“The Name of the Wind,” the first installment of Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle, is an epic work chronicling the life story of Kvothe, a man of legend. Kvothe was raised in a performing troupe, and later became a renowned sympathist (wizard) and lutist (lute player). However, Kvothe endured a tragedy that almost killed him when he was young: His family and troupe was murdered by the mythological group the Chandrian, leaving Kvothe condemned to poverty and foraging around the city for several years. Eventually he ends up at the University, the only place suitable to quench his thirst for knowledge and the answers behind his parents’ murder.
Late in the story, Kvothe investigates the mysterious rumor of a wedding massacre, where blue flames were glimpsed in the nearby town of Trebon. While in Trebon, he runs into his friend Denna, and the two climb up the foothills to the site of the wedding. They search the rubble and embers of the site until night falls, when they see blue flame in the valley below. They come across a draccus, a dragon-like creature that consumes trees and cannot fly. They eventually realize they must kill the beast, as it will attack Trebon; the harvest festival is the next day, and the draccus is attracted to fires. Reluctantly, Kvothe pushes his need for answers aside to save Trebon.
Similarly, the song “Cinder and Smoke” by Iron & Wine captures themes of mystique, irretentiveness, trauma, and the fracturing of a notion of togetherness. “Cinder and Smoke” seemingly depicts a family falling apart: Their house has burned down, alcoholism has consumed the mother, disorder and chaos rear their heads; family members don’t listen to one another, and finally, what once was has been reduced to nothing but a photograph in the father’s arms—nothing left behind but a void that consumes them.
The themes and general message of “Cinder and Smoke” also reflect many of the threads found in “The Name of the Wind.” Kvothe has struggled with families being torn apart and homes being burned down, and has coped by any available means, most notably in chapters 72 through 82, when Kvothe and Denna investigate the murders at the Mauthen farm wedding. The three verses of “Cinder and Smoke” represent three different moments in the course of their search, and have many diction and literary choices that evoke “The Name of the Wind.”
The first mirrored moment in “The Name of the Wind” and “Cinder and Smoke” is when Kvothe and Denna uncover the mystery of the wedding massacre and flee from the draccus by climbing tall, sturdy greystones. The lyric “Give me your hand” is illustrated when Kvothe gives Denna his hands to form a step for her to climb up. Then she literally takes his hands in hers, noting the ripped and bloodied state of his formerly beautiful musician’s hands.
Next, the song’s “dog in the garden roam” is the draccus: Rothfuss describes the draccus as “cavorting like a drunken dog,” “bounding off like a frisking puppy,” and as humping the firepit like a dog would. The “garden roam” is the rows of planted ophalum trees, which are crushed and eaten by the draccus. Next follows a crucial lyric that links the works: “Cinder and smoke.” Cinder is the name of a member of the Chandrian, and is the one who personally killed Kvothe’s troupe. This fact is important because Kvothe searches the Mauthen Farm after hearing a rumor of blue flames—a sign of the Chandrian—and as he knows, where there is Cinder, there is smoke.
This notion segues perfectly into the next line, “Snake in the basement found,” which alludes to the reason for the massacre: Rumors of a vase with images of the Chandrian are spread at the wedding and the weddinggoers are killed because the Chandrian want to erase any record of their existence. They killed Kvothe’s troupe for the same reason: According to Cinder, “[his] father [had] been signing entirely the wrong sort of song.” Kvothe’s father had been writing a song about the legend of the Chandrian. “The juniper shade” refers to denner resin which is an opiate, a powerful and immensely addictive substance described as resembling mud. The dog (draccus) is “covered in mud” because it has been eating all of the ophalum trees which contain denner resin. The final line of the first verse is “the farmhouse is burning down,” which initially sparked the connection in my mind: The very reason why Denna and Kvothe are there is to investigate a farmhouse burning down.
The second verse takes place when Kvothe and Denna wait for the draccus to return. They build a roaring fire to lure it (“high as the flames will rise”) and place a bucket filled with a lethal dose of denner resin to kill it.
However, the draccus does not arrive for many hours, during which Kvothe and Denna (who is in a state of mania from the denner resin—“The juniper bends”) begin to talk. Though they are strictly friends, there are romantic undertones between Kvothe and Denna. Kvothe feels a deep bond with her, so much so that he is willing to tell the story of his troupe’s murder to her, something he has never told anyone else.
The line “take what you will tonight / I’ll give it as fast” captures Kvothe’s eagerness to no longer bear the burden of his parents’ death alone. “Cinder and Smoke” begins to take on a different meaning now: The titular “Smoke” refers to Denna herself, as she is known to possess extraordinary beauty which causes men to flock to her, showering her with money in the process. Denna entertains their affections because she has no money and no family; once affection becomes too much for her, she quietly slips away in the night, and assumes different names wherever she goes. She is “Smoke” because she cannot be held down, not even by Kvothe. However, he wonders what she would say if she knew about his secret, and imagines if he told her “as if you were listening,” but he remains alone with his thoughts throughout the night, save for the whistling of the wind in the trees and hills below—“so whispers around the trees,” as Iron & Wine sings.
The final verse is when Kvothe and Denna discuss the aftermath of the night. Kvothe sees the bruises on Denna’s face and asks her where she got them. She tells him they are from her patron, referred to as Master Ash. She will not tell him, and goes further to suggest that Kvothe leave the Chandrian alone, and does not wholly believe him about them. They part ways for several months afterwards, full of secrets not shared.
“With ash in your mouth / You’ll ask it to burn again” evokes Denna’s refusal to tell Kvothe about her patron. Her words about him die in her mouth, and Kvothe believes that she invites further poor treatment by not telling him. As for Kvothe, he leaves without telling her about his family’s death and how he has further proof the Chandrian are real. “The firemen shake / A photo from father’s arms” refers to the Chandrian being shaken awake from their slumber by Kvothe’s father’s song about them. Kvothe is bitter that Denna discounts his thoughts and won’t confide in him, feeling that he is being treated unfairly given everything he did to help her when she called. The line “You’ll ask me to pray for rain” captures this notion, as Kvothe killed the draccus, saved Denna’s life by keeping her from overdosing, and volunteered to defend her from her Patron.
Stylistically, “Cinder and Smoke” is listened to as a narrative. It’s not so much a song, but a story. This style reflects how Kvothe performs epics on his lute. Though coincidental, “Cinder and Smoke” features another stringed instrument. “Cinder and Smoke” relates futility, helplessness and the inability to confide in one another. These are precisely the themes that Kvothe deals with. His inability to defend his family and to find Denna beyond chance encounters, unable to help her be financially stable or treated well, and, of course, his inability to entrust his secrets to her eat at him. The tone of “Cinder and Smoke” is resigned and weary, much like how a drained Kvothe sits by himself, stuck in his own thoughts and alone is his world. The way the chords are played in a tumbling, rolling fashion also resembles Kvothe’s journey: full of bumps, and without any straightforwardness.
“Cinder and Smoke” is easily placed into the world of “Name of the Wind,” and it’s not hard to envision Kvothe’s voice and plucked strings orchestrating it all.
Ryland Breen can be reached at rkbreen@wesleyan.edu.
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