XXIV: Lurulu Speaks of Earth and the Ways of Men explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Time and Change

  Lurulu describes time's rapid movement on Earth, contrasting with Elfland's timelessness, and the grizzled troll warns of aging and death.

• Magic vs. Reality

  The trolls' curiosity about Earth's mundane objects (hats, windmills, dogs) highlights the clash between magical Elfland and earthly reality.

• Quest and Wandering

  Lurulu's mission to bring trolls to Earth for Orion's hunt sets up a new quest.

Characters to notice

• Lurulu

  Recruits trolls for Orion by telling tales of Earth and the plan to hunt unicorns.

• Orion

  Approves Lurulu's plan to have a troll for each hound.

• Gazic

  Grizzled troll who warns against Earth's dangers, speaking of time and Heaven.

Key passages

• “He told how the light moved, he told of shadows, he told how the air was white and bright and pale; he told how for a little while Earth began to grow like Elfland, with a kinder light and the beginning of colours, and then just as one thought of home the light would blink away and the colours be gone.”

  Lurulu described Earth's fleeting beauty, where light and color appear briefly before vanishing, unlike Elfland's eternal day.

  Highlights the contrast between Earth's transient beauty and Elfland's permanence.

• “What happens tomorrow? one said. They die, said the grizzled troll. And the others dig in their earth and put them in, as I have seen them do, and then they go to Heaven, as I have heard them tell.”

  The grizzled troll explains that humans die and are buried, then go to Heaven, frightening the other trolls.

  Reveals trolls' fear of mortality and Heaven.