Rule Of Seven / Literature

• The Adventures of Strong Vanya:
  • Vanya spends seven years lying on his home's stove, living off seven sacks of sunflower seeds and relying on seven sheepskin blankets to keep himself warm. After leaving his home, he travels through seven countries and seven kingdoms during seven times seven weeks until he crosses the White Mountains.
  • Foma Drachensohn, the Stone Knight, is armed with three swords. The smallest of them weighs seven times seven Russian Poods (1 Pood=16,38 kgs). His second sword weighs seventy-seven Poods, and the third one weighs seven times seventy-seven Poods.
  • The old blind Tsar declared his daughter will only get married to the one who brings the armor of the Tsar Ivan Vasilievich. However, if no suitor succeeds in fulfilling the task in seven years and seven times seven weeks, the law states the Vasilissa must get married to her most distinguished suitor.
• The Afterward: Because it was seven godlings who sealed away the Old God the first time, Erris decided to have seven companions on her quest to banish him again. It's primarily why Olsa was accepted despite being a thief: they were one short.
• Book of Swords: The second volume of the series deals with the Seven Sealings of Benambra's Gold, which are: The hidden location of the treasure, the dragon guarding the entrance, a complex maze, a garrison of guards, a magical barrier, a demon bound to the grounds, and the greed of the thieves seeking to rob it.
• A Christmas Carol: Jacob Marley has been dead for seven years (to the day) when the story begins.
• The Chronicles of Narnia:
  • Seven volumes of the series itself, released over the course of seven years (1950, ‘51, ‘52, ‘53, ‘54, ‘55, ‘56).
  • Seven creatures are invited to The First Council by Aslan.
  • The Seven Brothers of Shuddering Wood - red dwarfs - immediately ally with Prince Caspian and provide him with armament.
  • Finding the Seven Lost Lords is the mission behind The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
    • The titular ship stops in seven locations following the arrival of the Edmund, Lucy, and Eusatce.
  • The Seven Isles are an archipelago of the northeast coast of Narnia.
  • King Tirian (The Last Battle) is seventh in descent from King Rilian (The Silver Chair).
  • The Seven Friends of Narnia present in The Last Battle.
• Deltora Quest: Has the seven tribes of Deltora and the seven gems of the belt of Deltora. The third cycle adds the seven dragons.
• Discworld: Subverted; the most magical number is 8. Magic being a very dangerous thing to play with, there are a lot of superstitions around the number (some people insist on calling it "7a"). Notably, every mystically significant group of seven on Roundworld, from Deadly Sins to days of the week, to the colours of the rainbow, has an extra one on the Disc.
• The Dresden Files: The Senior Council is composed of the seven most powerful Wizards in the world (although often there's a lot of politicking involved in choosing a new member). Additionally, there are Seven Laws of Magic (more like seven prohibitions on using it).
• The Empirium Trilogy: There are seven Saints, each one representing one of the seven available elements.
• Harry Potter:
  • Invoked by Voldemort, who planned on splitting his own soul into seven pieces — six Soul Jars plus the piece still in his body. Then he made Harry the seventh Horcrux without knowing it...
  • Seven books for seven years at Hogwarts.
  • Seven Weasley children.
  • Seven members on a Quidditch team.
  • Hogwarts has seven floors (plus the ground floor and the dungeons).
  • Seven challenges protecting the eponymous stone in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
  • This would have culminated with book 7 being released on 7/7/07, but the bomb attacks on London the year before put a damper on that, so the publisher released it on the 21st (7+7+7) instead.
  • The magical age of majority is 17 rather than 18.
  • Harry Potter confronts Voldemort seven times in the series:
    • First, when he was a baby and Voldemort came to kill him.
    • Second is at the end of the first book, sharing Quirrel's body.
    • Then one year later against his Horcrux from the diary as it is coming to life.
    • Two years later, when Voldemort regains his physical form.
    • The following year again, in the Ministry of Magic.
    • At the start of book seven, when Harry and the Order are transporting him from the Dursley's.
    • And finally, at the end of the last book, when Harry gives himself away to Voldemort, which leads to their final showdown and Voldemort's defeat.
• Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest: Seven is a very popular number for quest-landmarks, including the Cave of Seven Riddles, the Peril of the Seven Sisters, the Deadly Trial of the Seven Knights, the Deathly Lair of the Seven-Headed Ogre, and the Seven Perils of Deathly Doom.
• The Heroes of Olympus: Seven heroes for the Prophecy of the Seven in the series.
• Illuminatus!: Averted, since the magic number is five. Characters spend some time discussing whether the Law of Fives is real, or an artifact of perception, or if there's a difference.
• Keys to the Kingdom: Has seven Morrow Days who are Trustees of seven Parts of The Will which each represent one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues and wield seven magic Keys, who each hold jurisdiction over one of the seven days of the week and are in charge of one of the seven parts of The House and due to breaking their contracts, each suffer from one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
• Little House on the Prairie: In The Long Winter, Pa is hanging out at the general store when an old Native American chief comes into the store, accompanied by a younger Native American man who serves as a translator. This is highly unusual, because usually the Native Americans in the area stay away from the white people. The old chief tells the men in the store that the lore of their tribe states that there will be a severe winter every seven years, and that every seven times seven years (49 years), there will be an unbelievably severe winter. And that the current year is a seven times seven year. This turns out to come true, as the entire book is about an extremely severe winter that almost results in the Ingalls family starving to death.
• Lord Darcy: Lampshaded, where the characters are making fun of a sect for thinking 7 is a magical number - in that world's magic, only five - and, to a lesser extent, six - are.
• Lumbanico, the Cubic Planet: Aralia remains trapped in the Arista during seven years until she discovers one hidden way out of the secret vale.
• Midnight's Children: Parvati-the-witch is born seven seconds after midnight, making her one of the most powerful of the titular children.
• The Monster Men: von Horn has not set foot on a place under American jurisdiction in seven years.
• Night Watch (Series): Has seven levels of Twilight.
• October Daye: In the novel Rosemary And Rue, Toby contemplates how she vanished longer than the seven years necessary to declare a human dead.
• The Ordinary Princess: The titular character is a seventh child and her full name has seven words. Her name is Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne.
• Rainbow Magic: There are seven fairies in each series and seven magical items Jack Frost stole.
• Reign of the Seven Spellblades:
  • Seven years ago, seven mages tortured and murdered a comrade named Chloe Halford, the consequences of which drive the Myth Arc of the series.
  • Kimberly Magic Academy, the elite Wizarding School that serves as the primary setting of the series, has a seven-year curriculum.
  • The eponymous seven spellblades, a spellblade being an Unblockable Attack. There are initially said to be six, but Nanao invents the seventh near the end of volume 1.
  • Beginning in volume six, Yuri Leik becomes a de facto seventh member of the series' True Companions, the Sword Roses. Which makes him the Seventh Ranger Traitor since he's a Manchurian Agent for a faculty member.
• Rowan of Rin: "Seven hearts the journey make. Seven ways the hearts will break."
• Septimus Heap: Practically every number you encounter in the series is either somehow related to the number seven (often the result of adding the numbers together), or an homage to something or other. There's even a list at the end of the first book.
• The Seven Sleepers: This Gilbert L. Morris series is about seven teenagers who have adventures in a post-nuclear attacked world.
• The Sevenwaters Trilogy: The protagonist's family lives at Sevenwaters, which has a lake in the centre with seven streams feeding into it.
• The Seven Wise Princesses: Based on the Persian epic poem Haft Paykar, the new Shah invites seven princesses from distant lands to live in color-coded pavilions that correspond to the heavenly bodies. When he visits each of them in turn, they tell him multi-layered stories that offer advice and wisdom for rulership.
• A Song of Ice and Fire: Seven is an Arc Number of the series.
  • The largest polity in Westeros is called the Seven Kingdoms, which were once seven independent monarchies until the Targaryens came along.
  • The Faith of the Seven is the dominant religion in the main setting. It worships a god that has seven aspects: the Father, the Mother, the Warrior, the Smith, the Maiden, the Crone, and the Stranger. It teaches seven heavens and seven hells, each more intense than the last. Their congregation hall is called a sept, and their godsworn people are called septons and septas; "sept" is French for "seven".
  • The Kingsguard has seven members.
  • Ned and Catelyn Stark raise seven children at the start of the series: their five biological children (Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon), Ned's bastard (Jon Snow), and Theon Greyjoy, who has been a ward of the Starks since he was 10 years old.
  • Seven positions on the Small Council: Hand of the King, Grand Maester, Master of Coin, Master of Ships, Master of Whisperers, Master of Laws, and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
  • George R. R. Martin is currently planning on making the series seven books long; whether he'll actually be able to do that is another matter.
• Tolkien's Legendarium:
  • The Silmarillion / The History of Middle-earth
    • Each of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves was the progenitor of one of the seven dwarven kindreds (Blacklocks, Broadbeams, Firebeards, Ironfists, Longbeards, Stiffbeards, Stonefoots).
    • Durin's Crown is a constellation made up of seven stars and named for the eldest of the Seven Fathers.
    • Feanor has seven sons, which is remarkedly unusual for an Elf.
    • The House of the Heavenly Arch - one of the kindreds of Gondolin - carries shields inlaid with seven gems (rubies, amethysts, sapphires, emeralds, chrysoprases, topazes, and amber).
  • The Fall of Gondolin:
    • Turgon got seven ships built to send one message to Valinor.
    • The entryway to the Elven city of Gondolin is protected by seven gates (wood, stone, bronze, iron, silver, gold, and steel).
    • Gondolin is the City of Seven Names:
      'We are the guardians of the issue of the Way of Escape. Rejoice that ye have found it, for behold before you the City of Seven Names where all who war with Melko may find hope.'
      Then said Tuor: 'What be those names?' And the chief of the guard made answer: 'It is said and it is sung: "Gondobar am I called and Gondothlimbar, City of Stone and City of the Dwellers in Stone; Gondolin the Stone of Song and Gwarestrin am I named, the Tower of Guard, Gar Thurion or the Secret Place, for I am hidden from the eyes of Melko; but they who love me most greatly call me Loth, for like a flower am I, even Lothengriol the flower that blooms on the plain." Yet,' said he, 'in our daily speech we speak and we name it mostly Gondolin.'
    • The Gondolin's archers "might shoot an arrow into heaven seven times as far as could the best bowman among Men"
    • After finally finding out the location of Gondolin, Morgoth waits seven years until his new war machines are built and ready.
  • The Lord of the Rings:
    • The Seven Rings of the seven Dwarf Lords; also a Shout-Out to "Snow White".
    • Seven palantíri - seeing stones - were brought to Middle-Earth by the refugees of Númenor.
    • The flag of the kings of Gondor depicts seven stars with the White Tree.
    • The city of Minas Tirith consists of seven levels.
• The Treachery of Beautiful Things: Seven years pass between Tom's disappearance and Jenny's following him.

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