Difference between revisions of "Enid"

Revision as of 12:43, 17 June 2007

Author: Kyria d'Oreyn

General

Enid is the cook in Setalle Anan's inn The Wandering Woman in Ebou Dar, Altara. She is very round with dark eyes and olive skin. Nynaeve thinks she seems "made of very large balls stuffed into a dress". The begemmed marriage knife she wears indicates that she has a full dozen children (ACoS, Ch. 23).

Timeline

• She is baking bread when Elayne and Nynaeve enter the inn looking for Mat (ACoS, Ch. 22).

• When Mistress Anan is about to escort Nynaeve and Elayne to the Kin, Enid asks her if the two were the ones Caira was chattering about. Mistress Anan tells her to remind Caira to stop spreading rumors and use her spoon to make a point if the need arises (ACoS, Ch. 23).

• Mat meets his account for staying at the inn with Enid, because Mistress Anan is out. She gives him a piece of advice about playing with women before he leaves for the Tarasin Palace (ACoS, Ch. 28).

• When Mat later goes to check on the gold that he stores in Mistress Anan's kitchen, Enid laughs at him for not having heeded her advice. Mat is embarrassed, because she knows about Tylin and him, but he quickly regains his composure and tells Enid how much he enjoyed her cooking. Delighted by his compliments, she gives him food that was actually meant for a patron. When Mistress Anan returns to the inn, she orders Enid to clear the kitchen and watch the door, because she wants to talk to Mat alone. Enid tries to fend off Egeanin and Bayle Domon as they try to enter the kitchen, but fails. When they leave again, Mistress Anan tells Enid to gather the kitchen staff back in after a count of fifty and keep silent about her whereabouts (WH, Ch. 19).

Miscellaneous

• Mat loves Enid's gilded fish, "a tangy dish that Mistress Anan’s cook prepare[s] to perfection" (ACoS, Ch. 21). He prefers her food over what is served in the Tarasin Palace (WH, Ch. 19).

• Caira informs Mat that Enid only prepares soup and bread for drunkards (ACoS, Ch. 21).

• She is always seen with a long-handled, wooden spoon that she wields like a scepter. She uses it to swat her helpers if they do not act to her liking (ACoS, Ch. 23; ACoS, Ch. 28).

• She seems to dislike Nynaeve and Elayne and thinks they are too scrawny for Mat's taste, stating her knowledge of his preferences (ACoS, Ch. 23).

• Mat remarks that Olver has fleshed out during their stay at the Wandering Woman, thanks to Enid and the other cooks stuffing him (ACoS, Ch. 28). The same goes for Joline after nearly a week in Mistress Anan's care (WH, Ch. 29).

• The under-cooks and potboys are used to being shooed out onto the stableyard by Enid on a word from Mistress Anan (WH, Ch. 19).

Quotes

"'You squeeze too many melons, my young Lord, and you shouldn’t be surprised when a rotten one breaks in your hand,' she said darkly for some reason. 'Or two,' she added after a moment, nodding. She leaned close, tilting up her sweating round face with an intent stare. 'You’ll only make trouble for yourself if you say a word. You won’t.' That did not sound like a question.

'Not a word,' Mat said. What in the Light was she talking about? It seemed the right response, though, because she nodded and waddled away waving that spoon twice as vigorously as before. For a moment, he had thought she meant to thump him with it." (Enid and Mat; ACoS, Ch. 28).