(I'm working this out as I type it, so bear with me. I think I'm right, though)

Basically, the Oaths aren't a kind of mystical binding- they're just a very specific form of applied Compulsion.


A stick of ivory doesn't know what a lie is. Weaves of Spirit can't tell if you're using the Power offensively or defensively.

But YOU can.

What the Oath Rod does, I'm fairly sure, is make it so you are unable to consciously violate any oath you make on it.

So "To speak no word that is not true" could LOGICALLY forbid sarcasm. It would also logically not do anything, because any word by itself is not a lie. As many have noted, it's not nearly as ironclad an oath as it sounds.


But what matters is what the Aes Sedai (or whoever swears the Oath) thinks. So, the swearer considers speaking a lie saying a "word that is not true." If there's any doubt, even subconsciously, the swearer would not be able to say the lie.

However, something like casual sarcasm, where the speaker knows she isn't intending to lie, and isn't attempting to be deceitful? No problem.




Another example: The "no Power as a weapon" rule. Except in the last defense of life of yourself, a sister, or your Warder.

What does "last defense" mean? Well, you could rationalize it to mean that an army charging at you from half a mile away makes it the "last defense." But wouldn't running away also be a defense? Shouldn't you not be able to make heads explode until you see the arrows coming at you?

Two equally valid interpretations, but the Oath Rod focuses on intent- if the Aes Sedai rationalizes "there's no way I could run away; they'd catch me and kill me" then that's that. The Oath Rod doesn't compute run speed and terrain conditions- the Aes Sedai does.


One last example- "make no weapon for a man to kill another man." What about women killing men, or men killing women? What about weapons for men to kill Shadowspawn? What about weapons without a purpose, that they'll just leave in a big pile over on that table and hope no one takes them, wink wink?


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The Aes Sedai have the intent of the Oaths drilled into them long before they ever lay hands on that ivory Rod- so it's very hard, I'd say almost impossible, for them to deviate from the accepted interpretations. Most people don't see using sarcasm as lying, especially when your listeners know you're being sarcastic. The First Oath means "I will not lie," so an Aes Sedai can't lie. But sarcasm? No problem.