# XIII: The Wombflash Forest explained — A Voyage to Arcturus

> Chapter companion for A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay.

## What happens

Maskull awakens on his third day on Tormance, haunted by the brutal murders of Spadevil and Tydomin. He wanders through the immense, gloomy Wombflash Forest, guided by mysterious drum taps. He meets Dreamsinter, who reveals that the drumming is Surtur and that Maskull came to steal Muspel-fire. They witness a spectral procession of Maskull, Krag, and Nightspore, during which Krag stabs the phantom Maskull. Overwhelmed by the tragic music and radiant light, Maskull faints.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Search for Ultimate Truth

Maskull's pursuit of the drum taps and his encounter with Dreamsinter reveal his quest for Muspel-fire, a deeper truth beyond earthly experience.

### The Illusion of Self

Maskull sees a phantom version of himself murdered by Krag, suggesting the self is a spectral construct subject to cosmic forces.

### Transformation and Growth

Maskull's physical changes (new eye, nerveless arm) and his moral awakening to the horrors he committed indicate ongoing transformation.

## Character check-ins

### Maskull

Awakens with three eyes and a nerveless third arm, horrified by his past actions; follows the drum taps through the forest.

### Dreamsinter

A giant, nearly naked man with three pale green eyes, who gives Maskull a nut and explains the drumming is Surtur.

### Krag

Appears in the spectral procession, stabbing the phantom Maskull with a knife before vanishing.

### Nightspore

Marches sternly in the spectral procession; Dreamsinter indicates the journey is for Nightspore, not Maskull.

## Key lines

> a low, faint music began. Its rhythm stepped with the drum beats, but, unlike the latter, it did not seem to proceed from any particular quarter of the forest. It resembled the subjective music heard in dreams, which accompanies the dreamer everywhere, as a sort of natural atmosphere, rendering all his experiences emotional.

A soft, dreamlike music started, syncing with the drum but seeming to come from nowhere, like the emotional soundtrack of a dream that follows the dreamer everywhere.

_The music creates an immersive, emotional atmosphere that deepens Maskull's experience._

> Krag lifted his arm, and displayed a long, murderous-looking knife. He sprang forward and, raising it over the phantom Maskull’s back, stabbed him twice, leaving the knife in the wound the second time.

Krag raised a long knife, leaped at the ghostly Maskull, and stabbed him twice, leaving the blade embedded after the second strike.

_A violent, symbolic act in the spectral procession that foreshadows Maskull's fate._

> The peculiar moral outlook that had dictated these brutal murders had departed from him during the night, and now he recognised what he had done!

The twisted morality that had driven him to commit those murders had vanished overnight, and he now fully understood the horror of his actions.

_Maskull experiences a moral awakening, realizing he was manipulated into committing atrocities._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_voyage_to_arcturus_se/chapters/xiii-the-wombflash-forest
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_voyage_to_arcturus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_voyage_to_arcturus_se/chapters