List of Phrases from the Wheel of Time Books

This page contains a list of Old Tongue phrases and sentences used in the book series.

New Spring

Tai'shar Malkier!

• Chapter 15, "Into Canluum." At the gates of Canluum, a young guard recognizes Lan, bows and greets him with it. The narration translates it "True blood of Malkier." The guard adds that he stands ready, and Lan answers that he is not a king.
• Chapter 22, "Keeping Custom." At the gates of the Aesdaishar Palace, the officer Jurad Shiman, who once rode with Lan in the south, welcomes him and says it. Lan takes the greeting as a sign that Edeyn has been there.

The Eye of the World

Carai an Caldazar!

(For the) honor of the red eagle!

• Chapter 18, "The Caemlyn Road." As Lan leads a charge at a Myrddraal and Trollocs, Rand and Perrin shout "Manetheren!" and Mat shouts Carai an Caldazar! Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande! Afterward Mat cannot say what the words were or where they came from, and Egwene says that for a moment she thought she understood them. Moiraine translates the cry, beginning "For the honor of the Red Eagle."
• Chapter 49, "The Dark One Stirs." Mat shouts it while shooting arrows from the saddle as the party fights through the Blight, before Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande! Mordero daghain pas duente cuebiyar! Al Ellisande!

Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande!

• Chapter 18, "The Caemlyn Road." Mat shouts it after Carai an Caldazar! during the charge. Moiraine translates Carai an Ellisande as "For the honor of the Rose of the Sun" and Al Ellisande as "The Rose of the Sun," calls the cry the ancient warcry of Manetheren and the warcry of its last king, and says that Eldrene was called the Rose of the Sun.
• Chapter 49, "The Dark One Stirs." Mat shouts it in the Blight, followed by Mordero daghain pas duente cuebiyar! and Al Ellisande! a second time.

Notes

• The Companion translates Al Ellisande as "For the Rose of the Sun!" Moiraine translates it "The Rose of the Sun."
• The Companion's entry for Al Ellisande! says that Ellisande, the last queen of Manetheren, was known as the Rose of the Sun. In the novel, Moiraine says that Eldrene was called the Rose of the Sun.

Kiserai ti Wansho!

• Chapter 46, "Fal Dara." Shienaran guards shout "Glory to the Builders!" and Kiserai ti Wansho! at Loial as the party rides into Fal Dara. An officer then bows to Loial and greets him with it, and after Loial answers Tsingu ma choba the officer says it again. Later, at table, Agelmar murmurs it when Loial says he had hoped to find some remnant of the grove at Mafal Dadaranell.

Tsingu ma choba

• Chapter 46, "Fal Dara." Loial, to the Shienaran officer who greets him with Kiserai ti Wansho. Loial replies formally, "I am unworthy, and the work small," then says it.

Notes

• The Companion's phrase list translates it "You honor this unworthy one." The Companion's glossary defines choba as "to the humble one before you" and choshih as "to the unworthy one before you," the reverse of the phrase list.

Ninte calichniye no domashita

• Chapter 46, "Fal Dara." Moiraine, to Agelmar, after he tells her that her presence warms him. She addresses him as Agelmar Dai Shan and gives the English, "Your welcome warms me, Lord Agelmar." Her voice shows that they are old friends.

Kodome calichniye ga ni Aes Sedai hei

• Chapter 46, "Fal Dara." Agelmar, in reply to Moiraine's Ninte calichniye no domashita. He gives the English, "Here is always a welcome for Aes Sedai."

Notes

• The Companion gives the English as "Here is always welcome for Aes Sedai."

Kiserai ti Wansho hei

• Chapter 46, "Fal Dara." Agelmar, welcoming Loial. He says "Always glory to the Builders," then the Old Tongue. Loial answers that he is unworthy and that it is Agelmar who does him honor.

Suravye ninto manshima taishite

• Chapter 48, "The Blight." Ingtar, to Lan, as he leaves the party to ride for Tarwin's Gap. He raises an open palm, says it with the title Dai Shan, and gives the English, "Peace favor your sword."

Mordero daghain pas duente cuebiyar!

• Chapter 49, "The Dark One Stirs." Mat, standing in his stirrups and shooting arrows into the forest as the party fights through the Blight, shouts Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande! Mordero daghain pas duente cuebiyar! Al Ellisande! The narration says that he, too, was lost to the present.

Tsingu ma choshih, T'ingshen

• Chapter 49, "The Dark One Stirs." Loial, to the Green Man, who has greeted him as little brother. Loial dismounts, bows formally and says "You honor me, Treebrother," then the Old Tongue. The Green Man puts an arm around his shoulders and answers, "There is no honoring, little brother."

Notes

• The Companion's phrase list translates it "You honor me, Treebrother," and glosses choshih as "to the (humble) one before you." The Companion's glossary defines choshih as "to the unworthy one before you" and choba as "to the humble one before you."

Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin

• Chapter 52, "There Is Neither Beginning Nor End." Loial, after Moiraine hands him the horn found at the Eye of the World. He reads the inscription aloud and translates it, "The grave is no bar to my call," and the party realizes it is the Horn of Valere.

The Great Hunt

Tai'shar Malkier!

First appears in New Spring.

• Chapter 8, "The Dragon Reborn." In Fal Dara, as Lan escorts Rand to the women's apartments to meet the Amyrlin, the Shienaran Kajin pumps his fists over his head and shouts Tai'shar Malkier! Tai'shar Manetheren! The narration translates it "True blood of Malkier. True blood of Manetheren." Rand is startled to hear Manetheren named.

Tai'shar Manetheren!

• Chapter 8, "The Dragon Reborn." Kajin shouts it after Tai'shar Malkier! as Lan escorts Rand through Fal Dara. Later, when Leane stops Lan at the Amyrlin's door and Rand goes in alone, Lan says it to Rand, low, for his ear alone.

Tai'shar Shienar!

• Chapter 8, "The Dragon Reborn." Lan, raising his fists in reply to Kajin's Tai'shar Malkier! Tai'shar Manetheren!

Tia avende alantin

• Chapter 19, "Beneath the Dagger." Loial, when Rand asks what alantin, the word Selene uses for Loial, means. Loial explains that it is short for tia avende alantin, Brother to the Trees, and that it is very formal.

Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin

First appears in The Eye of the World.

• Chapter 19, "Beneath the Dagger." Selene reads the inscription when Rand lifts the Horn from its chest, and tells him he will be greater than Artur Hawkwing.

The Dragon Reborn

Tai'shar Manetheren!

First appears in The Great Hunt.

• Chapter 5, "Nightmares Walking." After a Trolloc attack on the party's camp, Lan tells Perrin that he fought well, raises his bloody sword and salutes Tai'shar Manetheren! Tai'shar Andor! The narration translates it "True Blood of Manetheren. True Blood of Andor." The Shienarans still standing lift their blades and repeat it.

Tai'shar Andor!

• Chapter 5, "Nightmares Walking." Lan, after Tai'shar Manetheren!, saluting Perrin after the Trolloc attack on the camp.

Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin

First appears in The Eye of the World.

• Chapter 12, "The Amyrlin Seat." Siuan, in her thoughts. Verin sets the Horn on Siuan's table, and Siuan knows what the inscription says without reading it.

Muad'drin tia dar allende caba'drin rhadiem!

• Chapter 18, "Healing." Mat, while Aes Sedai Heal him of the Shadar Logoth dagger in the White Tower. Arched and struggling with his eyes shut, he shouts it clearly, the first of several battle cries. The scene is told from Egwene's point of view; she recognizes the Old Tongue but understands only a few words.
• Chapter 19, "Awakening." Drifting between memories after he wakes, Mat murmurs it. The words are only sounds to him, but they call up a memory of a battle line of spearmen with a river securing his flank, in which he gives the order in English: "Footmen prepare to pass cavalry forward!"

Notes

• The Companion translates it "Infantry prepare to pass cavalry forward!" In Mat's memory in chapter 19 the order is "Footmen prepare to pass cavalry forward!"

Los Valdar Cuebiyari!

• Chapter 18, "Healing." Mat shouts Los Valdar Cuebiyari! Los! Carai an Caldazar! Al Caldazar! after Muad'drin tia dar allende caba'drin rhadiem! during the Healing.
• Chapter 19, "Awakening." Remembering a battle in which he led the Heart Guard against Trollocs, Mat mutters it. He is almost sure it means "Forward the Heart Guard" or "The Heart Guard will advance," but he does not see how he could know that.

Notes

• The Companion gives "The Heart Guard will advance!" with the literal "Forward Guard of the Heart (of the Nation)!" The first of Mat's two renderings in chapter 19 is "Forward the Heart Guard."

Carai an Caldazar!

First appears in The Eye of the World.

• Chapter 18, "Healing." Mat shouts it during the Healing, followed by Al Caldazar! Egwene repeats both in her thoughts, translates them "For the honor of the Red Eagle! For the Red Eagle!", and recalls that they are ancient battle cries of Manetheren.

Al Caldazar!

• Chapter 18, "Healing." Mat shouts it after Carai an Caldazar!, the last of his battle cries before the dagger rises from his belt. Egwene translates it "For the Red Eagle!"

Mia ayende, Aes Sedai! Caballein misain ye! Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye! Mia ayende!

• Chapter 18, "Healing." Mat, after the dagger tears free of his belt and hangs in the air above him. He opens his eyes, glares at the Aes Sedai and shouts it, then breaks into a long scream.

Notes

• The Companion's phrase list translates it "Release me, Aes Sedai! I am a free man! I am no Aes Sedai meat! Release me!" The Companion's encyclopedia entry translates it "I am a free man, Aes Sedai. I am no Aes Sedai meat."

The Shadow Rising

Tai'shar Manetheren!

First appears in The Great Hunt.

• Chapter 3, "Reflection." In the Stone of Tear, after an attack on Rand in his bedchamber, Rand refuses Moiraine's wish that he sleep in another room. Lan murmurs it, and the narration calls it a compliment. The scene is told from Perrin's point of view.

Ghiro feal dae'vin lormae; ghiro o'vin gemarisae. Nardes vasen'cierto ain; sind vyen loviyagae. Devoriska nolvae. Al ciyat dalae.

• Chapter 26, "The Dedicated." In Rhuidean, after Rand revives him from a hanging by the folk beyond the twisted doorway, Mat runs his fingers along the shaft of the spear they gave him and recites its inscription to Rand in English, beginning "Thus is our treaty written; thus is agreement made." He calls it their joke.

Notes

• The novels give the inscription only in English: "Thus is our treaty written; thus is agreement made. Thought is the arrow of time; memory never fades. What was asked is given. The price is paid." The Old Tongue text is from the Companion's ashandarei entry.
• The Companion's phrase list translates the second sentence "Thought is the arrow of time; memories never fade." The novels and the Companion's ashandarei entry have "memory never fades."
• feal appears to be a mispelling or alternate spelling of fel.

Sa souvraya niende misain ye

• Chapter 37, "Imre Stand." Mat, tracing the inscription on his spear, which he can now read, and thinking about the knowledge he brought back from Rhuidean, says it aloud and gives the English, "I am lost in my own mind." The gleeman Jasin Natael overhears and calls him a scholar.

Mia dovienya nesodhin soende

• Chapter 57, "A Breaking in the Three-fold Land." Mat murmurs Dovienya, then the full phrase, as Rand rides past a frowning Aiel delegation on the day the Car'a'carn is to be announced. The narration says that, whatever it meant, it sounded like a fervent wish.

The Fires of Heaven

Sene sovya caba'donde ain dovienya

• Chapter 3, "Pale Shadows." Mat, in his thoughts. After a display of his luck in a knife-throwing game, he says "Luck is a horse to ride like any other" to himself in English. When Jenric asks what he said, the Old Tongue version comes clear in his mind, and he answers that it was nothing.

Ghiro feal dae'vin lormae; ghiro o'vin gemarisae. Nardes vasen'cierto ain; sind vyen loviyagae. Devoriska nolvae. Al ciyat dalae.

First appears in The Shadow Rising.

• Chapter 3, "Pale Shadows." Mat looks over his spear and reads the inscription along its haft, given in English. He notes that it is in the Old Tongue and that he can read it now.

Carai an Caldazar!

First appears in The Eye of the World.

• Chapter 22, "Birdcalls by Night." After a night attack by Darkfriends and Trollocs on the Aiel camp, Melindhra asks Mat what he called out. He tells her it is something he heard once. The narration gives the cry with the translation "For the honor of the Red Eagle" and calls it the battle cry of Manetheren, from which most of his borrowed memories come.

Los caba'drin!

• Chapter 43, "This Place, This Day." Mat, in battle, after the lordling Melanril is cut down. He raises his spear and shouts Los! Los caba'drin! He wishes he could take the words back, but the Cairhienin horsemen understand the gesture and charge.

Tai'shar Manetheren!

First appears in The Great Hunt.

• Chapter 53, "Fading Words." Lan, parting from Rand after Moiraine is gone, raises one hand and says "Peace favor your sword. Tai'shar Manetheren." The narration calls it the ancient salute and translates it "True blood of Manetheren."

Tai'shar Malkier!

First appears in New Spring.

• Chapter 53, "Fading Words." Rand lifts his hand and answers Lan's Tai'shar Manetheren with it, and Lan rides away.

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

• Chapter 53, "Fading Words." Mat, to Rand, urging that if they are going to act, they should act now. When Rand asks what he said, Mat answers in English, "I said, it's time to roll the dice."

Notes

• The Companion translates it "It's time to roll the dice." This chapter has "roll." Lord of Chaos, chapter 5, and Knife of Dreams, chapter 37, translate it "It's time to toss the dice."

Lord of Chaos

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

First appears in The Fires of Heaven.

• Chapter 5, "A Different Dance." The motto is embroidered below the red hand on the banner of the Band of the Red Hand as the Band, six thousand strong, marches out of Maerone. The narration translates it "It's time to toss the dice."

Bajad drovja!

• Chapter 6, "Threads Woven of Shadow." Sammael, to Graendal, while complaining that only the Aiel truly follow Rand al'Thor. In the same exchange he also says Tsag!, which the narration calls an obscenity. His point of view notes that he does not usually curse like this and considers it a weakness.

Ghiro feal dae'vin lormae; ghiro o'vin gemarisae. Nardes vasen'cierto ain; sind vyen loviyagae. Devoriska nolvae. Al ciyat dalae.

First appears in The Shadow Rising.

• Chapter 22, "Heading South." Unable to sleep for memories of the dead, Mat fingers his spear and traces the inscription, given in English. He reflects that he got the worst of that deal.

A Crown of Swords

Deyeniye, dyu ninte concion ca'lyet ye

• Chapter 16, "A Touch on the Cheek." Mat, to Queen Tylin, when he is summoned to her rooms. The narration first gives his bow and greeting in English, "Majesty, by your summons do I come," and afterward the Old Tongue as what he actually said. It came out without his knowing it, though he had thought he had that under control.

Nosane iro gavane domorakoshi, Diynen'd'ma'purvene?

• Chapter 21, "Swovan Night." Birgitte, to Mat, after talking about her past and his secrets. The narration gives her question first in English, "What language do we speak, Hornsounder?", then in the Old Tongue with the literal "Speak we what language, Sounder of the Horn?" Mat starts to answer before he realizes what she has asked, then replies carefully in the common tongue that the old blood runs strong in him, and she laughs at him.

Notes

• The Companion's literal translation reads "Sounder of the (great) Horn." The novel has "Sounder of the Horn."

The Path of Daggers

Tai'shar Kandor

• Chapter 20, "Into Andor." Lan, after pulling a Seanchan crossbow bolt from Birgitte's thigh so that Nynaeve can Heal her. He murmurs it, and the narration translates it "True blood of Kandor." He had assumed from her clothes that she was Kandori. The scene is told from Elayne's point of view.

Winter's Heart

Tai'shar Manetheren!

First appears in The Great Hunt.

• Chapter 8, "Sea Folk and Kin." Nynaeve declares that the a'dam will come off the captured damane, though they will be watched. Lan says it to her softly, and she turns to him smiling, with tears in her eyes. The scene is told from Elayne's point of view.

Crossroads of Twilight

Ghiro feal dae'vin lormae; ghiro o'vin gemarisae. Nardes vasen'cierto ain; sind vyen loviyagae. Devoriska nolvae. Al ciyat dalae.

First appears in The Shadow Rising.

• Chapter 3, "A Fan of Colors." After Mat and Tuon seal a bargain by spitting on their palms and clasping hands, Tuon quotes the first sentence in English, "Thus is our treaty written; thus is agreement made," and asks what the writing on his spear means.

Knife of Dreams

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

First appears in The Fires of Heaven.

• Chapter 37, "Prince of the Ravens." The Band's banner is unfurled before a battle, and Mat translates the motto to himself, "It's time to toss the dice." He sees Musenge eyeing the banner.

Towers of Midnight

Tai'shar Malkier!

First appears in New Spring.

• Chapter 23, "Foxheads." Andere has had Malkieri and Shienarans brought to join Lan's ride without his knowledge. Three plump Malkieri merchants kneel before Lan and say it, and offer the goods they have brought and their swords.
• Chapter 42, "Stronger than Blood." At the Silverwalls, Malkieri gathered for the Last Battle cry it again and again as Lan's group passes, seeing his hadori without recognizing him. Each call makes him want to sit up straighter. The Arafellin guard at the gate also says it to him, and Lan answers Tai'shar Arafel.

Desya gavane cierto cuendar isain carentin

• Chapter 24, "To Make a Stand." Ituralde, in his thoughts. In Saldaea, he sees a soldier carrying the Traitor's Banner and others wearing black and yellow cloth tied to their sword sheaths, while groups of Saldaeans regard one another with hostility. The phrase comes to his mind, the narration translates it "A resolute heart is worth ten arguments," and he reflects that a man sometimes knows what he must do even when it sounds wrong.

Notes

• The Companion spells the first word Desye.

Al dival, al kiserai, al mashi!

• Chapter 31, "Into the Void." Mat, fighting the gholam with his ashandarei and copies of the foxhead medallion, finds himself shouting in the Old Tongue. The narration translates it "For light, glory, and love!" In the same fight he also shouts Tai'daishar!, translated "True Blood of Battle!", and the cry below.

Carai manshimaya Tylin. Carai an manshimaya Nalesean. Carai an manshimaya ayend'an!

• Chapter 31, "Into the Void." Mat, as he drives the gholam toward an open doorway in the same fight. The narration translates it "Honor of my blade for Tylin. Honor of my blade for Nalesean. Honor of my blade for the fallen," and calls it the call of vengeance. The gholam backs into the dark room beyond, and Mat leaps through the doorway after it.

Notes

• The Companion's first clause reads Carai an manshimaya Tylin.

Tai'shar Manetheren!

First appears in The Great Hunt.

• Chapter 40, "A Making." When Perrin agrees to accept the oaths of his people and lead them, the crowd cheers him with it.
• Chapter 47, "A Teaching Chamber." Elayne, to Perrin and Faile, quotes the message the Two Rivers people sent refusing her envoys and her taxes, which ends with it. The scene is told from Faile's point of view.

Tai'shar Arafel

• Chapter 42, "Stronger than Blood." At the Silverwalls, an Arafellin guard waives the tariff on Lan's goods after Lan swears they are for Shienarans fighting in the Last Battle, and says "Tai'shar Malkier, friend." Lan answers with it and rides on.

Ghiro feal dae'vin lormae; ghiro o'vin gemarisae. Nardes vasen'cierto ain; sind vyen loviyagae. Devoriska nolvae. Al ciyat dalae.

First appears in The Shadow Rising.

• Chapter 55, "The One Left Behind." Facing the Aelfinn as they hiss more loudly, Mat looks at his ashandarei and recalls the inscription, given in English, sentence by sentence. He reflects that he asked for a way out and was given a weapon.

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

First appears in The Fires of Heaven.

• Epilogue, "And After." Olver says it as he throws the dice on the Snakes and Foxes board his father made for him.

A Memory of Light

Al Chalidholara Malkier!

• Chapter 6, "A Knack." Lan, as his riders and a Trolloc force close on each other. He recalls that this was the oath Malkieri soldiers swore on their first posting to the Border, and that he had never spoken it. He first says it silently, then shouts it before ordering lances set.

Tai'shar Malkier!

First appears in New Spring.

• Chapter 16, "A Silence Like Screaming." Lan roars it as he leads his force back onto the field, while all five Borderlander armies converge on a Shadowspawn horde that has broken its lines to fight over the corpses.
• Chapter 37, "The Last Battle." Tam calls it after Lan, belatedly, in answer to Lan's Tai'shar Manetheren.
• Chapter 38, "The Place That Was Not." After Loial reports that Lan went down taking Demandred with him, Mat raises his ashandarei and screams it as he charges the Shadow's armies, and soldiers of every nation take up the shout behind him.

Sa'rabat shaiqen nai batain pyast

• Chapter 24, "To Ignore the Omens." Fortuona, in her thoughts, as Captain-General Galgan rides up. Wondering whether the Prince of the Ravens is meant to keep the Empress strong by being a constant threat, she recalls a proverb of her great-great-great-grandmother Varuota. The narration translates it "A woman was most resourceful with a knife at her throat."

Notes

• The Companion's entry for Varuota translates it "a woman is most resourceful with a knife at her throat."

Laero lendhae an indemela

• Chapter 27, "Friendly Fire." Mat, to Galgan, after saying that Bryne's defensive position at the ford should punish the Shadow. Galgan asks what he said, and Min, who has been studying the Old Tongue, catches only something about a flag. Mat says it is a saying of the Fallen Army of Kardia.

Yalu kazath d'Zamon patra Daeseia asa darshi

• Chapter 27, "Friendly Fire." Mat, to Min, while complaining about the Seanchan, as the guards outside the door prostrate themselves for the arriving Fortuona. He says it first in English, "Say the name of Darkness, and his eye is upon you," then in the Old Tongue. When Min does not know it, he asks whether anyone reads anymore.

Los caba'drin!

First appears in The Fires of Heaven.

• Chapter 29, "The Loss of a Hill." Mat gives the order to Tylee's Seanchan cavalry, who do not know the words but understand them, and leads them into a ford.

Taer'ain dhai hochin dieb sene

• Chapter 37, "The Last Battle." Mat, in his thoughts, studying the battle through a gateway in his map table. Elayne's line at the river is being pushed back, and he recalls fighting Sana Ashraf at the falls of Pena, with heavy cavalry and horseback archers sent in one after another, and then thinks the phrase.

Tai'shar Manetheren!

First appears in The Great Hunt.

• Chapter 37, "The Last Battle." After the fight to hold the river, Lan tells Tam to gather his men because they will be needed again, says it to him, and rides back to his Borderlanders.

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

First appears in The Fires of Heaven.

• Chapter 37, "The Last Battle." Olver, wondering what Mat would do, whispers it, then stabs a woman in white who is holding Faile with the Power, freeing her.