Plato’s theory of Forms sounded strangely familiar when I first heard it. It seemed like I had heard of it outside of Greek philosophy class, but I could not pinpoint when and where. Then it struck me today while I was reading this passage from Aristotle’s Metaphysics I.

“For to each set of substances there answers a Form which has the same name and exists apart from the substances…”

The fantasy trilogy Eragon, by Christopher Paolini. That is where I saw it.

The three novels take place in a fictional world called Alagaesia, where humans, dwarves, elves, werecats, orcs, and all other high fantasy creatures live. The story begins when the main character, Eragon, accidentally obtains a dragon. In order to avoid being captured and enslaved by the evil King Galbatorix, Eragon sets off on a journey to find the elves and become a dragon rider.

While the story itself has nothing to do with ancient philosophy, there is a strong relationship between the novel and Plato’s theory of Forms. The elves and the dragons, two of the longest-living and wisest species in Alagaesia, speak a magical language called the ancient tongue. Spells require some kind of incantation in this magical language. Eragon learns from his masters that speaking in the ancient tongue addresses the true name of the matter, drawing out its true form. A scene exemplifies the idea; Eragon uses the ancient tongue to address “silver”, and the shadowy but beautiful “true form” of silver appears next to the material. While I have no way of knowing whether the author had any knowledge of Greek philosophy when writing his book, I find the resemblance between the concept of a true name and Plato’s theory of Forms very striking.

It is only in the fictional world that speaking of an object’s true name in a special language could draw out its true form. Nevertheless, I believe that there is a good association of this concept with the real world. For example, the Japanese in the 12^th century avoided revealing true names to others for the fear that it would bind their souls. The tradition remains even today, and many feel hesitant to call anyone by their given names unless strongly insisted by the other.

Names are just symbols for things that they represent. My name Nodoka represents the closest complete understanding of ME in a single word. The fact that names are part of an inexpressible whole may suggest that they are the closest alternative to the Forms in the real world.