Acotar Theories - Tumblr Posts

This is one of the best theories I’ve seen about the next acotar book

Koschei the Deathless / The 3 Sisters & The 3 Brothers

This is another theory post, one that somewhat ties into my previous posts about Elain, the Prison being the 8th Court, and the three brothers/three sisters prophecy.

Arguably the biggest hint about the plot of future books lies in “The Death of Koschei the Deathless,” a Russian fairytale that SJM is clearly inspired by (she didn’t even bother changing the name of the villain). This particular fairytale inspired many others that are somewhat similar to it (the magical number three can be found in each one, always in the form of three sisters), but before I continue, let’s look at what happens in the original fairytale:

When the story opens, Ivan and his three sisters are approaching the death of their parents. Ivan is tasked with ensuring that the young women each find a husband. Indeed, suitors come for each woman: Princess Marya weds a youth who transforms into a falcon; Princess Olga marries a youth who transforms into an eagle; and Princess Anna marries a youth who transforms into a raven.

This is one version. Another one:

Russian folklorist Alexander Afanasyev, stated that the eagle, the falcon and the raven (or crow) are connected to weather phenomena, like storm, rain, wind. He also saw a parallel between the avian suitors from the tale Marya Morevna with the suitors from other Slavic folktales, where they are the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind. 

And another one:

In the Eastern European tale of The Story of Argilius and the Flame-King (Zauberhelene) after his sisters are married to the Sun-king, the Wind-king (or Storm-king) and the Moon-king, […]

And another one:

In another Russian variant, “Ivan Tsarevich and Marya Marevna,"  the young Ivan Tsarevich takes his sisters for a walk in the garden, when, suddenly, three whirlwinds capture the ladies. Three years later, the Tsarevich intends to court princess Marya Morevna, when, in his travels, he finds three old men, who reveal themselves as the whirlwinds and assume an avian form (the first a raven, the second an eagle and the third a falcon).

And another one:

A Czech fairy tale, O Slunečníku, Měsíčníku a Větrníku, where the prince’s sisters are married to the Sun, the Moon and the Wind.

And another one:

A Croatian variant titled "The Tsar’s Son and the Víla.” In this tale, the Wind-King, the Sun-King and the Moon-King (in that order) wish to marry the tsar’s daughters.

I could honestly go on and on because almost every single culture/country has its own version of the same fairytale, always involving three sisters/daughters, and their three husbands, who are somehow related (either by them all being birds or having a bird-form, or by them being elements).

Now, let’s look at ACOTAR. We have three sisters (Nesta, Elain, and Feyre) and three men who can fly (a raven, an eagle, and a falcon). Or, we could look at it differently. We have three sisters (Nesta, Elain, and Feyre) and three brothers who are bonded in spirit (the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind).

Does this sound familiar?

Or even:

The matreshka-style measures protecting Koschei’s mortality are, in this case, symbolic representations of the world. The ocean-sea is water, the basin for life; the island is the soil that nurtures it; the oak tree is life itself; the animals are subsistence for the living; and the chest contains natural resources, the most precious one being the egg. 

Fun fact: Koschei is derived from the Slavic word for bone (kostka).

Another fun fact: According to legend, Koschei’s mortality is contained in a needle that’s placed somewhere highly inconvenient and very far. But, finding and breaking it is the only way to destroy him. It’s hidden in an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare that’s inside a chest; the chest is buried under the roots of an oak tree, which grows on the invisible island of Buyan, at an undisclosed location in the middle of the ocean-sea.

What does this remind us of?

Which brings me back to the original fairytale: 

Ivan had three sisters. After his parents die and his sisters marry three wizards, he leaves his home in search of his sisters. He meets Marya Morevna, the beautiful warrior princess, and marries her. After a while she announces she is going to go to war and tells Ivan not to open the door of the dungeon in the castle they live in while she will be away. Overcome by the desire to know what the dungeon holds, he opens the door soon after her departure and finds Koschei, chained and emaciated. Koschei asks Ivan to bring him some water; Ivan does so. After Koschei drinks twelve buckets of water, his magic powers return to him, he tears his chains and disappears. Soon after Ivan finds out that Koschei took Marya Morevna away, and chases him. When he gets him for the first time, Koschei tells Ivan to let him go, but Ivan doesn’t give in, and Koschei kills him, puts his remains into a barrel and throws it into the sea. Ivan is revived by his sisters’ husbands, powerful wizards, who can transform into birds of prey. They tell him Koschei has a magic horse and Ivan should go to Baba Yaga to get one too, or else he won’t be able to defeat Koschei. After Ivan stands Yaga’s tests and gets the horse, he fights with Koschei, kills him and burns his body. Marya Morevna returns to Ivan, and they celebrate his victory with his sisters and their husbands.

My question is this: What if we are looking at this wrong? What if this is not what is to come, but a version of what happened when Koschei was imprisoned by the female Fae warrior (Marya Morevna)? This is what we know about the female warrior from the Bone Carver:

Which brings me to Vassa. At first, I thought that maybe the bloodline runs through the Archeron family, but what if it runs through Vassa’s?

So why did Koschei want Vassa, specifically? Is it because the female fae’s bloodline runs through her veins? Could it be because she might be the key—or at least part of the key—that will free him from his lake?

Let’s look at this differently. So far, we have:

Koschei

Marya Morevna (Vassa)

Ivan (Lucien? Jurian? Both?)

Three sisters (Nesta, Elain, Feyre)

Three males who have “bird-form” (Rhys, Cassian, Azriel)

All the players of the original fairytale, coming together again. What if it really is a prophecy? What if this is not a coincidence? What if the Cauldron, as Azriel said, WAS wrong, but was wrong on purpose? To prevent a prophecy from coming true, one that could free Koschei from his prison and unleash him upon the world?

I could go on and on with this post (and I might make another one that involves Elain and how she is directly involved in all of this), but until then, think about it. Three sisters and three brothers might not be as cliché/ridiculous/far-fetched as you might think.

“The Cauldron chose three sisters. Tell me how it’s possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, yet the third was given to another.”

“All three sisters were now High Fae with considerable powers, though only Feyre’s were let loose.”

“All three sisters blessed by fate and gifted with powers to match your own.”

I’ve been reading acowar and I’ve realized something that I’d never paid much attention to before. And I have a theory about the next book.

So, you know how a lot of people hates Elain for not giving Lucien a chance. I have realized that Elain started to put a distance between her and Lucien after this scene below.

In this scene we see Lucien stepping up to be the one to go to the human lands to find Vassa. And right after this, we see Feyre sensing something different about the way Elain looks at Lucien (As if Elain had seen something).

Before this scene she would talk and treat him nicely (Nothing special for him but just the way she treats everyone).

After this scene, she stars acting as though she knows something about him that no one else does.

So what if Elain kept her distance with Lucien because she had seen Lucien and Vassa’s future -where they end up together. And since she knows they are to be together at the end, she thought if she stayed away from him, she would save him from a mistake and let him be with the person he is destined to be.

So, the reason she was so uncomfortable around him is because -just like how Mor felt with Az- she’d seen that he was a nice person and didn’t want to disappoint him.

This is my very first theory post so let me know about your ideas.🤍

(And be nice)

Wow😯

How the Celtic/Welsh Myth of Blodeuwedd will act as an online for Elain's romantic plot in ACOTAR 5(or 6 if that's how you roll)

Hi,

I don't really know how to use Tumblr so we'll see how this goes...

So I was scrolling through the ACOTAR Pinterest board recently (like I always do once a month😂) and noticed a lot of pins that are of females surrounded by flowers with animals around them. However, one in particular caught my eye.

This pin is of the Welsh Goddess Blodeuwedd and the note for it says Elain.

So naturally, with me being being the mythology nerd that I am, I did some more research into the myth as I only knew the basics. Doing so, I found many similarities between Blodeuwedd and Elain as well as what could act as a potential outline for her love story.

The Story of Blodeuwedd

Lleu was the abandoned son of the god Arianrhod. His story with Blodeuwedd also talks about his struggle to kingship. Arianrhod tried to stop Lleu from gaining his kingship in order to prevent shame being brought upon her due to his companions. He would not receive a name unless it was from her. He would not receive his arms, unless from her. As well as that, he could never marry a mortal woman. Ultimately, unless it be through her own auspices (meaning: approval, support, control), he would never become king.

Lleu was giver some magik in order to ensure that he would live long enough to gain his kingship. The magik made it so that Lleu could only die from the most outrages and out there situations. Arianrhod was tricked into giving Lleu his name and arms, however he still did not have a wife. His cousins, Math and Gwydion, used their magick to create him a wife from the flowers of the Oak, Broom and Meadowsweet. She was the Goddess Blodeuwedd.

Blodeuwedd was made to be his mate, and she did so flawlessly. She was the perfect wife. The perfect mate. His people loved her and her beauty was unmatched.

One day, Lleu went hunting and left Blodeuweds and her ladies alone in the castle. A young huntsmen was seeking shelter from a storm, his name was Gronw. From first sight, him and Blodeuwedd fell in love. In order to ensure that they can be together, they devise a plan to kill Lleu.

Gronw leaves and Blodeuwedd starts expressing her concern to Lleu about how she is scared he may die. Her concern causes Lleu to show her the very circumstances where he could die. A bath is prepared on the riverbank and it is covered with a thatched roof, making it neither indoors nor outdoors. Lleu stood with one foot on the bath and one foot upon the back of a goat. Gronw throws a specially made spear which hits Lleu in the side. He turns into an Eagle and leaves. Once nursed back to health, Lleu along with his cousins find the two lovers. Gronw is killed while Blodeuwedd was turned into an owl.

Modern day take vs. My view

In modern day society, some people have used Blodeuwedd's story as an example of infidelity as well as how lust can overtake someone.

I however, disagree to a certain extent. While Blodeuwedd was unfaithful in her marriage, I feel that there is a reason behind it, not that that makes it okay.

Blodeuwedd was made by men, for a man, based off of those mens own personal desires. She was made and told that she was to marry Lleu and that that was her purpose in life. She was never given a choice. She played the role of the perfect wife and mate. The people loved her. She loved Lleu and he loved her, but they weren't in love with each other. They cared for one another. They did their marital duties, but they weren't in love. Then Blodeuwedd met Gronw and he sets her world alight.

For the first time in her life, Blodeuwedd wants something so strongly and she wants that to be her choice. She was prepared to give up everything for that love.

Blodeuwedd's story is the story of a girl who lived her entire life playing by the rules and roles that someone else made for her. She wasn't living her life, simply existing in someone else's.

How I think this will act as an outline

Although I do not think that Sarah will kill anyone like the myth, I do think she may use it as a base outline.

Elain and Blodeuwedd have a lot of similarities. Both spent a large amount of their lives playing a role. Both were given mates and told that this is the person they are destined to be with. Both are willing to fight for the love they choose.

Naturally this would make Lucien Lleu and Azriel Gronw.

Rather than plot to kill Lucien, I think that Elain will decide that she wants to step away from the role that her mother gave her and be herself. Fight for the love that she wants, not the one that she was told she will have.

Although not absolutely necessary, I feel that to an extent, the romance will help push the plot forward. I see that after she steps out of that role, Elain, like Blodeuwedd, will decide for herself who she will love and be with. She will fight for Azriel and reject the bond with Lucien.

However, I do think that the fight for love needs to be on both sides. Elain's only relationship ended with her finding out that she loved harder and fell faster than Grayson and the only thing that she got from it was that stupid iron ring. That ring is a symbol of what pain love has caused her. We see it again in ACoSF when we.find that Elain tried to reach out to Nesta multiple times, but was pushed away each of them. She is tired of fighting for love and receiving none back. Love has caused her so much pain. Azriel will need to show Elain that he is willing to fight for her.

Going along with the myth, this rejection could be a cause for Lucien to request a blood duel. Not because he is in love with Elain, simply due to his fae instincts. In the end however, i do not think that it will be Azriel and Lucien fighting the duel but I do believe that it will have the same outcome as Gronw and Lleu's. With one dying (not that they really dueled).

Ultimately, I believe that like Blodeuwedd, Sarah will use the base of her story to show Elain's growth and show Elain finally stepping away from that role(which I've been saying she's been playing since I read chapter 40 of ACOMAF with one of my favourite Elain quotes).

I feel like reading into this myth gave me a better insight on Elain due to her similarities with Blodeuwess.

Fun niche things I noticed during my research

Blodeuwedd is apart of triad alongside Arianrhod and Cerridwen

Cerridwen's symbol in mythology is a cauldron and she is the Welsh grain and sow-Goddess, keeper of the cauldron of inspiration and Goddess of transformation.

Blodeuwedd is the white goddess of death and life

Nuala's name is derived from Irish mythology. It is a diminutive form of Fionnuala (fair shoilder) or it is an alternate name for Una who was the wife of Finvarra, the king of fairies.

Sorry for the long post, I just felt like this was something interesting that I wanted to share but haven't gotten around to making a TikTok on it so... Tumblr seemed easier. There are quite a few other crack theories and things that i want to expand on so I'll get to those one day. If you've made it this far, I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.

Bye 👋😍😍