Eldest

Saphira is a dragon who is magically and telepathically bound to Eragon, her Rider. After hatching at the beginning of Eragon, Saphira has grown in strength and skill. She is strong and fast and has excellent flying skills, beautiful blue scales, and translucent blue wings. Just like all dragons in Paolini’s series, Saphira uses speech and communicates telepathically. She and Eragon share most of their thoughts, but she often speaks to others through the young Rider rather than speaking directly into people’s minds.

Over the course of the novel, Saphira is tutored by Glaedr, an older dragon who teaches her how to fight and fly effectively. Having believed that she is the last of her race, Saphira is elated to meet another dragon. However, she is heartbroken when Glaedr later rejects her playful advances, and she fears that she may never find a mate. By the end of the story, Saphira and Eragon have grown even closer. Saphira is very protective of Eragon and often gives him sound wisdom and advice. However, she can sometimes be impulsive and vain, and Eragon often finds these traits amusing.

Roran Garrowson is Eragon’s cousin, and the narrative alternates between the two characters’ journeys. At the beginning of the novel, Roran is still living in Carvahall and dealing with the aftermath of his father’s death and Eragon’s unexplained departure. Although Roran is intelligent, he is not initially very concerned with matters that exist beyond Carvahall and his own limited daily life. However, the arrival of the Ra’zac prompts Roran to question most of his assumptions about himself and his situation. When he is forced to fight against Galbatorix’s men, Roran naturally takes up a leadership role amongst the other villagers. After his fiancé, Katrina, is abducted by the Ra’zac, Roran’s life is upended. Driven by pure determination to save her, he leads the villagers out of Carvahall and across Alagaësia to find the Varden. Over the course of their journey, Roran is forced to make tough choices and become a more confident leader and warrior.

Roran is driven by strong moral principles and protectiveness for the villagers, and his skills earn him the nickname “Roran Stronghammer.” He is a tall, muscular man whose physical appearance reveals his emotional state. As the narrative asserts, “Most frightening of all […] were his eyes, which had sunk deep into the sockets, giving him a haunted appearance. From within those two morbid caverns, his gaze boiled like molten steel, full of loss, rage, and an obsessive craving” (258-59).

When he learns that Eragon is now a Rider, Roran is initially shocked. He has ambivalent feelings about his cousin, for although he loves Eragon, he also resents his cousin for indirectly causing Garrow’s death. When they eventually reunite, Roran concludes, “You have made mistakes, but they are no greater than my own. Garrow died because you kept Saphira secret. Many more have died because I refused to give myself up to the Empire.… We are equally guilty” (666). Eragon then promises Roran that they will rescue Katrina together, and this goal will form the basis of the plot in the next book in the series, Brisingr.

Arya Drottningü is an Elf who has been working with the Varden on behalf of her people. As she explains to Eragon, “I have spent seven decades representing my queen here—fifteen years of which I bore Saphira’s egg between the Varden and the elves. In all that time, I struggled to ensure the Varden had wise, strong leaders who could resist Galbatorix and respect our wishes” (26). Although she is over a century old, Arya has a beautiful, youthful appearance, with arched eyebrows, high cheekbones, and long dark hair. Eragon is in love with her, but Arya rejects his advances twice, arguing that she is much older than him and that he must not let himself be distracted from his duties as a Rider. Oromis points out that Eragon’s interest “has placed Arya in an uncomfortable position” (388). Although Eragon’s confessions of love put a strain on his friendship with Arya, the narrative hints at the further evolution of a potential romance between the two in the rest of the series.

Arya is smart, practical, and exceptionally strong, but she is also fairly secretive about her personal life. As a result, Eragon is shocked to learn that Arya is an Elven princess and the daughter of King Evandar, who was killed during the war when the people of Alagaësia first attempted to defeat Galbatorix. Arya has a strained relationship with her mother, Queen Islanzadí, who indirectly pressures her to embrace her role as a princess and a leader. Because Arya prefers instead to be a warrior and fight alongside the Varden, she grows especially tense during her stay in Ellesméra, but she faithfully acts as a guide for Eragon and Saphira, who are unfamiliar with Elven customs. By the end of the story, Arya returns to the Varden and helps Nasuada to win the battle against Galbatorix’s forces in the Burning Plains.