The Name of the Wind
Chapters - Patrick Rothfuss
Prologue: A Silence of Three Parts
The Waystone Inn lies in silence on an autumn night. A pair of men drink quietly at the bar while the red-haired innkeeper polishes the mahogany counter. The narrative describes three layers of silence - the hollow quiet of an empty inn, the sullen silence of the two drinkers, and the deepest silence belonging to the innkeeper himself, a man waiting to die.
POV: Kvothe
Chapter 1: A Place for Demons
At the Waystone Inn on Felling night, Old Cob tells the story of Taborlin the Great to the usual regulars - Graham, Jake, Shep, and the smith's prentice known only as the boy. Kvothe, disguised as the innkeeper Kote, listens from behind the bar. Carter arrives bloodied, his horse killed by a scrael - a black, spider-like creature - whose corpse lies in his wagon. Kote tests it with iron, confirming its nature, and later ensures it is properly burned and buried. Upstairs he warns Bast, his student, that such creatures should not have come so far west.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Bast, Old Cob, Graham, Jake, Shep, Carter, Aaron·Mentioned: Tehlu
Chapter 2: A Beautiful Day
Chronicler is robbed by ex-soldiers on the road, losing his horse and most of his supplies. The commander proves civil, leaving Chronicler his writing satchel and returning two pennies for his boldness. The scribe retrieves hidden coins from his boot and clothing, reflecting that this was the most civil robbery he has experienced, and continues his journey on foot.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Devan Lochees
Chapter 3: Wood and Word
Graham, the village woodcarver, delivers a mounting board carved from rare roah wood and inscribed with the word 'Folly'. Kvothe and Bast hang a strange, elegant sword above the bar on the new board. Earlier in the day Kote visits Caleb the smith to buy iron, paying a careful price. A sandy-haired traveller passing through recognises Kvothe from hearing him sing in Imre, but Kvothe deflects the accusation and has Bast drug the man's drink to prevent further trouble.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Bast, Old Cob, Graham, Jake, Carter, Aaron, Caleb
Chapter 4: Halfway to Newarre
Chronicler, walking to Newarre after dark, stumbles upon Kvothe waiting by a bonfire in the ruins of an old house. Kvothe warns him of scrael - demon-like black spider creatures - and gives him a stick to fight with. The scrael attack and Chronicler is knocked unconscious. Kvothe fights off all five alone, wearing a blacksmith's apron for protection, sustaining numerous cuts. He begins to dig graves for the creatures while Chronicler lies senseless.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Devan Lochees
Chapter 5: Notes
Kvothe carries the unconscious Chronicler back to the Waystone Inn, where Bast is furious that his master snuck out alone to hunt scrael with only a note left behind. Bast stitches Kvothe's many wounds using bone needles rather than iron ones. Afterward, Bast watches over his sleeping master and sings a haunting fae lullaby about mortal fragility.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Bast, Devan Lochees
Chapter 6: The Price of Remembering
Chronicler wakes and recognises Kvothe, revealing himself as Devan Lochees, author of The Mating Habits of the Common Draccus. Kvothe is hostile, fearing discovery, but Chronicler presses him - arguing that the stories being told paint him as an assassin rather than a hero, and that some even call him a new Chandrian. When Chronicler mentions a woman, a bottle shatters from the force of Kvothe's suppressed emotion. Finally persuaded by the threat of his story being lost, Kvothe agrees to tell his tale over three days.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Devan Lochees·Mentioned: Skarpi
Chapter 7: Of Beginnings and the Names of Things
Kvothe begins telling his story to Chronicler, first testing the scribe's shorthand cipher and learning to read it in about fifteen minutes. He introduces himself as one of the Edema Ruh, recounting his many names and deeds - from stealing princesses to burning down Trebon to spending a night with Felurian. He frames his tale as beginning with the Chandrian, but reaches further back to his childhood with the travelling troupe.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Devan Lochees·Mentioned: Bast, Aleph
Chapter 8: Thieves, Heretics, and Whores
Kvothe recalls his childhood travelling with Lord Greyfallow's Men, the Edema Ruh troupe his parents led under their patron's name. His father, Arliden, was a gifted actor and singer, and his mother, Laurian, a former noblewoman with a natural talent for words. He describes the prejudice the troupe faced from townsfolk, and how he first encountered Ben (Abenthy), an arcanist being harassed by a town mayor. Kvothe witnessed Ben call the wind to frighten off the constable, and persuaded his father to take the old man on, driven by curiosity about real magic.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Abenthy, Arliden, Laurian, Trip, Shandi, Teren, Marion·Mentioned: Lord Greyfallow
Chapter 9: Riding in the Wagon with Ben
Kvothe describes Ben as a portly, kind man with perpetually singed eyebrows, skilled in all the sciences. Riding in Ben's wagon, Kvothe eagerly absorbs lessons about the distinction between true arcanists and travelling charmers, examines Ben's Arcanum guilder, and learns about knacks. When Kvothe asks Ben to teach him, he agrees readily, and over the following months Kvothe masters chemistry, medicine, herb lore, and dozens of mental exercises designed to strengthen his mind.
Chapter 10: Alar and Several Stones
Ben teaches Kvothe the Alar - 'riding-crop belief' - using a stone exercise. Ben asks Kvothe to believe a dropped rock will float, despite all evidence to the contrary, then to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously. Kvothe masters this after an afternoon of intense effort, gaining the ability to think about multiple things at once. Ben also teaches Heart of Stone for emotional control and Seek the Stone for mental discipline.
Chapter 11: The Binding of Iron
Ben teaches Kvothe sympathy in practice, demonstrating the Sympathetic Binding of Parallel Motion with two iron drabs linked by pine pitch. Kvothe learns the law of sympathy - that similar objects influence each other more easily - and spends the day experimenting with various bindings. He discovers the pitch is unnecessary, merely an aid for concentration. That evening Laurian scolds him for singing a bawdy rhyme about Lady Lackless, teaching him the difference between speaking about someone and speaking to them.
Chapter 12: Puzzle Pieces Fitting
Kvothe eavesdrops on Ben, Arliden and Laurian by the campfire as they discuss the Chandrian. Arliden has been working on a song about Lanre for over a year, trying to piece together historical truth from scattered stories. They discuss the Chandrian's signs - blue flame, black eyes, decay of materials - and their possible motivations. Ben surprises Kvothe's parents by refusing to speak the Chandrian names aloud, arguing that the universal fear surrounding them likely has a genuine basis. Ben then raises the subject of Kvothe's exceptional intelligence, suggesting the boy could attend the University.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Abenthy, Arliden, Laurian·Mentioned: Lyra
Section 13: Interlude: Flesh with Blood Beneath
Kvothe pauses his narration at the Waystone Inn. Bast enters, having eavesdropped, and Chronicler notices something unsettling about him. When Chronicler uses an iron binding against Bast, the fae creature's true nature is revealed - blue eyes with no whites and cloven hooves. Kvothe restrains Bast with startling strength and forces the two to make peace, introducing Bast as 'Bastas, son of Remmen, Prince of Twilight and the Telwyth Mael'. Kvothe's eyes darken and he briefly shows the fearsome presence behind the innkeeper's mask before fading back to his disguise.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Bast, Devan Lochees
Chapter 14: The Name of the Wind
Ben begins teaching Kvothe sympathy in earnest, though Kvothe finds it disappointing compared to true naming. During a lesson on the road, Kvothe attempts to call the wind by binding his breath to the surrounding air, which nearly suffocates him. Ben saves his life by calling the wind himself, breaking the binding. Furious and shaken, Ben lectures Kvothe about the danger of thoughtless power, comparing a clever but reckless person to a man with a sword and no sense. Their relationship becomes strained as Ben restricts further lessons.
Chapter 15: Distractions and Farewells
The troupe stops at Hallowfell, where Ben falls for a young widow who needs a brewer and tutor. His departure sparks a grand farewell party where the named troupers each contribute. Trip the juggler stages a comic mock-arrest, Shandi the dancer performs, Teren the sword-master spars with Kvothe in a show bout, and Marion the puppeteer mounts a small play. Kvothe receives a lute from his parents, Arliden performs the opening verses of his unfinished Lanre song, and Arliden and Laurian sing 'The Lay of Sir Savien Traliard' together. Ben leaves Kvothe a copy of Rhetoric and Logic inscribed with encouragement to attend the University.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Abenthy, Arliden, Laurian, Trip, Shandi, Teren, Marion·Mentioned: Lord Greyfallow
Chapter 16: Hope
Kvothe describes the months after Ben's departure, as other troupers fill the gap in his education - tumbling and acting from Arliden, etiquette from Laurian, swordplay from Teren. While the troupe waits for a fallen tree to be cleared, Laurian sends him to gather herbs. He expresses the hope that his parents spent their final hours together and happy. Returning at sunset, Kvothe finds the troupe slaughtered - Teren's corpse beside his broken sword, Trip, Shandi and Marion among the dead, and Arliden and Laurian last of all. By a campfire he encounters Cinder, a pale figure with black eyes, and Haliax, wrapped in impenetrable shadow, who commands Cinder and the other Chandrian before they vanish as some unseen force approaches.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Cinder, Haliax, Arliden, Laurian, Trip, Shandi, Teren, Marion·Mentioned: Abenthy
Section 17: Interlude: Autumn
Kvothe pauses his story and sends Bast to prepare bread, telling him to collect himself. Bast, near tears, apologises to Chronicler for the earlier confrontation and they make genuine peace. Bast reveals that Kvothe grabbed his wrist hard enough to bruise. Outside, Kvothe loads firewood into a barrow with mechanical precision, then stops and weeps alone, hidden from anyone's view.
POV: Kvothe·On page: Bast, Devan Lochees
Chapter 18: Roads to Safe Places
After the massacre, Kvothe's mind protects itself through sleep and forgetting - two of the four doors of the mind. He dreams of survival lessons from Laclith and Ben, waking with practical knowledge of roots, snares, and fire-making. He survives alone in the forest near a greystone, too traumatised to butcher a rabbit he catches. He subsists on shelf fungus and sets a killing snare, sheltering his father's lute against the rain.
Chapter 19: Fingers and Strings
Kvothe spends months alone in the forest, existing like an automaton focused solely on survival. His only solace is playing his father's lute, progressing from remembered songs to original compositions to playing emotions and memories - Warm Grass and Cool Breeze, Mother Smiling. When strings break one by one, he learns to play with fewer. After three strings snap, he packs his meagre belongings and sets out walking south, eventually reaching a road and accepting a ride from a kind old farmer named Seth heading into the city.