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Alagaësia is a literary fantasy world in which the Inheritance trilogy takes place. Alagaësia, which was developed by Christopher Paolini, is home to many memorable characters, including Eragon, Saphira, Brom, and Murtagh. So far, Eragon is Christopher Paolini's only novel to take place in this fantastical world.
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Who Dwells in Alagaësia?
Major races include Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Urgals, and Dragons, although Dragons are on the verge of extinction. There are also a number of creatures whose origins are hidden and lack understanding such as Shades, and the Ra'zac. Apart from the different kind of beings found in Alagaësia, there are also societies that have or do exist that deserve recognition such as the Varden, the Dragon Riders and the Forsworn.
Humans
Humans seem to populate most of the known world of Alagaësia, though they came from across the sea relatively recently. Many are loyal to the evil king Galbatorix, but others rebel against him. Galbatorix, who is a Dragon Rider, employs beings of all types to get what he wants...and he wants Eragon. His base is located in Urû'baen, the capital of the Human Empire. Radical groups, most notably the Varden, wish to dethrone the King and establish a different government.
Elves
The Elven race dates back to ancient times, when they existed with other creatures that were bound to the land. Nowadays, they have withdrawn to Ellesméra in hopes of distancing themselves from Galbatorix. Ellesméra and the Elves in general remain a mysterious race, but we do know that they possess incredibly powerful magic, physical strength, and finesse. There powers are said to be so limitless to the point that even the weakest elf could defeat a human in battle of swordsmanship. Although they're such powerful creatures, they once had a horrible misunderstanding with the dragons which lead to a massive war. They eventually were able to settle their disputes with the help of the Dragon Riders. Eragon encounters Arya, who is an Elf, on his travels.
Dwarves
The Dwarves, who are the eldest race of them all (said to have lived for over 8 millenia), have lived in the Beor Mountains, from since the beginning of their race. They secretly house the Varden (and are part of it, in a sense), their aid being invaluable. They are led by the Dwarven king Hrothgar, who rules over their main city, Tronjheim, which is built on and under the mountain Farthen Dûr. They are split into thirteen clans; the metalworkers and master smiths clan being meant to rule them.
Urgals
Urgals serve as the primary opposing forces in Eragon. They spend their free time pillaging the free world and its people. They never seem to be in large groups because of the nature of their race. Usually they're split into small clans which fight with each other often. Kull, which are a particularly strong race of Urgals, are easily a match for a nonmagical being of Alagaësia. In Eragon, the Shade Durza amassed an army of Urgals (mostly Kull) and attacked Farthen Dûr.
It must be noted that the name "Urgal" resembles J.R.R. Tolkien's "Uruk" (a type of orc, larger than most others). Both are naturally violent soldier-races constituting a large part of the armies of the series' villains. The Uruk-hai of The Lord of the Rings (larger and stronger than other orcs, able to run long distances at great speed) are paralleled by the Kull in Eragon.
Dragons
Dragons, who have lived in Alagaësia since ancient times, once helped rule the land in conjunction with Humans. The few Humans who rode Dragons were aptly called Riders. Since they are bound to the land, they possess magical properties. Strange things happen around Dragons. People live longer, the earth changes...yet no one knows how it happens. The skin of a Dragon is nearly inpenetrable, though the thin membrane of the wings can be easily pierced. Dragons communicate telepathically with their Riders, and house incredible magic that can combine with that of the Rider. Dragons are immortal and also allow their Riders to be immortal; old age can never kill them although the sword or poison can. Right now, there are Dragons on each side of the war--Galbatorix houses two unhatched dragon eggs and his own dragon, Shurikan, and the Varden have Saphira.
Dragon Riders
Early on an elf killed a dragon mistakenly. The mistake caused a large scaled war between the two races until one day an elf named Eragon stole an egg and raised the dragon. They become great friends and were able to become embassadors between the two races. Finally peace was brought to the land and so the first Dragon Riders' purpose was simply to keep the peace between the groups. As time went on, the Dragon Riders' deeds became well known and their council came in control of the land. While the Dragon Riders held control over the land, the land prospered and great cities were built. One day Galbatorix led a rebellion that crushed the Riders and brought an end to this peaceful rule. Notable Dragon Riders include Eragon, Brom, and Galbatorix. The Dragon Riders are in conception similar to the Dragonriders of Pern of the Anne McCaffery's series of the same name, but they also resemble the Jedi of George Lucas's Star Wars saga, in that they are a race of super-beings who once maintained order in their spheres, but were betrayed by one of their own and overthrown. Eragon himself is similar to Luke Skywalker in that regard - a new member of the extinct order fighting to overthrow the betrayers and return order using newly learned powers and taught by a last remnant of the old order.
Forsworn
The Forsworn were the group of Dragon Riders who Galbatorix used to overthrow the Dragon Riders. It is said that at all times Galbatorix knew what the Forsworn were thinking and doing and out of boredom would watch them fight amongst each other, sometimes helping one or the other for his own amusement. There were thirteen in all, Morzan being the last of them. One by one they fell to the Dragon Riders until only Morzan was left. Brom was the one to slay Morzan and to relieve the world of the last of the Forsworn. Morzan was the only one of the thirteen to have a child, Murtagh, who accompanies Eragon for quite a while.
Werecats
Werecats are interesting beings with the ability to transform from cats to human like creatures. There origins and natures are very hard to understand because of the cryptic way in which they communicate, never fully explaining themselves and often speaking in nothing but riddles. They tend to keep to themselves and only appear to help in random times of need. They are also very hard to spot since when in their cat form they look exactly like a normal cat and so you would only know that it was a werecat if it were to telepathically speak with you. A noteable werecat in Eragon would be Solembum who gives Eragon advice and guides him a few times.
Shades
Shades are humans possessed by spirits. They're similar so sorcerers in that they both use spirits in order to accomplish magical tasks but the difference is taht a sorcerer controls the spirits he uses while a shade either gives up his mind and body to a spirit or is overpowered by one and has no control over his actions. The only way a shade can be killed is to cut out their heart otherwise they'll merely reappear elsewhere and return stronger than before. The only notable shade in Eragon would be Durza.
Ra'zac
The Ra'zac are physically extremely powerful beings who have no grasp of magic. The only two notable Ra'zac so far remain unnamed. They work for Galbatorix and are housed at Dras-Leona. These were the murderers of Garrow, Eragon's uncle. They had used an unusual liquid, Seithr oil, which has the ability to decompose flesh while leaving all other materials unharmed, making it easy to store. Eragon and Brom later used the sales of this oil to track the Ra'zac down.
Varden
The Varden is a group of rebels who are based in Farthen Dûr. Lead by Ajihad, the Varden hope to one day overthrow Galbatorix with the help of the Elves and the Dwarves, who have allowed them to share Farthen Dûr. The Varden recieves most of its economic support from Surda and scattered merchants living within the king's cities. They accept anyone who wishes to overthrow Galbatorix or has the ability to hold their own on the battlefield.
Magic
Magic in Alagaësia is used by those with a certain inborn talent - or by a Dragon Rider, who gains his power by contact with a Dragon. As in Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea cycle, spells require words in an ancient language to work. In both these ancient languages it is impossible to lie, so to declare something in that language is to have it happen (if the speaker has the talent for magic). In Eragon, the language is spoken by the elves, in the Earthsea books the dragons. In this way, another Lord of the Rings similarity appears - the Quenya High-elven tongue of Middle-earth is used to cast spells, so the elven language of Eragon is likewise used. In Alagaësia, casting magic is achieved through both verbal and mental processes. To begin, one must mentally connect to an obscure region in their mind--the region that houses magic. Once they are in tune with their potential magic energy, they may speak their declaration in the ancient language used by elves, and it will occur. While a Rider might say "I stand in a ring of fire" and said fire would appear, a non-magical person would simply not be able to say it.
Magic is also accessed by wizards and witches through spells and potions, and magicians use magical illusions but can do nothing else. Sorcerers summon spirits to perform magical acts, but can be possessed by spirits they summon. If this happens, they become a Shade - an innately evil creature that can only be killed with a blow through the heart.
It should be noted that magic leaves its user fatigued. Attributes such as the distance from the target and the severity of the magic affect the amount of fatigue the user gains. Extremely powerful magic, such as reviving a creature that is dead, will overcome the user, leaving him or her dead and their task unfulfilled. A user of magic does not have the ability to stop a spell after they have begun it unless and until it uses up all of their energy in which case, again, they'll be left dead and their task unfulfilled.
Important Places
Some notable areas in Alagaësia are (in alphabetical order):
- Beor Mountains
- Carvahall
- Dras-Leona
- Du Weldenvarden
- Ellesméra
- Farthen Dûr
- Hadarac Desert
- The Spine
- Surda
- Teirm
- Tronjheim
- Urû'baen
- Yazuac
External links
- The Official Eragon Web Site (http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/eragon/)
- du Shur'tugals :: The First Eragon Fan Site (http://www.dushurtugals.com)
- One of the many Eragon fansites (with links to other fansites) (http://shurtugal.com/)