The Hyrilian Grammar is a code mentioned in The Shadow Prince.[1] It is first introduced after the King of Hyrule says he wishes to show the Triforce of Wisdom to Charles.[2] Outraged by the king's decision, Link turns to Impa, who tells him to not act rashly and to think this through.[3] To help him make the decision on what he should, Impa hands the young hero a piece of paper that contains a one-word message written in the ancient number-letter code.[4]
According to the book, the Hyrulian Grammar works as follows: each letter of the alphabet has a number that matches it. A=0, B=1, and so forth; however, in old Hyrule, the number system was in base 2, or binary. Thus, each of the numbers in the message are the base 2 numbers that match the Hyrulian alphabet:
| Letter | Base 10 | Base 2 |
| A | 0 | 0 |
| B | 1 | 1 |
| C | 2 | 10 |
| D | 3 | 11 |
| E | 4 | 100 |
| F | 5 | 101 |
| G | 6 | 110 |
| H | 7 | 111 |
| I | 8 | 1000 |
| J | 9 | 1001 |
| K | 10 | 1010 |
| L | 11 | 1011 |
| M | 12 | 1100 |
| N | 13 | 1101 |
| O | 14 | 1110 |
| P | 15 | 1111 |
| Q | 16 | 10000 |
| R | 17 | 10001 |
| S | 18 | 10010 |
| T | 19 | 10011 |
| U | 20 | 10100 |
| V | 21 | 10101 |
| W | 22 | 10110 |
| X | 23 | 10111 |
| Y | 24 | 11000 |
| Z | 25 | 11001 |
The message that Link must decipher contains the following numbers:
10010, 10011, 0, 1011, 100, 101, 1110, 10001, 1011
When translated, it advises Link to "FORESTALL," meaning to wait. Whether Link decides to forestall or act forthwith does not greatly affect the outcome of the book.
See Also[]
Sign Language of the Hyrulian Royal Guard
References
- ↑ "HYRILIAN GRAMMAR" (The Shadow Prince, Simon & Schuster, pg. 25)
- ↑ "Sir Charles looks into Zelda's eyes, then bows to the king. 'I'm honored. I'd very much like to see your Triforce.'" (The Shadow Prince, Simon & Schuster, pg. 23)
- ↑ "Impa grabs his arm. 'If you act rashly, you might ruin your own case.'" (The Shadow Prince, Simon & Schuster, pg. 23)
- ↑ "She presses a crumpled piece of paper into his hand. 'Let this guide your actions.' Link stares at the one-word message on the paper. It's written in an ancient Hyrulian number-letter code." (The Shadow Prince, Simon & Schuster, pg. 23)