XXII: Face-of-God Cometh Home to Burgstead explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Community and Kinship

  The return to Burgstead and the gathering of the folk to hear tidings emphasizes the bonds of kinship and shared purpose in the face of threat.

• War and Liberation

  The ambush, the capture of prisoners, and the plans to march to Silverdale highlight the theme of conflict and the struggle to free oppressed peoples.

• Honor and Oath-Keeping

  Face-of-god's commitment to his troth with Sun-beam and the loyalty of Wood-wise and Bow-may to her reflect the importance of oaths and fidelity.

Characters to notice

• Face-of-god

  Returns to Burgstead after journeying from Shadowy Vale; shares news of Silverdale and the Dusky Men; learns of the ambush in the woods.

• Bow-may

  Travels with Face-of-god and Wood-wise; expresses desire to dwell in Burgdale; is invited to stay at Iron-face's house.

• Hall-face

  Relates the tale of the ambush by Dusky Men in the woods, the death of Iron-shield, and the intervention of the brown-clad men.

• Stone-face

  Advises against pursuing the brown-clad men after the ambush, deeming them Wights of the Wood; present during Hall-face's account.

• Iron-face

  Alderman of Burgstead; listens to Face-of-god's tidings and Hall-face's report; involved in the decision to prepare for war.

• Wood-wise

  Travels with Face-of-god and Bow-may; explains the Wolf-cry and the bond with Sun-beam; declines to stay in Burgdale.

Key passages

• “But Face-of-god with Bow-may and Wood-wise fared over the waste, going at first alongside the cliffs of the Shivering Flood, and then afterwards turning somewhat to the west.”

  Face-of-god, Bow-may, and Wood-wise traveled across the barren highlands, initially following the cliffs of the Shivering Flood before veering west.

  Describes the beginning of their journey home through difficult terrain.

• “Bow-may said: 'I would I were going all the way with thee, Gold-mane; for I long sore to let my eyes rest a while on the land where I shall one day live.'”

  Bow-may expressed her desire to accompany Face-of-god all the way to Burgdale, as she yearned to see the land where she would eventually settle.

  Reveals Bow-may's intention to dwell in Burgdale, tied to her loyalty to Sun-beam.

• “Then Wood-wise laughed and said: 'I shall tell thee in fewer words than she will, and time presses now: Wood-father and Wood-mother, and I and my two brethren and this woman have ever been about and anigh the Sun-beam; and we deem that war and other troubles have made us of closer kin to her than we were born, whether ye call it brotherhood or whatnot, and never shall we sunder from her in life or in death.'”

  Wood-wise explained that he, his family, and Bow-may are bound to Sun-beam by more than blood, and they will never leave her side, regardless of what happens.

  Highlights the deep loyalty and kinship ties among the Shadowy Vale folk.

• “Hall-face said: 'I also will be short with the tale; and that the more, as meseemeth it is not yet done, and that thou thyself shalt share in the ending of it.'”

  Hall-face promised to tell his story briefly, hinting that it is unfinished and that Face-of-god will play a part in its conclusion.

  Foreshadows Face-of-god's involvement in the conflict with the Dusky Men.

• “But to Stone-face's mind those brown-clad men were the Wights of the Wood that be of the Fathers' blood, and our very friends; and when some of us would yet have gone forward and foregathered with them, and followed the chase along with them, Stone-face gainsaid it, bidding us not to run into the arms of a second death, when we had but just escaped from the first.”

  Stone-face believed the brown-clad men were friendly wood-spirits of ancestral blood, and he advised against pursuing them, warning against risking another deadly encounter so soon after escaping one.

  Illustrates Stone-face's cautious nature and the folk's belief in supernatural guardians.