Top 6 How Does Magic Work In Asoiaf The 187 Top Answers

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Does Asoiaf have magic?

Other than the children of the forest, who are said to have been strong in magic, native magic in Westeros is rare. In days past, the greenseers of the children possessed incredible powers over nature, including skinchanging, slipping into the minds of beasts, and greensight, the power to foretell the future.

How is magic viewed in Westeros?

Magic, occasionally referred to as “the higher mysteries,” is a powerful but little understood force in the world. In Westeros, it is believed, particularly by the Maesters of the Citadel, that magic, if it ever existed, is now gone from the world.

Where does magic come from?

The Western conception of magic is rooted in the ancient Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman heritage. The tradition took further shape in northern Europe during the medieval and early modern period before spreading to other parts of the globe through European exploration and colonialism after 1500.

What is magic Wikipedia?

Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces. Magical thinking, the belief that unrelated events are causally connected, particularly as a result of supernatural effects. Magick, a term used to distinguish ceremonial magic from performance magic.

Does magic exist in got?

Magic is a powerful force in the world of Game of Thrones, although it manifests in many different ways, and is poorly understood even by its practitioners. Note that this page contains Spoilers surrounding the events of A Dance with Dragons/Season 6 of the show.

Does Jon Snow have magic?

3. Jon Snow. Speaking of Jon-Boy (Kit Harington), he has his own magic powers, even if they’re not especially clear on the show (and are much more pronounced in the books).

Does Jon Snow have powers?

While in the novels, Jon possesses the strong supernatural power of skinchaging, common among the wildlings and Starks, in the TV series, these abilities are rarely if ever mentioned. In the books, Jon is able to inhabit his direwolf, Ghost, and has wolf dreams, but he is untrained and unaware of his true potential.

Are the Starks magical?

Starks are not innate magic users but rather magic amplifiers because originally they did not have warging until the warg king war. Stark children when given the chance learn magic at an astonishing rate and display absurd feats of magic (Bran, Arya, Jon etc).

What powers do the Starks have?

In the current generation of Starks, several members (e.g., Arya and Bran Stark and Jon Snow) have the ability to enter the minds of their direwolf pets as wargs, giving them the ability to experience the senses of their direwolves and to see through their eyes.

What are the 8 types of magic?

In most approaches to arcane theory, magic of all kinds, be it arcane, divine or from some other source, can be classified as being part of one of eight types, or schools. The eight schools are abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, and transmutation.

How can I learn magic?

If you’re new to learning magic, the first thing you should do is check your public library for books on magic. Books are one of the best ways to learn new and easy tricks. Most often, magic books have tricks that you can learn how to do using everyday items found around the home or office.

How does magic work?

Magic relies on powerful psychological illusions and magicians create their tricks by exploiting gaps and errors in our conscious experience. For example, magicians use misdirection to manipulate what you attend to and this allows them to control what you see – and what you miss.

Is magic like coding?

Indeed, many have compared coding to magic, and not in the prosaic sense that things just work, seamlessly. When people say that coding is magic, they mean that coders can transform the world, as though with incantations and spells.

What is the code of magic?

Codemagic builds run on macOS machines that come with CocoaPods and multiple versions of Xcode preinstalled. Codemagic makes it easy to automate the testing of your iOS apps – both on simulators and real devices. Run tests after every new commit to guarantee the health of your iOS apps.

Who invented magic?

The first recorded magic act was by the magician Dedi who performed his tricks in Ancient Egypt in 2,700 B.C. He is credited with the first cups and balls magic trick.

Does Game of Thrones follow the books?

Game of Thrones closely follows the storyline of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, but there are still some differences between the books and the TV series, especially in the later seasons.


ASOIAF Theories: A Defense of Magic
ASOIAF Theories: A Defense of Magic


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Magic | Game of Thrones Wiki | Fandom

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  • Summary of article content: Articles about Magic | Game of Thrones Wiki | Fandom Updating …
  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for Magic | Game of Thrones Wiki | Fandom Updating Maybe magic was once a mighty force in the world, but not anymore.Luwin to Brandon StarkMagic, occasionally referred to as “the higher mysteries,” is a powerful but little understood force in the world. In Westeros, it is believed, particularly by the Maesters of the Citadel, that magic, if it…
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Types of magic and magic-related abilities

Groups

Notable magic practitioners

In the books

See also

References

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magic – History of magic in Western worldviews | Britannica

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  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for magic – History of magic in Western worldviews | Britannica Updating The Western conception of magic is rooted in the ancient Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman heritage. The tradition took further shape in northern Europe during the medieval and early modern period before spreading to other parts of the globe through European exploration and colonialism after 1500. The view of Western civilization as a story of progress includes the magic-religion-science paradigm that traces the “rise” and “decline” of magic and then religion, along with the final triumph of science—a model now challenged by scholars. Moreover, the very origins of the word magic raise questions about ways in which one person’s religion is anothermagic, encyclopedia, encyclopeadia, britannica, article
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Ancient Mediterranean world

Medieval Europe

Late medieval and early modern Europe

European traditions and the modern world

magic - History of magic in Western worldviews | Britannica
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Magic – Wikipedia

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Arts entertainment and media

Businesses and organizations

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Magic | A Song of Ice and Fire Wiki | Fandom

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Contents

A Game of Thrones[]

A Clash of Kings[]

A Storm of Swords[]

A Feast for Crows[]

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Nobody ever suspects the butterfly… – Magic in ASOIAF and in LOTR

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magic – History of magic in Western worldviews

History of magic in Western worldviews

The Western conception of magic is rooted in the ancient Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman heritage. The tradition took further shape in northern Europe during the medieval and early modern period before spreading to other parts of the globe through European exploration and colonialism after 1500. The view of Western civilization as a story of progress includes the magic-religion-science paradigm that traces the “rise” and “decline” of magic and then religion, along with the final triumph of science—a model now challenged by scholars. Moreover, the very origins of the word magic raise questions about ways in which one person’s religion is another person’s magic, and vice versa.

Medieval Europe During the period of Europe’s conversion to Christianity (c. 300–1050), magic was strongly identified with paganism, the label Christian missionaries used to demonize the religious beliefs of Celtic, Germanic, and Scandinavian peoples. Church leaders simultaneously appropriated and Christianized native practices and beliefs. For example, medicinal remedies found in monastic manuscripts combined Christian formulas and rites with Germanic folk rituals to empower natural ingredients to cure ailments caused by poisons, elf-attack, demonic possession, or other invisible forces. Another Christianized practice, bibliomancy (divination through the random selection of a biblical text), was codified in the 11th-century Divinatory Psalter of the Orthodox Slavs. Although co-opted and condemned by Christian leaders of this period, magic survived in a complex relationship with the dominant religion. Similar acculturation processes occurred in later conversions in Latin America and Africa, where indigenous beliefs in spiritual forces and magical practices coexist, sometimes uneasily, with Christian theology. In high medieval Europe (c. 1050–1350), the battle between religion and magic occurred as the struggle against heresy, the church’s label for perverted Christian belief. Magicians, like heretics, were believed to distort or abuse Christian rites to do the Devil’s work. By the 15th century, belief in the reality of human pacts with the Devil and the magical powers acquired through them contributed to the persecution of those accused of actually harming others with their magic. Also in the high Middle Ages the demonization of Muslims and Jews contributed to the suspicion of the “other.” Marginal groups were routinely accused of ritual baby-killing. In lurid accounts of the “blood libel,” Jews were charged with stealing Christian children for sacrifice. Similar accusations were made against witches by Christians and against Christians by the ancient Romans. Although magic was widely condemned during the Middle Ages, often for political or social reasons, the proliferation of magic formulas and books from the period indicates its widespread practice in various forms. Richard Kieckhefer has identified two major categories of magic: “low” magic includes charms (prayers, blessings, adjurations), protective amulets and talismans, sorcery (the misuse of medical and protective magic), divination and popular astrology, trickery, and medical magic through herbs and animals; and “high,” or intellectual, magic, includes more learned forms of astrology, astral magic, alchemy, books of secrets, and necromancy. There is also evidence of courtly interest in magic, particularly that involving automatons and gemstones. Moreover, magic served as a literary device of the time, notably the presence of Merlin in the Arthurian romances. Although medieval European magic retained its sense of otherness by borrowing from Jewish practices and Arabic scientific sources such as the astral magic manual Picatrix, it also drew from the mainstream Christian tradition. Necromancy, for example, used Latin Christian rites and formulas to compel the spirits of the dead to obey.

Late medieval and early modern Europe By the late Middle Ages (c. 1350–1450) and into the early modern period (c. 1450–1750), magic was regarded as part of a widespread and dangerously antisocial demonic cult that included the condemned practices of sorcery, necromancy, and witchcraft. Accused heretics, witches, and magicians were subject to inquisitions designed to uncover these cult connections and to destroy the means of transmission (e.g., the burning of condemned books and/or the “guilty” parties). The influential manual Malleus maleficarum (“The Hammer of Witches,” 1486) by Jacob Sprenger and Henry Krämer describes witchcraft in great detail (e.g, the witches’ sabbath, a midnight assembly in fealty to the Devil); moreover, this oft-reprinted volume is responsible for the misogynist association of witchcraft with women that becomes the dominant characteristic in the early modern period. This conspiracy theory of demonic magic contributed to the early modern “witch craze” that occurred at a time of growing tension between magic, religion, and nascent science. Nonetheless, despite the persecution of “black” magic and its alleged practitioners, forms of “white” magic persisted in Europe on the boundaries between magic, mysticism, and emerging empiricism. During the Renaissance there was renewed interest in ancient Middle Eastern practices, Neoplatonic mysticism, and Arabic texts on alchemy and astrology. Pico della Mirandola sought hidden knowledge in Jewish Kabbala, a mystical practice for unlocking the divine secrets contained in written and unwritten Hebrew Scriptures. Marsilio Ficino studied astral magic and the power of music to channel cosmic influences, while Giordano Bruno explored the mystical traditions of Hermeticism, based on works of the legendary Alexandrian prophet of the 1st–3rd century Hermes Trismegistus. Although generally tolerated because their practices were perceived to be within the main Judaic and Christian Hermetic tradition, practitioners of alchemy were sometimes considered to be evil magicians who acquired their knowledge through a pact with the Devil (as in the Faust legends). When magical activities of intellectual dilettantes proved, or appeared, to be antisocial, the results were more often put down to simple trickery—as in the case of the 18th-century charlatan Alessandro, conte di Cagliostro (Giuseppe Balsamo).

Wikipedia

Magic or Magick may refer to:

Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic

Chaos magic, a contemporary magical practice developed in England in the 1970s

Magic (illusion), the art of appearing to perform supernatural feats

Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces

Magical thinking, the belief that unrelated events are causally connected, particularly as a result of supernatural effects

Magick, a term used to distinguish ceremonial magic from performance magic

Medieval European magic, magic in Europe during the Middle Ages

Renaissance magic, magic in Europe during the Renaissance

Magic may also refer to:

Arts, entertainment and media

Film and television

Literature

Music

Performers

Albums

Songs

Other uses in arts, entertainment and media

Businesses and organizations

Sports teams

Egoli Magic, a South African basketball team

Orlando Magic, a National Basketball Association team

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic, a New Zealand netball team

Other organizations

Radio stations

Sorted alphabetically by call letters:

Canada

CIMJ-FM (Majic 106.1), Guelph, Canada

CJMJ-FM (Magic 100.3), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

CJMK-FM (Magic 98.3), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

CJUK-FM (Magic 99.9), Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

United States

KKMG (98.9 Magic FM), Colorado Springs, Colorado

KKMJ-FM (Majic 95.5), Austin, Texas

KMAJ-FM (Majic 107.7), Topeka, Kansas

KMGA (99.5 Magic FM), Albuquerque, New Mexico

KMGL (Magic 104.1), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

KNEV (Magic 95.5), Reno, Nevada

KBOI-FM (Magic 93.1), Boise, Idaho, formerly KZMG

KYMG (Magic 98.9), Anchorage, Alaska

WAJI (Majic 95.1), Fort Wayne, Indiana

WDYK (Magic 100.5), Cumberland, Maryland

WJGH (Magic 107.3), Jacksonville, Florida

WLMG (Magic 101.9), New Orleans, Louisiana

WLTB (Magic 101.7), Binghamton, New York

WLXN (Majic 99.9), Lexington, North Carolina

WMAG (Magic 99.5), Greensboro, North Carolina, former branding

WMGC-FM (Magic 105.1), Detroit, Michigan, former branding

WMGF (Magic 107.7), Orlando, Florida

WMGN (Magic 98.1), Madison, Wisconsin

WMGQ (Magic 98.3), New Brunswick, New Jersey

WMGS (Magic 93), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

WMJI (Majic 105.7), Cleveland, Ohio

WMJJ (Magic 96.5), Birmingham, Alabama

WMJM (Magic 101.3), Louisville, Kentucky

WMJX (Magic 106.7), Boston, Massachusetts

WMXJ (Magic 102.7), Miami, Florida, formerly known as Majic 102.7

WROW (Magic 590), Albany, New York

WSPA-FM (Magic 98.9), Spartanburg, South Carolina

WTHZ (Majic 94.1), Lexington, North Carolina, former branding

Elsewhere

Technology

Computing

Other technology

Transportation

Aviation

Maritime

Other uses

Magic (horse), female miniature horse working as a therapy horse inside hospitals and hospice programs

Magic (Middle-earth), magic as it appears in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional realm of Eä

Magic Johnson (born 1959), American basketball player and businessman

See also

Topics referred to by the same term

Nobody ever suspects the butterfly…

@cle-guy asked:

How would you compare and contrast Tolkien’s view and use of magic to GRRM’s? It seems to me Tolkien uses less ‘flashy’ magic (thinking Harry Potter-esque) magic than Martin.

GRRM actually deliberately based the less systemized use of magic in ASOIAF on his view of Tolkien’s use of magic in LOTR.

Q: Not everybody in your world has the ability to do magic. When it occurs, it’s really magical—a special, bizarre event. GRRM: I think the handling of magic in fantasy is one of the genre’s trickiest aspects, one where we have to make a very important decision going in. I wrestled with this for a long time when I was first starting the books. I looked at Tolkien, of course, who’s regarded as the very master of modern fantasy. Virtually everything that all of us are doing today is pretty much patterned to Lord of the Rings, which created the genre as it now exists. Middle Earth is a very magical place. You read the books and you certainly get the view that magic suffuses the world and the culture, but there’s actually very little onstage magic. Gandalf is a wizard, but he fights with a sword; he doesn’t perform incantations or pull down lightning from the sky. Most of the magic, when it does occur, is of great import, but he never really gives wiring diagrams as to how it works. To my mind, that worked, and it worked better than most of the other alternatives I’ve seen. If you make magic too explicit, it ceases to become magical. Magic should be wondrous and terrifying. It should be outside our realm of knowledge—supernatural, not natural. That’s the way I tried to handle it. I’ve also made a decision which relates to the design of the books, to increase the amount of magic in each book. So, A Game of Thrones has the least magic and there’s a little more in Clash of Kings and yet a little more in Storm of Swords, and that will continue as the series progresses. –The Beatrice Interview: George R.R. Martin, 2000

Despite its grounding in historical authenticity, the Westeros saga is undeniably a fantasy, with such magical elements as dragons,the terrifying Others, and the dreadful magic of the red god R’hllor. At first the magic was so subtle as to seem practically nonexistent, but that is changing. “In each book, the level of magic is rising slightly, so at the end it will be larger. Some of the really hard-core fantasy readers who are reading books in which there are wizards throwing fireballs on every page aren’t going to find it ‘spectacular’ even at its highest level.” Martin finds the magical elements some of the hardest to write. “It’s very difficult to do well. I have strong feelings about magic; I feel it’s misused in most fantasy. To a certain extent I went back to Tolkien and looked at what he did, because I still think he’s done it better than anyone. He has dragons, of course, and he has various mythic creatures, like the Balrog. The bad fantasy treats wizards and other supernatural creatures almost like superheroes. They’re flying around, they have powers, they have magic this and magic that. Gandalf and Saruman, their power is knowledge. They know things. They know history. They know lore. They know ancient truth that other people have forgotten, but you don’t see them doing a lot of on-stage magic. By keeping magic subtle, by keeping it off-stage, by not telling you a lot about it, I think it becomes more powerful. I think magic should be magical. It should be mysterious and wondrous. You see it and your eyes… glow.” The level of magic is one of the great distinctions between fantasy fiction and fantasy game worlds. Sometimes, Martin thinks authors make the mistake of placing game conventions on their worlds. “There’s a lot of fantasy now where they develop magical systems,” he says. “I even get that question sometimes at conventions: ‘Can you tell us a little about your magical system?’ I think that’s a mistake. That just makes magic an alternate kind of science. You can have magical wiring diagrams there, and magical recipes where you mix so much toad’s eye and so much powdered virgin’s milk, and you get this effect. That’s not really magic, is it? That’s just science that doesn’t work.”

–“A Song of Dice and Fire: George R.R. Martin on writing, history, and gaming” – Dragon Magazine #307, May 2003

Some more of GRRM’s thoughts on magic, especially in reference to Tolkien:

The proper use of magic is one of the trickiest aspects of writing fantasy. If badly done, it can easily unbalance a book. In my case, one of the things I did was go back and reread the Master, J.R.R. Tolkien. Virtually all high fantasy written today, including the work of most of the authors in LEGENDS, in heavily influenced by Tolkien. Rereading LORD OF THE RINGS, it struck me very forcefully that Tolkien’s use of magic is both subtle and sparing. Middle Earth is a world full of wonders, beyond a doubt, but very little magic is actually performed on stage. Gandalf is a wizard, for instance, but he does most of his fighting with a sword. That seemed to be a much more effective way to go than by having someone mumbling spells every paragraph, so I tried to adapt a similar approach in A GAME OF THRONES. –GRRM, 1998

I gave some serious thought to avoiding any overt fantasy elements and doing something that would only be a fantasy in that it took place in imaginary places and avoided known historical facts. As it is, I have carefully rationed magic. I went back to The Lord of the Rings and looked at how Tolkien does it. The Lord of the Rings is set in a magical world but there is not that much magic actually on stage. For Tolkien, wizardry is knowledge, not constant spells and incantations. I wanted to keep the magic in my book subtle and keep our sense of it growing, and it stops being magical if you see too much of it. In Tolkien, Aragorn’s sword is magical because it just is; not because we regularly see it helping him win fights. In these books, magic is always dangerous and difficult, and has a price and risks. The whole point of the scene in A Game of Thrones where Daenerys hatches the dragons is that she makes the magic up as she goes along; she is someone who really might do anything. I wanted magic to be something barely under control and half instinctive–not the John W. Campbell version with magic as the science and technology of other sorts of world, that works by simple and understandable rules. Nor precise words and series of passes that you forget when you have done them and have to learn again, as in Vance’s Dying Earth. When Vance did it, it was original–I just picked the Liane the Wayfarer section for the Fantasy Hall of Fame anthology–but I wanted to do something else.

–Amazon interview, 2000

I find myself more in sympathy with the way Tolkien handled magic. I think if you’re going to do magic, it loses its magical qualities if it becomes nothing more than an alternate kind of science. It is more effective if it is something profoundly unknowable and wondrous, and something that can take your breath away. –interview, 2007

Q: Do you have rules worked out for magic? [paraphrased] Whole book is to his discretion as to how it works. He doesn’t have a magic system specifically. Some authors do, but too like D&D for him. He went back to Tolkien when he got into the book seriously. Thinks Tolkien is still the master. What you discover when you read Tolkien with eye to magic is there is very little magic. Gandalf is a wizard – wise, but he doesn’t whisper a spell and slaughter an entire army. He thinks fantasy needs magic as a seasoning. Too much seasoning and you can overwelm the dish. Too much magic can ruin a fantasy. Magic has to be magic – something that violates law of nature. “Unknown” – published between the two World Wars writen by Campbell – a real rationalist with a particular brand of fantasy. Campbell treated magic as science. GRR M enjoyed reading them but that approach to magic and the approach in role playing games is… just science, not magic. Magic has to be more mysterious than that. He wants less Campbell and more Lovecraft. It has to be dark stuff we can’t fully comprehend. Use it sparingly so it has impact. –Octocon Q&A, 2010

He used an interesting analogy to his use of magic in fantasy fiction, he compared it to, on a college dormitory take out, him being used to plain style New Jersey pizzas, first trying anchovies in a garbage pizza (that was the expression used, really). He loved those anchovies, but when he next ordered an anchovy pizza he thought it was awful, overwhelming. Magic and fantasy can be like anchovy in pizza, too much unbalanced can ruin everything . Tolkien did it right, on his opinion, that his magic is often knowledge and the sense of magic is very low key, that we are often not sure, are the fireworks real magic or just fireworks? Magic should be mysterious, unnatural. In a Song of Ice and Fire (or ADWD) we have two sources of magic descending on Westeros from opposing directions. –book signing, 2008

He was asked his favorite book and he said Lord of the Rings with no hesitation. He went on to discuss Tolkien’s use of magic as he has done in interviews in the past. The main theme was Tolkien’s use of magic, or lack of “onstage magic”. He thinks it is an effect way to write fantasy. Magic in writing does not have to be explained. Once it is explained it ceases to be magic. George’s take on bad fantasy was that bad fantasy often feels like someone is writing in the perspective of a lame D&D game. The more typical the worse it tends to be. –Boskone Q&A, 2003

Someone asked how, as a ‘gardener’ style of writer, George manages to set and stick to the “rules” of his fantasy world without contradicting what has gone before. George answered that he doesn’t have to worry about contradicting his magical system because he’s deliberately limited the magic and intentionally tries to keep it magical and mysterious, that the essence of magic is that it must be “wondrous and unexplainable”. He doesn’t like what other authors have done, which is to treat magic like a different kind of science with its own set rules. –book signing, 2005

As he already said, Tolkien is his model for magic… there’s very little screen magic in LOTR but only wonder and legends… even the true power of the Ring was never found out. So, basically it’s best not to explain too much, have lots of mystery about it and be sure there’s a price to pay for it. –book signing, 2000

So, for the record – GRRM believes that Tolkien used unflashy, mysterious magic in LOTR, where the most powerful are not those that show off their magic, but those that know things. (Compare this to PJ’s movies, which include flashy wizard duels and such, which are not based on anything in the book at all, but are there because fantasy movies think they need flash to keep the audience interested.) There are magical creatures, some of which are very powerful, but people who can actually use magic are few and far between, and it’s always mysterious and unexplained, and there’s always a cost.

I think that GRRM reproduced this in ASOIAF quite well, and fans who keep trying to figure out the rules for the magic in ASOIAF won’t get anywhere, because the point is there are no rules, it’s magic. It’s fantasy, it’s wondrous and mysterious and strange, beyond human understanding. You can study what information is available, and you can gain knowledge and power through that, but sometimes the most powerful and amazing things are accomplished purely by instinct, through miracles alone.

I hope that helps!

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