Sart he/him Posted March 29, 2023 Posted March 29, 2023 Figgldygrak Welp. It showed up again. For those who aren't aware, Brandon blessed us with this term in the Way of Kings. Quote Nonsense. Balderdash. Figgldygrak. Isn't it odd that gibberish words are often the sounds of other words, cut up and dismembered, then stitched into something like them—yet wholly unlike them at the same time? Hoid, as Wit, was dropping some Cosmere wisdom on Dalinar, and used this funny looking nonsense word. While nonsense and balderdash are real words, that literally mean gibberish, Figgldygrak is a pure Brandon invention. Given Hoid's comment, fans began to suspect that perhaps Figgldygrak had some secret hidden meaning, and rapidly began to speculate. Curiously, Balderdash was found to be an anagram of Shardblade, which led many to suspect Figgldygrak could be one. However, those hopes were dashed by Peter Ahlstrom, who in reply to that thread, responded, Quote You are very special people. That should have been the end of this. However, Brandon decided to troll his audience. The word made a triumphant comeback in Rhythm of War. As Navani narrates, Quote Well, let them waste their time trying to figure out a reason to the figgldygrak she wrote. This is specifically in regards to putting false ciphers in her own work to distract the Parshendi. Whether this is hinting at some deeper hidden meaning of the word, or if Peter was just having a laugh at our expense, again remains unclear. It was a fun callback, and I was ready to shelve it as a funny callback. However, Tress of The Emerald Sea has come out recently. Guess what word pops up in Hoid's narration? Quote Beyond that, there are those among us who have the uncanny ability to read another’s emotions. Not through magic, or mystical Connection, or any such figgldygrak. Once again, Hoid has deliberately used the word figgldygrak. Once was a turn of phrase, twice was a funny callback, but three times? Something is happening here. Where has this word come from? Could it be Yolish? Why do Cosmere characters keep using it? Is there some hidden meaning for us to discover? What if it's the sounds of some of the original shardbearers' names, chaotically shuffled? Could it be Hoid's true name, just chopped up and rearranged? Am I grasping at straws? Probably. I don't really think it has any hidden meaning. It's just a nice Easter egg for fans, who sometimes read way too much into what Brandon writes. Still, it's a fun coincidence. I wonder if it will show up in the other secret projects. 2
Through The Living Grub He/Him Posted March 29, 2023 Posted March 29, 2023 I think Hoid's true name is like Chepe... not sure how to spell that monster of a name. Mentioned in the stormlight archive somewhere. I personally think Hoid is slightly crazy from his eternity of life and has planted the word or people say random stuff to mean random stuff. Hope there is a big conspiracy theory about this because I love to hear speculations.
Frustration Posted March 29, 2023 Posted March 29, 2023 44 minutes ago, Xiahida said: I think Hoid's true name is like Chepe... not sure how to spell that monster of a name. Mentioned in the stormlight archive somewhere. I personally think Hoid is slightly crazy from his eternity of life and has planted the word or people say random stuff to mean random stuff. Hope there is a big conspiracy theory about this because I love to hear speculations. Cephandrius is not his real name, but it's one of the oldest we have.
AquaRegia he/him Posted March 29, 2023 Posted March 29, 2023 13 hours ago, Sart said: Balderdash was found to be an anagram of Shardblade *mind BLOWN* Big kudos to the "special" person who first noticed that! I think "fiddlygrak" is just a nonsense word Brandon made up so there would be an in-cosmere version of "balderdash" that isn't used here on Earth, analogous to the way characters use curses appropriate to their planet of origin: "Rust and Ruin", "storming", etc. It's a way to move the reader more fully into the cosmere.
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