brisingr | Page 2

of Gil’ead and
brought before Durza, an evil and powerful Shade
who serves Galbatorix. With Murtagh’s help, Eragon
escapes from prison, bringing along with him the elf
Arya, another captive of Durza’s and an ambassador
to the Varden. Arya has been poisoned and requires
the Varden’s medical help.
Pursued by a contingent of Urgals, the four of them
flee across the land to the Varden’s headquarters in
the giant Beor Mountains, which stand over ten miles
high. Circumstances force Murtagh—who does not
want to go to the Varden—to reveal that he is the son
of Morzan. Murtagh, however, has denounced his
dead father’s villainy and fled Galbatorix’s court to
seek his own destiny. And he tells Eragon that the
sword Zar’roc once belonged to Murtagh’s father.
Just before they are overwhelmed by the Urgals, the Varden, who live in Farthen Dûr, a hollow mountain
that is also home to the dwarves’ capital, Tronjheim,
rescues Eragon and his friends. Once inside, Eragon

6 | P a g e Brisingr – Christopher Paolini
is taken to Ajihad, leader of the Varden, while
Murtagh is imprisoned because of his relation to
Morzan.
Eragon meets with the dwarf king, Hrothgar, and
Ajihad’s daughter, Nasuada, and is tested by the
Twins, two rather nasty magicians who serve Ajihad. Eragon and Saphira also bless one of the Varden’s
orphan babies while the Varden heal Arya of her
poisoning.
Eragon’s stay is disrupted by news of an Urgal army
approaching underground, through the dwarves’
tunnels. In the battle that follows, Eragon is
separated from Saphira and forced to fight Durza
alone. Far stronger than any human, Durza easily
defeats Eragon, slashing open his back from shoulder
to hip. At that moment, Saphira and Arya break the
roof of a chamber—a sixty-foot-wide star sapphire—
distracting Durza long enough for Eragon to stab him
through the heart. Freed from Durza’s spells, which
were controlling them, the Urgals are driven back.
While Eragon lies unconscious after the battle, he is
telepathically contacted by a being that identifies
himself as Togira Ikonoka—the Cripple Who Is Whole.
He urges Eragon to seek him for instruction in
Ellesméra, the elves’ capital.
When Eragon wakes, he has a huge scar across his
back. Dismayed, he also realizes he only slew Durza
through sheer luck and that he desperately needs
more training. And at the end of Book One, he
decides that, yes, he will find this Togira Ikonoka and
learn from him.
Eldest begins three days after Eragon slays Durza.
The Varden are recovering from the Battle of Farthen Dûr, and Ajihad, Murtagh, and the Twins have been

7 | P a g e Brisingr – Christopher Paolini
hunting down the Urgals who escaped into the
tunnels underneath Farthen Dûr after the battle.
When a group of Urgals takes them by surprise,
Ajihad is killed and Murtagh and the Twins disappear
in the fray. The Varden’s Council of Elders appoints
Nasuada to succeed her father as new leader of the
Varden, and Eragon swears fealty to her as her
vassal. Eragon and Saphira decide they must leave
for Ellesméra to begin their training with the Cripple
Who Is Whole. Before they go, the dwarf king,
Hrothgar, offers to adopt Eragon into his clan, the
Dûrgrimst Ingeitum, and Eragon accepts, which gives
him full legal rights as a dwarf and entitles him to
participate in dwarvish councils. Both Arya and Orik,
Hrothgar’s foster son, accompany Eragon and
Saphira on their journey to the land of the elves. En
route, they stop in Tarnag, a dwarf city. Some of the
dwarves are friendly, but Eragon learns that one clan
in particular does not welcome him and Saphira—the
Az Sweldn rak Anhûin, who hate Riders and dragons
because the Forsworn slaughtered so many of their
clan.
The party finally arrives in Du Weldenvarden, the forest of the elves. At Ellesméra, Eragon and Saphira
meet Islanzadí, queen of the elves, who, they learn, is
Arya’s mother. They also meet with the Cripple Who
Is Whole: an ancient elf named Oromis. He too is a
Rider. Oromis and his dragon, Glaedr, have kept their
existence hidden from Galbatorix for the past
hundred years while they searched for a way to
overthrow the king. Both Oromis and Glaedr are
afflicted with old wounds that prevent them from
fighting—
Glaedr is missing a leg and Oromis, who was
captured and broken by the