That Storming Word Again

[Sart he/him]

Figgldygrak

For those who aren't aware, this word was first used by Hoid in 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?

According to Merriam-Webster, Nonsense and Balderdash are real English words that mean "words or language having no meaning or conveying no intelligible ideas." However, Figgldygrak is a Brandon invention, and has absolutely no meaning. This confused some people in the forums, but most passed it off as artistic license. However, @Natans uncovered something interesting. In this thread, he pointed out that Balderdash is actually an anagram for Shardblade. This led to speculation that perhaps Figgldygrak was also an anagram of something that might have plot relevance. Unfortunately, this was proving to be a tricky puzzle, and no anagram was found. The thread got popular, and we were blessed with words from @PeterAhlstrom, Brandon's editor.

Undeterred, the thread continued to look for a solution, considering the phonetics of the word. Eventually, @PrncRny asked Brandon himself about this curious word. This doesn't appear to be in the Arcanum, but according to PrncRny, Brandon said:

Quote

" everything wit says is significant. How much or how little varies, but it's all significant."

This led to a flurry of new activity in the thread. @discipleofhoid came up with this interesting idea.

Quote

Ok so this may be a bit out there but pulling apart the sounds in the words nonsense, balderdash and Figgldygrak and stitching them back together I get: "Sh aw r d b l (long A) d s      g i f n g     R a y s   K n o w l e d g " This is phoneticly close to:

 

Shardblades giving Rayse knowledge

That doesn't seem all that accurate now, but it was the closest that thread ever got to making a sensible anagram.

Fast forward six years, and Rhythm of War comes out. Lurking in Chapter 65, we have this lovely passage from Navani.

Quote

Well, let them waste their time trying to figure out a reason to the figgldygrak she wrote.

Sanderson, Brandon. Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive) (Kindle Locations 15348-15349). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

Of all things, she uses the word figgldygrak. Specifically, she uses it in the context of making ciphers that mean absolutely nothing. I see three possibilites:

1. This could be a rare occasion of Peter and Brandon trolling us. This would be a rather elaborate joke on their end. The thread was six years old by this point, so that would be one heck of a callback. However, let's consider wilder theories
2. In universe, Hoid gave his speech to Dalinar, right before Sadeas revealed the results about the sabotage of Elhokar's saddle. Looking at the scene, it's unclear if Navani was present at that particular moment. We can't rule out that Navani overheard Hoid's speech, and appropriated his new meaningless word. Even if she didn't hear it directly from Hoid, Dalinar and Navani end up spending plenty of time together, so she could have heard it from him. This would be a nice in universe explanation, but let's get even crazier.
3. Hoid's words always mean something. Perhaps the word Figgldygrak is of specific importance to the Cosmere. Perhaps Hoid coined the phrase during his early years, and it spread throughout the Cosmere. The word could even be Yolish in origin. I'm not sure what this would signify, but we know it's important enough for Brandon to bring back a second time.

Honestly, I'm probably reading way too much into this word choice. Still, it's fun piece of trivia to speculate about. Let me know in the thread if you noticed this word choice. Do you think it has any deeper meaning, or is Brandon just doing a clever callback? I look forward to seeing your theories.

[Frustration]

I saw this thread over a month ago and I was rather surprised to see figgldygrak come up again, though you forgot black shardblades coming up, and red hair at one point,

maybe this is a troll, maybe something else, I think it's worth revisiting.

[+honorblades he/him]

We truly are collectively losing our minds, are we not? What will we all do in the 10 year time gap between SA5 and SA6? I shudder to imagine 

[Craghack]

I think we are being teased. Beautifully. 

[Jasqueen she/her]

....wait. I know that something like five years is meant to have elapsed between way of kings 5 and 6… BUT until this very second I thought that was only time that elapses within the narrative.

For Kaleck’s sake, please tell me that there isn’t going to be an IRL ten-year hiatus between the two arcs. Please. Before I have an actual panic attack at five in the morning

Edited December 4, 2020 by Meghan

[Solant he/him]

41 minutes ago, Meghan said:

....wait. I know that something like five years is meant to have elapsed between way of kings 5 and 6… BUT until this very second I thought that was only time that elapses within the narrative.

For Kaleck’s sake, please tell me that there isn’t going to be an IRL ten-year hiatus between the two arcs. Please. Before I have an actual panic attack at five in the morning

It's just in the narrative, but I think he did say he would take a little time for other stories between arcs. Not 10 years worth though 

@Sart  . . I love me some puzzles, even if they likely have no solutions. I suspect this is just a Brandon word that means nonsense that is part of his lexicon that we're unfamiliar with, but I'm off work from a surgery and have absolutely nothing to do, so I'm on it. I'll post it if I come up with anything 

[Experience he/him]

Ok, some possible ideas for nonsense.

Oneness.

It works well with seon, eons that kind of thing. Seon seon n, though it would be more likely to have seon and then something else made from 'senon'. It could make 'none seons'

I still can't make any sense of figgldygrak though.

 

[Infinity Sliver]

8 hours ago, honorblades said:

We truly are collectively losing our minds, are we not? What will we all do in the 10 year time gap between SA5 and SA6? I shudder to imagine 

wasn't it 10 years in SA world but 5 in the real world? (although,what is even real anymore)

[Philomath she/her]

1 hour ago, Infinitysliver said:

wasn't it 10 years in SA world but 5 in the real world? (although,what is even real anymore)

I’m not sure there is a specific real world timeline. The gap that will exist here will be because he has said he needs to write Elantris 2-3 and most if not all of MB Era 3 before the second half of SA. And that doesn’t include Skyward 3-4 (he’s working on 3 now) or Wax and Wayne 4. Besides, this is Brandon we’re talking about so there is probably a good chance we get some kind of surprise new book in there too. So that is at least 8 books that he needs to write. Granted many of these are smaller so it’s possible we could get them more than 1 a year. I know I’m excited for all of it. 

As to the actual topic on hand. I would guess that it is just an in world word on par with balderdash. It reminds me of the word gobbledygook. Which is another real world word essentially meaning nonsense. Navani and Wit have been around each other more what with 

Spoiler

Wit and Jasnah spending a lot of time together.

so it’s possible it’s just a word he uses a lot and she picked it up. 

[Jasqueen she/her]

Dark glyf ....gig  

Edited December 4, 2020 by Meghan

[Experience he/him]

It's also worth noting that before Wit says this he just says the word 'Adonalsium', and after he says if Dalinar manages to make a person by breaking them apart and putting them together to name them Gibberish or Gibletish. Gibletish is another fake word and probably worth looking into as well.

EDIT1:

Ok, so Gibletish could go to Blight + the letters e i and s.

Spoiled for length.

Spoiler

 

Doing some research Blightwind is a name for Yelig-nar the unmade.

Blight is used in this epigraph from Words of Radiance:

Spoiler

 

Dullform dread, with the mind most lost.

The lowest, and one not bright.

To find this form, one need banish the cost.

It finds you and brings you to blight.

 

Now from Alendi's Journal:

Spoiler

At first, there were those who didn't think the Deepness was a serious danger, at least not to them. However, it brought with it a blight that I have seen infect nearly every part of the land. Armies are useless before it. Great cities are laid low by its power. Crops fail, and the land dies.

Van Mukak, one of the gods of the purelakers is said to: 

Spoiler

blight or curse his "followers"

And the google definition: have a severely detrimental effect on.

So. Maybe it's nothing, and blight is being used to describe the effect of the thing, but it does work, except for the i e and s.

 

EDIT2: It could also be light with a b e i and s. Maybe one of the 'lights' that will be discovered? Still can't figure out what those four letters would be though.

EDIT3: Back to the idea of blight. If we're going off of sounds, it could also be blite. This gives us G I S and H.

Spoiler

All the combinations are: 

Spoiler

GISH IGSH SGIH GSIH ISGH SIGH HIGS IHGS GHIS HGIS IGHS GIHS GSHI SGHI HGSI GHSI SHGI HSGI HSIG SHIG IHSG HISG SIHG ISHG

The only ones that is a word is sigh... which doesn't really help because then it's blight-sigh, sigh-blight. Unless there is also another way to spell the sound of sigh. Si? I dunno. Guess I'll keep looking.

EDIT4: So, it could be actually literally what it says. Giblets are the liver, heart, gizzard, and neck of a chicken(or on Roshar, anybird). Ish means kind of or partly. So Gibletish would kind of be the parts that made it up? That's the best idea I have until I or someone else(hopefully) unscrambles it.

EDIT5: So it looks like someone already go this far and found Sharblade is blight with a leftover e using Balderdash and Gibletish. That's a possibility.

EDIT6: It could be Blight eis. The sound would go to blighteyes, sorta simliar to lighteyes... I dunno if that is really a thing or not. When Yelig-Nar(Blightwind) is in someone they have red shifting eyes, so blighteyes could be a reference to that.

EDIT7: But maybe not, because Wit says to name them Gibletish after himself, so maybe it reassembles to be something about him.

EDIT8: Ok, lets see what else it could be for eyes. Taking the letters for Blight, here are all possible combinations (There's 720):

Spoiler

BLIGHT LBIGHT IBLGHT BILGHT LIBGHT ILBGHT GLBIHT LGBIHT BGLIHT GBLIHT LBGIHT BLGIHT BIGLHT IBGLHT GBILHT BGILHT IGBLHT GIBLHT GILBHT IGLBHT LGIBHT GLIBHT ILGBHT LIGBHT HIGBLT IHGBLT GHIBLT HGIBLT IGHBLT GIHBLT BIHGLT IBHGLT HBIGLT BHIGLT IHBGLT HIBGLT HGBILT GHBILT BHGILT HBGILT GBHILT BGHILT BGIHLT GBIHLT IBGHLT BIGHLT GIBHLT IGBHLT LGBHIT GLBHIT BLGHIT LBGHIT GBLHIT BGLHIT HGLBIT GHLBIT LHGBIT HLGBIT GLHBIT LGHBIT LBHGIT BLHGIT HLBGIT LHBGIT BHLGIT HBLGIT HBGLIT BHGLIT GHBLIT HGBLIT BGHLIT GBHLIT IBHLGT BIHLGT HIBLGT IHBLGT BHILGT HBILGT LBIHGT BLIHGT ILBHGT LIBHGT BILHGT IBLHGT IHLBGT HILBGT LIHBGT ILHBGT HLIBGT LHIBGT LHBIGT HLBIGT BLHIGT LBHIGT HBLIGT BHLIGT GHLIBT HGLIBT LGHIBT GLHIBT HLGIBT LHGIBT IHGLBT HIGLBT GIHLBT IGHLBT HGILBT GHILBT GLIHBT LGIHBT IGLHBT GILHBT LIGHBT ILGHBT ILHGBT LIHGBT HILGBT IHLGBT LHIGBT HLIGBT TLIGBH LTIGBH ITLGBH TILGBH LITGBH ILTGBH GLTIBH LGTIBH TGLIBH GTLIBH LTGIBH TLGIBH TIGLBH ITGLBH GTILBH TGILBH IGTLBH GITLBH GILTBH IGLTBH LGITBH GLITBH ILGTBH LIGTBH BIGTLH IBGTLH GBITLH BGITLH IGBTLH GIBTLH TIBGLH ITBGLH BTIGLH TBIGLH IBTGLH BITGLH BGTILH GBTILH TBGILH BTGILH GTBILH TGBILH TGIBLH GTIBLH ITGBLH TIGBLH GITBLH IGTBLH LGTBIH GLTBIH TLGBIH LTGBIH GTLBIH TGLBIH BGLTIH GBLTIH LBGTIH BLGTIH GLBTIH LGBTIH LTBGIH TLBGIH BLTGIH LBTGIH TBLGIH BTLGIH BTGLIH TBGLIH GBTLIH BGTLIH TGBLIH GTBLIH ITBLGH TIBLGH BITLGH IBTLGH TBILGH BTILGH LTIBGH TLIBGH ILTBGH LITBGH TILBGH ITLBGH IBLTGH BILTGH LIBTGH ILBTGH BLITGH LBITGH LBTIGH BLTIGH TLBIGH LTBIGH BTLIGH TBLIGH GBLITH BGLITH LGBITH GLBITH BLGITH LBGITH IBGLTH BIGLTH GIBLTH IGBLTH BGILTH GBILTH GLIBTH LGIBTH IGLBTH GILBTH LIGBTH ILGBTH ILBGTH LIBGTH BILGTH IBLGTH LBIGTH BLIGTH BHIGTL HBIGTL IBHGTL BIHGTL HIBGTL IHBGTL GHBITL HGBITL BGHITL GBHITL HBGITL BHGITL BIGHTL IBGHTL GBIHTL BGIHTL IGBHTL GIBHTL GIHBTL IGHBTL HGIBTL GHIBTL IHGBTL HIGBTL TIGBHL ITGBHL GTIBHL TGIBHL IGTBHL GITBHL BITGHL IBTGHL TBIGHL BTIGHL ITBGHL TIBGHL TGBIHL GTBIHL BTGIHL TBGIHL GBTIHL BGTIHL BGITHL GBITHL IBGTHL BIGTHL GIBTHL IGBTHL HGBTIL GHBTIL BHGTIL HBGTIL GBHTIL BGHTIL TGHBIL GTHBIL HTGBIL THGBIL GHTBIL HGTBIL HBTGIL BHTGIL THBGIL HTBGIL BTHGIL TBHGIL TBGHIL BTGHIL GTBHIL TGBHIL BGTHIL GBTHIL IBTHGL BITHGL TIBHGL ITBHGL BTIHGL TBIHGL HBITGL BHITGL IHBTGL HIBTGL BIHTGL IBHTGL ITHBGL TIHBGL HITBGL IHTBGL THIBGL HTIBGL HTBIGL THBIGL BHTIGL HBTIGL TBHIGL BTHIGL GTHIBL TGHIBL HGTIBL GHTIBL THGIBL HTGIBL ITGHBL TIGHBL GITHBL IGTHBL TGIHBL GTIHBL GHITBL HGITBL IGHTBL GIHTBL HIGTBL IHGTBL IHTGBL HITGBL TIHGBL ITHGBL HTIGBL THIGBL THLGBI HTLGBI LTHGBI TLHGBI HLTGBI LHTGBI GHTLBI HGTLBI TGHLBI GTHLBI HTGLBI THGLBI TLGHBI LTGHBI GTLHBI TGLHBI LGTHBI GLTHBI GLHTBI LGHTBI HGLTBI GHLTBI LHGTBI HLGTBI BLGTHI LBGTHI GBLTHI BGLTHI LGBTHI GLBTHI TLBGHI LTBGHI BTLGHI TBLGHI LBTGHI BLTGHI BGTLHI GBTLHI TBGLHI BTGLHI GTBLHI TGBLHI TGLBHI GTLBHI LTGBHI TLGBHI GLTBHI LGTBHI HGTBLI GHTBLI THGBLI HTGBLI GTHBLI TGHBLI BGHTLI GBHTLI HBGTLI BHGTLI GHBTLI HGBTLI HTBGLI THBGLI BHTGLI HBTGLI TBHGLI BTHGLI BTGHLI TBGHLI GBTHLI BGTHLI TGBHLI GTBHLI LTBHGI TLBHGI BLTHGI LBTHGI TBLHGI BTLHGI HTLBGI THLBGI LHTBGI HLTBGI TLHBGI LTHBGI LBHTGI BLHTGI HLBTGI LHBTGI BHLTGI HBLTGI HBTLGI BHTLGI THBLGI HTBLGI BTHLGI TBHLGI GBHLTI BGHLTI HGBLTI GHBLTI BHGLTI HBGLTI LBGHTI BLGHTI GLBHTI LGBHTI BGLHTI GBLHTI GHLBTI HGLBTI LGHBTI GLHBTI HLGBTI LHGBTI LHBGTI HLBGTI BLHGTI LBHGTI HBLGTI BHLGTI BHLITG HBLITG LBHITG BLHITG HLBITG LHBITG IHBLTG HIBLTG BIHLTG IBHLTG HBILTG BHILTG BLIHTG LBIHTG IBLHTG BILHTG LIBHTG ILBHTG ILHBTG LIHBTG HILBTG IHLBTG LHIBTG HLIBTG TLIBHG LTIBHG ITLBHG TILBHG LITBHG ILTBHG BLTIHG LBTIHG TBLIHG BTLIHG LTBIHG TLBIHG TIBLHG ITBLHG BTILHG TBILHG IBTLHG BITLHG BILTHG IBLTHG LBITHG BLITHG ILBTHG LIBTHG HIBTLG IHBTLG BHITLG HBITLG IBHTLG BIHTLG TIHBLG ITHBLG HTIBLG THIBLG IHTBLG HITBLG HBTILG BHTILG THBILG HTBILG BTHILG TBHILG TBIHLG BTIHLG ITBHLG TIBHLG BITHLG IBTHLG LBTHIG BLTHIG TLBHIG LTBHIG BTLHIG TBLHIG HBLTIG BHLTIG LHBTIG HLBTIG BLHTIG LBHTIG LTHBIG TLHBIG HLTBIG LHTBIG THLBIG HTLBIG HTBLIG THBLIG BHTLIG HBTLIG TBHLIG BTHLIG ITHLBG TIHLBG HITLBG IHTLBG THILBG HTILBG LTIHBG TLIHBG ILTHBG LITHBG TILHBG ITLHBG IHLTBG HILTBG LIHTBG ILHTBG HLITBG LHITBG LHTIBG HLTIBG TLHIBG LTHIBG HTLIBG THLIBG THLIGB HTLIGB LTHIGB TLHIGB HLTIGB LHTIGB IHTLGB HITLGB TIHLGB ITHLGB HTILGB THILGB TLIHGB LTIHGB ITLHGB TILHGB LITHGB ILTHGB ILHTGB LIHTGB HILTGB IHLTGB LHITGB HLITGB GLITHB LGITHB IGLTHB GILTHB LIGTHB ILGTHB TLGIHB LTGIHB GTLIHB TGLIHB LGTIHB GLTIHB GITLHB IGTLHB TGILHB GTILHB ITGLHB TIGLHB TILGHB ITLGHB LTIGHB TLIGHB ILTGHB LITGHB HITGLB IHTGLB THIGLB HTIGLB ITHGLB TIHGLB GIHTLB IGHTLB HGITLB GHITLB IHGTLB HIGTLB HTGILB THGILB GHTILB HGTILB TGHILB GTHILB GTIHLB TGIHLB IGTHLB GITHLB TIGHLB ITGHLB LTGHIB TLGHIB GLTHIB LGTHIB TGLHIB GTLHIB HTLGIB THLGIB LHTGIB HLTGIB TLHGIB LTHGIB LGHTIB GLHTIB HLGTIB LHGTIB GHLTIB HGLTIB HGTLIB GHTLIB THGLIB HTGLIB GTHLIB TGHLIB IGHLTB GIHLTB HIGLTB IHGLTB GHILTB HGILTB LGIHTB GLIHTB ILGHTB LIGHTB GILHTB IGLHTB IHLGTB HILGTB LIHGTB ILHGTB HLIGTB LHIGTB LHGITB HLGITB GLHITB LGHITB HGLITB GHLITB

The only words are... Blight. Unless I missed any. That doesn't help. *sigh* Time to keep looking.

EDIT9: If someone could post so I don't have to keep editing that would be nice.  

EDIT10: I'm not seeming to be able to figure out Gibletish, so now I'm going to Adonalsium.

EDIT11: Ok, ADONLASIUM could go to ALUMINA(S) and DAO Which is an oxide of Aluminum and dao is the aon for stability... Don't know if that's significant.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Ookla the Shadowed

[Dreamwa1ker she/her]

7 hours ago, Ookla the Shadowed said:

Gibletish is another fake word and probably worth looking into as wel

Gibletish can be:

Slight be I

Or 

Lights be I

Or

I se(e) blight

...

But it also can anagram to 

"Bilge sh*t"

Edited December 5, 2020 by Dreamwa1ker

[Aminar]

On the topic of Brandon Words I've been using Gibbletish regularly since I read WoK.

[flying_shadow she/her]

23 hours ago, Ookla the Shadowed said:

EDIT11: Ok, ADONLASIUM could go to ALUMINA(S) and DAO Which is an oxide of Aluminum and dao is the aon for stability... Don't know if that's significant.

'Adonalsium' can be rearranged into 'a mind, a soul'. Or 'anal odiums'. Someone on reddit actually put the word through an anagram generator and got interesting results a while back, but I can't find the link now.

[Jasqueen she/her]

He probably intends the latter anagram, right? 

[Jofwu he/him]

On 12/4/2020 at 0:18 AM, Sart said:

This could be a rare occasion of Peter and Brandon trolling us. This would be a rather elaborate joke on their end. The thread was six years old by this point, so that would be one heck of a callback. However, let's consider wilder theories

Of ALL the places for Brandon to reuse this totally made up word, he uses it in a passage about a character writing a bunch of nonsense so that the people trying to decrypt her messages will waste a bunch of their time???

I think this is 100% a case of Brandon having a good laugh about how hard we've worked to figure out secrets where there are none.

[Experience he/him]

8 minutes ago, Jofwu said:

Of ALL the places for Brandon to reuse this totally made up word, he uses it in a passage about a character writing a bunch of nonsense so that the people trying to decrypt her messages will waste a bunch of their time???

I think this is 100% a case of Brandon having a good laugh about how hard we've worked to figure out secrets where there are none.

Ya, but it's still fun to try  

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

On 12/4/2020 at 1:25 AM, honorblades said:

We truly are collectively losing our minds, are we not? What will we all do in the 10 year time gap between SA5 and SA6? I shudder to imagine 

Mistborn Era 3 and Elantris 2&3.

[Lightdancer]

On 12/3/2020 at 11:18 PM, Sart said:

In universe, Hoid gave his speech to Dalinar, right before Sadeas revealed the results about the sabotage of Elhokar's saddle.

What happened after Navani used this word, plotwise? Could there be a connection there?

By the way, I think it's hilarious that the anagram thread basically restarted here.

On 12/4/2020 at 0:25 AM, honorblades said:

We truly are collectively losing our minds, are we not? What will we all do in the 10 year time gap between SA5 and SA6? I shudder to imagine 

STORMS please no. I think it's five years, and I'm still going to be, like, forty by SA 10.

[Truthwatcher at the Rim she/her]

Has anyone tried putting all three words together?  Figgldygrak has very few vowels, which makes it hard to rearrange, but maybe combined with nonsense and balderdash (and maybe Adonalsium too if the three don't work out)...

[Mason Wheeler]

On 12/3/2020 at 11:25 PM, honorblades said:

We truly are collectively losing our minds, are we not? What will we all do in the 10 year time gap between SA5 and SA6? I shudder to imagine 

Have fun speculating on the other books that come out during that time.  It's not like there won't be any!

[Mason Wheeler]

On 12/8/2020 at 6:54 AM, Jofwu said:

Of ALL the places for Brandon to reuse this totally made up word, he uses it in a passage about a character writing a bunch of nonsense so that the people trying to decrypt her messages will waste a bunch of their time???

I think this is 100% a case of Brandon having a good laugh about how hard we've worked to figure out secrets where there are none.

I think this is the true answer.  Brandon has been known to troll fans before.