The Sundering Flood · Chapter
LIV: The Carline Beginneth Her Tale explained
The Carline begins her tale of an old woman and a beautiful young maiden living in a lonely house beside an impassable river.
What happens
The Carline begins her tale of an old woman and a beautiful young maiden living in a lonely house beside an impassable river. The maiden pines for her love, separated by the river, while the Carline holds secret hope they will meet. When Red Skinner raiders attack, three men arrive to seize the maiden and kill the Carline, but the Carline's mysterious power thwarts them. The maiden begs to keep the Carline, so both are taken captive. They are forced to ride away, the maiden grieving for her lost love, as the Carline tries to comfort her with cryptic hope.
Themes in this chapter
Separation and Longing
The maiden and her love are separated by an unbridgeable river; her grief and longing dominate the narrative, and the Carline's hope of reunion is a central thread.
Love and Sacrifice
The maiden's love for her distant beloved and her willingness to sacrifice her own safety to protect the Carline highlight the theme of selfless love.
Nature and the Supernatural
The Carline's mysterious lore and her ability to bewilder the armed men with signs and muttered words suggest supernatural elements at work.
Characters to notice
- The Carline
Begins her tale; uses mysterious lore to protect the maiden and herself from the Red Skinners; comforts the maiden with hope of reunion.
- Elfhild
The beautiful young maiden living with the Carline; longs for her love across the river; is captured by the Red Skinners' men.
- Osberne Wulfgrimsson
Implied as the maiden's beloved, separated by the river; she grieves for him as she is taken away.
Key passages
“But the Carline, who was somewhat wise in lore, had an inkling that, despite this terrible hedge of water, the twain should one day meet.”
The Carline, knowledgeable in mystical arts, secretly believed the separated lovers would eventually be reunited despite the river.
Foreshadows the Carline's hidden hope and her role as a wise woman.
“And I, and I, I wend away from him.”
And I am being taken away from him, adding to my sorrow.
Expresses the maiden's despair at being forcibly separated from her love.
“Nay, to my mind thou art wending toward him, and he to thee; for never had ye come together hadst thou abided in thine old home and he in his.”
On the contrary, I believe you are journeying toward each other; you would never have met if you had both stayed in your old homes.
The Carline's cryptic reassurance that the capture may lead to reunion.