Blood of Elves

Geralt is a witcher, a mutated monster-hunter, whose destiny is bound to Ciri’s by the Law of Surprise. Geralt struggles with his identity and self-worth in ways that reflect the novel’s interest in The Nature of Monstrosity; he is a mutant, and people’s attitudes toward him make him think he will never be better than the monsters he hunts. There is a grain of truth to the myth that witchers are emotionless, that truth being that the isolation and rigors of witcher training can blunt their ability to form connections: It is hard for Geralt to recognize and accept intense feelings because he does not believe he should have them. Nevertheless, he is fiercely protective and cares deeply for others. Geralt’s character arc in this novel is not one of self-realization, as he already knows he has a great depth of feeling. Rather, his journey is about self-actualization, meaning that he has to learn how to give himself permission to become the version of himself that existed all along, and to increase his comfort with investing more fully in the relationships he values.

Yennefer is a powerful sorceress from Vengerberg, the capital city of Aedirn. While she is not an official court mage, Kind Demavend often relies on her advice and assistance. She appears cold, unfeeling, and detached from emotions and relationships. Yennefer clings hard to her persona of indifference to hide her desire to love and be loved and have meaningful romantic and familial relationships; Yennefer’s mentor, Tissaia de Vries, called for all magical apprentices to be sterilized, so Yennefer believes she will never be a mother. Her character deconstructs a common trope wherein a “cold” woman is “softened” by her desire for children. Yennefer pretends to be cold because she thinks her desire for motherhood is wrong and impossible, and she must let go of the façade, allow herself to be vulnerable and emotionally open to the people she cares about. Over the course of the novel, she becomes a mother figure to Ciri, who trains with her at the Temple.

In the past, Yennefer was romantically involved with Geralt. Although they are not in a relationship by the time the novel opens, strong feelings for one another remain, as evidenced by the fact that Ciri’s account of Triss’s time at Kaer Morhen pleases Yennefer because it reveals Geralt did not resume his affair with Triss. He was faithful to Yennefer even though their relationship was in flux, and Yennefer takes that as evidence that she is not unlovable and that he did not forget about her.

Triss serves as one of several mages in King Foltest of Temeria’s court, and she harbors a longstanding one-sided attraction to Geralt. Triss fought alongside the Brotherhood and the Northern Kingdoms at the Battle of Sodden Hill. She was gravely wounded and mistaken for dead; her hair was burned, and the only mage who could recognize her without it was Yennefer, who was blinded in the same battle. Triss is known as the “Fourteenth of the Hill,” and she struggles with post-traumatic stress and survivor’s guilt. At Kaer Morhen, Triss helps Ciri embrace her femininity and instructs the witchers on how to care for the young girl’s needs. Despite mages’ immunity to most diseases, Triss falls ill en route to Ellander and keeps close-lipped as to how she even became sick. For the rest of the novel, Triss hides so effectively that not even Dijkstra and Philippa Eilhart can find her.

Julian Alfred Pankratz, Viscount de Lettenhove, travels with Geralt and performs under the name Dandelion. The bard studied at Oxenfurt Academy, where he later taught poetry for a year. His ballads about Geralt’s adventures have made Dandelion famous in the Northern Kingdoms, but his most famous song (“The Ballad of the Lion Cub of Cintra”) makes him a target for people hunting Ciri. Although Dijkstra recruits him as an informant, Dandelion is careful to never reveal too much about Geralt or Ciri, which indicates he is a good judge of other people. Dandelion’s performance at Bleobheris opens up an important dialogue about storytelling and history, and his insistence that his work is fictional demonstrates the complex relationship between creative stories and historical record.

Though he is undoubtedly working for someone else, Rience is the novel’s main antagonist. He is a powerful mage and is notably skilled with using fire (an unstable source for magic energy). His search for Ciri begins prior to the novel’s opening, by which point Rience has already tortured and killed many people, including a peasant family who cared for Ciri when she was a refugee after the fall of Cintra. In Blood of Elves, Rience tortures Dandelion for information about the bard’s musical references to a white-haired witcher and the Lion Cub of Cintra. The novel suggests that Rience works for Nilfgaard, but the portals through which he escapes indicates to Yennefer that his true employer is a skilled magic-user. Rience puts on a ruthless persona, and his actions certainly lend credence to it, but when he actually confronts Geralt, Rience is clearly afraid of the witcher. For all his threats and hired criminals, Rience at his core is overconfident, and he underestimates his targets as a result.

Once a well-known adventurer and dragon-hunter (he first appears in Sword of Destiny), Yarpen now leads a small company of dwarves responsible for delivering supplies to King Henselt’s forces in Kaedwen. Yarpen has a clear code of conduct and a strong moral compass. He agrees to let Geralt, Ciri, and Triss join their caravan, despite the Kaedwenian soldiers’ displeasure, because “You don’t refuse help on the Trail” (158). Yarpen believes humans and nonhumans need to live together peacefully and overcome their long histories of violence. His perspective on the rising Racial Tensions Between Humans and Nonhumans directly challenges Geralt’s stance of neutrality; Yarpen does not believe one can be neutral to this conflict, and the history he teaches Ciri reveals how complex racial relations actually are.

Nenneke is the high priestess at the Temple of Melitele in Ellander. Nenneke initially forbade Ciri from practicing with her sword, urging her instead to focus on her studies. She teaches Ciri runes, prayer, and history. Nenneke is stern, but she cares deeply for Ciri as well as Geralt, and she is clearly protective of Ciri, especially when it comes to Yennefer’s intense magic lessons.

Jarre is Nenneke’s ward. He is not supposed to interact with the female novices, but he is clearly interested in Ciri. While they look at maps in his room one afternoon, Jarre attempts to kiss her, but Ciri rebuffs him. Jarre’s interest in Ciri prompts her to wonder about men and sex for the first time. 

Shani is a 17-year-old medical student at Oxenfurt Academy. Shani takes her oaths as a medic seriously and cares deeply for human life. She is friends with Dandelion and agrees to help him find Geralt. Despite her outward appearance as an academic, Shani is adept at recognizing spies and is knowledgeable about Oxenfurt’s shadier neighborhoods, which enables her to help Geralt and Dandelion locate Rience.

Vesemir is the oldest living witcher and a father-figure to Geralt, Lambert, Coën, and Eskel. Vesemir’s training with Ciri focuses on theory and academics; he teaches her how to recognize monsters, as well as herbs and potions and their effects.

Coën’s eyes are permanently bloodshot, indicating his body had trouble processing the mutations that made him into a witcher. Coën also has scars from childhood ailments like chickenpox, which suggests his witcher training began later in life than is typical. He has a sibling-style bond with Ciri, as seen when they play a hand-slapping game together. In one of her first trances, Ciri predicts Coën’s death.

Lambert has a sharp tongue and rude demeanor, especially towards Triss. He addresses the sorceress by her last name despite knowing it irritates her, and on several occasions, he notably eyes her breasts. Lambert doubts Ciri was actually a princess and seems adamant that the witchers can train her no differently than they would train a boy.

Eskel is the first witcher to greet Geralt and Ciri at Kaer Morhen. He is also the first to be seriously concerned about Ciri’s visions; it is his idea to summon a sorceress. Eskel is polite and respectful, especially to Triss. He displays genuine interest in Triss’s observations and advice and treats the witchers’ guardianship of Ciri with utmost seriousness.

Sigismund Dijkstra is the head of Redania’s intelligence network. After the Battle of Sodden Hill, Dijkstra recruited Dandelion as an informant and also had Yennefer keep an eye on the bard in case of danger. Dijkstra’s appearance is intentionally deceptive; he looks and dresses in such a way that people tend to underestimate him. Dijkstra holds considerable authority in King Vizimir’s court: “[I]f Dijkstra states it is noon yet darkness reigns all around, it is time to start worrying about the fate of the sun” (250).

Philippa Eilhart is a mage and a trusted advisor to King Vizimir of Redania. She also fought at the Battle of Sodden Hill with other mages from the Brotherhood. She is able to transform into an owl. Philippa is not above torturing people for information, extracting it from her targets’ minds using painful magic. Philippa’s true motivations and allegiances are unclear, as she never more than partially explains herself to anyone.

As far as human politics are concerned, the world of the Witcher series broadly splits along north-south lines. In the northern part of the continent are a number of kingdoms of varying size and power (the Northern Kingdoms); these regions pride themselves on their comparative “freedom,” although they treat nonhuman races as second-class citizens. In the southern part of the continent is Nilfgaard, an expansionist empire that has already invaded the Northern Kingdoms once at the time Blood of Elves opens. The Northern Kingdoms repelled this attack at the Battle of Sodden Hill but suffered great losses during both the battle and Nilfgaard’s initial attack on Cintra.

After the Battle of Sodden Hill, King Henselt of Kaedwen’s lands were overrun by the Scoia’tael. He created special forces to eliminate the nonhumans, as they constituted a terrorist threat. It was on his orders that Yarpen Zigrin’s caravan was set up to be attacked, as he doubted the dwarves’ loyalty to humans.

King Foltest of Temeria is also the Prince of Sodden, Sovereign of Pontaria and Mahakam, and the Senior Protector of Brugge and Ellander. His armies fought against Nilfgaard at Sodden Hill, and after the war Temeria’s economy was flooded with cheap Nilfgaardian goods, stressing the kingdom’s relationship with Redania.

King Demavend of Aedirn tortured a cleric to reveal information about Emperor Emhyr after the Battle of Sodden Hill. The cleric died before divulging anything. King Demavend also supported the decision to launch a military campaign against the Scoia’tael. Although Yennefer is not his official court mage, he often turns to her for assistance.

King Vizimir of Redania also led his armies against Nilfgaard at the Battle of Sodden Hill. At the meeting in Hagge, he argues that Nilfgaard will try to invade again and that the Northern Kingdoms should find a way to strike first.

Queen Meve of Lyria, also known as “The Merry Widow,” became the sole ruler of Lyria and Rivia when her husband, King Reginald, passed away. She is the only ruler at the Kings’ meeting in Hagge who seems dismayed by the idea of putting a bounty on Ciri, and the kings’ asking for her “woman’s intuition” annoys her.

Although not much is known about Emperor Emhyr var Emreis of Nilfgaard at this point in the Witcher saga, he is revealed to be (one of) Rience’s benefactors. Emperor Emhyr also has a penchant for publicly executing those who displease or work against him, no matter their rank or title. He entrusts Marshal Coehoorn and an as-yet-unnamed knight with an important mission, but the specifics of their task are not divulged to the reader.