Thom Merrilin

Full Name: Thomdril Merrilin
Pronunciation: TOM MER-rih-lihn

A gleeman. He was once a court bard in Caemlyn and was Queen Morgase's lover for a time. He had a nephew named Owyn.

Physical Description#

He is tall but stooped with white hair and long, white mustaches. He has blue eyes. (TEotW,Ch4)


Thom Merrilin by Richard Boyé

Thom Merrilin by Richard Boyé

Points of View#

See Thom's chapter points of view.

Chronology (Possible Spoilers)#

Before the Series#

Beginning of Series#

Journey to Tar Valon#

Shadar Logoth#

  • Thom stays in the camp. Lan returns from scouting with news there are Trollocs nearby so they prepare to flee. (TEotW,Ch19)

More#

Caemlyn#

Tear#

Tanchico#

Amadicia#

Circus#

Salidar#

Ebou Dar#

Circus#

More#

The Tower#

  • Perrin bids farewell to Mat, Thom and Noal as they leave through the gateway. They open a door in the Tower with a bronze knife and make their way through the realm choosing passages by Mat's lucky rolls of the dice. They reach the chamber with fluted black columns. (ToM,Ch53)
  • They reach the Chamber of Bonds and Thom frees Moiraine. Mat trades his eye for safe passage from the Eelfinn, but he forgets the Aelfinn. (ToM,Ch54)
  • Noal stays behind to help them escape. Mat figures out that his ashandarei is the way out. He cuts a new doorway and he, Thom and Moiraine escape. (ToM,Ch55)
  • Thom and Moiraine express their love for each other and agree to marry. Mat and Thom update her on events and she asks to go to Rand. (ToM,Ch57)

Field of Merrilor#

Other References (Possible Spoilers)#

  1. In The Eye of the World
    1. TEotW,Ch10 - Thom has never performed in Tar Valon.
    2. TEotW,Ch15 - Min has a viewing of Thom - A man - not him - juggling fire, and the White Tower.
    3. TEotW,Ch26 - Owyn was Thom's brother's only son, his only living kin.
    4. TEotW,Ch28 - A woman tells Moiraine there was a gleeman on board the Spray when it left the day before and they wonder if it was Thom.
    5. TEotW,Ch31 - Rand keeps hoping to see Thom catch up to him and Mat.
    6. TEotW,Ch33 - Rand has a nightmare where Thom asks him if the Red Ajah or Black Ajah will find him first.
    7. TEotW,Ch35 - Rand, Mat and Basel Gill talk about him.
    8. TEotW,Ch36 - Master Gill advises Rand and Mat against going to Elaida for help because of their connection to Thom.
    9. TEotW,Ch41 - Rand tells Perrin that Thom is dead.
    10. TEotW,Ch45 - Moiraine does not believe Thom is dead because he is part of the Pattern.
    11. TEotW,Ch52 - Rand tells Moiraine that Thom told him that men who are gentled stop wanting to live and soon die.
  2. In The Great Hunt
    1. TGH,Ch2 - Rand continues to take care of Thom's flute and harp.
    2. TGH,Ch3 - Rand recalls Thom telling him that gentled men die soon.
    3. TGH,Ch8 - Rand tells the Amyrlin that Thom told him about the White Tower using false Dragons.
    4. TGH,Ch15 - Rand plays Thom's flute to comfort himself.
  3. In The Dragon Reborn
    1. TDR,Ch35 - Perrin thinks Faile handles knives as ably as Thom.
    2. TDR,Ch56 - Mat intends to leave Tear as soon as Thom is well enough to travel.
  4. In The Shadow Rising
    1. TSR,Ch2 - Mat is unhappy that Thom seems to have settled in at the Stone of Tear.
    2. TSR,Ch11 - When Egwene sees Birgitte in Tel'aran'rhiod she thinks it must be her imagination from listening to Thom's stories.
    3. TSR,Ch21 - Moiraine thinks Thom will keep Elayne and Nynaeve out of trouble in Tanchico. She had to get rid of him because he had too much influence on Rand.
    4. TSR,Ch35 - Elayne tells Egwene that Thom and Juilin are with her and Nynaeve.
    5. TSR,Ch37 - Jasin Natael reminds Mat of Thom.
  5. In The Fires of Heaven
    1. TFoH,Ch15 - Nynaeve admits to Egwene that Ronde Macura drugged her and Thom and Juilin had to rescue them.
    2. TFoH,Ch15 - Egwene dreams of Mat throwing dice with blood streaming down his face, the wide brim of his hat pulled low so she could not see his wound, while Thom Merrilin put his hand into a fire to draw out the small blue stone that now dangled on Moiraine's forehead.
    3. TFoH,Ch19 - Morgase thinks of the men in her life including Thom.
    4. TFoH,Ch24 - Egwene has a hard time with the image of Thom and Juilin performing in a circus.
    5. TFoH,Ch46 - Rand thinks that Thom would be proud of him the way he manipulates the Tairen High Lords.
    6. TFoH,Ch52 - Moiraine gives Rand a letter for Thom.
    7. TFoH,Ch53 - In her letter, Moiraine again asks Rand to deliver her letter to Thom.
  6. In Lord of Chaos
    1. LoC,Ch8 - Nynaeve wishes that Thom and Juilin were back to help her leave Salidar.
    2. LoC,Ch12 - Nynaeve really wants to leave Salidar and hopes Thom and Juilin return in time to accompany her.
    3. LoC,Ch22 - As he juggles, Mat wonders how Thom is doing and thinks that Elayne and Nynaeve probably got him killed.
    4. LoC,Ch28 - Rand wonders if Thom knows anything about the Warder bond.
    5. LoC,Ch33 - Rand gives Moiraine's letter to Mat to deliver to Thom in Salidar.
    6. LoC,Ch39 - Egwene agrees that Mat, Birgitte, Thom and Juilin will accompany Elayne and Nynaeve to Ebou Dar.
    7. LoC,Ch50 - Rand finds Thom's flute in his wardrobe and plays it to relax.
  7. In A Crown of Swords
    1. ACoS,Ch9 - Nicola and Areina try to blackmail Egwene by telling her that they heard Thom and Juilin say that Nynaeve and Elayne were pretending to be full Aes Sedai while they were still Accepted.
    2. ACoS,Ch17 - At The Wandering Woman Mat's men report that they have not seen Thom or Juilin.
  8. In The Path of Daggers
    1. TPoD,Ch5 - Elayne truly regrets leaving Mat, Thom, Olver and Vanin in the hands of the Seanchan (People).
  9. In Winter's Heart
    1. WH,Ch12 - Min juggles knives the way Thom taught her.
    2. WH,Ch17 - After the gholam attack, Mat tells his Redarms to leave Ebou Dar and take Thom and the others with them, but they refuse to go.
    3. WH,Ch21 - Bayle Domon tells Egeanin that he will recruit Mat and Thom to help them escape Ebou Dar.
    4. WH,Ch25 - Rand plays Thom's flute to pass the time.
    5. WH,Ch26 - Elayne recalls good advice from Thom and Morgase regarding spies. Keep them happy and feed them bad information.
  10. In Crossroads of Twilight
    1. CoT,Ch4 - The Seeker knows of Thom and thinks he was involved in the events the night Tuon disappeared.
    2. CoT,Ch24 - Rand sees swirling colors when he thinks of Thom and Mat.
  11. In Knife of Dreams
    1. KoD,Ch13 - Elayne wonders how Thom, Mat and Olver are doing.
    2. KoD,Ch34 - Furyk Karede thinks Thom is in charge of the army that kidnapped Tuon and that he is a great captain and a spy for the White Tower.
    3. KoD,Ch35 - Elayne wonders how Thom is doing.
  12. In The Gathering Storm
    1. TGS,Ch15 - Min thinks about the help she got from Thom on using her knives.
    2. TGS,Ch26 - When Min flourishes her knives, Aviendha thinks it is a silly trick like Thom Merrilin used to do.
    3. TGS,Ch31 - Rand sees an image of Mat riding through Caemlyn with Thom.
    4. TGS,Ch36 - Mat does not think Thom will complain about having to spend thirty days in Caemlyn before heading to the Tower of Ghenjei.
  13. In Towers of Midnight
    1. ToM,Ch11 - Elayne and Birgitte learn from Mat-s letter that Thom is safe but they wonder about Olver.
    2. ToM,Ch21 - Morgase thinks that Thom and Gareth Bryne loved her, but not like Tallanvor.
    3. ToM,Ch44 - Morgase learned from Taringail that marriage is dangerous so she never made Thom or Bryne her official consort. Gaebril reinforced the danger.
    4. ToM,Epilogue - Olver thinks Talmanes is not as much fun as Noal or Thom.
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Copyright (c) 1998 by Gary Kephart