The Soulforged

I love this song because I SO love Dragonlance, and Raistlin is one of the most interesting characters... So dark and selfcentered, yet still so caring and wise. "I'm not insane That's how it seems though Spiteful, cruel but wise beyond his age"

"My body fails My soul will (rise) The end of life's immortalized Disease and agony"

He had a fragile build, but a strong spirit. Stronger than anyone else.

"On through the heat I've felt the touch of evil I still feel The icy claw in me"

This refers to the spirit of Fistandantilus that gave Raistlin his powers, but sucked his lifeforce and weakened him.

Beautiful, beautiful song that reminds me of a very good tale :)

Heh. Just in case there are people who don't get this song:

It's about Raistlin Majere, a wizard from the Dragonlance series of fantasy novels originally created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

Some of you might remember this song from BG's poll in 2001 asking the users which themes they'd like to read about, there was a heated discussion over covering Dragonlance since the band was already associated with fantasy themes like LOTR and people wanted to see something new.

Some of the snippets that have not been mentioned yet:

• "And from the flames // As chance would have it // The Soulforged will come into light" probably refers to the fact that Raistlin survived a fireball during his Test of High Sorcery thanks to his golden skin (magic armor) provided by the pact he made with Fistandantilus.

• "I'm on my way to find back to the peace of mind" - Raistlin finally finds peace of mind once he leaves the Abyss and joins the RIver of Souls with his brother Caramon.

• "Stillborn but you're still alive" - Raistlin's mother though of discarding him (killing him) when he was born since he was too small and weak but Kitara, his half sister, saved him and took care of him during his first years. She'd take care of him again a couple of years later when his mother died and Raistlin went into a catatonic state.

I wrote an entry at RockGenius detailing a couple more facts about the story: http://rockgeni.us/2010/06/22/the-soulforged-by-blind-guardian/

timiddrake, there was a book written about Raistlin's childhood/adolescence called The Soulforge. Summarized his becoming a magician and all that. I think it was by Hickman & Weis too. very good if i remember correctly :D

Blind Guardian put a poll out asking fans what they would like them to write a song about. There were all sorts of nominations like more LotR, Final Fantasy games, and so on, but Dragonlance was the winner and they wrote about the soulforged. My friend was into the books and he explained what it was about but I forget now, these guys are righ tabout Raistlin though.

This is a really great song, and Raist is an awsome kick-assing character! I hope one day BG can do a song about Drizzt Do'Urden, another beloved character in fantasy books (at least by me ^_^), only this supreme group could bring life to the dark elf in a song :D

The soulforge is a metaphor. When he is young, his soul is like raw metal. "Blows of the hammer" are life experiences. When his soul is forged into a "sword", he will be in full power. Par-Salien also wanted to use him as his "sword" in the war against Takhisis.

i can see how is can be applied to Raistlin but i don't seen how the The Soulforged comes into play but i am new to the series and only read the legends series

i can see how it can be applies to Raistlin but when i was reading the legends series i heard nothing of The Soulforged

Aye, always reminded me of him. "And through the hour glass Everything's grey, everyone's pale" Would apply to him gaining hourglass irises that forced him to see everyone as they would be dead.