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the wheel of time - Average lifespan of non-channelers in Randland?


Do we get told the ages of enough characters in The Wheel of Time to make a guess to life expectancy?


I'm interested in characters we can assume to have normal life spans:



  • They are in the main land, not Seanchan or from beyond the Aiel waste


  • Are alive in the Third Age

  • Are not channelers or bonded to a channeler

  • Are human (sorry, no Ogiers)


If we don't have many ages, who are the oldest people we know that fit this criteria?


Books, The Companion, interviews and released notes are all acceptable sources.



Answer



Here's a useful resource to look at in answering your question. It looks like most of the ages are pulled from The Companion. You can't really assess average lifespan, but you can see how old non-channelers survive to as a loose upper bound.


Cenn Buie immediately leaps to mind, and he's listed at 68. Bair is also listed as being quite old.




Bair “had to be seventy or eighty” (Lord of Chaos, Courage To Strengthen). According to The Wheel of Time Companion, she was in her late nineties or more.



Lini (Elayne's nurse) is also listed at 75. Then of course Pedron Niall made to 89.


Based on the linked reference, at least, living to 60 certainly seems commonplace, into one's 70s does not seem unusual, and surviving to 90 seems within reach for non-channelers.


As for an average, I don't think you can get enough data. You might be able to interpolate based on the ages known, but many of those characters are still alive.



Below are some of the notable characters listed on that page, oldest first. If a range was provided, I narrowed it to the most reasonable estimate.



  • 95 Bair

  • 89 Pedron Niall


  • 75+ Lini

  • 75 Jain Charin Farstrider

  • 70 Thom Merrilin

  • 68 Cenn Buie

  • 65 Astoril Damara

  • 63 Brandelwyn al’Vere

  • 63+ Mattin Stepaneos

  • 63 King Paitar Nachiman

  • 61 Gareth Bryne

  • 60 Brys Noromaga'


  • 60 Tam al’Thor

  • 60 King Easar Togita

  • 58+ Gerard Arganda

  • 57 Elyas Machera

  • 50 Haral Luhhan

  • 48 Master Aldragoran

  • 46 Bayle Domon

  • 45 Abell Cauthon

  • 45 Alsbet Luhan



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