The Name of the Wind

Kvothe attends his first class in the Mains, which is with Master Hemme. The instructor and student have already taken a mutual dislike to each other. Kvothe learns nothing he doesn’t know, so he approaches Hemme to tell him. Hemme brushes him off and says they will speak of it the next day.

Kvothe finally gets into the Archives, where a girl named Fela helps him. He requests books on the Chandrian, gets a book of faerie stories, then a book on the Amyr. Master Lorren leads him to a private room to chide him about his choice of study and cautions him that “a man, an arcanist, must focus himself on the present day. He must attend to practical things” (255).

The next day, Hemme tells the class that Kvothe has offered to give the day’s lecture. Kvothe gets up on stage and starts a lecture on the laws of sympathy, thinking that once a hangman’s noose becomes tied, “it will fit one neck as easily as another” (257). He asks his instructor for one of his hairs, then proceeds to demonstrate the three laws—the Doctrine of Correspondence, the Principle of Consanguinity, and the Law of Conservation—by creating a figure of Hemme.

Explaining the first law, “similarity enhances sympathy” (260), Kvothe adds features to the doll that make it more like Hemme. For the second, “once together, always together” (260), he uses the hair to bind the doll to the man. For the third law, “energy cannot be destroyed or created” (260), he performs sympathy to link Hemme and the doll, as well as a candle and brazier. He then puts the doll’s foot over the fire. This gives him power over his instructor, which does not escape Hemme. Kvothe’s lecture gets applause, and Hemme must shake the boy’s hand before Kvothe leaves the lecture hall.

During dinner, the masters call Kvothe to the Masters’ Hall. The nine masters are there, and they hear Master Hemme’s grievance that Kvothe performed sympathetic bindings on him “with malicious intent” (264), which constitutes two separate complaints—unauthorized use of sympathy and unauthorized use of sympathy leading to injury. The punishment is 13 lashes and expulsion. Kvothe defends himself by explaining that he had permission to use sympathy.

Hemme cannot contradict the student due to the amount of witnesses that saw the demonstration. The masters determine to give Kvothe a lower sentence: three lashes for reckless use of sympathy that blistered Hemme from foot to knee. At this point, Kvothe reminds the Chancellor that during his admission, he received confirmation that he could receive admission to the Arcanum upon proof that he has mastered the basic sympathy principles.

Master Elodin speaks up, saying that many of the current Arcanum students would not have been able to perform a double binding powerful enough to injure. The Chancellor takes another vote, and a majority agree to admit Kvothe into the Arcanum. Kvothe, alone with the Chancellor, apologizes for being so troublesome so soon. The Chancellor says, “How long had you intended to wait?” (269). 

The following morning, Kvothe asks Wilem to go into the apothecary and get him some nahlrout, as he’s too young to do it himself without attracting attention. He tells his friend that the nahlrout is to settle his stomach for the whipping. Wil complies, and Kvothe takes the herb with cider. Wil doesn’t want to see his friend whipped, so he leaves for class. Kvothe feels guilty for lying to him.

Kvothe shows up for the whipping as the nahlrout starts to take effect. He gives Master Hemme a wide smile and takes his shirt off, even though the announcer says that Kvothe he doesn’t have to. Kvothe replies that he doesn’t want to ruin a perfectly good shirt. He also refuses to allow the master to tie him up, which is done to prevent a student from falling when he passes out. He takes the three lashes, refusing to make any noise, and almost sees the world go black. Then he gets up, gathers his shirt and cloak, and walks away.

Master Arwyl examines Kvothe at the Medica, saying one of his Re’lar will get excellent practice that day with his straight, uncomplicated cut. Kvothe refuses anesthetic, but during his examination, the master realizes that Kvothe has taken nahlrout and demands an explanation.

Kvothe says, “All those students, and Hemme, and his friends, they’re all watching me, waiting for some sign of weakness” (280). He took the nahlrout, he says, so he would not faint, and so his enemies would not see any signs of weakness. Arwyl says he knows that boys can be cruel. After Re’lar Mola puts in the stitches, Arwyl expresses interest in having Kvothe study at the Medica.

Kvothe goes to the Archives, where Ambrose and Fela man the main desk. Still under the influence of the events of the day, Kvothe allows Ambrose to trick him into entering the Archives for a bribe. Ambrose says he’ll also have to buy some light for the dark areas, and Kvothe purchases a candle from him. When Kvothe explores the stacks, he finds a four-plate door with keyholes in the center of each plate. Chiseled into the stone is the word “Valaritas”: “I wanted to get inside so badly I could taste it” (289).

However, a master catches Kvothe with an open flame candle—a forbidden act with so many valuable books around. Master Lorren completely bans Kvothe from the Archives as a result. Back with his friends at the mess, Kvothe learns the truth about entry into the Archives, and about Ambrose, who is the formidable heir to a barony. Kvothe recites a piece of literature in return, hinting that he will have his vengeance: “Upon him I will visit famine and a fire / Till all around him desolation rings” (294).

At the Artificery (Fishery), Master Kilvin tells Kvothe about trying to re-create the lost art of ever-burning lamps. After examining the boy’s hands, he says Kvothe will work there. If Kvothe’s head is as clever as his hands look, he says, “[T]hen me and mine will show you things” (298).

Sitting at Anker’s inn with Simmon, Sovoy, and Wilem, Kvothe celebrates the removal of his stitches and his first full span (11 days—this detail is described in the sequel, The Wise Man’s Fear, along with information about the way money works in Temerant) in the Arcanum. While acting like young people, Kvothe’s friends give him some information on the different masters and which discipline Kvothe should follow. Kvothe wants to know more about Master Namer Elodin because his dream has always been about naming things. They tell him that Elodin was a young genius, youngest to become Chancellor, and went crazy early. He doesn’t teach anything, though. Still, Kvothe ponders how to approach him.

Chronicler says they still tell the stories of the class Kvothe taught and the whipping at the University. Bast wants to know why Kote never searched for Skarpi. Kote responds that he wasn’t living in a story, where the hero meets a mad hermit who helps him complete the deeds “clean, quick, and easy as lying” (304). He admits he still feels sorrow about his previous existence, but now there is more to life than revenge. However, he had to overcome certain obstacles first—poverty and low birth among them. Despite this, Kote teases the next part of his story: “I did find something very near to the mad hermit in the woods […] And I was determined to learn the name of the wind” (304).

Kvothe seeks out Master Elodin and says he wants to study naming, but Elodin is both evasive and tricky. When he finally pins down the master, Elodin takes him to a large manor house called Haven, or the Rookery, or the Crockery. It is the University’s asylum.

There, Elodin introduces Kvothe to his former giller, who has gone mad. He also shows the eager young man the room where Elodin himself remained imprisoned for two years. Kvothe notices that the air is different, pressurized, and copper lines the walls and doors. There’s a balcony outside but no way of getting to it. He wants to know how the master escaped, and Elodin tries to show him by naming stone, but he fails. The master tries again, saying, “CYAERBASALIEN,” and the wall falls. There’s now a hole, which almost looks as though green cobwebs cover it. Stunned, Kvothe remembers stories of Taborlin the Great and how he commanded the stone to break and it did.

Kvothe follows him out to the edge of the roof and asks, “What do I have to do to study naming under you?” (314). Elodin tells him to jump off the roof. Kvothe steps off and hits the ground. Elodin says, “That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen” (315), and he tells Kvothe that he is too reckless to study naming. Injured and abashed, Kvothe decides to study artificing instead.