Estraven the Traitor

Chapter nine, Estraven the Traitor discusses a story about two lands, the Domain of Stok and the Domain of Estre. One of the characters, Estraven finds himself in need of help and another character from the other domain takes him in and takes care of him. The two swear kemmering to each other, but then Estraven is killed by men from the Stok. After a year, Estraven's child is born, Therem, and is named the heir of Estre. When Therem is in need of help he finds himself being taken care of by Threm of Stok which is his parent. In the end, he ends the disputes between the two domains and they obtain peace.

These are Estraven's ancestors and this myth directly foreshadows his thoughts and actions. For example, he is exiled because of the dispute between Karhide and Orgoreyn. He is seen as a traitor to his own land because he doesn't agree with the king. The same happens in the myth; Estraven is seen as a traitor at first because he vows kemmering with an enemy. They also both have the same intentions. Estraven from the myth sees that they are similar to the enemy in the way " their hands were the same length and form, finger by finger, matching like two hands of one man laid palm by palm" (126). He understands that peace is important and that strength is empowered by being united. Although Estraven doesn't exactly want to establish peace between Karhide and Orgoreyn, he wants something bigger. He wants to establish peace within the world.

The only reason why Estraven stayed by Genly's side was because he was after the same thing. He explains to Genly that he was after "the alliance of my world with your worlds"(198). Chapter nine has a significant theme to the book and it gives an insight to how the book will end. I truly believe the worlds will unite in the end but, Estraven will always be known as "the traitor" due to his willingness to sacrifice his land for the world.