The Roots of the Mountains · Chapter
XIX: The Fair Woman Telleth Face-of-God of Her Kindred explained
Face-of-god and the Friend share a meal and drink a pledge, then she recounts the history of her kindred: their flight from Silverdale after an invasion by alien warriors, their refuge in Shadowy Vale, the decision of some to go to the Citi
What happens
Face-of-god and the Friend share a meal and drink a pledge, then she recounts the history of her kindred: their flight from Silverdale after an invasion by alien warriors, their refuge in Shadowy Vale, the decision of some to go to the Cities of the Plain under Stone-wolf, and the life of the remnant who stayed, including raids on the aliens and other folk. She reveals her brother Folk-might and her own childhood, and affirms that she and Face-of-god are meant to wed.
Themes in this chapter
Community and Kinship
The Friend recounts the history of her kindred, emphasizing their bonds, shared suffering, and the preservation of their identity in exile.
War and Liberation
The tale of the invasion of Silverdale, the battle, and the subsequent raids by the remnant highlight the themes of conflict and the struggle for freedom.
Love and Sacrifice
The Friend and Face-of-god affirm their mutual commitment to wed, despite potential opposition from their kindreds, reflecting personal sacrifice for love.
Honor and Oath-Keeping
The chapter discusses oaths sworn on the Boar, including Bristler's oath and Iron-face's implicit trustworthiness, and Face-of-god's oath to wed the fairest woman.
Characters to notice
- Face-of-god
Listens to the Friend's tale, drinks a pledge to the Sons of the Wolf, and reaffirms his oath to wed the fairest woman.
- Sun-beam
The Friend tells the history of her kindred, including her childhood, the invasion of Silverdale, and the flight to Shadowy Vale.
- Folk-might
Mentioned as the Friend's brother who went with Stone-wolf to the Cities of the Plain.
- Bow-may
Referenced by the Friend as an example of the hardy women of the kindred, and as having told of Face-of-god's earlier rest in a wood-lawn.
- Iron-face
Mentioned as Face-of-god's father, who is trusted by all and whose oath is good even without swearing.
- Stone-face
Briefly mentioned in the Friend's jest about dainties he imagined for Face-of-god.
- The Bride
Referenced as one whose kindred might oppose the wedding of Face-of-god and the Friend.
- Bristler
Mentioned in the context of the oath sworn on the Boar at Yule, which the Friend says he shall keep without reddening a blade.
Key passages
“It is the next dale to it, yet is it a far journey betwixt the two, for the ice-sea pusheth a horn in betwixt them; and even below the ice the mountain-neck is passable to none save a bold crag-climber, and to him only bearing his life in his hands.”
Though Shadowy Vale is adjacent to Silverdale, the journey between them is long and dangerous due to a glacier and a treacherous mountain pass that only a skilled climber can attempt, and even then at great risk.
The Friend describes the geographical isolation of Shadowy Vale from Silverdale.
“We who were left, and could brook death but not thraldom, fought it out together, women as well as men, till the sweetness of life and a happy chance for escape bid us flee, vanquished but free men.”
Those of us who remained, preferring death to slavery, fought side by side, men and women alike, until the opportunity to escape allowed us to flee—defeated, but still free.
The Friend recounts the final stand and flight of the Wolf kindred from Silverdale.
“Desolate and dreary is the Dale, thou deemest, friend; and yet for me I love it and its dark-green water, and it is to me as if the Fathers of the kindred visit it and hold converse with us; and there I grew up when I was little, before I knew what a woman was, and strange communings had I with the wilderness.”
You may think this dale is bleak and barren, but I love it and its dark waters; it feels as if the ancestral spirits of our kindred are present, and I spent my childhood there, before womanhood, having mysterious connections with the wild.
The Friend expresses her deep emotional attachment to Shadowy Vale.
