Orander

A similar entry appears in the Wheel of Time Companion confirming the information available in the main story arc.

Author: Atarah al'Norahn

General

Orander is a fictional character in a story entitled "Mara and the Three Foolish Kings". In the story, Mara steals the crowns of the three kings, making fools of them. When she tells the people of Heape about it, they refuse to accept any king at all.

The story is told by Thom several times throughout the series. He says that he will recite it to the people of Emond's Field (TEotW, Ch. 4); he tells it on the way to Baerlon (TEotW, Ch. 13); he tells it in Barthanes' manor (TGH, Ch. 34); he tells it in an inn named The Woman of Tanchico, in Tar Valon (TDR, Ch. 31); and he tells it in an inn named The Three Plum Court, in Tanchico (TSR, Ch. 39).

Quotes

"'It was as we have said it should be,' said King Madel, trying to untangle a fish from his long beard." Thom's voice seemed almost to echo inside a great hall, not an ordinary common room. His plucked harp sounded the three kings' final foolishness. "'It was as we said it would be,' announced Orander. And, feet slipping in the mud, he sat down with a great splash. 'It was as we said it must be,' proclaimed Kadar as he searched, up to his elbows in the river, for his crown. 'The woman knows not whereof she speaks. She is the fool!' Madel and Orander agreed with him loudly. And with that, Mara had had enough. 'I've given them all the chances they deserve and more,' she murmured to herself. Slipping Kadar's crown into her bag with the first two, she climbed back onto her cart, clucked to her mare, and drove straight back to her village. And when Mara had told them all that happened, the people of Heape would have no king at all." He strummed the major theme of the kings' foolishness once more, this time sliding to a crescendo that sounded even more like laughter, made a sweeping bow, and nearly fell off the table. (Thom tells the story; The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 31)