"Sacrifice of her people" The use of names in Realm of the Elderlings, part 2
a look at the women that married into the Farseer house
Last week I talked about the way Robin Hobb uses names in The Realm of the Elderlings to convey character, focusing specifically on the royal family of the Six Duchies, the Farseers. This time, I want to discuss some of the women that married into the Farseer house—the queens and would-be queens. I talked about Queen Desire before because her character is heavily tied to her husband and son, and while that applies to some extent to the women in this list, I think these characters share a common theme that sets them apart from Queen Desire, and that is the way they embody the concept of “Sacrifice”.
Part 2: “Sacrifice of her people”
And finally, I realized that those who had been our litter-bearers and greeted us with cakes and wine were not the servants, but the women of the royal household, the grand-mothers, aunts and cousins of Verity’s betrothed, all following the Jhaampe tradition of serving their people.
In the Mountain Kingdom, the rulers are known as Sacrifice, someone who works for the people rather than the other way around. A “princess” is more likely to be found tending the chickens and working at the smithy than being cared for by maids and servants. Ruling is servitude and selflessness.
Queen Kettricken.
In the first book, Assassin's Apprentice, we are introduced to this concept through Kettricken, the daughter of the current “Sacrifice”. Kettricken’s position is considered equal to that of a princess from the perspective of the Six Duchies, and a marriage has been arranged between her and Prince Verity. Instead of analyzing Kettricken’s name, which, as far as I can tell, has no real-life meaning, I want to look into the meaning of her title. A Sacrifice is very different from a princess or a queen. Kettricken does not see herself as “above” the people of the Six Duchies once she becomes their queen, she sees herself as their Sacrifice, and her actions reflect that, like going to battle with her soldiers. While she slowly adapts to the notions of royalty in her new home, she never stops considering herself and the royal family as a whole as Sacrifices.
The way Kettricken applies this title to our main character, Fitz, is very powerful. By doing so, she both acknowledges Fitz’s arduous work to save the kingdom and declares him part of the royal family. By considering Fitz a “Sacrifice”, she is claiming him as a legitimate member of the Farseer house, not just a bastard. Kettricken utilizes the term multiple times to refer to people, always with the implication that their lives are to be used for the sake of the kingdom. This is present both in the name of her dead child, which was simply named Sacrifice, and in the name of her second son, Dutiful.
Lady Patience of Withywoods.
Lady Patience was the wife of Prince Chivalry, as such, she was Queen-in-Waiting before he abdicated. Despite his position as heir to the throne, their marriage was one of love, not politics, and Chivalry’s choice for a wife was often questioned due to Patience’s eccentricity. At first glance, the name Patience does not seem to match her personality; she is a very energetic woman, constantly jumping from one interest to another, talking really fast and making snap decisions.
The name starts to fit once we look at her relationship with her adopted son.
Her initial reaction to Chivalry having a bastard was to explode, not in anger but in despair at being infertile. Over time, she changed her mind on the topic and came to feel guilty about her reaction. Upon meeting Fitz, she decides to treat him like her own son. He is not an easy kid to get close to, but she’s patient with him and does not give up on creating a bond between them. Then, when he has died and everyone has turned their backs on him, it is Patience who takes care of his body and gives him a proper burial (there are some Mary and Jesus parallels that can be made here, but that’s not the point). For the next 20 years, Patience waits for her son to come back, silently hoping that her child was alive and would return to her. Once they are reunited, Patience forgives him for leaving her all those years. She’s always willing to forgive him.
Her role in the third book, Assassin’s Quest, brings back the concept of “Sacrifice”. While she takes on a leadership role, she is never a queen. She becomes the Lady of Buckkeep and helps the coastal duchies survive the raiding of the Red Ships by selling off her jewelry and all her valued possessions. She sacrifices herself for her people, becoming a beacon of hope for them due to her abnegation.
Molly Chandler.
Molly is a character that symbolizes normalcy and freedom, living without the bounds of the crown. The fact that her name does not follow the Six Duchies tradition of naming a child after a virtue, a tradition that started with the royal family, already serves to bring attention to Molly as someone entirely separate from that part of Fitz’s life. Her surname, "Chandler,” simply reflects her family’s work.
But there are two more names that are tied to her character.
Chapter 6 of Assassin’s Apprentice, “Chivalry’s Shadow” is a heavy chapter that I will be talking about more when we get to Fitz. In this chapter, the topic of names is at the center. Three things happen really close to one another: Fitz encounters his biological mother, who calls out to him using his “real” name, but he doesn’t acknowledge her; Fitz visits Molly, and they read a letter from her mom where they find the name “Nosegay”, a nickname her mother used for Molly; and then the death of Fitz’s father, the death of Chivalry the man and Chivalry the ideal, is announced.
For now, what matters is the juxtaposition of Fitz and Molly and the names given to them by their mothers. Fitz doesn’t recognize his mother nor the name, at least, he tells the reader that he doesn’t (he’s after all an unreliable narrator) and seems to give the name little thought. Molly, on the other hand, is overjoyed at finding out the name her mother used for her. “Nosegay” means “a small bunch of flowers”, and it also brings to mind happiness and sweetness. Molly’s preference for the name her mother gave her instead of the name that ties her to her father, Chandler, makes Fitz’s “rejection” of his mother’s name for him more obvious.
The other name I want to mention is “Molly Redskirts”. This is a nickname that Fitz uses to refer to Molly, “his Molly Redskirts”, referring to the dresses she used to wear when they were younger. When Molly serves as a maid in the castle and her relationship with Fitz becomes that of noble and servant, she wears blue, the color of the royal family. The color red is associated here both with the past, when the relationship between them was more simple, and with Molly’s position as an outsider to the Farseers, someone who stands outside the intrigue and secrets of Fitz’s family.
Molly differs from the other women on this list by rejecting the concept of “Sacrifice”. Unlike the others, Molly puts herself and her family above the needs of the kingdom, and what drives her away from Fitz is his loyalty to the crown—the fact that Fitz always puts his duty over her. Molly represents the opposite of “Sacrifice”, at least in the Mountain Kingdom sense of the word. She does sacrifice a lot for Fitz and her baby, but she has no duty to the kingdom and little care for the royal family. It is made even more obvious when Fitz and Molly finally get married and get their “Happy Ever After”, which is also when Fitz leaves Buckkeep and retires from his duty to the kingdom.
Narcheska Elliania Blackwater.
I wanted to mention Elliania, Dutiful’s wife, as well, but there isn’t a lot to be said about her name. Like her mother-in-law, her name doesn’t really translate to anything, and what’s more interesting is her title: Narcheska. This title is similar in function to the “Sacrifice” of the Mountain Kingdom, a position of duty to her people, but not exactly the same as a queen or princess.
The title of “Sacrifice” is one of the most interesting world building details in the series, and I believe the women of the Farseer household are the ones that best represent this concept, either by how they adhere to it or reject it. Next week, I will be shifting the focus from the Six Duchies to the southern regions — the Bingtown trader families, the Pirate Isles, and the dragons and Elderlings of Kelsingra.