Conclusion explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Transformation and Growth

  The chapter shows the lasting transformation of Dorimare: a new industry, the return of art, and the personal growth of characters like Ranulph and the Crabapple Blossoms.

• The Poetry of Everyday Life

  Ranulph's songs, the candied fairy fruit, and the simple domestic happiness of Hazel and Sebastian illustrate the beauty found in ordinary life after the fairy incursion.

• Reality vs. Delusion

  Dame Marigold's uncertainty about whether Nathaniel truly returned, and the narrator's warning about the deceptive nature of the Written Word, highlight the blurred line between reality and illusion.

Characters to notice

• Hazel

  Marries Sebastian Thug and lives with him on her farm, visited annually by Nathaniel and Ranulph.

• Sebastian Thug

  Gives up the sea, marries Hazel, and becomes an excellent husband and farmer.

• Mistress Ivy Peppercorn

  Comes to live with Hazel and Sebastian Thug on the farm.

• Master Nathaniel Chanticleer

  Visits Hazel's farm each summer with Ranulph; later dies and is buried in the family chapel with an epitaph.

• Ranulph Chanticleer

  Grows up to become a celebrated poet, writing songs that travel across the sea; visits Hazel's farm with Nathaniel.

• Hempie

  Lives to a ripe old age, tells stories to Ranulph's children, and is buried in the Chanticleer family chapel.

• Mother Tibbs

  Takes part in the revels after the fairy army arrives, then vanishes from Dorimare forever.

• Dame Marigold Chanticleer

  Continues to smile and nibble marzipan, sometimes wondering if Nathaniel truly returned from beyond the Debatable Hills.

Key passages

• “Hazel Gibberty married Sebastian Thug⁠—and an excellent husband he made her.”

  Hazel Gibberty wed Sebastian Thug, who proved to be a very good spouse.

  Describes Hazel's marriage and Sebastian's character.

• “And when she died, as a tribute to her long and loving service, she was buried in the family chapel of the Chanticleers.”

  Upon her death, Hempie was interred in the Chanticleer family chapel as a mark of respect for her years of devoted service.

  Honors Hempie's loyalty to the Chanticleer family.

• “But, from time to time, a wild red-haired youth would arrive uninvited, and having turned everything topsy-turvy with his pranks, would rush from the house, shouting 'Ho! Ho! Hoh! '”

  Occasionally, a unruly red-haired young man would appear without invitation, cause chaos with his tricks, and then dash away shouting.

  Suggests the lingering, mischievous presence of fairy influence, possibly Portunus.

• “As for Ranulph, when he grew up he wrote the loveliest songs that had been heard since the days of Duke Aubrey⁠—songs that crossed the sea and were sung by lonely fishermen in the far North, and by indigo mothers crooning to their babies by the doors of their huts in the Cinnamon Isles.”

  Ranulph grew up to compose beautiful songs, the finest since Duke Aubrey's time, which spread across the ocean and were sung by isolated fishermen in the North and by mothers in the Cinnamon Isles.

  Highlights Ranulph's poetic legacy and the wide reach of his art.

• “And this is but another proof that the Written Word is a Fairy, as mocking and elusive as Willy Wisp, speaking lying words to us in a feigned voice.”

  This demonstrates that the written word is like a fairy—deceptive and slippery, like Willy Wisp, telling us falsehoods in a disguised tone.

  The narrator's final warning about the unreliability of written narratives.