The Wheel of Time‘s Dónal Finn on Learning to Speak the ‘Old Tongue’

If your story’s taking place in a fantasy realm, chances are there are going to be some made-up fantasy languages in the mix. Think Elvish in Lord of the Rings, or High Valyrian in Game of Thrones—important world-building elements that also bring a sense of history and diversity to the setting and characters. The Wheel of Time has its own equivalent fantasy languages, and the upcoming season three sees one of the main characters, Dónal Finn’s Mat Cauthon, realizing he has the ability to speak one of them. In previous seasons, Mat tangled with a magical dagger that “spoke” to him in a nefarious way. But as Wheel of Time fans will recall, season two’s big climax saw Mat forge a connection with another, more benevolently powerful magical artifact: the Horn of Valere, which summons dead warriors from the past to help turn the tide of important battles. He’s now one of the Heroes of the Horn and is linked to its legacy. As we see in season three, it also means he’s now fluent in the Old To ... Read full article.