The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1
The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
Contents
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Lanre Turned
Overview
Kvothe risks returning to Dockside to hear Skarpi, who tells of Lanre’s fall: resurrected by Lyra’s love, later corrupted by grief, he destroys the empire’s last cities and becomes Haliax. Selitos curses him and loses his eye. The tale rekindles Kvothe’s purpose, linking myth to his own past.
Summary
Now fifteen, Kvothe is an adept thief surviving in Tarbean with a small hoard but no purpose. Hearing of a storyteller at the Half-Mast, he longs for diversion and a possible wager, yet fears Dockside because Pike—whom Kvothe once maimed with burning dreg after an earlier brutal clash—might seek revenge.
Despite the danger, Kvothe decides to attend. At the Half-Mast he finds Skarpi, an old storyteller who collects small coins before speaking. Kvothe stays near the door, wary of Pike’s friends, and requests a story of Lanre.
Skarpi recounts the Creation War and Myr Tariniel under Selitos. Lanre and his wife Lyra become legendary defenders; at Drossen Tor, Lanre dies but returns when Lyra calls his name, inspiring hope. Years later, after Lyra’s death, Lanre binds Selitos and secretly brings an army that destroys Myr Tariniel and the remaining cities.
Confronted, Lanre reveals grief drove him to forbidden power; death cannot hold him, and he has become Haliax. Selitos, seeing the truth, puts out his own eye for failing to discern it and lays a triple doom on Lanre: a face shrouded in shadow, his name turned against him, and a curse on him and his followers. Haliax is blown away like smoke, and Selitos weeps.
When the story ends, the children disperse. Kvothe thanks Skarpi and returns his coin, then learns Skarpi "only knows one story" growing everywhere. Assured the tale is true "more or less," Kvothe feels seen, promises to return, and leaves with renewed purpose.
Who Appears
- SkarpiDockside storyteller; tells the history of Lanre, Lyra, Selitos, and Haliax; engages and reassures Kvothe.
- Kvothe (Kote)Fifteen, street-hardened in Tarbean; braves Dockside for Skarpi; hears Lanre’s tale and feels renewed purpose.
- Lanre / HaliaxHero revived by Lyra; later corrupted by grief, destroys cities, becomes Haliax, cursed and deathless.
- SelitosLord of Myr Tariniel; powerful namer; bound and forced to witness ruin; curses Lanre and blinds himself.
- LyraLanre’s wise, powerful wife; calls him back from death; her loss drives his tragic turn.
- PikeOld enemy from Dockside; Kvothe once burned him with dreg; his threat makes Dockside dangerous.
- Bartender at the Half-MastCollects coins and serves Skarpi drinks during the storytelling.