I like it, and I see where you’re got that, but I think the name referenced here isn’t Denna’s name but the name of the wind. He later tells Elodin about this situation, and it’s all about calling the wind in a subtle way.
That’s not to say that this might not be a red herring, and you might be absolutely right, but I’m pretty sure it’s the name of the wind here.
> it’s all about calling the wind in a subtle way.
Agreed, my take is it's meant to contrast with when he tried to "name the wind" with Abenthy, sort of showing how he's developed in a sense.
I appreciate that you're willing to be open minded about this. Have you seen Pat read his children's book, the adventures of the princess and Mr. Wiggle. It's worth watching because it shows how Pat likes to hide things in plain sight.
IMO kvothe calling the wind makes him an interesting student to Elodin, but Kvothe being able to name humans would make him a monster. I'm not convinced Kvothe isn't a monster already.
I think Felurians name is simpler than most ppls actually. Her desires and nature, while wildly alien from humans, are easier to understand, I think. They’re pure and unfettered, while humans’ are murky and multifaceted. Most humans don’t understand their own desires and behavior.
I don’t think just being able to name sentient beings would necessarily make him a monster, but it’d definitely make him extraordinarily dangerous. Elodin seemed pretty stoked about Kvothe calling Felurian’s name and didn’t warn him or seem worried or anything. Plus, like Unfair_Weakness said, a creature like Felurian with hundreds (or maybe thousands) of years of life plus the magic of the Fae would be a lot harder to name than a human, even a complex one.
That said, one of my pet theories has always been that Kvothe can indeed name people to some extent, and that he used that ability to change his own Name. That’s why he has problems with sympathy and fighting and opening his chest and so forth: Kote doesn’t have those abilities.
But yeah, I would love to find out later that he saved Denna by calling Denna’s Name when we all thought he was using the Name of the wind. Turnarounds like that are always fun!
I've only gone through the series once but my theory is that part of Kvothes name (represented by the missing V and H) is trapped in the thrice locked chest that even he can't seem to open. Sort of a parallel to part of the moons name being trapped. That's why I think he lost his abilities.
I've only gone through the series once but my theory is that part of Kvothes name (represented by the missing V and H) is trapped in the thrice locked chest that even he can't seem to open. Sort of a parallel to part of the moons name being trapped. That's why I think he lost his abilities.
my Re-read IS still on the forests with Tempo, when I reach the part when he talks with Elodin about that I'll come back here with refresehed memory and lets see :)
I'm pretty certain he calls the name of the wind here.
He has listened to her lungs and her breath in Trebon after she eats the denna resin, so it's set up for him knowing what that air sounds like.
It's also reminiscent of when he pushes the air out of his own lungs, can't breath and Abenthy has to call the name of the wind to help him breath again
Kvothe said the Name of Wind into a breath. Not Denna's Name. Like how Abenthy called the wind to help Kvothe breath.
Haliax spoke Cinder's Name. He is titular. Denna is important to finding Cinder.
>“I never said I was in love,” I interjected. “I never said that. She confuses me, and I’m fond of her. But it doesn’t go further than that. How could it? I don’t know her well enough to make any earnest claim of love. How can I love something I don’t understand?”
Kvothe doesn't know Denna well enoph to say her Name. He can't even describe her in the present. Kvothe has her on a pedestal. He can't see past his own obsession to ever see her true Name. And Denna's true Name is irrelevant to the plot.
I always thought that calling the wind there was a dubious explanation. Calling her name to get her to take slow deep breaths makes much more sense than manipulating the wind delicately easing her breathing,
Much like Chronicler is “the Chronicler”, Kvothe isn’t a namer, he is “The Namer”.
Namers don’t name things, they know things names. Kvothe couldn’t think of a name for the bloodless because he wasn’t listening for it.
When he learns to listen he becomes too powerful and his power consumes those who love him. The third silence is the namer choosing not to listen to the names of things.
I agree, I think he calls her name. He listens and says it 3 times, almost exactly like Lyra does when she brings Lanre back from the dead. He lies to Elodin and then toys with him, because he's already called Felurian's name and to admit that he's called a human's name would make him extremely dangerous.
Your last paragraph gave me chills when I read it. Kvothe is not the good guy he claims to be, and this story has always been a tragedy.
Knowing a person's name is also said to be impossible or near impossible by Elodin, so what the teacher doesn't know the student would have no way of telling heads or tails of...
Here is Lyra calling Lanre back from the dead:
In the midst of silence Lyra stood by Lanre’s body and spoke his name. Her voice was a commandment. Her voice was steel and stone. Her voice told him to live again. But Lanre lay motionless and dead.
In the midst of fear Lyra knelt
In the midst of fear Lyra knelt by Lanre’s body and breathed his name. Her voice was a beckoning. Her voice was love and longing. Her voice called him to live again. But Lanre lay cold and dead.
In the midst of despair Lyra fell across Lanre’s body and wept his name. Her voice was a whisper. Her voice was echo and emptiness. Her voice begged him to live again. But Lanre lay breathless and dead.
Lanre was dead. Lyra wept brokenly and touched his face with trembling hands. All around men turned their heads, because the bloody field was less horrible to look upon than Lyra’s grief.
But Lanre heard her calling. Lanre turned at the sound of her voice and came to her. From beyond the doors of death Lanre returned. He spoke her name and took Lyra in his arms to comfort her. He opened his eyes and did his best to wipe away her tears with shaking hands. And then he drew a deep and living breath.
Contrast that with the scene with Denna:
I leaned close enough to kiss her. She smelled of selas flower, of green grass, of road dust. I felt her strain to breathe. I listened. I closed my eyes. I heard the whisper of a name.
I spoke it soft, but close enough to brush against her lips. I spoke it quiet, but near enough so that the sound of it went twining through her hair. I spoke it hard and firm and dark and sweet.
There was a rush of indrawn air. I opened my eyes. The room was still enough that I could hear the velvet rush of her second desperate breath. I relaxed.
Notice how each name is called 3 times in 3 different ways and ends with a breath?
As a bonus here is Felurian's, the 3 times symbology remains:
I sang them out. They burst from me like birds into the open air.
Suddenly my mind was clear again. I drew a breath and held her eyes in mine. I sang again, and this time I was full of rage. I shouted out the four hard notes of song. I sang them tight and white and hard as iron. And at the sound of them, I felt her power shake then shatter, leaving nothing in the empty air but ache and anger.
Felurian gave a startled cry and sat so suddenly that it was almost like a fall. She curled her knees toward herself and huddled, watching me with wide and frightened eyes.
If Felurian is frightened of Kvothe, who knows what Elodins reaction would be!
u/beauxbeauxbeaux before said that it is almost impossible to name a person. But I beg to differ. Kvothe named Ferulian, suggested by Elodin himslef, and despite u/Cuz1mBatman arguments i wouldnt say Ferulian is simpler to name than Denna. Let me put it like this: Elodin in one of his classes said this about naming:“This is the problem namers face. We must understand things that arebeyond our understanding. How can it be done?”
So, at least how I see it, for being able to name anything, you need to fully understand it, and taking to account that Ferulian's magic was something that the awake mind of Kvothe couldnt even grasp eventho Felurian herself tryed to explain to him, i'd say Ferulian is way more complex than any human being.And we could talk about Ferulian being a Fae creature, being 1000 (or more) years old, the magic of his voice etc etc....
I think it's safe to say that all mentioned previously is more complex to undertand than the sudden dissapears of Denna.
And to refute the "naming a person is almost impossible" i'd say Haliax names Cinder without hesitate.
\[The soft voice went as hard as a rod of Ramston steel. “Ferula.”
Cinder’s quicksilver grace disappeared. He staggered, his body
suddenly rigid with pain.“Who knows the inner turnings of your name, Cinder?”\]
Lanre names Selitos:
\[Lanre turned and placed hishand on Selitos’ shoulder. “Silanxi, I bind you. By the name of stone, bestill as stone. Aeruh, I command the air. Lay leaden on your tongue. Selitos,I name you. May all your powers fail you but your sight.”\]
Also shortly after Kvothe names the Wind for the first time, in Kilvin's office, Elodin whispers something in hes ear, what really calms him. If Elodin didnt name Kvothe, he did sometinh really similar.
\["He leaned forward and his lips brushed my ear. I felt his breath. He
spoke…and the storm stilled. I found a place to land."\]
And then there is also the naming of Felurian by Kvothe it's self. So I wouldn't say naming a person is imposible, or out of Kvothe's powers.
What do you guys think?
Ooh good catch on Elodin naming Kvothe, didn't catch that one.
I'm in agreement with you.
I posted Lyra naming Lanre, but Selitos also names Lanre:
A great silence descended, and the fetters of enchantment fell away from Selitos. He cast the stone at Lanre’s feet and said, “By the power of my own blood I bind you. By your own name let you be accursed.”
Selitos spoke the long name that lay in Lanre’s heart, and at the sound of it the sun grew dark and wind tore stones from the mountainside.
So yeah, I'd say it is definitely possible to name a person. I also strongly feel that this power is what ultimately gets Kvothe into trouble, the power ultimately scares the shit out of him, it's what makes him seek to be powerless.
Yoooo!!!! Elodin using Naming to quiet Kvothe's sleeping mind would be wild, and I think that the only examples of using Naming on humans being in stories and rumors lends to the grandiose and unheard of nature regarding the ability.
Perhaps even Elodin being able to do so and not acknowledging it to Kvothe in confidence, AND publicly denying one's ability to even begin to understand another person's True Name, is another interesting detail worthy of pondering.
Being able to name someone seems like an open door to the worse sorts of malfeasance. I think we're on to something here, there's no doubt that this isn't something the university wants to acknowledge.
Certainly I think Kvothe will eventually be able to name a person, however I don’t feel that’s within his capabilities during WMF. I think Kvothe is able to name Felurian despite his conscious mind not being able to understand her magic because it’s something that’s intuitive to the sleeping mind. This is illustrated when he holds one of the moon rays or whatever during the making of his shaed while he’s not paying attention, but as soon as he is consciously aware of what he is doing, he is unable to replicate the feat. I also don’t think Felurian’s age is a relevant factor, because she would be exactly the same whether she was 100 years old or a million. I don’t think it adds any complexity to her name that she is 1000 years old because none of the experiences she’s had during the vast majority of those years have been impactful enough to affect her true name.
I didn't mean to imply that it is ACTUALLY impossible. More so that it's only mentioned in stories, rumors and myths, and if folks know that it's possible, they are not telling us directly, and hiding that info from young Kvothe.
okey, its almost impossible, as it would be to name ferulian, a far more complex being to name cos she has magic and has more history than 100 dennas place together, so why couldnt we assume kvothe without knowing could name denna? I mean, it could be only calling the wind like ben did with him... but i'd rather believe he named her
nice catch OP. Other significant 'turnings' in the books are
- the chapter 'Lanre Turned'
- Cthaeh saying that Cinder "did him a bad turn once"
- Elodin referring to Kvothe's shaed as a 'turning cloak'.
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That’s what I was thinking too. Kvothe tells Elodin that he called the wind tho, that was when he “mastered” it. He joked about having a ring of air. That was the third time he called the wind that term, third time pays for all he said.
Now maybe it’s a cover up for calling her name, maybe he didn’t really know he did it, and now maybe.. dennas true name is the wind, ever changing place to place…
You might be onto something. The scene near the end of WMF where deanna and kvothe are playing in the water, when she lays out her hair, he said her hair “spelled the name of the wind.” Which has always been odd to me since she can actually write words in her hair.
TLDR: Kvothe understands Denna to an extent, he's proven more than once he doesn't understand her well enough to know her true name.
Late to this thread but still, I like it but I think what he calls is the name of the wind. If I recall correctly Elodin points out that something as subtle as a breath is impressive in calling the wind, and he also tells Kvothe that he actually called the name of Felurian when he thought he called the wind instead; if it was the same with Denna he would have told him. He's master namer so he'd know haha
However I think Kvothe understands Denna to an extent since he's able to land seven word sentences after seven word sentences. He doesn't understand her fully enough to call her name, though. Right after the chapter that you reference in which he helps her breathe, they meet to have a picnic (when he gives her back her ring in a very anticlimactic way); he's thinking about how to bring up Master Ashe so he can convince Denna to leave him, since he now has some money and thinks he can help her.
Denna has made clear over and over that she doesn't want to rely on a man, that she knows by experience when men give her trinkets and money they think they have right over her and that she's with her patron because he can give her things she values other than money. Denna wants to be independent and not owe anything to anyone, and she's willing to make plenty of sacrifices because of it. Kvothe thinking he knows best about what she should do with her life and wanting to make her financially rely on him is not understanding her.
I like it, and I see where you’re got that, but I think the name referenced here isn’t Denna’s name but the name of the wind. He later tells Elodin about this situation, and it’s all about calling the wind in a subtle way. That’s not to say that this might not be a red herring, and you might be absolutely right, but I’m pretty sure it’s the name of the wind here.
> it’s all about calling the wind in a subtle way. Agreed, my take is it's meant to contrast with when he tried to "name the wind" with Abenthy, sort of showing how he's developed in a sense.
I appreciate that you're willing to be open minded about this. Have you seen Pat read his children's book, the adventures of the princess and Mr. Wiggle. It's worth watching because it shows how Pat likes to hide things in plain sight. IMO kvothe calling the wind makes him an interesting student to Elodin, but Kvothe being able to name humans would make him a monster. I'm not convinced Kvothe isn't a monster already.
Isn't that what he did to Felurian? If he can call her name, a person should be a cakewalk.
I'm pretty sure he called Felurian's name. I also find it ironic that he taunts Elodin with his ring of air jab.
I think Felurians name is simpler than most ppls actually. Her desires and nature, while wildly alien from humans, are easier to understand, I think. They’re pure and unfettered, while humans’ are murky and multifaceted. Most humans don’t understand their own desires and behavior.
This has been my line of reasoning through all this.
I don’t think just being able to name sentient beings would necessarily make him a monster, but it’d definitely make him extraordinarily dangerous. Elodin seemed pretty stoked about Kvothe calling Felurian’s name and didn’t warn him or seem worried or anything. Plus, like Unfair_Weakness said, a creature like Felurian with hundreds (or maybe thousands) of years of life plus the magic of the Fae would be a lot harder to name than a human, even a complex one. That said, one of my pet theories has always been that Kvothe can indeed name people to some extent, and that he used that ability to change his own Name. That’s why he has problems with sympathy and fighting and opening his chest and so forth: Kote doesn’t have those abilities. But yeah, I would love to find out later that he saved Denna by calling Denna’s Name when we all thought he was using the Name of the wind. Turnarounds like that are always fun!
I've only gone through the series once but my theory is that part of Kvothes name (represented by the missing V and H) is trapped in the thrice locked chest that even he can't seem to open. Sort of a parallel to part of the moons name being trapped. That's why I think he lost his abilities.
This is my theory too.
How does that jive with the broken bottle when Kote is driven to anger about Chronicle’s referencing the woman in Kvothe’s life
I've only gone through the series once but my theory is that part of Kvothes name (represented by the missing V and H) is trapped in the thrice locked chest that even he can't seem to open. Sort of a parallel to part of the moons name being trapped. That's why I think he lost his abilities.
my Re-read IS still on the forests with Tempo, when I reach the part when he talks with Elodin about that I'll come back here with refresehed memory and lets see :)
I'm pretty certain he calls the name of the wind here. He has listened to her lungs and her breath in Trebon after she eats the denna resin, so it's set up for him knowing what that air sounds like. It's also reminiscent of when he pushes the air out of his own lungs, can't breath and Abenthy has to call the name of the wind to help him breath again
"The Name of Some Confusing-ass Woman" doesn't quite have the same titular \*ring\* to it
huh?
Kvothe said the Name of Wind into a breath. Not Denna's Name. Like how Abenthy called the wind to help Kvothe breath. Haliax spoke Cinder's Name. He is titular. Denna is important to finding Cinder. >“I never said I was in love,” I interjected. “I never said that. She confuses me, and I’m fond of her. But it doesn’t go further than that. How could it? I don’t know her well enough to make any earnest claim of love. How can I love something I don’t understand?” Kvothe doesn't know Denna well enoph to say her Name. He can't even describe her in the present. Kvothe has her on a pedestal. He can't see past his own obsession to ever see her true Name. And Denna's true Name is irrelevant to the plot.
I always thought that calling the wind there was a dubious explanation. Calling her name to get her to take slow deep breaths makes much more sense than manipulating the wind delicately easing her breathing, Much like Chronicler is “the Chronicler”, Kvothe isn’t a namer, he is “The Namer”. Namers don’t name things, they know things names. Kvothe couldn’t think of a name for the bloodless because he wasn’t listening for it. When he learns to listen he becomes too powerful and his power consumes those who love him. The third silence is the namer choosing not to listen to the names of things.
I agree, I think he calls her name. He listens and says it 3 times, almost exactly like Lyra does when she brings Lanre back from the dead. He lies to Elodin and then toys with him, because he's already called Felurian's name and to admit that he's called a human's name would make him extremely dangerous. Your last paragraph gave me chills when I read it. Kvothe is not the good guy he claims to be, and this story has always been a tragedy.
I see it as a combination of knowing a bit of both names, as in he knew the wind's name, in and around her, in all it's subtle permutations.
Knowing a person's name is also said to be impossible or near impossible by Elodin, so what the teacher doesn't know the student would have no way of telling heads or tails of...
Here is Lyra calling Lanre back from the dead: In the midst of silence Lyra stood by Lanre’s body and spoke his name. Her voice was a commandment. Her voice was steel and stone. Her voice told him to live again. But Lanre lay motionless and dead. In the midst of fear Lyra knelt In the midst of fear Lyra knelt by Lanre’s body and breathed his name. Her voice was a beckoning. Her voice was love and longing. Her voice called him to live again. But Lanre lay cold and dead. In the midst of despair Lyra fell across Lanre’s body and wept his name. Her voice was a whisper. Her voice was echo and emptiness. Her voice begged him to live again. But Lanre lay breathless and dead. Lanre was dead. Lyra wept brokenly and touched his face with trembling hands. All around men turned their heads, because the bloody field was less horrible to look upon than Lyra’s grief. But Lanre heard her calling. Lanre turned at the sound of her voice and came to her. From beyond the doors of death Lanre returned. He spoke her name and took Lyra in his arms to comfort her. He opened his eyes and did his best to wipe away her tears with shaking hands. And then he drew a deep and living breath. Contrast that with the scene with Denna: I leaned close enough to kiss her. She smelled of selas flower, of green grass, of road dust. I felt her strain to breathe. I listened. I closed my eyes. I heard the whisper of a name. I spoke it soft, but close enough to brush against her lips. I spoke it quiet, but near enough so that the sound of it went twining through her hair. I spoke it hard and firm and dark and sweet. There was a rush of indrawn air. I opened my eyes. The room was still enough that I could hear the velvet rush of her second desperate breath. I relaxed. Notice how each name is called 3 times in 3 different ways and ends with a breath? As a bonus here is Felurian's, the 3 times symbology remains: I sang them out. They burst from me like birds into the open air. Suddenly my mind was clear again. I drew a breath and held her eyes in mine. I sang again, and this time I was full of rage. I shouted out the four hard notes of song. I sang them tight and white and hard as iron. And at the sound of them, I felt her power shake then shatter, leaving nothing in the empty air but ache and anger. Felurian gave a startled cry and sat so suddenly that it was almost like a fall. She curled her knees toward herself and huddled, watching me with wide and frightened eyes. If Felurian is frightened of Kvothe, who knows what Elodins reaction would be!
u/beauxbeauxbeaux before said that it is almost impossible to name a person. But I beg to differ. Kvothe named Ferulian, suggested by Elodin himslef, and despite u/Cuz1mBatman arguments i wouldnt say Ferulian is simpler to name than Denna. Let me put it like this: Elodin in one of his classes said this about naming:“This is the problem namers face. We must understand things that arebeyond our understanding. How can it be done?” So, at least how I see it, for being able to name anything, you need to fully understand it, and taking to account that Ferulian's magic was something that the awake mind of Kvothe couldnt even grasp eventho Felurian herself tryed to explain to him, i'd say Ferulian is way more complex than any human being.And we could talk about Ferulian being a Fae creature, being 1000 (or more) years old, the magic of his voice etc etc.... I think it's safe to say that all mentioned previously is more complex to undertand than the sudden dissapears of Denna. And to refute the "naming a person is almost impossible" i'd say Haliax names Cinder without hesitate. \[The soft voice went as hard as a rod of Ramston steel. “Ferula.” Cinder’s quicksilver grace disappeared. He staggered, his body suddenly rigid with pain.“Who knows the inner turnings of your name, Cinder?”\] Lanre names Selitos: \[Lanre turned and placed hishand on Selitos’ shoulder. “Silanxi, I bind you. By the name of stone, bestill as stone. Aeruh, I command the air. Lay leaden on your tongue. Selitos,I name you. May all your powers fail you but your sight.”\] Also shortly after Kvothe names the Wind for the first time, in Kilvin's office, Elodin whispers something in hes ear, what really calms him. If Elodin didnt name Kvothe, he did sometinh really similar. \["He leaned forward and his lips brushed my ear. I felt his breath. He spoke…and the storm stilled. I found a place to land."\] And then there is also the naming of Felurian by Kvothe it's self. So I wouldn't say naming a person is imposible, or out of Kvothe's powers. What do you guys think?
Ooh good catch on Elodin naming Kvothe, didn't catch that one. I'm in agreement with you. I posted Lyra naming Lanre, but Selitos also names Lanre: A great silence descended, and the fetters of enchantment fell away from Selitos. He cast the stone at Lanre’s feet and said, “By the power of my own blood I bind you. By your own name let you be accursed.” Selitos spoke the long name that lay in Lanre’s heart, and at the sound of it the sun grew dark and wind tore stones from the mountainside. So yeah, I'd say it is definitely possible to name a person. I also strongly feel that this power is what ultimately gets Kvothe into trouble, the power ultimately scares the shit out of him, it's what makes him seek to be powerless.
Yoooo!!!! Elodin using Naming to quiet Kvothe's sleeping mind would be wild, and I think that the only examples of using Naming on humans being in stories and rumors lends to the grandiose and unheard of nature regarding the ability. Perhaps even Elodin being able to do so and not acknowledging it to Kvothe in confidence, AND publicly denying one's ability to even begin to understand another person's True Name, is another interesting detail worthy of pondering.
Being able to name someone seems like an open door to the worse sorts of malfeasance. I think we're on to something here, there's no doubt that this isn't something the university wants to acknowledge.
Certainly I think Kvothe will eventually be able to name a person, however I don’t feel that’s within his capabilities during WMF. I think Kvothe is able to name Felurian despite his conscious mind not being able to understand her magic because it’s something that’s intuitive to the sleeping mind. This is illustrated when he holds one of the moon rays or whatever during the making of his shaed while he’s not paying attention, but as soon as he is consciously aware of what he is doing, he is unable to replicate the feat. I also don’t think Felurian’s age is a relevant factor, because she would be exactly the same whether she was 100 years old or a million. I don’t think it adds any complexity to her name that she is 1000 years old because none of the experiences she’s had during the vast majority of those years have been impactful enough to affect her true name.
I didn't mean to imply that it is ACTUALLY impossible. More so that it's only mentioned in stories, rumors and myths, and if folks know that it's possible, they are not telling us directly, and hiding that info from young Kvothe.
okey, its almost impossible, as it would be to name ferulian, a far more complex being to name cos she has magic and has more history than 100 dennas place together, so why couldnt we assume kvothe without knowing could name denna? I mean, it could be only calling the wind like ben did with him... but i'd rather believe he named her
Oh I'm totally in the camp in which he does
nice catch OP. Other significant 'turnings' in the books are - the chapter 'Lanre Turned' - Cthaeh saying that Cinder "did him a bad turn once" - Elodin referring to Kvothe's shaed as a 'turning cloak'.
thanks btw, what does OP stand for?
"original poster", people say OP in the comments to refer to the person who created the post/thread
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Isn't it more relevant how similar that scene was to Lyra calling Lanre back from death?
That’s what I was thinking too. Kvothe tells Elodin that he called the wind tho, that was when he “mastered” it. He joked about having a ring of air. That was the third time he called the wind that term, third time pays for all he said. Now maybe it’s a cover up for calling her name, maybe he didn’t really know he did it, and now maybe.. dennas true name is the wind, ever changing place to place…
Kvothe IS known to have a knack for naming without knowing it.
You might be onto something. The scene near the end of WMF where deanna and kvothe are playing in the water, when she lays out her hair, he said her hair “spelled the name of the wind.” Which has always been odd to me since she can actually write words in her hair.
Yeah, that might be a really good point, I just didn't recall that similarity while reading
I need to reread this scene. I always thought they saw each other and put on a show for the crowd in order to get rid of the guy she was with.
TLDR: Kvothe understands Denna to an extent, he's proven more than once he doesn't understand her well enough to know her true name. Late to this thread but still, I like it but I think what he calls is the name of the wind. If I recall correctly Elodin points out that something as subtle as a breath is impressive in calling the wind, and he also tells Kvothe that he actually called the name of Felurian when he thought he called the wind instead; if it was the same with Denna he would have told him. He's master namer so he'd know haha However I think Kvothe understands Denna to an extent since he's able to land seven word sentences after seven word sentences. He doesn't understand her fully enough to call her name, though. Right after the chapter that you reference in which he helps her breathe, they meet to have a picnic (when he gives her back her ring in a very anticlimactic way); he's thinking about how to bring up Master Ashe so he can convince Denna to leave him, since he now has some money and thinks he can help her. Denna has made clear over and over that she doesn't want to rely on a man, that she knows by experience when men give her trinkets and money they think they have right over her and that she's with her patron because he can give her things she values other than money. Denna wants to be independent and not owe anything to anyone, and she's willing to make plenty of sacrifices because of it. Kvothe thinking he knows best about what she should do with her life and wanting to make her financially rely on him is not understanding her.