Lan Mandragoran
Robert Jordan's WHEEL OF TIME series
In the Borderlands they call him Dai Shan, meaning a Diademed Battle Lord. The enigmatic Aiel name him the Aan'allein, which means One Man Alone. He is an uncrowned king, a blademaster, a Warder to an Aes Sedai. His lands lie wasted by the Blight, yet if he unfurls the golden crane of Malkier, thousands will follow. But Lan Mandragoran and his companion for twenty years, Moiraine Damodred, fight a battle that cannot be won, yet a battle humankind dare not lose.
Lan is in his mid-forties in the Wheel of Time series—and about twenty years younger in the prequel New Spring. His face is unlined despite the 'stony planes and angles' that make it, and his ice-blue eyes unreadable. Some grey tinges his temples, his long, dark hair tied back with a braided leather cord called the hadori, which marks him out as a Malkieri descendent.
It is incredibly difficult to write a character sketch of a person such as Lan, and perhaps the best way is to quote from the books themselves:
Lan did not speak of it—he did not even like others to speak of it—but al'Lan Mandragoran was Lord of the Seven Towers, Lord of the Lakes, and uncrowned King of Malkier. The Seven Towers were broken now, and the Thousand Lakes lay swallowed by the Great Blight, and of all the Malkieri lords, only one still lived.
Some said Lan had become a Warder, bonding himself to an Aes Sedai, so he could seek death in the Blight and join the rest of his blood. [...] had indeed seen Lan put himself in harm's way seemingly without regard for his own safety, but far beyond his own life and safety he held those of Moiraine, the Aes Sedai who held his bond. [...] did not think Lan would truly seek death while Moiraine lived.
(Book Two of the Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt, p.5)
The most intriguing part of Lan—and Moiraine, for it is hard to speak of one without the other—is the bond between them, the twenty years of companionship and friendship:
She has his loyalty to death, and ties closer to any lover.
(Book Two of the Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt, p.134)She [Moiraine] was married to her battle, as he was married to his. But they had been companions in those battles for so long. He had ridden a horse to death, then run himself nearly to death, carrying her in his arms at the last, to Anaiya for Healing. She had tended his wounds more than once, keeping with her arts a life he had been ready to throw away to save hers.
(Book Two of the Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt, p.326)
Lan has always claimed that he is wedded to death, and indeed courts death blithely, for his cause and for Moiraine's. And so when a woman captures his heart, he is unprepared for it, thinking himself not worthy of her. He says he can only offer widowhood as brideprice, and can hardly call himself a man for that. As hard and uncompromising as he is, he surprises readers with his sudden tenderness as a lover—and no more can be said about that without revealing spoilers!
"I am not a king. Just a man.... A man without as much to his name as even the meanest farmer's croft.... All I have is a sword and a war I cannot win, but can never stop fighting." ...The gentle tone, like a caress, sounded odd... in the Warder's voice.... "I will hate the man you choose because he is not me and love him if he makes you smile."
(Book One of the Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World, p. 731)
It is possible that Lan is a secret bibliophile, as he seems to know a lot about books, though he does not speak much. At least once he has surprised those around him by quoting poetry as well! Though Moiraine always claims that her Gaidin's humility can be matched to the arrogance of most kings, Lan comes across as totally ego-less, his loyalty unconditional:
He sank to his knees, the sword lying bare across his hands. "By my mother's name, I will draw as you say 'draw' and sheathe as you say 'sheathe'. By my mother's name, I will come as you say 'come' and go as you say 'go'." His kissed the blade and looked up at her expectantly. On his knees he made any king on a throne look meek. She [Moiraine] would have to teach him some humility for his own sake.
(New Spring, Orbit Books, p.333 [C format edition])