Character from The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
The greatest gleeman alive — a former Court Bard of Caemlyn who juggles, plays the harp, tells stories, and has killed more people than most soldiers. He married an Aes Sedai, which surprised no one who paid attention.
Thom Merrilin is three people in one body: a gleeman who genuinely loves stories and performance, a political operator who was once the most powerful non-channeler in Caemlyn, and a knife-fighter who has survived assassination attempts from multiple monarchs. He hides the dangerous parts behind the entertaining parts so effectively that most people only see the performer. He took Mat under his wing because Mat reminded him of himself — clever, lucky, and headed for trouble. He married Moiraine after rescuing her from the Finn because decades of proximity had turned professional respect into something more, and because Thom Merrilin has always been attracted to dangerous women. He speaks in stories because stories are how he understands the world. Every situation is a tale he's heard before, and his advice comes wrapped in allegory. He's the moral compass disguised as comic relief.
Long white mustaches that he grooms with pride, a gleeman's cloak of colorful patches, and the lean build of a performer who has spent decades on the road. His fingers are gnarled from years of playing the harp and from the knives he keeps hidden in his sleeves. His eyes miss nothing — gleeman's eyes, politician's eyes, spy's eyes.
Also known as: Thom, Thom Merrilin, the Gray Fox, the gleeman