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In the beginning of Pawn of Prophecy, Garion won’t believe Belgarath at first that he really is Belgarath and holds the opinion that sorcerers are legend only. Subsequently, almost everyone they meet immediately recognises father and daughter (apart from the Tolnedrans).

Why is this the case? Do only kings and other important plot characters have the knowledge that sorcerers do exist? Or was Garion just brought up the way to accept they don’t exist?

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Garion was brought up under the impression that Belgarath and Polgara were legendary characters. As Harry's answer noted, Polgara did not encourage him to explore their existence deeply, he heard their names mentioned in the stories and legends that the young people heard from their elders at dinner time, festival times, etc. There was no reason for him to assume that they were actually real.

To be fair, most of the people that recognized Belgarath and Polgara as sorcerors were nobles, government officials, or both. As such, they knew the truth, and recognize them immediately. However, even some Drasnian merchants had to be reminded before they recognized the truth.

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  • But how come these nobles knew the truth and nobody else did? Were they so effective hiding it from everybody?... Erm, you know, I have just been chatting with this grandpa who told me to do this. - No, he‘a bit someone special, but I just valued his advice.
    – Narusan
    Commented Nov 26, 2017 at 22:04
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    @Narusan, some of these nobles (Barak and Silk) were traveling and working directly with Belgarath and Polgara - they had the duo's description and knew what they could do (especially Polgara's streak of white hair). Others, like the Sendars sent to search for them in the first book, were sent by King Fulrak, who was also an ally of the pair and sent his men specifically to bring them to court. It's easier to speculate that Belgarath looked like an itinerant storyteller that no one would look twice at - and who would really go looking for Polgara at a farm?
    – JW8
    Commented Nov 26, 2017 at 22:09
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    @Narusan, they weren't hiding anything, except from Garion. You live in a society with near-universal education and I think that is misleading you. By way of analogy, Queen Isabella I certainly knew that the world was round, and so did the rest of the nobility, but the average peasant? Maybe yes, maybe no. But that's not because it was a secret, just because most people weren't formally educated.
    – Harry Johnston
    Commented Nov 26, 2017 at 23:51
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    ... it's not like they could look it up on the internet, after all. :-)
    – Harry Johnston
    Commented Nov 26, 2017 at 23:52

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