Historians
 

An amusing thought came to mind while I was rereading The Elenium by David Eddings for the first time since it came out in hardcover in 1989.

In The Ruby Night on page 388 (of the Del Rey trade paperback edition of The Elenium), our hero Sparhawk met Farmer Wat. Sparhawk is looking for legends about a battle that happened 500 years earlier. Wat didn't have the information Sparhawk was seeking, but he suggested what Sparhawk could do.

"...There's them in Pelosia an' Deira as takes the same pleasure in the old tales as me 'n' old Farsh does, an' the closer y' get to wherever it is this king yer lookin' fer is buried, the better yer chances are gonna ge of findin' somebody as kin tell y' what y' want to know."

Now, Farmer Wat is a rather unlikeable fellow--slovenly and always scratching himself--but when I read that, I realized what Farmer Wat really was: a historian! It was through the tales passed down from guys like Farmer Wat, just taking an interest in the old stories and telling them to the few among the next generation would sit still and listen, that we know most of what we think we know about times the that have gone before!

Or, at least those who will sit still and listen know what they think they know.