Christopher Paolini - Eldest [en]

Sé orúm thornessa hávr sharjalví lífs. — May this serpent have life’s movement.

skölir — shield

Skölir nosu fra brisingr! — Shield us from fire!

sköliro — shielded

skulblaka — dragon (literally, scale-flapper)

Stydja unin mor’ranr, Hrothgar Könungr. — Rest in peace, King Hrothgar.

svit-kona — a formal honorific for an elf woman of great wisdom

thrysta — thrust; compress

Thrysta vindr. — Compress the air.

Togira Ikonoka — the Cripple Who Is Whole

the Varden — the Warders

Vel eïnradhin iet ai Shur’tugal. — Upon my word as a Rider.

Vinr Älfakyn — Elf Friend

vodhr — a male honorific of middling praise

vor — a male honorific for a close friend

Waíse heill. — Be healed.

Wiol ono. — For you.

wyrda — fate

Wyrdfell — elven name for the Forsworn

yawë — a bond of trust

zar’roc — misery

Akh sartos oen dûrgrimst! — For family and clan!

Ascûdgamln — fists of steel

Astim Hefthyn — Sight Guard (inscription on a necklace given to Eragon)

Az Ragni — The River

Az Sweldn rak Anhûin — The Tears of Anhûin

Azt jok jordn rast. — Then you may pass.

barzûl — to curse someone with ill fate

Barzûl knurlar! — Curse them!

barzûln — to curse someone with multiple misfortunes

Beor — cave bear (elf word)

dûrgrimst — clan (literally, our hall/home)

eta — no

Etzil nithgech! — Stop there!

Farthen Dûr — Our Father

Feldûnost — frostbeard (a species of goat native to the Beor Mountains)

Formv Hrethcarach... formv Jurgencarmeitder nos eta goroth bahst Tarnag, dûr encesti rak kythn! Jok is warrev az barzûlegûr dûr dûrgrimst, Az Sweldn rak Anhûin, môgh tor rak Jurgenvren? Né ûdim etal os rast knurlag. Knurlag ana... — This Shadeslayer... this Dragon Rider has no place in Tarnag, our holiest of cities! Do you forget the curse our clan, The Tears of Anhûin, bears from the Dragon War? We will not let him pass. He is...

grimstborith — clan chief

grimstcarvlorss — arranger of the house

Gûntera Arûna — Gûntera Bless

Hert dûrgrimst? Fild rastn? — What clan? Who passes?

hírna — likeness; statue

hûthvir — double-bladed staff weapon used by Dûrgrimst Quan

Ignh az voth! — Bring the food!

IIf gauhnith. — A peculiar dwarf expression that means “It is safe and good.” Commonly uttered by the host of a meal, it is a holdover from days when poisoning of guests was prevalent among the clans.

Ingeitum — fire workers; smiths

Isidar Mithrim — Star Rose

Jok is frekk dûrgrimstvren? — Do you want a clan war?

knurl — stone; rock

knurla — dwarf (literally, one of stone)

Knurlag qana qirânû Dûrgrimst Ingeitum! Qarzûl ana Hrothgar oen volfild — He was made a member of Clan Ingeitum! Cursed is Hrothgar and all who—

knurlagn — men

Knurlhiem — Stonehead

Knurlnien — Heart of Stone

Nagra — giant boar, native to the Beor Mountains

oeí — yes; affirmative

Orik Thrifkz menthiv oen Hrethcarach Eragon rak Dûrgrimst Ingeitum. Wharn, az vanyali-carharûg Arya. Né oc Ûndinz grimstbelardn. — Orik, Thrifk’s son, and Shadeslayer Eragon of Clan Ingeitum. Also, the elf-courier Arya. We are Ûndin’s hall-guests.

Os il dom qirânû carn dûr thargen, zeitmen, oen grimst vor formv edaris rak skilfz. Narho is belgond... — Let our flesh, honor, and hall be made as one by this blood of mine. I do pledge...

otho — faith

Ragni Hefthyn — River Guard

Shrrg — giant wolf, native to the Beor Mountains

Smer voth. — Serve the food.

Tronjheim — Helm of Giants

Urzhad — cave bear

vanyali — elf (The dwarves borrowed this word from the ancient language, wherein it means magic. )

Vor Hrothgarz korda! — By Hrothgar’s hammer!

vrron — enough

werg — an exclamation of disgust (the dwarves’ equivalent of ugh )

Ahgrat ukmar. — It is done.

drajl — spawn of maggots

nar — a gender-neutral title of great respect

Eragon — a fifteen-year-old farmboy — is shocked when a polished blue stone appears before him in the range of mountains known as the Spine. Eragon takes the stone to the farm where he lives with his uncle, Garrow, and his cousin, Roran. Garrow and his late wife, Marian, have raised Eragon. Nothing is known of his father; his mother, Selena, was Garrow’s sister and has not been seen since Eragon’s birth.

Later, the stone cracks open and a baby dragon emerges. When Eragon touches her, a silvery mark appears on his palm, and an irrevocable bond is forged between their minds, making Eragon one of the legendary Dragon Riders.

The Dragon Riders were created thousands of years earlier in the aftermath of the elves’ great war with the dragons, in order to ensure that hostilities would never again afflict their two races. The Riders became peacekeepers, educators, healers, natural philosophers, and the greatest of spellweavers — since being joined with a dragon makes one a magician. Under their guidance and protection, the land enjoyed a golden age.

When humans arrived in Alagaësia, they too were added to this elite order. After many years of peace, the monstrous and warlike Urgals killed the dragon of a young human Rider named Galbatorix. Driven mad by the loss and by his elders’ refusal to provide him with another dragon, Galbatorix set out to topple the Riders.

He stole another dragon — whom he named Shruikan and forced to serve him through certain black spells — and gathered around himself a group of thirteen traitors: the Forsworn. With the help of those cruel disciples, Galbatorix threw down the Riders; killed their leader, Vrael; and declared himself king over Alagaësia. In this, Galbatorix was only partly successful, for the elves and dwarves remain autonomous in their secret haunts, and some humans have established an independent country, Surda, in the south of Alagaësia. A stalemate has existed between these factions for twenty years, preceded by eighty years of open conflict brought about by the destruction of the Riders.

It is into this fragile political situation, then, that Eragon is thrust. He fears he is in mortal danger — it is common knowledge that Galbatorix killed every Rider who would not swear loyalty to him — and so Eragon hides the dragon from his family as he raises her. During this time, Eragon names the creature Saphira, after a dragon mentioned by the village storyteller, Brom. Soon Roran leaves the farm for a job that will allow him to earn enough money to marry Katrina, the butcher’s daughter.

When Saphira stands taller than Eragon, two menacing, beetle-like strangers called the Ra’zac arrive in Carvahall, searching for the stone that was her egg. Frightened, Saphira kidnaps Eragon and flies into the Spine. Eragon manages to convince her to turn back, but by then his home has been obliterated by the Ra’zac. Eragon finds Garrow in the wreckage, tortured and badly wounded.

Garrow dies soon afterward, and Eragon vows to track down and kill the Ra’zac. Eragon is accosted by Brom, who knows of Saphira’s existence and asks to accompany Eragon for reasons of his own. After Eragon agrees, Brom gives him the sword Zar’roc, which was once a Rider’s blade, though he refuses to say how he acquired it.

Eragon learns much from Brom during their travels, including how to fight with swords and use magic. Eventually, they lose the Ra’zac’s trail and visit the city of Teirm, where Brom believes his old friend Jeod can help locate their lair.