Questions about the Age of Legends (Spoilers through Book 6 - Lord of Chaos)

Nadezhda al'Lanahrin

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So I’ve noticed in Book 4 - The Shadow Rising and Book 6 - Lord of Chaos that there are references to modern technology. Such as shocklances and what I assume are airplanes. Especially with a recent chapter where Sammael shows off his old gadgets during a meeting with Graendal. Does anyone have a list of in-world names to real-world names? And does this take anyone out of the immersion? For me it kinda does and I’m not sure I like it.
 

Jaryd Kosari

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There are real world references all the way back in the first chapter of Eye of the World, actually! Queen Elizabeth, the Cold War, Mother Theresa, Sally Ride, and even freaking Ann Landers are referenced during Thom's little show when he meets the Scooby gang. (And let's not even consider the matter of "King Artur Paendrag" ey?)

I think it's pretty great, actually. You can read more about the historical references here: https://wot.fandom.com/wiki/Real-world_references There are spoilers for later books the further down the page you go; they ARE clearly labeled. That page doesn't contain the other obvious references like airplanes, shock lances, t'mats (tomatoes), and zemai (= maize = corn).

The only one I genuinely do not like is the Mercedes reference in TSR.
 

Nadezhda al'Lanahrin

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There are real world references all the way back in the first chapter of Eye of the World, actually! Queen Elizabeth, the Cold War, Mother Theresa, Sally Ride, and even freaking Ann Landers are referenced during Thom's little show when he meets the Scooby gang. (And let's not even consider the matter of "King Artur Paendrag" ey?)

I think it's pretty great, actually. You can read more about the historical references here: https://wot.fandom.com/wiki/Real-world_references There are spoilers for later books the further down the page you go; they ARE clearly labeled. That page doesn't contain the other obvious references like airplanes, shock lances, t'mats (tomatoes), and zemai (= maize = corn).

The only one I genuinely do not like is the Mercedes reference in TSR.
I think the King Artur Pendraeg confuses me the most. There must be two different people instead of the same. I’m not sure how they could be the same.
 

Hal Bahalla

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I certainly noticed some inspiration from “the real world” in the books. And some of the Age of Legends tech certainly has similarities to modern tech. But I never considered that the Age of Legends was some variation of “the real world modern times”.

Is there some theories that the real world would be one of the spokes in the wheel of time? That we fit somewhere between Rand and The Third Age and the Age of Legends?

Not sure I could get on board for that idea… I like my fantasy clearly fantasy…
 

Nadezhda al'Lanahrin

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I certainly noticed some inspiration from “the real world” in the books. And some of the Age of Legends tech certainly has similarities to modern tech. But I never considered that the Age of Legends was some variation of “the real world modern times”.

Is there some theories that the real world would be one of the spokes in the wheel of time? That we fit somewhere between Rand and The Third Age and the Age of Legends?

Not sure I could get on board for that idea… I like my fantasy clearly fantasy…
I’ve heard that it’s all the same world, at least that’s what Daniel Greene says.
 

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Yes, the speculation (confirmed? I am no longer certain) I remember from when I started reading (just before Crown of Swords came out, so not a spoiler to this thread) is that the "Real World" is the First Age.The Age of Legends is either end of the Second Age or beginning of the Third. Ages are LOOOOOONG.
 

Nadezhda al'Lanahrin

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Yes, the speculation (confirmed? I am no longer certain) I remember from when I started reading (just before Crown of Swords came out, so not a spoiler to this thread) is that the "Real World" is the First Age.The Age of Legends is either end of the Second Age or beginning of the Third. Ages are LOOOOOONG.
I think, perhaps, that Jordan made it all specifically vague, especially how the Wheel of Time works. Maybe I’ll get more answers in later books, but I am not so sure there’s specifics.
 

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Yes, the speculation (confirmed? I am no longer certain) I remember from when I started reading (just before Crown of Swords came out, so not a spoiler to this thread) is that the "Real World" is the First Age.The Age of Legends is either end of the Second Age or beginning of the Third. Ages are LOOOOOONG.

That is my understanding, too @Ninya Evoneigh Sedai.
 

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The allusions are very much a intentional part of the telling, so it never really bothered me. The story is very obviously our past and our future. So, sometimes there will be in-world references which allude at things to come in our timeline, and other times there are moments of their past which also hint at our timeline.
 

Nadezhda al'Lanahrin

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It boggles my mind that it can be both past and future. Lol
 

Toral Delvar

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There are many references that suggest this might be our past/future. Mat for example is basically Odin - hanging from Yggdrasill for knowledge with his special spear, strongly linked with ravens among others, the trolloc names are based on our mythlogy
 

Merena Orithana

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:look:....that kinda makes sense, though @Toral Delvar Gaidin....
But does this mean that Tuon is Frigg/Frigga? :eek Not sure I associate her with family, love, the arts....? :giggle
 

Toral Delvar

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And of course
Odin is known for losing an eye
. If any other characters track to Norse Gods, it is much more subtle.
Perrin does forge mjölnir, but I don’t think there is much else of Thor in him
 
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Elania al'Manir

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And of course (spoiler). If any other characters track to Norse Gods, it is much more subtle. (spoiler)
The title says spoilers up through book 6 but those events come much later in the series. I think you're supposed to label your spoilers with the specific books they come from so that people who haven't read that far know not to read them.
 

Toral Delvar

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Thanks, I edited.
 

Merena Orithana

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