The Kingkiller Chronicle | The Adem – Lore and Theories

This video contains spoilers for The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.

One of the treats of reading fantasy is learning about fascinating peoples and cultures. One such culture from the Kingkiller Chronicle is the Adem.

The wonderful thumbnail art is 'Kingkiller Chronicles - Penthe' by bchart

Huge thanks to these amazing artists. Credited as below. Please show them your support.

'Slow regards of SIlent things' by MarcSimonetti

'Map of The Kingkiller Chronicle (Patrick Rothfuss)'
by sasasapes

'Ademre Concept Design WIP' by KaelocaliasRune

No Copyright Motion Graphics

'Kvothe (fanart)' by LorennTyr
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License

'Vashet Mercenary Adem Kingkiller Chronicles' by AgusZanetti

'Kingkiller Chronicles - Penthe' by bchart

'Adem 3' by Andrew-Taylor

'Tempi fights Kvothe' by ShallowGrin

'Tempi Adem mercenary' by ShadowSakura25

'Kvothe' by AlyaW

'Kvothe - The Name of the Wind' by CainDream
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License

'Wise Man's Fear By Patrick Rothfuss Part 1' by MarcSimonetti

'Kvothe' by Eddy-Swan-Colors

'Kvothe' by JazzaStudios

'To Love Something Despite' by Kurogane-sensei

'Kvothe plays at the Eolian' by MarcSimonetti

'At the Gates' by jameszapata
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License

'Chandrian' by Sir-Heartsalot

'Fallen' by jameszapata
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License

'4th Squad' by Corporal--Nobbs
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License

'Color Light Mood' by jameszapata
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License

'Auri and Kvothe' by Manweri

'Lanre zoom' by emmgoyer7

'The Name of the Wind' by MarcSimonetti

'The Kingkiller Chronicle - Haliax' by stretch1

'Lyra preview' by emmgoyer7

'Wise Man's Fear By Patrick Rothfuss Part 2' by MarcSimonetti

Music:

Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

Music used: Road To Dark Tower by cinematicwaves
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

[Ialliac]

Kvothe: "I know by heart the first ninety sympathetic bindings. I can double-distill, perform titration, calcify, sublimate, and precipitate solution. I am well versed in history, argument, grammars, medicine, and geometry."
Penthe: "Where do babies come from?'
Kvothe: "Beg your pardon?"

[matthewhenthorn]

I think that the Ardem attitude towards music and loud voices is largely due to the fact that ardemra is a windy country and shouting becomes not only a waste of time but eventually secondary to physical closeness and the motions of the hands. Add that to the likelihood of being able to get an emotional expression across while the wind is in your face and hair and the whole thing falls into place.

[thinman]

I love how the audio book reader gave the Adem a somewhat Swedish accent, like they're a society of hyper skillful warrior Swedish Chefs.

[alexmarkadonis]

I am calling it. The Edema Ruh/Adem are the exiled Knowers from the Creation War. The Lethani is both descriptive and prescriptive. It is the one story all others are a piece of. The Adem are fixed on knowing the Lethani. Knowing the Lethani is keeping and learning from History. The Edema Ruh, perhaps, began as teachers who taught the Lethani (that is, recited history and moral lessons) through plays.

The Amyr and Adem are closely related. The Amyr follow/embody the Lethani. Think of the Lethani as stage direction and performance. Skill relies on both propositions (linguistically and imagistically* encoded?) and sensorimotor articulations**... *Kvothe sang colours to a blind man.

Perhaps Yllish knots are trace back to Ergen and are akin to Sygaldry, but they make states of affairs/stories true/happen for being proposed in knot form. **Consider that actual sensorimotor articulations and imagined sensorimotor articulations activate identical brain regions; the same is true of imagine speech and real speech, if I am not mistaken...

[schokoladenbrownies]

So cool! just on my second re-read of awmf ☺️ enjoying your kingkiller videos!

[Azn_Bran]

I do love the Fremen, err, Aiel, err, Adem. Joking aside, I do love this book series.  

As far as the link between the Adem and the Edema Ruh, that is almost straight out of the Wheel of Time. I don't want to post spoilers but there are two groups that are very similar to these that are linked in the same way.

[bowow]

Bit of a correction when you talked about the Adem calling singing Taboo. It's not in fact, but singing is viewed to the Adem as the rest of the world viewed sex. This was even mentioned by Vashet when she asked Kvothe what he did when she inspected his hands. She laughed and called him a "whore" which confused Kvothe.

For the Adem, someone's voice and facial expression and even more so emotional expression are the most intimate things one can share in their culture. And what is the one medium that can evoke great emotion in the setting? Music and song. To the Adem, singing and playing music publicly is akin to someone in the rest of the world stripping down and having sex in public.

Vashet even said (not the exact quote, but close) "We do not sing, only when two are very much in love and very much alone"

It's like a very religiously conservative person talking about sex after marriage, though I don't recall the Adem having any official ties for marriage, but that's basically how they view music, not that it's dirty or taboo, but an expression of the deepest intimacy only to be shared among very close loved ones.

[Candace-Loves]

I think you might be a genius. This kind of theoretical discussion enthralls me as a reader and (obviously) completely intimidates me as a writer. I'm so glad I finally found your channel. I'm currently binging all your KKC videos.

[chrisgenson]

The Lethani always struck me as being inspired by Tao (or Dao if you prefer). They're not the same but have similarities.

[TimTYT]

The idea that the Adem don't know how human procreation works is just insane to me. Just breaks my suspension of disbelief.

[matthewparker]

It could be that the third group of the ruach were tasked with spreading the knowledge of what had happened and ensuring it never died. The edema are tellers of stories, passing on legends to all people of the land, while the Adem are guardians of ancient secrets. This could be another reason for why they split, disagreement on what to do with their knowledge.

[joshuafoster]

I just discovered your channel today. Your Kingkiller videos are awesome! Please keep making them!

[sciencewizard]

Thank you. I've been waiting for more!

[domhuckle]

Nice catch about the adem and edema ru

[Candace-Loves]

"One side valued strict teachings of discipline and control, whereas the other puts a high emphasis on public displays of affection, music and passion."

"In fact, the need for the Adem to hide their emotions may stem from the teachings of the lethani."

"According to Skarpi, it was Lanre's grief for the death of his wife, Lyra, that drove him to reek havoc apone the world. Such passion is dangerous, especially when couples with extreme power."

[marah]

Love your channel you have helped me so much

[rkj]

Now the Adem are definitely inspired by other fantasy fighting cultures like the Aiel. But as for as I know, the language is original and very interesting.

[joshuagro]

The Adem are fore sure as old as Lanre. The battle where Lanre kills the monster and dies and get resurrected by Lyra, the battle of Drossen Tor in German, is the same battle as one of the people from the atas of kvothe swords dies

[mistborn]

Absolutely amazing. Dude you should make a video Every day

[devanman]

While the culture is so fascinating and I especially loved when the Adem thought being like us was so difficult like when to I smile and how long do I hold eye contact. but this was definitely the weakness part of the two books for me. I listened to the audio book not that long ago and hearing "the lethani" 700 times did my head in.