The House of the Wolfings · Chapter
III: Thiodolf Talketh with the Wood-Sun explained
In the deep of night, Thiodolf leaves the Hall-Sun and walks through the beechwood to a secluded wood-lawn where the Wood-Sun, a divine Chooser of the Slain, awaits him.
What happens
In the deep of night, Thiodolf leaves the Hall-Sun and walks through the beechwood to a secluded wood-lawn where the Wood-Sun, a divine Chooser of the Slain, awaits him. They embrace and speak of love, fate, and the coming battle. The Wood-Sun gives Thiodolf a dwarf-wrought hauberk, urging him to wear it in the fight as a gift that will preserve his life and their union. Thiodolf hesitates, fearing the dwarf-kin's malice, but ultimately accepts the hauberk as dawn breaks.
Themes in this chapter
Fate and Prophecy
The Wood-Sun speaks of 'Weird' (fate) and the hauberk as a 'yoke-mate of doom,' highlighting the tension between predetermined destiny and the choices of the warrior.
Sacrifice and Loss
Thiodolf's acceptance of the hauberk involves a potential sacrifice of his own agency, while the Wood-Sun warns of grief and death if he refuses her gift.
Ritual and Custom
The nocturnal meeting in the wood-lawn, the exchange of the hauberk, and the intimate dialogue form a ritualistic prelude to battle, blending love and war.
Characters to notice
- Thiodolf
The War-duke of the Wolfings, he leaves the hall under moonlight to meet the Wood-Sun in the forest, wrestling with the decision to accept the dwarf-wrought hauberk.
- Wood-Sun
A divine Chooser of the Slain and daughter of the Gods, she meets Thiodolf in the wood-lawn, gifts him the hauberk, and pleads with him to wear it to ensure his survival and their continued love.
- Hall-Sun
Mentioned as the source of light under which Thiodolf sat in thought before departing; she is the guardian of the Wolfing hall.
Key passages
“What evil thing abideth with this warder of the strife, This burg and treasure chamber for the hoarding of my life? For this is the work of the dwarfs, and no kindly kin of the earth; And all we fear the dwarf-kin and their anger and sorrow and mirth.”
Thiodolf questions the hauberk's origin, fearing the dwarfs' malevolent influence and the potential curse tied to their craftsmanship.
Thiodolf expresses his distrust of the dwarf-wrought armor, reflecting a cultural fear of dwarf-kin's magic.
“No ill for thee, beloved, or for me in the hauberk lies; No sundering grief is in it, no lonely miseries. But we shall abide together, and that new life I gave, For a long while yet henceforward we twain its joy shall have.”
The Wood-Sun reassures Thiodolf that the hauberk brings no harm, but instead promises their continued union and shared life.
She counters his fear, emphasizing the hauberk as a gift of protection and enduring love.
“Yea, if thou dost my bidding to wear my gift in the fight No hunter of the wildwood at the changing of the night Shall see my shape on thy grave-mound or my tears in the morning find With the dew of the morning mingled;”
If Thiodolf follows her command to wear the hauberk, she will not be seen mourning at his grave, implying his survival.
The Wood-Sun warns of her own grief and the haunting of the land if he refuses her gift.