zar’roc — misery
Akh sartos oen durgrimst! — For family and clan!
Ascudgamln — fists of steel
Astim Hefthyn — Sight Guard (inscription on a necklace given to Eragon)
Az Ragni — The River
Az Sweldn rak Anhuin — The Tears of Anhuin
Azt jok jordn rast. — Then you may pass.
barzul — to curse someone with ill fate
Barzul knurlar! — Curse them!
barzuln — to curse someone with multiple misfortunes
Beor — cave bear (elf word)
durgrimst — clan (literally, our hall/home)
eta — no
Etzil nithgech! — Stop there!
Farthen Dur — Our Father
Feldunost — frostbeard (a species of goat native to the Beor Mountains)
Formv Hrethcarach... formv Jurgencarmeitder nos eta goroth bahst Tarnag, dur encesti rak kythn! Jok is warrev az barzulegur dur durgrimst, Az Sweldn rak Anhuin, mogh tor rak Jurgenvren? Ne udim etal os rast knurlag. Knurlag ana... — This Shadeslayer... this Dragon Rider has no place in Tarnag, our holiest of cities! Do you forget the curse our clan, The Tears of Anhuin, bears from the Dragon War? We will not let him pass. He is...
grimstborith — clan chief
grimstcarvlorss — arranger of the house
Guntera Aruna — Guntera Bless
Hert durgrimst? Fild rastn? — What clan? Who passes?
hirna — likeness; statue
huthvir — double-bladed staff weapon used by Durgrimst Quan
Ignh az voth! — Bring the food!
IIf gauhnith. — A peculiar dwarf expression that means “It is safe and good.” Commonly uttered by the host of a meal, it is a holdover from days when poisoning of guests was prevalent among the clans.
Ingeitum — fire workers; smiths
Isidar Mithrim — Star Rose
Jok is frekk durgrimstvren? — Do you want a clan war?
knurl — stone; rock
knurla — dwarf (literally, one of stone)
Knurlag qana qiranu Durgrimst Ingeitum! Qarzul ana Hrothgar oen volfild — He was made a member of Clan Ingeitum! Cursed is Hrothgar and all who—
knurlagn — men
Knurlhiem — Stonehead
Knurlnien — Heart of Stone
Nagra — giant boar, native to the Beor Mountains
oei — yes; affirmative
Orik Thrifkz menthiv oen Hrethcarach Eragon rak Durgrimst Ingeitum. Wharn, az vanyali-carharug Arya. Ne oc Undinz grimstbelardn. — Orik, Thrifk’s son, and Shadeslayer Eragon of Clan Ingeitum. Also, the elf-courier Arya. We are Undin’s hall-guests.
Os il dom qiranu carn dur thargen, zeitmen, oen grimst vor formv edaris rak skilfz. Narho is belgond... — Let our flesh, honor, and hall be made as one by this blood of mine. I do pledge...
otho — faith
Ragni Hefthyn — River Guard
Shrrg — giant wolf, native to the Beor Mountains
Smer voth. — Serve the food.
Tronjheim — Helm of Giants
Urzhad — cave bear
vanyali — elf (The dwarves borrowed this word from the ancient language, wherein it means
Vor Hrothgarz korda! — By Hrothgar’s hammer!
vrron — enough
werg — an exclamation of disgust (the dwarves’ equivalent of
Ahgrat ukmar. — It is done.
drajl — spawn of maggots
nar — a gender-neutral title of great respect
Synopsis of
Eragon — a fifteen-year-old farmboy — is shocked when a polished blue stone appears before him in the range of mountains known as the Spine. Eragon takes the stone to the farm where he lives with his uncle, Garrow, and his cousin, Roran. Garrow and his late wife, Marian, have raised Eragon. Nothing is known of his father; his mother, Selena, was Garrow’s sister and has not been seen since Eragon’s birth.
Later, the stone cracks open and a baby dragon emerges. When Eragon touches her, a silvery mark appears on his palm, and an irrevocable bond is forged between their minds, making Eragon one of the legendary Dragon Riders.
The Dragon Riders were created thousands of years earlier in the aftermath of the elves’ great war with the dragons, in order to ensure that hostilities would never again afflict their two races. The Riders became peacekeepers, educators, healers, natural philosophers, and the greatest of spellweavers — since being joined with a dragon makes one a magician. Under their guidance and protection, the land enjoyed a golden age.
When humans arrived in Alagaesia, they too were added to this elite order. After many years of peace, the monstrous and warlike Urgals killed the dragon of a young human Rider named Galbatorix. Driven mad by the loss and by his elders’ refusal to provide him with another dragon, Galbatorix set out to topple the Riders.
He stole another dragon — whom he named Shruikan and forced to serve him through certain black spells — and gathered around himself a group of thirteen traitors: the Forsworn. With the help of those cruel disciples, Galbatorix threw down the Riders; killed their leader, Vrael; and declared himself king over Alagaesia. In this, Galbatorix was only partly successful, for the elves and dwarves remain autonomous in their secret haunts, and some humans have established an independent country, Surda, in the south of Alagaesia. A stalemate has existed between these factions for twenty years, preceded by eighty years of open conflict brought about by the destruction of the Riders.
It is into this fragile political situation, then, that Eragon is thrust. He fears he is in mortal danger — it is common knowledge that Galbatorix killed every Rider who would not swear loyalty to him — and so Eragon hides the dragon from his family as he raises her. During this time, Eragon names the creature Saphira, after a dragon mentioned by the village storyteller, Brom. Soon Roran leaves the farm for a job that will allow him to earn enough money to marry Katrina, the butcher’s daughter.
When Saphira stands taller than Eragon, two menacing, beetle-like strangers called the Ra’zac arrive in Carvahall, searching for the stone that was her egg. Frightened, Saphira kidnaps Eragon and flies into the Spine. Eragon manages to convince her to turn back, but by then his home has been obliterated by the Ra’zac. Eragon finds Garrow in the wreckage, tortured and badly wounded.
Garrow dies soon afterward, and Eragon vows to track down and kill the Ra’zac. Eragon is accosted by Brom, who knows of Saphira’s existence and asks to accompany Eragon for reasons of his own. After Eragon agrees, Brom
