Faolan is a gyre soul.
Gyre souls are souls of beings who die and then are reincarnated again as different animals in the next time period.
Meaning[]
A gyre soul is an animal that lives again or has past lives. The sign of a gyre soul is a spiral mark, like the one on Faolan's paw. For example, a wolf could originally be named Frost, but then dies and later comes back as a new wolf that could be named Poppy. Animals are normally reincarnated by choice or if they have earned it, but in some cases, such as the journey to The Distant Blue, it is necessary to help them survive and lead others to safety.
A spiral is the mark of a gyre soul.
Characteristics[]
The traditional marking of a gyre soul is a spiral mark on one foot. Even if the mark is absent, a gyre may still display characteristics of their past life or lives, such as Edme feeling pain in the same spot her past life had a twisted femur.
Gyre souls may possess the body of their current life without sharing the same spirit, such as Fengo, Fionula, and Eo inhabiting Faolan's body while remaining separate. It is unknown if Stormfast possesses Edme or if she was simply reborn as her, and no other gyres have been recorded in the books. Either way, the memories of the gyres may pop up in the living animal's mind, which frequently occurs in Faolan. For an unknown reason, Fengo's memories seemed to dominate over Fionula's and Eo's, with Faolan remembering things such as the Old Wolf language and the history of the Ring more often than knowledge common to owls or bears. Stormfast's memories stayed buried in Edme until she sensed the spirit of Fengo inhabiting Faolan and realized she was his mate in her past life. The memories seem to come up when something reminds the animal of their past lives, such as the scarcity of elk antlers the year before the famine, or Edme's memories of Stormfast on the Ice Bridge, or when they are most needed, such as Faolan's need for all three of his gyres on the journey to The Distant Blue.
Occasionally, when there is reason to do so, the gyre may completely take over the animal's body, such as Eo repeatedly taking over Faolan, giving him the shape and strength of a grizzly bear. Only other gyres appear able to see this, such as Edme, with the transformation and the new behaviors remaining unseen to other animals. This could be due to gyre souls' uncanny ability to sense each other, such as Edme seeing Fengo and the other two on at least one occasion, and sensing them while casually walking with Faolan. The Whistler, though it was unconfirmed if he was a gyre soul, also had the ability to tell Faolan and Edme were old souls of some sort, though he never saw their gyres.
Most of the time, the gyres remain hidden except for the occasional memory the animal cannot explain. If ever necessary, the gyres may reveal themselves in dreams or visions. The best known function of this is traveling to a land the current generations have never seen, but the gyres might have.
History[]
Before the Books[]
Fionula, and Eo were reincarnations of Fengo, and all three painted in the Cave Before Time. Fengo recorded wolf-related events such as byrrgises, wolves at the Watch, and gaddergnaws. Eo inscribed about the events of his gyre soul, and Fionula inscribed about an owl's life.
Shadow Wolf[]
The Sark suspects that Faolan is a gyre soul. She whispers her suspicions into a memory jug.
Frost Wolf[]
Edme sees Faolan coming into their den covered in ice as if he were a wolf spirit from an ancient time, and is thoroughly shocked. The memory keeps haunting her on their subsequent journey, and Edme has a dream of the frost wolf turning into an owl.
Later, Eo, who is unnamed at the time, possesses Faolan's body and kills an outclanner. The change is only visible to Edme, who is startled to realize only she saw it. In the Cave Before Time, Eo emerges from Faolan's body in his sleep and paints a picture of the event, allowing Faolan to see that he was once a bear.
On another occasion, Eo once again emerges and kills two more outclanners threatening a bear cub. Faolan then changes back into himself, but calms the cub the way a bear would, implying Eo may still be controlling his body. Startled, Edme wonders just what her best friend is.
Spirit Wolf[]
Faolan once again dreams of Eo, saving a mother grizzly from a moose, and learns of his past life's identity.
Later at the Ring, Faolan has a vision of Fengo, implied to be sent by his first life, and learns of Fionula. The owl flies to her friend, Brunwella Plonk, at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree and converses before bringing up wolves. Fionula becomes defensive of their ways and shows knowledge that astounds her friend.
In the Spirit Woods, Faolan has a vision of his two gyres and realizes what they truly are, and they will guide him on his journey west. He also realizes there was a third gyre with help from Edme, who saw him as an ancient wolf.
Faolan realizes that in the Cave Before Time, the third gyre will reveal itself to him. He finds the spirit of Fengo with help from Fionula and Eo, bringing them together, and realizing that he was given these extra chances as a reward as well as chose them. When he leaves, he is now strengthened by Fengo's spirit, which is visible to Edme, who now realizes that she is a gyre soul as well and was once his mate.
Star Wolf []
Faolan used his memory of his gyre souls to lead the Wolves of the Beyond to the Distant Blue. Edme also works out that she too lived a thousand years ago as Stormfast, when she dreams of dying before Fengo. When she leaves to her deathbed, the Whistler realizes that the love between her and Faolan was there many years ago. Upon finding the place, Edme recognizes it immediately and dreams of her death. At the same time, Fengo shows Faolan the events after Stormfast's death and where the twisted femur came from. Faolan and Edme acknowledge themselves as ancient spirits and become paw fast again. At the end of the book Abban acknowledges that "within his own life he had really lived two - that of a wolf and that of a sea creature", making him a possible gyre soul.
Fionula was a gyre soul.
Trivia[]
- Gyre souls may have helped Fengo lead the wolves into the Beyond.
- Both Faolan and Edme are gyre souls, and were mates when they were known as Stormfast and Fengo, and are currently mates as Faolan and Edme as well.
- One of the past volcanos at the Watch was named Stormfast after Edme's gyre soul.