Magic

Magic (Gramarye in the Ancient Language) was a discipline controlled by the Ancient Language.

Overview
Users of gramarye had an innate power that allowed them to use their energy, directed by words, to manipulate the forces of nature. Casting a spell with magic cost as much energy as would be lost to do the task by mundane means; therefore, magicians often used outside sources of power to perform major acts of magic, either drawing energy from all living things around them, or from a special tool. The Dragon Riders used the gems in their swords as stores of energy; their dragons also gave them strength when necessary.

Each act of magic was linked to a word in the Ancient Language (cf. brisingr for "fire"), although Brom mentioned that a true master of gramarye could use the word for "water" and create something that appeared to be entirely unrelated, such as a gemstone, though the relation would be clear in his mind. A magic user's abilities were limited by his knowledge of the Ancient Language; the smaller his vocabulary, the fewer feats of magic he was be able to perform.

As one's skill in using magic became stronger, he or she became able to command magic by merely thinking the words, rather than saying them. As explained by Oromis, sound itself had no control over magic. Most magic users, however, continued to speak words aloud, ensuring that stray thoughts did not disrupt the spells they cast.

A person's ability to use magic was often characterized by a specific color. For Dragon Riders, this color was very often the color of their dragon. Eragon's color was blue, matching Saphira; Murtagh's color was red, matching Thorn.

Riders usually directed their magic using their hand with their gedwëy ignasia.

Since magic depended upon the caster's life energy, a spell beyond the caster's capability would either kill them, whilst a spell close to the limit would render them unconscious. Also, when the magical energy was released, it couldn't be undone. Thus, if a caster was to formulate a spell so that there could be only two options (success or death) and a stronger adversary could prevent the spell from succeeding, the caster would invariably die. This could be circumvented by formulating spells as processes which could be cancelled at will.

Magical Abilities
There were a variety of different magical powers.

See also: List of Spells
 * Scrying was the art of seeing far-away objects. This art required focus of the mind. It was only possible to scry an object that one had already seen before.
 * Element transformation was the art of changing one element into another. Attempting too drastic an element change could result in the death of the person trying to transform the object.
 * Physical transformation was the art of altering one's physical appearance. This art was often practiced by the elves.
 * Teleportation was the art of mentally transferring an object from one location to another.
 * Mental communication allowed magic users and those that were trained in this to communicate using thoughts. There is a limit to distance.
 * Mind reading allowed a magic user to read minds.
 * Mental shielding was the art of shielding one's mind from a mental attack by another magic user.