The Tyrant Philosophers/Targallen
Targallen is a scholar and mathematician known solely as the author of a treatise on Parabolic Lensing, a work which the demon Valkazar identifies upon encountering it in the hands of Aspel as "the ancient and true mathematics that describes all possible worlds" - Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 21. The text functions within the narrative as a touchstone: its presence in Aspel's reading prompts Valkazar to reveal a personal pedagogical relationship with Targallen, one he places alongside his childhood tutelage of Abellaime in his capacity as a tutelary demon of the Sable Lodge - ch 21.
Beyond the title of the treatise and Valkazar's claim of authorship, the books supply no biographical detail: no era, no other works, no further context for Targallen's life or thought. The character exists in the narrative entirely as a referenced authority, a name that anchors a lineage of teaching stretching back into a past the present story does not reconstruct.
The Term
Meaning
Targallen is a proper name, that of a dead or absent mathematician. It is not a title, an office, or an institutional designation. In the one passage where the name appears, it functions as the authorial attribution of a mathematics text on Parabolic Lensing, a work Valkazar characterises as foundational rather than merely technical - Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 21.
Usage
The name is spoken once, by Valkazar, in direct address to Aspel. Its register is intimate and declarative: Valkazar uses it to establish a personal bond with the absent scholar and, by extension, to claim authority over the subject matter of the text Aspel is reading - ch 21. Aspel herself refers to the work only by its subject, Parabolic Lensing, and does not speak Targallen's name aloud in the passage - ch 21.
Origin
The books do not explain the etymology or cultural origin of the name.
History
Pretenders to the Throne Of God
Targallen appears in this book only as a referenced authority: the author of a mathematics text on Parabolic Lensing, which Aspel is reading when Valkazar enters and identifies the volume as "the ancient and true mathematics that describes all possible worlds" - ch 21. Valkazar's recognition of the work immediately draws out a personal connection, delivered in the form of a direct address to Aspel: Islerwoman, I taught Targallen - ch 21. He situates this tutelage alongside his earlier disclosure that he had also taught Abellaime as a child, acting in the capacity of a tutelary demon of the Sable Lodge, and he offers his mathematical expertise in relation to the text's subject matter - ch 21. No further detail about Targallen's life, era, or other works is provided.
Relationships
- Valkazar - Valkazar claims to have taught Targallen, situating the tutelage alongside his instruction of Abellaime as a child in his role as a tutelary demon of the Sable Lodge. He offers his own mathematical expertise in relation to the treatise's subject matter, positioning himself as both former teacher and living authority on the text's content - Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 21.
- Aspel - Aspel is reading Targallen's treatise on Parabolic Lensing when Valkazar enters and identifies it. The relationship is one of reader to absent author; Aspel does not speak Targallen's name in the passage - ch 21.
- Abellaime - Abellaime is not connected to Targallen directly, but Valkazar names them in the same breath as another of his former students, binding the two through the shared fact of his tutelage - ch 21.
Notable Quotes
- "the ancient and true mathematics that describes all possible worlds" - Valkazar, on Targallen's treatise, Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 21
Tags
- mathematician · #author · #islermen