The House of Understanding is a place in the fictional world of David Farland's Runelords saga. The House is a place of learning, much like a university, where students seek to increase their knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

Location

The House of Understanding is located in the realm of Mystarria, one of the Kingdoms of Rofehavan from the Runelords saga. It is situated in the Courts of Tide, near to the capital of Mystarria.

Principles

The House of Understanding consists of many individual Rooms. The students of the House study various disciplines, each taught in a specific Room. Each of the Rooms of Understanding's House has a hearthmaster appointed to them. These hearthmasters excel in the disciplines which they teach, and are much like the

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

s and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

s of modern universities.

Rooms

The Rooms of the House of Understanding include: : The Room of Faces; and : The Room of Feet: : These two Rooms teach applicants how to recognize

body language Body language is a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Th ...

and how to hide their own emotions by changing their facial expression and stance. Actors and dancers learn their talents in these rooms. In the Room of Faces, students learn various methods of understanding body language. : The Room of Arms: : Students of this Room learn skill with weapons and

hand-to-hand combat Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Huns ...

. Different combat forms are taught there, including the Dancing Arms style. Warriors and soldiers study in this Room, as well as Runelords who seek to improve their skills. : The Room of Hands; and : The Room of Gold: : In these two rooms,

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

princes and traders learn of money: how to best calculate and increase a businesses profit. : The Room of the Heart: : Frequented by

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

s and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

s, students of this Room learn of the workings of the human mind and heart. : The Room of Dreams: : Students of the Room of Dreams learn of man's motivations and desires. The teachings of this Room are considered too powerful to place in the hands of a Runelord, and are forbidden. Only those of the order of the Days may learn here.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:House Of Understanding Runelords series