- "In the beginning, as far as I know, the world was spun out of the nameless void by Aleph, who gave everything a name. Or, depending on the version of the tale, found the names all things already possessed."
- ―Kvothe[1]
Aleph (PR: /'eɪlɛf/)[2] is believed by some, though not by orthodox Tehlins, to be the creator of Temerant.
Description[]
A physical description of Aleph is not provided within the chronicle, however Aleph is characterized by Selitos as one of the only individuals he considers a rival in power. When Kote begins the tale of his life, he references Aleph as the creator of the world. However, whether this is accurate or not is known, especially considering the primary belief in Tehlu as the preeminent god of The Four Corners. It is implied that Aleph outranks Selitos and Tehlu, as they refer to the being as "Lord" and kneel before him when speaking to him. Whether this is done out of reverence or status is not known. Aleph appears to allow all in his presence to exert their own free will.
In the story told by Skarpi in Tarbean, he shows a vast amount of prowess in naming and possibly shaping when he fundamentally changes nine agreeing Ruach into what can only be described as angels.
In The Chronicle[]
Aleph appears very sparingly within the text. He is most prominently portrayed as the entity that changes Tehlu into the being that is regularly worshiped in the Four Corners. He appears in Temerant after the close of the Creation War to install a karmic force to punish and reward inhabitants of the world. What he did before or after the installation of this organization is unknown.
Trivia[]
- The word "aleph" is the name of the primary letter in several ancient languages, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic.
- In mathematics, the Hebrew letter for Aleph is used to describe the aleph numbers, which represent the cardinality of infinite sets (for those not mathematically inclined, it is enough to acknowledge an association with the concept of infinity).