A Web of Words: Pattern and Meaning in Robert Jordan's 'The Wheel of Time'

Abstract

A characteristic of high fantasy literature of the latter part of the twentieth century has been the writing of multi-volume, complex series. To date such works have attracted only a limited amount of critical scrutiny. In this thesis I am using Robert Jordan's 'The Wheel of Time' sequence as the focus texts to explore the role and purpose of both the author of such epic-style high fantasy, and that of his online following of fans, as storytellers and pattern makers, and more specifically the motif of patterning in the novels. This thesis focuses on the mediaeval technique of interlacing as the key structuring device of the 'WOT' to unlock the intricate patterning of Jordan's narrative. This motif is a literary structural device in which several simultaneous themes are interwoven into one large narrative, akin to the intricate knot work so characteristic of early Anglo-Saxon art. I apply close reading of the Jordan texts and ask the following questions: What are the patterns in Jordan's texts? How do they feature in the work? What functions do they serve in the work in regard to narrative, meaning and in relationship to the reader?