“A final point. Remember what you know about the game of Snakes & Foxes. Remember, and heed.” –Moiraine’s Letter,KoD, Ch.10
The game of Snakes & Foxes is based on ancient dealings with the Finns, so Moiraine’s advice makes sense. However, it is repeatedly stated throughout the series that there is no way to win the game without breaking the rules. It should be noted, however, that Mat remarks in Ch. 33 of LoC that he never rolled the dice when Olver played the game so as to prevent his luck taking a hand. His luck may actually go a long way toward the success of the rescue, but it’s still indicated by the repeated statement that there is no way to win without breaking the rules that it isn’t merely so improbable as to have never happened for anyone who’s ever played, a 1 in a billion chance say (meaning Mat’s luck could make it happen anyway), but rather that the rules of the game make it literally impossible to win. So to rescue Moiraine, we know that they’re going to have to cheat somehow. To establish how, let’s first examine the game and what it means about actual dealings with the Finn.
Much of what we know of the game comes from when Mat plays it with Olver in Ch. 33 of LoC (notably titled “Courage to Strengthen”). The board is round; obviously it represents the Tower of Ghenjei, which is also round. Players start in the middle of the board and must reach the outside edge via a web of lines before returning to the center without being caught by the snakes or the foxes to win the game. This actually seems very much like the rescue our heroes are about to attempt: they will enter, have to get Moiraine, then return to the exit, all without being captured by the Finns.
Further, the board has arrows that indicate some paths allow travel in only one direction and others in both. This could represent obstacles within the tower itself, but I’m more inclined to believe it has to do with the very nature of Finnland. In Mat’s trips through the doorway ter’angreal we see two very different worlds even though both are supposed to be in the Tower of Ghenjei. In tSR Ch. 15, the land of the Aelfinn is described as being all curves with no straight lines anywhere. Mat also notices that he keeps passing the same room, but on different sides of the hallway and some other things that would make no sense in our world – clearly the laws of nature are different there. In tSR Ch. 24, however, the land of the Eelfinn has no curves, it is all straight lines and sharp angles. Every doorway seems to lead back to where Mat entered (again indicating some freaky physics going on). Perhaps the land of the Aelfinn is the spiraling part of the web of lines on the board, while the Eelfinn inhabit the straight lines running from the center outward? In any case, it seems it will be a confusing maze to navigate.
Now for the rules. The opening of the game of Snakes & Foxes involves making the symbol used to enter the tower and saying the poem:
“Courage to strengthen, fire to blind, music to dazzle, iron to bind.”
Fire, music, and iron are forbidden in Finnland – both sets of Finns ask Mat if he has any of these things when he goes through the ter’angreal and indicate that this is part of an ancient agreement. Why are they forbidden? Clearly, they must be things that can be used against the Finns, that can make them vulnerable – in essence, a way to cheat. This is supported by the fact that when Rand creates a sword of fire in Finnland, the Finns are quite frightened:
“They wouldn’t even look at it. Shied away. Hid their eyes.” tSR, Ch. 15
This matches the “fire to blind” line of the poem and shows that the poem is a hint on how to beat the Finns. Our group is already a courageous lot, especially Mat despite all his protestation that he is no bloody hero. Fire could easily be brought via Aludra’s strikers (matches) or Mat will bring some fireworks of some sort. Music is obviously going to be Thom’s harp.
But iron... why iron? The other parts of the poem are fairly straightforward – the Finns are frightened by bright lights, and perhaps loud noises (or are entranced by the music), but “iron to bind” is a strange rule. Steel seems just as dangerous as iron, but they don’t seem to care about that. Perhaps the Finns are “allergic” to iron, meaning they have a certain sensitivity to it because of the natural laws of their realm. For all we know, it may burn their skin on contact or be extremely painful for them to touch, rendering them weak. It may have to do with Noal, since the other two cheats seem to be tied to Mat and Thom. He could bring iron weapons or chains and shackles for this purpose. This also seems to tie into drawing the symbol on the tower with a bronze knife – the Finns definitely wouldn’t want you to get in using an iron one.
Coming soon:
The finns have bronze knives themselves.
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