Seon Ien

[Oudeis he/him]

So, in the glossary Ien is listed as meaning "Wisdom", but twice in the book it's listed as meaning "Healing". Is this a typo? Am I just missing something?

[WeiryWriter he/him]

We don't really know.  Aon Ien is listed as meaning "Wisdom" but it is used in healing. (To my knowledge it is never listed as meaning Healing, it's just used for it.)  I believe there is a question in the Ultimate List that aims to clear this up.

[Joe ST he/him]

The glossary (on Brandon's website) is considered an out-of-date resource, of secondary canonicity. I'm fairly sure I've heard from either Brandon or one of his team, or maybe from one of the admins, that this is the official case? Any discrepancies should consider the book(s) as the truth.

[Windrunner he/him]

I think he's referring to the actual glossary of Aons in Elantris, Joe. I'm not sure Darnam, I've wondered this myself for quite some time.

[Oudeis he/him]

I'm putting in the quotes to clarify my original comment, since I wasn't clear enough.

 

Chapter 16.

 

"Ien," Galladon said thoughtfully. "That's healing. Kolo?"

"That's right." [replied Raoden]

 

Chapter 19.

 

The woman traced carefully, completing Aon Ien-but it wasn't just Aon Ien, it was more complex. The core was the familiar Aon of healing, but there were dozens of lines and curves at the sides.

 

But in the book's glossary, Ien is listed as meaning "wisdom" as in Seon Ien or Adien.

 

I suppose the case could be made they never expressly say "Ien transliterates as healing," they just call it the Aon of healing, so I can see the case being made that, for whatever reason, the concept of "wisdom" heals via the AonDor, but that sounds... just off to me. Sloppy.

[Joe ST he/him]

Apologies for mistaking what you meant, thanks for the clarification I'm sorry I don't know the correct remedy to this either, other than to ask Brandon/Peter.

[Argent he/him]

I am not sure I fully understand the issue here... The meaning of Ien is "wisdom," much like an Egyptian hieroglyph that looks like ~ might mean "water." Aons are not a full language, however, so some of them serve as cores for... spells, for the lack of a better word... that are not 100% literal translation of the Aon. Shao, for example, means "transform" or "change," but is used to create illusions - Raoden didn't actually transform or change the way he and Galadon looked when they were sneaking out of Elantris. Yes, Shao makes a little bit more sense than Ien, but not all Aons can be as literal as, say, Tia ("travel" or "transportation"). That's why the Elantrias rely so heavily on modifiers.

[Oudeis he/him]

Argent. I realize that's possible, but very little of what you say has been confirmed in the books (How, for example, is there a book written in nothing but Aons, and why would Raoden be trained in reading purely Aonic texts if it wasn't a full language?) I can't really explain or justify, it just feels 'off' to me, a forced explanation. While I think Mr. Sanderson is an amazing writer, everyone makes the occasional mistake, and I feel that Occam's razor suggests that's the most plausible answer.

[Argent he/him]

I had forgotten about the book...

 

Very well. I'll admit it's likely that either Brandon's original version of Elantris had Ien mean something like "healing." I'll see if I can get a response from Twitter (though I doubt it).