Tamyrlin: 2001-01-25

I wonder if it is like those bubbles of evil, something in the Pattern that has to do with Ta'veren.

wantfear: 2011-10-29

As the series comes to a close the answer of the spinning colors has not yet been answered, but i think that option 1 is the most likely scenerio "1) With the Last Battle approaching, this could be the ta'veren's beepers going off, telling them that they need to be together or else the DO gets free. Notice the colors only appear when one ta'veren thinks of another."

I think Thantos said it best in another thread when he said "I like to think of it as Creator tapping them on the shoulder and trying to get them back in line."

eht slat meit: 2011-10-29

I'm speculating it as a representation of the mind crossing the Pattern to see someone else's place within it. Unable to make any sense of things that do not have the ability to precisely draw the eye (i.e. their ta'veren nature), Perrin, Mat and Rand are unable to make any visual sense of any other facet of the Pattern that is crossed, such as geography, people, things, distance or space. It comes out as nothing than a pool of color.

I'd also guess it to be Jordan's equivalent to Asbru, the rainbow bridge.

wantfear: 2011-10-31

Asbru? can you explain the concept please?

eht slat meit: 2011-10-31

Wantfear:
My apologies, it would likely have been more obvious (or at least easier to search) if I'd referred to it by the name Bifrost. Given the obvious parallels between Rand, Mat, and Perrin to the gods of Norse Mythology, I've been doing a lot of searching and reading on anything to do with that mythology, and the analogies, links and parallels seem to be endless. Perhaps Jordan has already discussed it, but my depth of knowledge on his appearances is limited, and in my limited experience I'm positing it as highly likely he's drawn heavily from the mythology to build the characters and concepts of Randland. Maybe he's already as much as said it; I don't know.

Anyway, in short, Asbru is this burning rainbow bridge that links the world of the gods with the world of men. Only the gods (obv the Three here) may cross this bridge, and it is foretold to be destroyed at Ragnarok.

Mat has been most associated with Odin, but from what I've seen, each of the three men seems to have a second norse persona with Heimdallr being Mat's. Asbru is associated closely with Heimdallr, a trend which is followed in the books - all three have noted the rainbow image's existence - but only Mat seems to take any extended notice of it or see its value as a resource.

wantfear: 2011-11-02

Hm between your two posts that actually makes a lot of sense :p