Blood of Elves

“If the song says they were in love […] then that’s what happened, and their love will endure down the ages. Such is the power of poetry.”

The audience’s debate after Dandelion’s concert at Bleobheris explores the relationships between history, legend, and truth. The elf who makes this statement is correct in her assertion that the bard’s song is a form of historical record regardless of its factual accuracy; it becomes the truth when people hear it, believe it, and repeat it through time.

“Thanks to you he was not alone. You were a friend to him. You were with him.”

Yennefer is grateful to Dandelion for being Geralt’s friend. Even though she and Geralt are not together, she still cares for him and does not wish him to be alone or lonely.

“[S]he had seduced the witcher—with the help of a little magic. She hit on a propitious moment, a moment when he and Yennefer had scratched at each other’s eyes yet again and had abruptly parted. Geralt had needed warmth, and had wanted to forget.”

Triss recalls the start of her affair with Geralt, when she took advantage of his tumultuous separation from Yennefer. Triss seduced Geralt using magic, which opens up am issue of consent that the novel unfortunately ignores.

“Even when something bad happens to you, you have to go straight back to that piece of equipment or you get frightened. And if you’re frightened you’ll be hopeless at the exercise.”

Ciri tells Triss what Geralt said about “catching fear,” and his lesson explains Ciri’s later determination to learn sword skills so she can kill the black knight who scared her so badly. Ciri feels that her experiences made her “catch” fear and knows she has to face that fear in order to move forward again.

“Such double loyalty […] is devilishly difficult to manage. Rarely does it succeed, Triss.”

Geralt doubts Triss can keep her promise to both the witchers and the Brotherhood of Sorcerers. It would seem his doubts are well founded since Triss later hides so well that Philippa Eilhart and Dijkstra cannot even find her. Rather than returning to the Brotherhood or to Temeria and risk being caught lying about Ciri’s whereabouts, Triss disappears.

“Never in my life have I harmed a non-human and look, my head is broken open by a dwarf’s cutlass.”

At the Kaedwenian fort, survivors of the Scoia’tael attack discuss their views on the Racial Tensions Between Humans and Nonhumans. Just like humans cannot be certain who is with the Scoia’tael, the Scoia’tael cannot be certain who is against them, so they attack unilaterally and wound someone who hasn’t done them any harm.

“‘And the girl?’ Yarpen indicated Ciri with his head as she wriggled under the sheepskin. ‘Yours?’

‘Mine,’ he replied without thinking. ‘Mine, Zigrin.’”

Geralt openly claims Ciri as his child for the first time, and it is important that he does so “without thinking.” His answer comes naturally, as if it is something he knew all along but had not yet given voice to. Previously, he claimed her as his destiny—someone he must be involved with—but now the connection is more personal, highlighting the theme of Parental and Familial Relationships.

“You’ve grasped the nature of the Scoia’taels quickly, you like the slogans. You know why you understand them so well? Because the Scoia’taels are brats too. They’re little snotheads who don’t understand that they’re being egged on, that someone’s taking advantage of their childish stupidity by feeding them slogans about freedom.”

Yarpen talks to Ciri about the Scoia’tael conflict, theorizing that the elves did not start their guerilla warfare on their own. Ironically, Yarpen thinks the Scoia’taels are childish for not realizing they are being used by humans, yet King Henselt’s army are using Yarpen and the other dwarves as both decoys and cannon fodder.

“If someone shows you compassion, sympathy and dedication, if they surprise you with integrity of character, value it but don’t mistake it for…something else.”

Yarpen warns Ciri against making Triss’s same mistake. He views Triss’s behavior with Geralt as something sad or misguided, but his statement also teaches Ciri that there are different forms of love, and not all of them are the sexual or romantic love Triss hopes for with Geralt.

“What have you done to us? What have you made of us?”

Yarpen’s questions after being told the caravan was a set-up are particularly haunting given the group’s proximity to the ruins of Shaerrawedd. Yarpen addresses his words to Geralt, Ciri, Wenck, and the other humans; for the first time, he sets himself apart from humans, identifying them as “you” and himself, the dwarves, and the other nonhumans as “us.”

“Everything here was practically as the elves had left it.”

Dandelion’s observations of Oxenfurt call back to Geralt’s explanation of Shaerrawedd in the previous chapter. Geralt said most major human cities, including Oxenfurt, are built on the foundations of conquered elven cities. Dandelion notes that in Oxenfurt, the humans hardly made any changes to the city itself, simply occupying it as it was.

“A popular saying at King Vizimir’s court held that if Dijkstra states it is noon yet darkness reigns all around, it is time to start worrying about the fate of the sun.”

Dijkstra holds considerable authority because of his position as head of Redania’s spy service. This colloquialism means that Dijkstra is aware of nearly everything before everyone else, so if he says something that does not match with what others see, it is probably because he is already ahead of them.

“[S]eventeen, what a beautiful age. Yennefer would give a lot to be that age again. What do you reckon, Geralt? Because I’ll ask her when I get the chance.”

Philippa implies she will tell Yennefer about Geralt and Shani’s brief tryst, but her statement also indicates she wants Geralt to reveal Yennefer’s location. In order to ask Yennefer anything, Philippa first must find her.

“What does a certain Rience, who has already murdered three people in Sodden and Temeria who were in touch with me and the girl two years ago, want from her?”

Geralt believes Philippa knows more about Rience than she lets on. His questions also reveal his knowledge of Rience’s movements—namely, that he killed the peasant family who sheltered Ciri when she was a refugee.

“Let us be wiser! Because now it is our turn. Now we are the elves […] let us not make the same mistake as the elves!”

King Vizimir of Redania recognizes the similarities between the conflict of elves and humans centuries ago and the current conflict of Nilfgaard and the Northern Kingdoms. He compares the Northern Kingdoms to the elves to demonstrate his belief that Nilfgaard means to exterminate Northerners and take their lands.

“I consider the blood-letting a tragedy, but I do not see an alternative—the tragedy will be repeated. The elves have to be pacified.”

King Foltest of Temeria’s support of peace between the races rings hollow because, almost in the same breath, he declares he can exterminate the Scoia’taels within six months. He frames this as mere realism: If the elves continuously attack, eventually he will have to defend himself and his kingdom.

“It is ugly, indeed, but the Lion Cub, if she has survived, must now die.”

The Northern rulers could not agree on who ought to marry Ciri and claim the Cintrian throne, so instead they decide to kill her. Queen Meve is the only one who must be convinced, as she thinks “infanticide” is an ugly and unnecessary solution.

“The young knight’s face did not twitch, nor did a single feather on the wings adorning the helmet at his hip.”

The wings on the knight’s helmet suggest that this is the same black knight in Ciri’s nightmares. Emperor Emhyr spared the knight from execution in order to achieve whatever goal he failed to accomplish in Cintra.

“If evolution has traced any groove at all in your brain then I’m going to plough it somewhat deeper. And then you’ll see what a scream can really be.”

Philippa interrogates Myhrman for information on Rience. She performs a spell that allows her to extract his thoughts, and the experience is painful. Philippa seems to take pleasure inflicting this pain, highlighting her ambiguous moral position in the novel.

“If the ability to make use of experience and draw conclusions decided, we would have forgotten what war is a long time ago. But those whose goal is war have never been held back, nor will be, by experience or analogy.”

Yennefer agrees with Ciri that while Jarre is a smart young man, he is naïve in his assessment of the current political situation and the possibility of another war. Yennefer’s statement here reveals much about her views on war—namely, that there will always be people who court war and that historical patterns are not always blueprints for the future.

“[M]agic is Chaos, Art and Science. It is a curse, a blessing and progress. It all depends on who uses magic, how they use it, and to what purpose. And magic is everywhere. All around us.”

Ciri’s training in magic is often accompanied by philosophical or theoretical lessons. Yennefer explains three commonly held views of magic, which she believes are all correct. Magic is complex and multifaceted, and its “nature” is situational rather than static.

“Mother Nenneke taught us that we mustn’t take anything just like that, for the fun of it. Even the cherry has to be left on its tree for the birds, so that it can simply fall.”

Ciri connects Yennefer’s lesson to what Nenneke taught her about respecting nature. She worries that if she draws energy from the earth, she will somehow deplete or harm it. Her concern indicates she is not preoccupied with gaining power just for power’s sake, something Yennefer wishes more mages worried about.

“‘What are you looking at like that?’

‘At that tree. That linden tree.’

‘And what’s so interesting about it?’

‘Nothing. I’m simply feasting my eyes on it. I’m happy that…I can see it.’”

Yennefer was blinded during the Battle of Sodden Hill. The experience humbled her, though she does not show it. Ciri catches Yennefer staring at a tree; Yennefer is simply happy she can see it.