Soul name

In the comic book Elfquest, a Soul Name is a secret name consisting of a single syllable, which all of the telepathic Wolfrider elves acquire before birth. It is a kind of password that safeguards an elf's innermost thoughts and feelings, and guards the core of their being and their identity. It is known to his or her parents from before birth, and is revealed only to his or her very most intimate friends and lovemates. The rest of the tribe never learns it.
Even longtime lovemates (examples: Redlance and Nightfall, Scouter and Dewshine) may not know each other's soul names, exchanging them only when one of them is going into severe danger or is terribly ill or injured, so that they may remain "together beyond death."
Recognition, the elves' telepathic mating urge, causes the affected couple to exchange soul names involuntarily. Knowing each other as deeply as it is possible to do so, after satisfying the sexual demands of Recognition, they then almost always become lifemates.
During the story, the villainous elf Winnowill overhears the Wolfrider Dewshine's soul name and speaks it aloud in her presence - a shocking, painful violation which allows Winnowill to coerce her into compliance with every request. It is a sign of Winnowill's evil that she feels able to carelessly break one of the Wolfriders' most sacred taboos.
From: ElfQuestions, index of Original ElfQuest #7, "THE DREAMBERRY TALES, Picknose edition":
"Q. WHAT IS A SOUL NAME?"
"Soul names grew out of the wolfriders' increasingly frequent use of sending as a form of communication. Sending is an intense, directional kind of telepathy which requires vulnerability and openness in both sender and receiver. The soul name is a word/sound/concept that expresses a wolfrider's personal individuality (and all that that means) and acts as a buffer. A wolfrider, sensing that he or she is getting too close to a fellow wolfrider's soul name while sending will pull back, psychically speaking - and so the "deepmost private self" of each individual is protected."

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu