Atarah al'Norahn
General
Rodel Ituralde is a general in the army of Arad Doman. Before Rodel there was no House Ituralde (CoT, Prologue) and as a child he played as swords with the village boys (TGS, Prologue). He is a blademaster (TGS, Ch. 6).
Appearance
Rodel is a short man with a neatly trimmed mustache. He wears a beauty mark on one cheek in the form of a black velvet star, and a ruby in his left ear. Fingering the ruby is a well-known sign that he is angry (CoT, Prologue).
Personality
Ituralde is a man who is loyal to his oaths. He hates waiting for the enemy to make a move. Men willingly follow him into battle because he is such a good soldier (CoT, Prologue).
Condensed Timeline
Strengths and Talents
He is one of the five Great Captains of the Westlands (TFoH, Ch. 27).
He is an excellent tactician, and he defeats a Seanchan force three times the size of his that also has at least a hundred damane (TGS, Ch. 6).
Relationships with Other Characters
He is married to a woman named Tamsin (CoT, Prologue).
He thinks it a pity he and Turan couldn't cross swords (TGS, Ch. 6).
He and Alsalam are friends (CoT, Prologue).
Rodel fights because of Alsalam's orders. The men with him fight because of Rodel (TGS, Ch. 10).
Rodel's Journey
Lord of Chaos
A Crown of Swords
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There is no relevant reference to Rodel in this book.
The Path of Daggers
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There is no relevant reference to Rodel in this book.
Winter's Heart
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There is no relevant reference to Rodel in this book.
Crossroads of Twilight
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- Rodel Ituralde attends a meeting with Dragonsworn and Taraboners. He speaks to them about driving the Seanchan out of Almoth Plain. His orders from King Alsalam are to gather as many men as he can, from wherever he can find them, and to strike as hard as he can at the Seanchan. He offers a truce, and pledges in the King's name not to move against any of them in any way as long as the Seanchan remain a threat to Arad Doman, if they will help him fight the Seanchan. They all agree to work together (CoT, Prologue).
Knife of Dreams
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- He leads an attack on Serana, destroying a supply camp. Other attacks hit at least seven major supply camps, two dozen smaller camps, twenty supply trains, seventeen small outposts, eleven patrols and fifteen more skirmishes with an estimated 10,000-20,000 men involved (KoD, Prologue).
- Turan chases him back to Arad Doman, with most of the raken from Altara and Amadicia (KoD, Prologue). When he gets there, between 100,000-150,000 men come out of the mountains in front of him and perhaps 200,000 behind him (KoD, Epilogue). The Seanchan army has at least a hundred pairs of damane/sul'dam (TGS, Prologue).
The Gathering Storm
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- He destroys the Seanchan but loses half his army (TGS, Ch. 6).
- He has realised the Seanchan can't be defeated but hopes to inspire future generations (TGS, Ch. 6).
- He had planned to retreat into Arad Doman, but the Aiel prevent that (TGS, Ch. 10).
- He tells Rajabi of the time he saw Thom as the bard in Caemlyn (TGS, Ch. 10).
- He expects to die, but convinces Rajabi they have a chance. He tells Wakeda that staying is bad, but leaving would be worse (TGS, Ch. 10).
- Rand offers him the throne. He refuses and Rand offers him Amadicia instead. He agrees as long as the king is already dead and agrees with Rand's plan to seize the Merchant's Council (TGS, Ch. 10).
- He believes Rand when Rand tells him he remembers the Forsaken (TGS, Ch. 10).
- He accepts Rand's offer of a hundred men who can channel, including many who can Travel (TGS, Ch. 10).
- He agrees to patrol the borderlands if Rand can keep the Seanchan out of Arad Doman (TGS, Ch. 10).
- He sets up camp in World's End. He tells Rand that what he is doing could be considered an invasion (TGS, Ch. 22).
- His reports say the Blight is quiet (TGS, Ch. 22).
Towers of Midnight
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- He fought Shadowspawn in Saldaea near the city of Maradon, who refused refuge to the "invaders" (ToM, Ch. 18).
- A trumpeter prematurely sounded retreat without his order. Lines break. Gates of Maradon open and Yoeli introduced himself (ToM, Ch. 21).
- Yoeli overtook charge of the city. He took Rodel to meet Vram Torkumen, cousin to Queen Tenobia. Rodel named him as darkfriend for his refusal to aid men fighting Shadowspawn (ToM, Ch. 24).
- Deepe Bhadar, an Asha'man, reported feeling about six male channelers in the Shadow's force. A wall is breached while a signal fire indicating incoming aid is noted. Rodel agreed to stay and fight instead of retreat (ToM, Ch. 28).
- He ultimately utilized "hide and hit" tactics with the last fifty of about 200 of his men. He witnessed Rand devastate the Shadowspawn. He is reunited with the King of Arad Doman, Alsalam Saeed Almadar (ToM, Ch. 32).
A Memory of Light
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- Together with the other Great Captains, he studies the map of the Westlands and plans where to send the forces of the Light (AMoL, Ch. 7).
- He is assigned command of the battle at Shayol Ghul (AMoL, Ch. 7), with the Aiel, Domani, Dragonsworn and Tairens (AMoL, Ch. 21).
- He scouts out the valley of Thakan'dar and sees the Forgers (AMoL, Ch. 20).
- He sends the Aiel to destroy the Forgers while the rest of the forces hold the pass (AMoL, Ch. 20).
- Perrin sees Hessalam in Rodel's tent (AMoL, Ch. 22).
- Rodel is joined at Shayol Ghul by the Windfinders under Zaida (AMoL, Ch. 24).
- He sees a force of hundreds of Myrddraal (AMoL, Ch. 31).
- He knows that he needs to send out the cavalry to support the infantry, but finds himself wanting to order his forces to pull back (AMoL, Ch. 31).
- He tries to give command to Tihera but is unable to say the words (AMoL, Ch. 31).
- He is saved by the arrival of Elyas and the wolves (AMoL, Ch. 31).
- After the battle, he is cornered by four Aes Sedai who want him to take the Crown of Arad Doman (AMoL, Epilogue).
Miscellaneous
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- His horse is a white gelding named Dart (CoT, Prologue).
- He is nicknamed "the Wolf", though some people call him "the Little Wolf" behind his back due to his short stature (CoT, Prologue).
- King Alsalam has been giving Ituralde orders from his hiding place. Ituralde is very confused by these orders, since they often seem to contradict themselves and make no sense. "He had commanded Ituralde to march north with all possible speed against a great gathering of Dragonsworn that Alsalam supposedly knew of from secret spies, then ten days later, with no Dragonsworn yet in sight, an order came to move south again, with all possible speed, against another gathering that never materialized. He had been commanded to concentrate his forces to defend Bandar Eban when a three-pronged attack might have ended it all and to divide them when a hammer blow could have done the same, to harry ground he knew the Dragonsworn had abandoned, and to march away from where he knew they camped. Worse, Alsalam's orders often had gone directly to the powerful nobles who were supposed to be following Ituralde, sending Machir in this direction, Teacal in that, Rahman in a third. Four times, pitched battles had resulted from parts of the army blundering into one another in the night while moving to the King's express command and expecting none but enemies ahead. And all the while the Dragonsworn gained numbers, and confidence. Ituralde had had his triumphs - at Solanje and Maseen, at Lake Somal and Kandelmar - the Lords of Katar had learned not to sell the products of their mines and forges to the enemies of Arad Doman - but always, Alsalam's orders wasted his gains." (CoT, Prologue).
- On the eve of battles, Ituralde often gives Donjel, one of his men, a letter to carry to his wife if he doesn't survive (CoT, Prologue).
- His wife has told him that if he dies, she will come after him. Ituralde thinks to himself that this would be the first incident ever of the living haunting the dead (CoT, Prologue).
Quotes
"If the White Tower truly was divided against itself, or men who could channel really were being called to Caemlyn...well, the world would have to do without Rodel Ituralde until Arad Doman was whole again. For the moment, Arad Doman was more than enough for any sane man to go on with." (Rodel Ituralde thinking to himself; Crossroads of Twilight, Prologue)
"Once again he reviewed the orders he had sent, carried by the fastest riders he had, to every noble loyal to the king. Divided as they were by bad blood and old feuds, they still shared that much. They would gather their armies and ride when orders came from the Wolf; at least, so long as he held the King's favor. They would even hide in the mountains and wait, at his order. Oh, they would chafe, and some would curse his name, but they would obey. They knew the Wolf won battles. More, they knew he won wars." (Rodel Ituralde thinking to himself; Crossroads of Twilight, Prologue).
"He had always been called a gambler, though he was not. The trick was in knowing what risks you could take. And sometimes, in knowing which ones you had to take." (Rodel Ituralde thinking to himself; Crossroads of Twilight, Prologue).
"A wise man stops chewing when he reaches bone, but so far, the Seanchan have had their meat sliced thin before they reached for it. I intend to give them a tough shank to gnaw. More, I have a plan to make them snap so fast they'll break their teeth on bone before they have a mouthful of meat." Rodel Ituralde to the Dragonsworn and Taraboners; (Crossroads of Twilight, Prologue)
"Turan shook his head in disbelief. 'You realize what you have done,' he said. There was no threat in his voice. In fact, there was a fair amount of admiration. 'High Lady Suroth will never accept this failure. She will have to break you now, if only to save face." (Turan to Rodel Ituralde; The Gathering Storm, Chapter 6)
"Sometimes, surrender wasn't worth the cost. No man welcomed death, but there were far worse ends for a soldier. Abandoning one's homeland to invaders...well, Ituralde couldn't do that. Not even if the fight was impossible to win." (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 6)
“An honorable death was a good thing. But the ability to keep on fighting with honor… that was a prize far more precious." (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 10).
"Desya gavane cierto cuendar isain carentin - A resolute heart is worth ten arguments. (ToM, Ch. 24)
“Ituralde wanted to see those beasts dead. He lusted after it. Without them, he’d never have been forced to suffer the nightmare at Maradon. Without them, his hand wouldn’t shake when the horns of war sounded. They’d ruined him. He’d ruin them in return.” (AMoL, Ch. 24).
