The Way of Kings (in-world)

The Way of Kings
Related to	Silver Kingdoms, Nohadon
World of Origin	Roshar
Universe	Cosmere

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This is for the in-universe text by Nohadon. For the book by Brandon Sanderson, see The Way of Kings.

The Way of Kings is a book of parables and stories written by king Nohadon on Roshar. Using Alethi glyphs, the title of the book is written with symbols for "pathway" and "king."

It was read by Gavilar Kholin in the years prior to his death. Dalinar Kholin began listening to it after his brother's funeral.

Summary

The book is written as a narrative of the life of Nohadon, an ancient king, as he acts as a ruler should, with honor and dignity. In particular, it focuses on a journey he undertakes between the cities of Abamabar and Urithiru, with his decision to go serving as the framing device for the entire piece. Rather than taking an Oathgate, as his family does, he instead travels alone and on foot, encountering a number of thought-provoking scenarios.

The book is composed of an introduction, where the narrator makes the decision to set out, forty parables concerning different aspects of kingship, and a postscript where he summarizes his experiences. Each known parable presents a situation or a problem that the narrator comes across, then a solution or strike of understanding and, finally, philosophical musings on how the situation relates to the duties of a king. In each story, the narrator always strives to lead by example, despite the objections of those close to him. In this manner, he gains the respect and loyalty of his followers.

Historicity

“I've grown fond of [metaphors]. You might say I wrote an entire book about them. ”

—Nohadon on his own work

The book was written by Nohadon, an ancient king who lived and reigned after one of the Desolations. As is revealed by Dalinar's visions, he wrote the book after he had already risen to power. Thus, while it does exemplify the virtues of a ruler, it is meant to act as an allegory rather than a method by which to inspire others.

It's uncertain how many of the events the book describes are real, and how many are purely metaphorical. In another vision, Nohadon asserts that he did make the journey that forms the basis for the stories; however, the factuality of the individual parables is disputable. In addition, it's possible that some details have been lost or altered over the ages.

Influence

At around five millennia old, The Way of Kings is one of the oldest known texts to have survived to the present day. Unlike most other literature and documents from that era, which were preserved only in Dawnchant and thus, until recently, impossible to read, The Way of Kings was continuously translated, ensuring its survival in the public consciousness. A major force behind this were the Vanrial, an order of artists dedicated to preserving ancient texts and songs.

Though Surgebinding predates Nohadon, the ancient Knights Radiant were heavily influenced by The Way of Kings. It's suggested that their Ideals were based off the book. In particular, it appears as though the Order of Bondsmiths owns much to its teachings, as the very first lines suggest their Third Ideal.

This book had enormous impact on both Gavilar Kholin and, later, Dalinar Kholin. After having it read to them several times, they become more and more honorable, which is a large contrast to typical modern Alethi behavior. Interestingly, both began to receive Almighty's visions through the Stormfather after they began to listen to The Way of Kings.

In addition, The Way of Kings is of great personal importance to Dalinar. Following his brother's death, he began to put himself back together after listening to Jasnah Kholin read it. Over the following years, he re-listened to it multiple times and began to base his own outlook on the world on its teachings. In addition, two of his visions, one of which didn't come from Stormfather, were concerned with Nohadon and his work. When the time came to confront Odium at the Battle of Thaylen Field, Dalinar decided to carry the book with him rather than taking any weapon. Odium destroyed this particular copy in an attempt to break Dalinar's spirit; however, by then he had taken its teachings to heart.

Excerpts

Note: apart from the postscript and the eighth parable, none of the excerpts are named or numbered; as such, the names given here are purely informal.

Introduction

Jasnah reads the entirety of The Way of Kings on the night of Gavilar's funeral, but only an early section is quoted, describing how a meeting with a supposed prophet caused Nohadon to set out on his journey, and explaining the structure of the book. It's possible that this is part of a foreword.

“You must find the most important words a man can say.

Those words came to me from one who claimed to have seen the future. 'How is this possible?’ I asked in return. ‘Have you been touched by the void?’

The reply was laughter. 'No, sweet king. The past is the future, and as each man has lived, so must you.’

‘So I can but repeat what has been done before?’

‘In some things, yes. You will love. You will hurt. You will dream. And you will die. Each man’s past is your future.’

‘Then what is the point?’ I asked. ‘If all has been seen and done?’

‘The question,’ she replied, ‘is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you will love, why you will hurt, when you will dream, and how you will die. This is your choice. You cannot pick the destination, only the path.’

This started my journey. And this begins my writings. I cannot call this book a story, for it fails at its most fundamental to be a story. It is not one narrative, but many. And though it has a beginning, here on this page, my quest can never truly end.

I wasn’t seeking answers. I felt that I had those already. Plenty, in multitude, from a thousand different sources. I wasn’t seeking ‘myself.’ This is a platitude that people have ascribed to me, and I find the phrase lacks meaning.

In truth, by leaving, I was seeking only one thing.

A journey.

”

—

The eighth parable

This is the only parable to be presented in its entirety, as quoted by Dalinar Kholin. It elaborates on the principle of "journey before destination" through the story of Nohadon's family and friends reacting to his journey both before he sets out and after he arrives in Urithiru.

“I walked from Abamabar to Urithiru. In this, the metaphor and experience are one, inseparable to me like my mind and memory. One contains the other, and though I can explain one to you, the other is only for me.

I strode this insightful distance on my own, and forbade attendants. I had no steed beyond my well-worn sandals, no companion beside a stout staff to offer conversation with its beats against the stone. My mouth was to be my purse; I stuffed it not with gems, but with song. When singing for sustenance failed me, my arms worked well for cleaning a floor or hogpen, and often earned me a satisfactory reward.

Those dear to me took fright for my safety and, perhaps, my sanity. Kings, they explained, do not walk like beggars for hundreds of miles. My response was that if a beggar could manage the feat, then why not a king? Did they think me less capable than a beggar?

Sometimes I think that I am. The beggar knows much that the king can only guess. And yet who draws up the codes for begging ordinances? Often I wonder what my experience in life—my easy life following the Desolation, and my current level of comfort—has given me of any true experience to use in making laws. If we had to rely on what we knew, kings would only be of use in creating laws regarding the proper heating of tea and cushioning of thrones.

Regardless, I made the trip and—as the astute reader has already concluded—survived it. The stories of its excitements will stain a different page in this narrative, for first I must explain my purpose in walking this strange path. Though I was quite willing to let my family think me insane, I would not leave the same as my cognomen upon the winds of history.

My family traveled to Urithiru via the direct method, and had been awaiting me for weeks when I arrived. I was not recognized at the gate, for my mane had grown quite robust without a razor to tame it. Once I revealed myself, I was carried away, primped, fed, worried over, and scolded in precisely that order. Only after all of this was through was I finally asked the purpose of my excursion. Couldn’t I have just taken the simple, easy, and common route to the holy city?

For my answer, I removed my sandals and proffered my callused feet. They were comfortable upon the table beside my half-consumed tray of grapes. At this point, the expressions of my companions proclaimed that they thought me daft, and so I explained by relating the stories of my trip. One after another, like stacked sacks of tallew, stored for the winter season. I would make flatbread of them soon, then stuff it between these pages.

Yes, I could have traveled quickly. But all men have the same ultimate destination. Whether we find our end in a hallowed sepulcher or a pauper’s ditch, all save the Heralds themselves must dine with the Nightwatcher.

And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived.

In the end, I must proclaim that no good can be achieved of false means. For the substance of our existence is not in the achievement, but in the method. The Monarch must understand this; he must not become so focused on what he wishes to accomplish that he diverts his gaze from the path he must take to arrive there.

”

—The 8th parable from The Way of Kings, quoted by Dalinar

The man and a stone

This is presumably an excerpt from another parable. It talks about the loneliness and burdens of kingship.

“I once saw a spindly man carrying a stone larger than his head upon his back. He stumbled beneath the weight, shirtless under the sun, wearing only a loincloth. He tottered down a busy thoroughfare. People made way for him. Not because they sympathized with him, but because they feared the momentum of his steps. You dare not impede one such as this.

The monarch is like this man, stumbling along, the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders. Many give way before him, but so few are willing to step in and help carry the stone. They do not wish to attach themselves to the work, lest they condemn themselves to a life full of extra burdens.

I left my carriage that day and took up the stone, lifting it for the man. I believe my guards were embarrassed. One can ignore a poor shirtless wretch doing such labor, but none ignore a king sharing the load. Perhaps we should switch places more often. If a king is seen to assume the burden of the poorest of men, perhaps there will be those who will help him with his own load, so invisible, yet so daunting.

”

—

Candles

Part of yet another, unnumbered parable. It is concerned with responsibilities that come with royal power.

“I stood in the darkened monastery chamber, its far reaches painted with pools of black where light did not wander. I sat on the floor, thinking of that dark, that Unseen. I could not know, for certain, what was hidden in that night. I suspected there were walls, sturdy and thick, but could I know without seeing? When all was hidden, what could a man rely upon as true?

Candle flames. A dozen candles burned themselves to death on the shelf before me. Each of my breaths made them tremble. To them, I was a behemoth, to frighten and destroy. And yet, if I strayed too close, they could destroy me. My invisible breath, the pulses of life that flowed in and out, could end them freely, while my fingers could not do the same without being repaid in pain.

I understood in a moment of stillness. Those candle flames were like the lives of men. So fragile. So deadly. Left alone, they lit and warmed. Let run rampant, they would destroy the very things they were meant to illuminate. Embryonic bonfires, each bearing a seed of destruction so potent it could tumble cities and dash kings to their knees. In later years, my mind would return to that calm, silent evening, when I had stared at rows of living lights. And I would understand. To be given loyalty is to be infused like a gemstone, to be granted the frightful license to destroy not only one’s self, but all within one’s care.

”

—

Stack of stones

This particular section describes how a structure - here, a stack of stones, but the metaphor can be applied to both people and groups - will collapse if its very foundation is removed.

“I passed a curious pile of stones along my path, of a type I found remarkable. The fractured shale had been weathered by highstorms, blown up against stone of a more durable nature. This pile of thin wafers lay as if stacked by some mortal hand.

But no man had stacked these stones. Precarious though they looked, they were actually quite solid, a formation from once-buried strata now exposed to open air. I wondered how it was possible they remained in such a neat stack, with the fury of the tempests blowing against them.

I soon ascertained their true nature. I found that force from one direction pushed them back against one another and the rock behind. No amount of pressure I could produce in that manner caused them to shift. And yet, when I removed one stone from the bottom—pulling it out instead of pushing it in—the entire formation collapsed in a miniature avalanche.

”

—

Hogman's murder

Dalinar tells this parable to Taravangian while discussing morality. It's unusual among others in that it does not provide a clear solution to the problems it presents; perhaps, the point of it is to say that sometimes, there are no good solutions and no clear-cut answers.

“On my sixtieth day, I passed a town whose name shall remain unspoken. Though still in lands that named me king, I was far enough from my home to go unrecognized. Not even those men who handled my face daily—in the form of my seal imprinted upon their letters of authority—would have known this humble traveler as their king.

In this town, I found men bedeviled. There had been a murder. A hogman, tasked in protecting the landlord’s beasts, had been assaulted. He lived long enough, only, to whisper that three of the other hogmen had gathered together and done the crime.

I arrived as questions were being raised, and men interrogated. You see, there were four other hogmen in the landlord’s employ. Three of them had been responsible for the assault, and likely would have escaped suspicion had they finished their grim job. Each of the four loudly proclaimed that he was the one who had not been part of the cabal. No amount of interrogation determined the truth.

”

—

The ending to the parable isn't quoted, but is summarized by Dalinar.

“Nohadon eventually wrote that the landlord took a modest approach. He imprisoned all four. Though the punishment should have been death, he mixed together the guilt and innocence, and determined that the average guilt of the four should deserve only prison.

(...)

[Nohadon] said the only course was to let the Almighty guide, and let each instance be judged differently, depending on circumstances.

”

—

Postscript

The epigraphs for last few chapters of Oathbringer (119-122) are taken from the postscript to The Way of Kings, as Nohadon reflects on his journey. Put together, they read:

“As I began my journey, I was challenged to defend why I insisted on traveling alone. They called it irresponsible. An avoidance of duty and obligation.

Those who said this made an enormous mistake of assumption.

If the journey itself is indeed the most important piece, rather than the destination itself, then I traveled not to avoid duty—but to seek it.

It becomes the responsibility of every man, upon realizing he lacks the truth, to seek it out.

Yes, I began my journey alone, and I ended it alone.

But that does not mean that I walked alone.

”

—The Way of Kings, postscript

Other quotes

There are also several smaller quotes scattered through the book, such as:

“There is honor in loss, if that loss brings learning. ”

—

“A man's emotions are what define him, and control is the hallmark of true strength. To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child. ”

—

“A monarch is control. He provides stability. It is his service and his trade good. If he cannot control himself, then how can he control the lives of men? What merchant worth his Stormlight won’t partake of the very fruit he sells? ”

—

“Never fight other men except when forced to in war. ”

—

“Let your actions defend you, not your words. ”

—

“Expect honor from those you meet, and give them the chance to live up to it. ”

—

“Rule as you would be ruled. ”

—

“As I fear not a child with a weapon he cannot lift, I will never fear the mind of a man who does not think. ”

—

Trivia

• Brandon Sanderson's favorite part of the book is the parable about the man carrying the heavy stone.
• The book is known off-world, although it has not found its way to Scadrial.
• Brandon has briefly considered writing the entirety of The Way of Kings. He eventually decided not to, stating it would be too much work for too little pay-off, and that he'd rather leave himself leeway to create new passages as necessary.

Notes

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