[ Contents | Administrivia | The Shadow | Non-Dark | Sources | Prophecy | Publishing ]

2.7.5: Iconography (What are them icons?)

"I have come here to lick chapter icons and kick ass. And I'm all out of chapter icons." [Joe "Uno" Shaw]

The astute reader may have noticed that the little pictures at the beginning of each chapter are not randomly chosen. Rather, there are loose correlations between the icons and what happens/who we see in the chapter. Note that the correlations are not perfect, and the icons change meaning throughout the course of the series.

The very astute reader may have noticed that the FAQ follows suit, using the various icons from the series to head up the different sections. However, note that some of the icons from the books have been adapted to different purposes in the FAQ, and a few of the icons in the FAQ have been randomly chosen.

Here is a table of the various icons, in order of appearance in the series, descriptions, and what they seem to symbolize. Things labeled "FAQ" are meanings the icons have in the FAQ, but not in the books.

Icon	Description	Meaning
	Serpent and Wheel	Aes Sedai, Wheel of Time, Ta'veren, the Pattern
	Ravens	Darkfriends, other minions of the DO, or Seanchan
	Dragon's Fang	Early books: Darkfriends, other minions of the DO, or Rand; Later books: Rand, Asha'man, saidin
	Harp	Thom Merrilin
	Leafless tree at night	Travelling through woods/at night. FAQ: Ishamael, Moridin
	Heron-mark sword hilt	Rand, blademasters
	Wooden staff	Moiraine. FAQ: Salidar/Rebel Aes Sedai
	Flame of Tar Valon	Aes Sedai, Saidar
	Sunburst	Whitecloaks
	Leaves on a vine	Nynaeve, Tinkers, Ogier, Loial, Waygates, Green Man
	Horned skull, trident and a paw	Trollocs
	Wolf	Wolfbrother, Perrin
	Lion Rampant	Andor, Elayne
	Gnarled, withered tree	The Blight, FAQ: Shaidar Haran, ghosts
	Ruby-and-Snake-Hilted Dagger	Shadar Logoth Dagger, Mat, Padan Fain
	Horn	Horn of Valere
	Portal Stone	Portal Stone, FAQ: Traveling, gateways
	Rising Sun	Cairhien
	Insect-Like, Horned Helmet	Seanchan
	Large Leaf	Waygates, Ogier, Wise women, Tinkers, Nynaeve (Seems to be replacement for the leaves on a vine from TEOTW)
	Tree with lots of leaves	Stedding, Ogier, Loial
	A'dam	Damane
	Female silhouettes (One Black, One White)	Black Ajah, the hunt for them
	Dice (five)	Mat. "(Note the five sixes..Yahtzee!!)" -- Joe Shaw
	Crescent moon and stars	Lanfear. (This one is really noteworthy. This icon appears when we meet the peddlers (aka Lanfear and Asmodean) in the waste. Had I realized it was Lanfear's icon, I would have realized then that one of them was Lanfear disguised. Also the same when she appears to the girls as Else. - Judy G.)
	Dream Ring	Tel'aran'rhiod
	Waves	A journey over water. FAQ: Ebou Dar
	Dragon	Rand
	8-pointed star and gulls	Sea Folk
	Two spears and a shield	Aiel
	Bull with garland of roses	Gareth Bryne: the Sign of House Bryne is a bull with a garland of roses around its neck.
	Elephant	Valan Luca's circus
	Full Aes Sedai symbol of old	Rand, the Dragon Reborn- "under this sign will he conquer", FAQ: The One Power
	Snaky square	Forsaken
	Falcon	Faile
	Sword crossed with fouled anchor	Egeanin, Bayle Domon
	Flag with hand, oval, and sword	Far Madding

[ Previous Section | Previous | Section Contents | Next | Next Section ]

[ Contents | Administrivia | The Shadow | Non-Dark | Sources | Prophecy | Publishing ]

Illustrations © 1989-2000 by Tor Books.