Could Gavilar read?

[Djarskublar]

Is there any evidence that he could read? IIRC, people thought he secretly learned how because Szeth wrote with his blood and assumed it was Gavilar, but was there anything else indicating he did? It just suddenly started bugging me...

[+Extesian]

Hmm I've done a pretty good look at every Gavilar reference in the books. Only Sadeas and Dalinar knew of the blood message and Davilar expressed disbelief that Gavilar could write, but it was the only plausible option he could think of. I couldn't find any incident of him appearing to read or any other suspicion that he could. He knew The Way Of Kings from it being read to him. So i don't think so? But maybe someone will remember something I don't. 

[discorat]

No i dont think he knew, he was a smart man but, Dalinar and Kaladin are smart men too, and theyre still weirded out by a man reading/writing, so i dont think he did. Dalinar only thinks so because of Szeths writing.

[Djarskublar]

Oh, I thought I remembered Jasnah mentioning it to Shallan as a mystery the scholars didn't get... I guess I'm off on that. I guess the blood message wasn't widely known, I thought it was. I at least thought more people knew of it, even if the message was kept secret.

[+Extesian]

9 minutes ago, Djarskublar said:

Oh, I thought I remembered Jasnah mentioning it to Shallan as a mystery the scholars didn't get... I guess I'm off on that. I guess the blood message wasn't widely known, I thought it was. I at least thought more people knew of it, even if the message was kept secret.

Just for your reference, here's the section where it's discussed. There may be something elsewhere I couldn't search for (eg Jasnah referring to their relationship rather than using the name Gavilar) so I'll keep an eye out during my current reread.

Quote

Adolin nodded. It was something. “What of what he said at the end? Something about writing?” Dalinar hesitated. “It is a secret he and I share. Other than us, only Jasnah and Elhokar know of it. I’ve contemplated for a time whether I should tell you, as you will take my place should I fall. I spoke to you of the last words my brother said to me.” “Asking you to follow the Codes.” “Yes. But there is more. Something else he said to me, but not with spoken words. Instead, these are words that … he wrote.” “Gavilar could write?” “When Sadeas discovered the king’s body, he found words written on the fragment of a board, using Gavilar’s own blood. ‘Brother,’ they said. ‘You must find the most important words a man can say.’ Sadeas hid the fragment away, and we later had Jasnah read the words. If it is true that he could write—and other possibilities seem implausible—it was a shameful secret he hide. As I said, his actions grew very odd near the end of his life.”

 

[Frostlander]

There is a passage in WoK where Shallan is reading Gavilar's account of meeting the Parshendi, as recorded by Jasnah. This might be what you are thinking of:

Quote

It should be noted, Jasnah had written in the undertext to this passage, that I have adapted my father’s words—by his own instruction—to make them more appropriate for recording. That meant she made his dictation sound more scholarly and impressive. In addition, by most accounts, King Gavilar originally ignored these strange, self-sufficient parshmen. It was only after explanation by his scholars and scribes that he understood the import of what he’d discovered. This inclusion is not meant to highlight my father’s ignorance; he was, and is, a warrior. His attention was not on the anthropological import of our expedition, but upon the hunt that was to be its culmination.

Sanderson, Brandon. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) (p. 525). Macmillan. Kindle Edition. 

2

She's making it clear that he is intelligent but focused on non-scholarly pursuits here.

Then, when Shallan is reading Navani's biography of Gavilar and discussing it with Jasnah:

Quote

“King Gavilar,” Shallan said. “Your mother insists in her biography that he wasn’t a scholar.”

“True.”

“But he was interested in the Parshendi,” Shallan said. “Even before he could have known about their Shardblades. According to Matain’s account, he wanted to know about their language, their society, and their music. Was that just embellishment, to make him sound more scholarly to future readers?”

“No,” Jasnah said, lowering her own book. “The longer he remained in the Unclaimed Hills, the more fascinated by the Parshendi he became.”

“So there’s a discrepancy. Why would a man with no prior interest in scholarship suddenly become so obsessed?”

“Yes,” Jasnah said. “I too have wondered about this. But sometimes, people change. When he returned, I was encouraged by his interest; we spent many evenings talking about his discoveries. It was one of the few times when I felt I really connected with my father.”

Sanderson, Brandon. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) (p. 629). Macmillan. Kindle Edition.

As for reading or writing, I don't think he could do either, and there doesn't seem to be any evidence from the text that supports it. It's a good question, and for all we know, Szeth writing Gavilar's last words could be misdirection on this issue. Probably not, but you never know with these books.

[17th Splinter]

If Gavilar could write, wouldn't he use to Stromwarden script? We know that Gavilar and Amaram were tight before he died, and we have no evidence that Amaram can use Women's Script so why would Gavilar use it? My thoughts are that Gavilar may have known the Stormwarden  script but definitely did not know how to "write"

Edited August 15, 2017 by 17th Splinter