Murtagh

Murtagh's parents were Morzan and Selena . Morzan, fearing that the baby would be in great danger after his birth, took Selena out of the Galbatorix Palace and took her to his castle. When Murtagh was born, he was immediately given to the nurse. At the age of three, Morzan inflicted a huge scar on Murtagh on his back. Just at that time, Morzan was sent to search for Sapphira's eggs, and Selena went to Carvahall , where she eventually gave birth to Eragon . After Morzan's death, Selena returned, but soon died.

On the eighteenth birthday of Murtaga, Galbatorix invited him to his dinner. After dinner, Galbatorix called him to his side. Soon, Galbatorix ordered him to lead a detachment of soldiers, wipe out the city of Cantos from the face of the earth and exterminate all its inhabitants: guilty and innocent. Then Murtagh realized that Galbatorix was evil and decided to flee Urubaen . Together with his friend Tornac, he left the palace, but behind the gates were the soldiers of Galbatorix. Tornak died in this battle, and Murtagh fled to his friend, where he was hiding. Soon he received information that Galbatorix had sent his rozzak somewhere and decided to track them down. Thus he met with Eragon and Brom.

Murtagh was looking for the rozzaks and finally found them. In captivity they had two people (they were Brom and Eragon ). Murtagh did not tell them about his origin and offered his help on their journey. He freed Eragon and the elf Arya from the castle of Shade Durza. Ajihad was recognized as the son of a traitor to the Order of the Riders of Morzan. In the battle of Farthen Dur with the Urgal troops, he proved his dedication to the Vardens and his hatred of Galbatorix.

In this book, Murtagh appears as one of the most faithful companions of Eragon. After the death of Brom, he becomes not only his companion, but also a sparring partner in combat training. More than once Murtagh rescues Eragon from death. ^[3]

In the second book, Eragon: The Return, Murtag will be kidnapped by the insidious Doubles , the spy magicians who hid after the Battle of Farthen Dur. With the help of dark magic, Galbatorix will entice the young man to his side, forcing him to swear fidelity in the ancient language (since he recognized the true name of Murtagh). Under Murtagh, a powerful dragon hatched from a red egg “the shade of old wine when the lamp fire shines through it”, which “was smaller than Sapphira, but with more powerful and thicker legs and shoulders”.

Murtagh will betray Eragon and will be close to killing him. But in memory of an old friendship, leave him alive. Then he will reveal to Eragon the truth about his brotherhood, and take from Moron the sword of Morzan - Zarrok .

In Paolini's tetralogy, there are practically no absolute villains and ideal heroes. Using the example of Murtagh, the author shows that even such a positive character as this character in the first part of the tetralogy will not always remain so. Instead of the friend and comrade-in-arms that Murtagh was in the first book, at the end of the second he already appears as a dragon rider who swore allegiance to King Galbatorix. The irony of Murtag’s fate is that he spent a significant part of his life trying to hide from the consequences of the fact that he was the son of a dragon rider who betrayed the ideals of this order. As a result, he actually takes the path of his father. ^[3]

The original title of this book ( Eng. Eldest , "The Eldest " ) - refers, among other things, to Murtagh, who at the end of the book turns out to be the older brother of Eragon. ^[3]

In this book, Murtagh and Thorne confront Eragon and Sapphire, and Murtagh cannot force himself to either kill Eragon or capture him, although he has all the possibilities for this thanks to the power received from Galbatorix. Obedience weighs on him, but he admits that he can do nothing against the will of Galbatorix, who, besides magical power, possesses a supernatural gift of persuasion. During the siege of Gillid, the Elves Galbatorix seizes the mind of Murtagh and kills Oromis and Glaedra.

Here we learn that Galbatorix made Murtagh his servant with the help of a true name and made him take an oath of allegiance in the ancient language. In the same book, he helps to recognize Eragon the Name of Names in the ancient language, but at the same time fights with him at the request of Galbatorix - Eragon wounds him in the stomach. Murtag also had a tender feeling for Nasuada and supported her strength and spirit during her imprisonment in Urubaen, when he himself abducted her from the Varden camp. After the king’s death, he flies to the north with Thorne - to determine his place in the world after slavery at Galbatorix. His further fate is unknown.

In the movie Eragon, Murtaga is played by Garrett Hedlund .

• Michael Macauley, Mark Vaz. The Inheritance Almanac . - Knopf Books for Young Readers, October 26, 2010 .-- 224 p. - ISBN 978-0375866722 .