- "Who keeps you safe from the Amyr? The singers? The Sithe? From all that would harm you in the world?"
- ―Haliax[1]
The Sithe (PR: /'sɪθ/)[2] is a faction of the Fae court.
Description[]
The members of the Sithe are said to wear crowns woven of holly boughs, silver armor and robes when they ride into battle and carry long horn bows as weapons.[3]
The faction is known in the Four Corners of Civilization as The White Riders and is the subject of many folklore songs. The author of A Quainte Compendium of Folke Belief recorded several songs about the grey ladies and white riders.[4] One of the songs is "The White Riders' Hunt", a song originating from the Faen realm before becoming known in the Four Corners:[5]
- "Rode they horses white as snow.
Silver blade and white horn bow.
Wore they fresh and supple boughs,
Red and green upon their brows." - ―Bast singing a verse from The White Riders' Hunt[5]
The Sithe's oldest and most important charge is to guard the Cthaeh, keeping anyone from having contact with the creature. The group is known to have hunted the skin dancers until they were extinct. The Sithe is also one of the few groups specifically named by Haliax as a fear of the Chandrian.
Trivia[]
- The name of the group is very similar to Sidhe (or Aos Sí), a supernatural race from Irish mythology and Scottish mythology that is comparable to faeries and who lives in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans.
- The name of the group may also be a reference to the Scythians - a nomadic group of Iranian people who dominated the Pontic steppe from the 7th century BC to the 3rd century BC, who were also known as the "Scythe". The Scythians were also known for their equestrian skills, and their early use of composite bows shot from horseback.
References[]
- ↑ The Name of the Wind, Chapter 16: "Hope"
- ↑ https://youtu.be/MPEB6NAGoYk?t=1193
- ↑ Reddit Fantasy. Pat Rothfuss, James Ernest, and the Pairs Kickstarter team - Ask Us Anything
- ↑ The Wise Man's Fear, Chapter 16: "Unspoken Fear"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Wise Man's Fear, Chapter 1: "Apple and Elderberry"