The House of the Wolfings · Chapter
XIV: The Hall-Sun Is Careful Concerning the Passes of the Wood explained
The Hall-Sun takes command of the Wolfing stead in the absence of the warriors, organizing the women and elders to defend the Mark.
What happens
The Hall-Sun takes command of the Wolfing stead in the absence of the warriors, organizing the women and elders to defend the Mark. She sends Hrosshild and ten maidens to the Bearing House to establish a chain of watchers along a vulnerable wooded pass, anticipating a Roman attack. A messenger, Egil, arrives from Thiodolf with a similar warning, confirming the Hall-Sun's foresight.
Themes in this chapter
Ritual and Custom
The Hall-Sun's formal address to the folk on the dais and the gathering at the Speech-Hill underscore the importance of communal ritual in decision-making.
Sacrifice and Loss
The Hall-Sun's counsel to the maidens to carry knives for self-slaughter rather than betray their kin highlights the theme of willing sacrifice for the kindred.
Freedom vs. Oppression
The Hall-Sun's speech vividly contrasts the Romans' desire to enslave and torment the Markmen with the Goths' love of freedom and kinship.
Characters to notice
- Hall-Sun
Takes charge of the Wolfing stead, organizing defenses and sending watchers to the wood passes.
- Hrosshild
Chosen by the Hall-Sun to lead the ten maidens on the mission to the Bearing House.
- Egil
Swift-footed messenger from the host, arrives with Thiodolf's warning about the same pass.
- Sorli
Old warrior who speaks in support of the Hall-Sun's leadership.
- Thiodolf
Sends a messenger with instructions to watch the entrance to Mid-mark by the Bearing dwelling.
Key passages
“Go to now, why should we wrench the hinges off the door with plenteous labour, when another door to the same chamber standeth open before us? This House of the Wolfings is the door to the treasure chamber of the Markmen; let us fall on that at once rather than have many battles for other lesser matters, and then at last have to fight for this also: for having this we have all, and they shall be our thralls, and we may slaughter what we will, and torment what we will and deflower what we will, and make our souls glad with their grief and anguish, and take aback with us to the cities what we will of the thralls, that their anguish and our joy may endure the longer.”
The Hall-Sun imagines the Romans reasoning that attacking the Wolfing stead directly is easier than fighting many smaller battles, as capturing it would give them control over the entire Mark and its people.
The Hall-Sun's prophetic warning about Roman strategy and intent.
“But ye maidens, take this counsel for yourselves; do ye each bear with you a little keen knife, and if ye be taken, and it seem to you that ye may not bear the smart of the Roman torments (for they be wise in tormenting), but will speak and bewray us under them, then thrust this little edge tool into the place of your bodies where the life lieth closest, and so go to the Gods with a good tale in your mouths: so may the Almighty God of Earth speed you, and the fathers of the kindred!”
The Hall-Sun advises the maidens to carry knives to take their own lives if captured, rather than betray their people under torture.
The Hall-Sun's grim counsel underscores the high stakes and the value placed on loyalty and sacrifice.