The Eye of the World characters

Appears from the start

A tall, red-haired young man from Emond's Field in the Two Rivers, a remote farming district, who works the family land and sheep with his father, Tam. Steady, stubborn, and uneasy with attention, he is an ordinary country youth looking forward to the spring festival of Bel Tine when strangers and dark events begin to unsettle his village. He is the closest of three local young men whose quiet lives are about to be overturned.

Also known as Mat

First appears in chapter 2

A wiry, quick-tongued young man of Emond's Field and one of Rand's closest friends, known for reckless pranks, a taste for gambling, and an irreverent streak that regularly lands him in trouble. Restless and always ready with a joke or a scheme, he chafes against the narrow routine of village life.

First appears in chapter 5

A broad, powerfully built young man of Emond's Field, apprentice to the village blacksmith. Deliberate and slow to anger, he thinks carefully before he acts and is wary of his own great strength. He is the third of the close-knit trio of friends swept up in the strange events surrounding Bel Tine.

First appears in chapter 2

The innkeeper's daughter of Emond's Field, a spirited, sharp-minded young woman on the edge of adulthood who is close to Rand. Curious and strong-willed, she longs for a larger life than the Two Rivers can offer and refuses to be left behind when the others are forced to flee.

First appears in chapter 6

The young Wisdom of Emond's Field, the village's healer and adviser, unusually youthful for the office and fiercely protective of her people. Proud and quick-tempered, she has an iron will and a knack for sensing weather and trouble that older folk respect despite her years. She refuses to let the villagers' children be carried off without her.

Also known as Moiraine Damodred

First appears in chapter 2

A poised, richly dressed lady who arrives in Emond's Field before the festival, soon revealed as an Aes Sedai, one of the rare women trained to wield the One Power. Calm, commanding, and secretive, she takes an urgent interest in the village's young people and plainly knows far more about the dangers gathering than she is willing to say.

Also known as al'Lan Mandragoran

First appears in chapter 2

A hard-faced, watchful warrior who travels with Moiraine as her Warder, bonded to guard her. Dangerous and disciplined, he speaks little and misses nothing. As the journey begins he starts teaching the village youths a little of the wider, far more perilous world beyond the Two Rivers.

First appears in chapter 4

A tall, white-haired gleeman with a patched cloak and a grand manner who comes to Emond's Field to perform for the festival. A traveling entertainer of stories, music, and juggling, he proves worldly, knowledgeable, and considerably more than he first appears, and he takes the young travelers under his wing.

First appears in chapter 3

A peddler who makes regular rounds to the Two Rivers, arriving with pots, goods, and news from the outside world. Nervous, gossipy, and eager for an audience, he carries unsettling reports of war and strange happenings in distant lands.

Also known as Min Farshaw

First appears in chapter 15

A young woman in a boy's coat and breeches met at an inn in the town of Baerlon, blunt and quick-witted. She has an unusual gift: she sometimes sees images and glowing signs around people that hint at what is to come. She takes a wry, watchful interest in Rand and his companions.

First appears in chapter 36

An Ogier, one of a tall, long-lived, book-loving nonhuman people, encountered far from his people's forest sanctuary. Enormous and gentle, with tufted ears and a slow, courteous manner, he is fascinated by human affairs and joins the travelers, dismayed to find himself caught up in real danger.

First appears in chapter 14

A menacing figure who invades Rand's dreams, appearing as a man whose eyes and mouth open onto roaring flame. He boasts of vast power and ancient knowledge, taunts and threatens Rand, and is plainly bound to the Dark One's cause. Whether he is only a nightmare or something able to reach into the waking world is left deeply uncertain.