Random questions about the characters

[pudi0072000]

Random questions about the characters

I'm bored and I have questions. Maybe someone who's read the entire saga can help me out? 1) How long have Geralt and Dandelion known each other? 2) Dandelion is just a stage name, right? 3) Is Dandelion a half-elf, like he says in the TV series, or does he just look a lot like one?4) Has Geralt had to employ Codringher and Fenn before? What on earth for? 5) How can Geralt have a Rivian accent if he’s not actually from Rivia? Good voice acting? ;p6) Why did Visenna give Geralt to the witchers if he wasn’t a Child Surprise? 7) Why does Geralt love Yennefer? He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that enjoys being… er… bossed around. (I have a better word for it, but I don’t think the forum censors will allow it.) Is it strictly because of his wish, or is it real? 8) Why did Geralt suddenly decide he wanted to look after Ciri? In The Last Wish, he seemed horrified to ever meet his Child-Surprise. What happened to make him change his mind? 9) Does Geralt stay an atheist throughout the entire saga, or does he see the light, so to speak? Does he really not believe in destiny, or does that change too? (I will gag if the answer is yes.Am not a fan of religion saving the day and making everything sunshine, but Sapkowski doesn't seem like the kind of guy to do that. I hope not.)I might think of more later, because I like knowing random things about characters. ETA: 10) (Just for Blackwood_) Do all little witchers pick entirely new names or strictly surnames? If 'Geralt' is all that remained of his chosen name, then does that mean he didn't have a real name before? (Talk about having a crappy mom! She didn't even name him?!) Did they just call him 'Wolf' until he chose his own name? This one baffles me.

 

[Corylea.723]

I'm bored and I have questions. Maybe someone who's read the entire saga can help me out? 7) Why does Geralt love Yennefer? He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that enjoys being… er… bossed around. (I have a better word for it, but I don’t think the forum censors will allow it.) Is it strictly because of his wish, or is it real?

Good questions!I've wanted to know the answers to some of them, too. When I finished reading The Last Wish, one of the questions I posted was, "What the hell does he see in Yennifer, anyway? She's arrogant, bloodthirsty, and immoral. She has no conscience and is willing to use people as casually as kleenex. She's power-hungry to a ridiculous degree and is willing to destroy anything to get her own way. I know he doesn't have a lot of experience with long-term relationships, but it doesn't take a whole lot of experience to see that this woman is bad news!"I got a number of answers to that one, includingequilibris: "Well some men just like b****es, don´t they? No really, you will get to know her better in later books and discover her good qualities. She will remain arrogant and vindictive, though."ringeck: "who knows? haven`t seen any weird relationships in a real world? ;] "game widow: "so anyway, my first introduction to Geralt was as my personal hero in the game, so anyone who makes him suffer (and believe me, Yennefer does), immediately got my hackles up ... having had the opportunity to read more and get some insight , I'd have to say that no one less powerful than Yennefer would really be much of a match for our witcher. I've come to quite enjoy seeing her control him."Uglabuth: "She has a strong erotic aura and is a woman hard to conquer."None of these feels like a completely satisfying explanation to me, though I guess game widow's comes closest: there aren't very many women who are powerful enough to keep up with a wticher ... but Yennefer is.

 

[pudi0072000]

Hmm, so sort of for the joy of the conquest? Bragging rights, almost? Heh, I suppose I could see that. I doubt any man could hold Yen for long, but Geralt does seem to have managed it, even to the extent that he complains she's possessive.

 

[Corylea.723]

Hmm, so sort of for the joy of the conquest? Bragging rights, almost? Heh, I suppose I could see that. I doubt any man could hold Yen for long, but Geralt does seem to have managed it, even to the extent that he complains she's possessive.

I think some of the people I quoted meant joy of conquest, but that's not what I meant. I meant that, in my experience, relationships between equals work better than relationships where one person is clearly outclassed by the other. Most ordinary women wouldn't have Geralt's breadth of experience -- they haven't traveled as extensively as he has, haven't seen as much, and so on. And most ordinary women wouldn't have the experience of being able to meet and overcome nearly any challenge. Geralt is kind of a superhero, so finding a woman to equal him would be hard. Yennefer is his equal and more in power, which is something ordinary women aren't. But she's not his equal in goodness or wisdom -- there, she's a spoiled child.

 

[Soukyan.435]

1 - Can't tell exactly right now, but long...2 - Yes, he hides his real name3 - he does look a lot like one. About is it truth or not - no idea.4 - Well, seems they knew each other to some point at least. Sapkowski left many secrets.5 - Yes actually. Vesemirs idea to give him straws with places (to indroduce himself, cuz he wanted one very long name... Vesemir said that it's best to say name and where you're from, so straws with places), he got Rivia, so learned Rivian accent.6 - That I don't really remember, might check tommorow in my books.7 - Is there always a good reason to love? Love is often "drawn" as blind.8 - She was his by destiny. He couldn't change that, he knew it, and he did not want to risk it, as destiny chooses horrible ways to do whats meant to be. 9 - He belives in "Something More" in his own words.10 - ah... there's no 10..

 

[pudi0072000]

Ah, thanks for the help! I'm laughing, trying to imagine someone going through the trouble of training themselves to speak with a different accent forever. Seems like an awful lot of trouble, but if he really wants people to be able to trust him... 8 definitely makes sense - it was something I always wondered about.

 

[Gamewidow]

Also, the rivian accent thing is only mentioned in the first short story (The Witcher), after that, i don't think it's ever mentioned again and that story has several discrepancies with the 'saga'. Like, later Geralt is knighted by queen Meve of Rivia and that, too, is listed as why he is Geralt "of Rivia", but maybe that's just making things official

 

[Soukyan.435]

yes, that made him officially a rivian, seems it was funny for both - Queen and Geralt (another little joke from Destiny?). And yes, I don't remember it either, ever mentioned again, that accent of his

 

[Guest 2005166]

6) Why did Visenna give Geralt to the witchers if he wasn’t a Child Surprise?

No surprise? I guess, you cannot put it that way - he prolly was too much of a surprise to a sorceress. And why do people give their children away? There are many possible answers to this (why do people do that these days?). I just know about a writing by a sorceress (it´s in one of the novels), who demanded there must be a choice - either being sorceress or mother. Both won´t work and she further more demanded that every sorceress should be sterilised.

10) Do all little witchers pick entirely new names or strictly surnames? If 'Geralt' is all that remained of his chosen name, then does that mean he didn't have a real name before? (Talk about having a crappy mom! She didn't even name him?!) Did they just call him 'Wolf' until he chose his own name? This one baffles me.

That crappy mother gave him the name. She cared for Geralt after he was wounded in a fight and he recognises her for some reasons. In a talk, Geralt mentions, what let us assume, he thinks Vesemir gave him his name, but Visenna says, it wasn´t the old witcher naming him. "Wolf" is just prolly used as a nickname by Vesemir, and showing respect to one of the guild.

 

[mcavelin]

I THINK in a movie/tv series, little Geralt has another name (can't remember it now..) and Vesemir gave him his "new" name, and I don't know exactly (I have to watch the series again,but these first episodes were kinda boring to me), Vesemir "get" Geralt the same way Geralt "gets" Ciri from Pavetta (Vesemir saved Geralts dads life), but I think we can't take the movie/tv series as a serious prequel... Correct me if I am wrong, I really do not remember it well...It's been a while since I saw that :-[ ;D

 

[chicra]

1) It wasn’t stated. But they only met each other in adulthood which gives us approximately 20 years. 2) His real name is supposedly Julian Alfred Pankratz viscount de Lettenhove.4) I will finish translating the next part of chapter 1 soon, so there’s no point in spoiling anything now.6) Magic usually makes sorceresses infertile and even those who can have children usually give birth to retarded babies who can’t control their magic power. So having children is something of a disgrace for a sorceress. By orders of the chancellor of the most famous (if not the only existing one) school for female magicians, all students are sterilized. It was implied that Yennefer was one of them.9) Deep inside, he does believe in destiny. The ‘true’ atheist is Yennefer who refused to believe in Goddess even when she was speaking to one. On another note, the Goddess told her that there would come the day when nobody will believe in magicians which supports my theory that witcher’s world is actually our own world before the Ice Age (in one scene an elf is painting pictures on the inside of a cave)As for Geralt being knighted by Meve, he also noted at how ironic that was. It looked something like this:Meve – what’s your name?Witcher – GeraltMeve – So from now on you shall be called ‘Geralt of Rivia’!Witcher - lolololMcAvelinSapkowski said that movie/tv series butchered the canon so much that he wanted to emigrate out of Poland and never come back again.

 

[pudi0072000]

No surprise? I guess, you cannot put it that way - he prolly was too much of a surprise to a sorceress. And why do people give their children away? There are many possible answers to this (why do people do that these days?). I just know about a writing by a sorceress (it´s in one of the novels), who demanded there must be a choice - either being sorceress or mother. Both won´t work and she further more demanded that every sorceress should be sterilised.

Ah, I didn’t know that all sorceresses were sterilized – I thought it depended on who trained them. I’m not sure where I got that idea. *shrug* Yeah, I guess it would be a bit of a shock to find out you’re pregnant when it shouldn’t even be a possibility!

That crappy mother gave him the name. She cared for Geralt after he was wounded in a fight and he recognises her for some reasons. In a talk, Geralt mentions, what let us assume, he thinks Vesemir gave him his name, but Visenna says, it wasn´t the old witcher naming him. "Wolf" is just prolly used as a nickname by Vesemir, and showing respect to one of the guild.

When it said Geralt was all that remained of his chosen name, I assumed he either had a completely different name before, or didn’t have one at all. Didn’t even think Geralt was his name in the first place. I’m just glad his mom didn’t hate him, because that’s cold. I would love to read that part of the story, but will likely have to wait for a good long time before anyone gets around to translating it. I might be better off to learn Polish. =D

6) Magic usually makes sorceresses infertile and even those who can have children usually give birth to retarded babies who can’t control their magic power. So having children is something of a disgrace for a sorceress. By orders of the chancellor of the most famous (if not the only existing one) school for female magicians, all students are sterilized. It was implied that Yennefer was one of them.

Oh, wow, bad stuff. Geralt’s very lucky he’s not some drooling loon. =\

On another note, the Goddess told her that there would come the day when nobody will believe in magicians which supports my theory that witcher’s world is actually our own world before the Ice Age (in one scene an elf is painting pictures on the inside of a cave)

Hmm, an interesting theory. I don’t know enough about the series to really discuss it, but it’s a neat idea.

 

[petra_silie]

What a shame that you don't have the chance to read the 2nd short story volume "Sword of destiny". Some of your questions are answered there. Especially about Ciri, what made Geralt change his mind. It's in the last short story "Something more", in this story he also meets Visenna, his mother who gave him away.

Spoiler

summary http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Co%C5%9B_wi%C4%99cej

This gives you a survey what happens, but you really have to read the story to feel the content and the emotions of the characters... omg, I was so deeply moved when read the end of "Something more"... *snuffles in the handkerchief*

 

[pudi0072000]

I agree, actually reading has so much more impact than just knowing what happens. Still, I'm a glutton for spoilers, and will still be moved when I read it all verbatim. I really wish I could read SOD, but I'm happy we've got the fan translation going for TOC. At least there are helpful people to answer my noob questions. Thanks again everyone! I thought up two more questions:11) I’ve seen some people claim that the witcher medallions alert them to any kind of danger, and I’ve seen others say it detects magical danger (spells or monsters made from magic). Is it ever stated exactly what the case is? If something normal, like a mugger or a wolf were considered a danger, would the medallion react or not? 12)

Spoiler

Stumbling through the wiki, I read that Ciri has a granddaughter. I’m wondering if Ciri chose to stay with Geralt and Yen and Galahad, or if she has a family in the normal world/dimension. The end of the saga isn’t crap like Harry Potter, with some half-assed epilogue explaining what happened to everyone? I assume no, because Sapkowski is no Rowling.

 

[petra_silie]

11) I'm not sure but the medallion senses the presence of magic in pure form and as a supernatural being (dangerous). At any rate it can't sense normal criminals.12)

Spoiler

Ciri has a grandaugther? Who? This is the first time I hear of it. I haven't finished reading the entire saga yet but I already agree with the open end. Sapkowski doesn't stipulate what happens to the main characters but leaves it to us, the readers to build an individual finale and maybe continue the story in our own imagination.

 

[pudi0072000]

That makes the most sense for the medallion. As for 12. I misread. ;D

Spoiler

I suppose Jarre married someone and his granddaughter's name is Ciri. Oops! My question still remains if Ciri stays at Avalon or if she returns, or if it's never stated.

 

[chicra]

Spoiler

It's never stated. Last time we hear of Ciri she is still on her journey to lose virginity. Knowing her luck, the guy she rode off into the sunset with got shot a minute later.

 

[Gamewidow]

about Ciri's "granddaughter" i think you might have read that a while ago ... i mistranslated some Polish, and it is "Jarre" (and Lucienne's) granddaughter who is named after Ciri -- my bad eace:

Spoiler

... and i suppose "virginity" is taken in a VERY heterocentric and literal sense, cuz by my standards, she lost it a while back

 

[pudi0072000]

Oh, I feel slightly less stupid now. No worries though, you know a heck of a lot more than I do!

Spoiler

So then, Ciri and Mistle (who I believe is a girl, right?) were intimate, but Ciri's just not been with a boy? If yes, I do love that she's bisexual - it's so much more... real than having everyone be straight.

 

[chicra]

Spoiler

Philippa Eilheart is bisexual. As for male bisexuality - Jarre almost got raped by his schoolfriend once. And in the additional story it was hinted that a certain doppleganger might be bisexual too. Also it's mentioned that nearly all sorceresses (and wizards probably too) are bisexual, because they get bored with old-fashioned sex after the first 100 years of life. Sapkowski just loves the concept of fluid sexuality, methinks.