being destroyed by that which gave him pleasure, Mat must be weaned from the dagger by the healers of the Aes Sedai. It is a delicate process with no guarantee of success. Like a slow poison, the dagger’s taint infects its bearer to his very soul. The dagger is a cautionary tale and a dark path to avoid at all costs.
The Aes Sedai Symbol
The symbol of the Aes Sedai—a black and white disc bisected by a sinuous line—represents the two halves of the True Source: male and female. The white female half is untainted and pure, while the male half is black, corrupt, and maddening. While only women are permitted to channel the One Power, the balance and symmetry of the symbol suggests that one half cannot exist without the other. Without darkness, there can be no light, and vice versa. Jordan’s universe is one of competing forces—light and darkness, good and evil—and the constant tension between the two maintains a fragile equilibrium in which the Wheel spins and the Pattern weaves. The symbol references the Buddhist concept of yin and yang, the notion that opposing forces are complementary and the whole is greater than the individual parts.
