How long will he live? (David Eddings)

[fright88]

How long will he live?

I've been reading these books for years. And one thing that I have wondered is how long Belgarion will live. He is a sorcerer and many times in the book they refrence that he may have a long life but at the same time they act like he won't. Also since Ce'Nedra (sp) is part dyrad (sp) she also has at least some potential for abnormally long life. Also that brings up another point. Since the mistake has been fixed will Belgarath, Polgara, Durnik, the twins and Beldin continue to have extended lives? Which brings up yet another point. Shouldn't Durnik now be Beldurnik?

What do you think?

 

[sarah2040]

Hey fright88!!! It's good to see another Eddings fan!

If you go along the lines that all Aldur's disciples have Bel in front of their name (or Pol for Polgara) then he should. It does sound a bit of a mouth full so maybe that's why he continued to refer to him as Durnik.

They do refer to Belgarion and Ce'Nedra having a long life when they say that they will have A LOT of baby girls. If you remember Garion has a convo with Silk about it.(I have read the Belgariad way too many times! Considering I only started reading them in Jan that's pretty obsessive!) I think that the other characters always bear in mind that it could be Torak that wins the final battle which would mean Garion would die. Which kinda creates the conflict that you mentioned

Wow that's a long post for me!!

 

[The Ace]

Remember Belgarath, "We all live as long as we need to," remember , Zedar won't die. Garion has achieved his tasks, so I suppose it's open to speculation.

 

[Kobudera]

I think he is immortal. Belgarath and the others have completed their tasks and continue to live. My question is will he keep being king or will he step aside and let his son take over. Having an immortal king can really aggravate mortal princes.

 

[Princess Ivy]

I think he is immortal. Belgarath and the others have completed their tasks and continue to live. My question is will he keep being king or will he step aside and let his son take over. Having an immortal king can really aggravate mortal princes.

my wonder exactly.
as to durnik, he isn't nessicarily a disiple of Aldur, therefore, no Bel.

 

[ambershadow]

I think he will step down in favor of his son at the right time and retire to the vale

 

[gilbo]

you also have to remember, that belgarion is told by his presence that he should still be alive to see eriond as god of the entire world. that isn't gonna happen over night. he hasto be immortal.

 

[Nesacat]

Beldurnik is quite a mouthful and given his quiet nature I think he may not be too comfortable with the addition of 'Bel' to his name.

I feel that Belgarion will step down when his son is old enough to rule. He might then go the Vale and possibly become a disciple of Aldur. I could see him doing that since he'd never really wanted to be king.

 

[Riven]

The Ace, said it best.

In the books, Belgarth did indeed say you live as long as you need to, so unless some pressing buiness comes up in the far future that requires Garion specifically, he will die an old man.

Belgarath on the other hand. I think I remember him saying that Aldur charged him and the other disciples with teaching others such as themselves that can use the Will and the Word and training them. So, as long people continue or will continue to in the future to be born with this ability, Belgarath, Polgara and probably Durnik and the twins will be around for a very long time to come.

Hmmm...I must read Belgariad and Mealleon (sp?) again, its been such a long time.

 

[unique_dragonfly]

I think that Durnik is a disciple, In the Mallorean when he defeated the demon and sent it back to hell. he was given an amulet by Auldur. The image on the amulet was a "Hammer, of course"

 

[Greebo-Is-The-Best]

Yes and in "Sorceress of Darshiva" Aldur said "Know that he is also now my desciple and was suited above all ye for this task" or something like that

 

[white_wanderer]

I think he is immortal. Belgarath and the others have completed their tasks and continue to live. My question is will he keep being king or will he step aside and let his son take over. Having an immortal king can really aggravate mortal princes.

I don't think that Belgarion is immortal. Does immortality just give continual life beyond what is expected, or does it also mean invincible?

If the Gods are immortal, how come Garion defeated Torak at Cthol Mishrak?

If you remember in the Belgariad, Belgarath once jumped out of the window in the side of Ctuchik's tower and almost didn't manage to transform into a bird to fly away. I believe the line was something like:
"and that excercise in gross stupidity almost got me killed......"

I think that they have an extended lifeline, tied into the prophecy which also rewards those that do well.

Also, Belgarath has defied physical laws because his belief that it will work overrides the natural laws, so Belgarion can just tell his body not to die of old age.

I can immagine that immortality could be boring. All the questions answered, centuries with nothing to do, especially if you have no-one to share this life with.

So no, I believe that he just has a longer life span and will die when he wants to.

 

[bruno-1012]

OK,

It is the Will and the Word that engenders immortallity - remember Senji

Immortal is not the same as invincible -

Belmakor and Belsambor for example.

In other words they will not die of natural causes but a sword in the gut will manage it.

Ce'Nedra due to her Dryad heritage will have a life span of a few hundred years...doesn't explain why she doesn't have a lot of very old aunt's about various palaces but have some in the woods (lots of doesn'ts in that sentence!).

Couple of other paraphrases of quotes from the books about points in this thread here...

'Garion is still polishing the edges of his 'Bel' it squeaks if he turns round too fast' Durnik may not be comfortable with that appellation yet.

Anyone see Ce'Nedra giving up power for a quiet life of study in the Vale?

 

[Talysia]

Ce'Nedra, giving up power? I can't see that happening!

I'd always thought that sorcerers lived as long as they needed to. I guess a reread is in order before I can answer this question any better.

 

[evil_genius666]

my wonder exactly.
as to durnik, he isn't nessicarily a disiple of Aldur, therefore, no Bel.

Actually in Mallorean series..Aldur proclamed Durnik as his disciple. I think they havent got around to calling him Beldurnik cuz they were all busy. They were after all fighting a demon and Zandramas. Actually the book says that the Light gives gifts to certain people and it lasts forever...remember Poledra against Zandramas in The Place Which Is No More?

 

[devilsgrin]

Durnik is indeed proclaimed as the newest Disciple of Aldur in Demon Lord of Karanda I believe - Seeress of Kell possibly.
He doesn't have a Bel preceeding his name as it wouldn't suit his nature to have such an ostentatious embellishment.
My opinion of sorceror life-spans is this. They are Un-Mortal beings. The Gods ARE immortal. Torak was slain by the Sword of Riva, attached to the Orb of Aldur - the single most powerful thing in the world of the Belgariad, being wielded by a being who could easily rival a god for power - if anything is going to kill a god its Belgarion with the Orb and Sword. As Un-Mortals, the sorcerors will live as long as they aren't killed (by even so simple a thing as a sword to the gut or whatever) or will themselves out of existence a'la Belmakor, Belsambar and Ctuchik (circumstance differ but this is what all three did). Just as an aside to this, Urvon and Zedar, for all that they are currently in Hell and entombed in solid rock, are still alive. Poor Urvon, plaything to the King of Hell. And escpecially poor Zedar - he gave the world Eriond, but got buried alive for all eternity for a reward. I can see that perhaps Eriond would release him later. (sorcerors may not be able to undo the works of others (hello Bewitched similarity anyone?) but a god could).

Ce'Nedra will live as long as her tree does. Theoretically that could be many centuries. Queen Xantha is over two thousand years old!

has anyone ever noticed how offensive the word 'actually' is in these posts?

 

[ghost8772]

Sorcerors will not die of old Age, Garion's life will easily go on forever. however I'd bet that when Ce'Nedra dies, Garion would step down as King, then will himself out of existence not long after. at least where my money would be.

 

[The Ace]

It's not just the Will and the Word, though. Most of prince Gared/Geran's descendants (he was renamed in 'Belgarath the Sorceror), did have some talent. Garion's power was made much greater to allow him to be godslayer.

 

[Woodfoot]

I agree with a previous post that Durnik is too modest to have Bel against his name.

Garion i would say is most likely to step down and retire away as much as his domineering wife would let him

If he did survive a few thousand years then i would say he would be very unhappy as was Polgara to outlive all his bloodline.

But at the end of the day you are not supposed to think about that its naughty!!

They will live as long as David does or should i say as long as his books do!

as a footnote one thing that i always wondered about was how they decide when they will stop aging? Polgara still looks young and beautiful but the others are all old in appearance?
Okay there is a few thousand years gap but it seems Belgarath has almost alway been an "old Wolf".......but what is time to a wolf?

 

[Stretch]

I agree with a previous post that Durnik is too modest to have Bel against his name.

Garion i would say is most likely to step down and retire away as much as his domineering wife would let him

If he did survive a few thousand years then i would say he would be very unhappy as was Polgara to outlive all his bloodline.

But at the end of the day you are not supposed to think about that its naughty!!

They will live as long as David does or should i say as long as his books do!

as a footnote one thing that i always wondered about was how they decide when they will stop aging? Polgara still looks young and beautiful but the others are all old in appearance?
Okay there is a few thousand years gap but it seems Belgarath has almost alway been an "old Wolf".......but what is time to a wolf?

I'm sure in one of the books (possibly belgarath the sorcerer), Belgarath says something about old men with gray hair look distinguished, while women with gray hair look like hags, that might be one of the reasons Pol has decided to look younger than the rest of the disciples.