The Roots of the Mountains · Chapter
XXVII: Face-of-God Leadeth a Band Through the Wood explained
Face-of-god organizes three companies to scout and guard the Dale against the Felons.
What happens
Face-of-god organizes three companies to scout and guard the Dale against the Felons. He leads his own band northeast toward Silverdale, guided by Stone-face. They encounter a runaway thrall named Dallach, who reveals the Dusky Men's plans to invade Burgdale and shares the tragic history of Silverdale and Rosedale. The Burgdalers agree to wait for other runaways and offer them refuge.
Themes in this chapter
Heroic Journey and Self-Discovery
Face-of-god leads his band into unknown territory, facing the perils of the wood and the moral weight of rescuing the oppressed.
Community and Kinship
The Burgdalers act as a unified community, offering refuge to the runaways and treating them as friends and neighbours rather than thralls.
Redemption and Renewal
Dallach and the other runaways seek a new life in Burgdale, escaping the hell of enslavement, and the Burgdalers embrace them as a chance for renewal.
Characters to notice
- Face-of-god
Leads the expedition northeast, organizes the scouting bands, and decides to wait for runaways after hearing Dallach's story.
- Stone-face
Accompanies Face-of-god as an advisor, warns of dangers, and advises marking the path to avoid being misled.
- Hall-face
Appointed leader of the first company, tasked with scouting north toward Boars-bait.
- Red-coat of Waterless
Appointed captain of the second band, ordered to scout east along the Dale's edge.
- Dallach
A runaway thrall from Rosedale who provides crucial intelligence about the Dusky Men's plans and the history of Silverdale.
- Wolf of Whitegarth
Expresses gratitude for Dallach's offer and emphasizes the moral duty to rescue the runaways.
Key passages
“Good is this if it may be done; but it is not for everyone to go down to Hell in his lifetime and come back safe with a tale thereof.”
Stone-face warns Face-of-god that venturing near Silverdale is extremely dangerous, like descending into Hell and returning alive.
Stone-face expresses caution about the perilous mission toward Silverdale.
“if ye take them for thralls, and put collars on their necks, and use them no worse than a goodman useth his oxen and his asses, beating them not save when they are idle or at fault, it shall be to them as if they were come to heaven out of hell”
Dallach pleads that even treating the runaways as kindly as one would treat oxen would feel like heaven compared to their current suffering.
Dallach describes the extreme misery of the thralls and the relief any kindness would bring.
“We were a happy folk there; but soft and delicate: for the Dale is exceeding fertile, and beareth wealth in abundance, both corn and oil and wine and fruit, and of beasts for man's service the best that may be.”
Dallach recalls that the people of Rosedale were prosperous and content, but their softness made them vulnerable to conquest.
Dallach explains how the Dale's wealth led to complacency and eventual enslavement.