# II: Birdalone Learneth Lore of the Priest. Ten Days of Waiting Wear explained — The Water of the Wondrous Isles

> Chapter companion for The Water of the Wondrous Isles by William Morris.

## What happens

Birdalone passes the days after the Champions' departure by talking with her women, learning to read from the priest Leonard, and broidering a pair of shoon for Atra. As the ninth day arrives, she anxiously awaits the return of the Champions, but they do not come. She wakes to false hope from a rumor about the Red Knight, weeps in despair, and climbs to the tower-top to scan the empty lake for any sign of their return.

## Themes in this chapter

### Female Agency and Autonomy

Birdalone actively seeks knowledge by talking with her women and learning to read from the priest, demonstrating her agency in shaping her own education.

### Love and Desire

Birdalone's intense longing for the Champions' return is expressed through her weeping, sleeplessness, and physical yearning, as when she says 'O my body! how thou longest!'

### Identity and Transformation

Birdalone's broidering, which the women call faery work, connects her to the wood-mother and her own mysterious origins, hinting at her evolving identity.

## Character check-ins

### Birdalone

Birdalone learns lore from the priest, broiders shoon for Atra, and anxiously awaits the return of the Champions, weeping when they do not come.

### Leonard

Leonard the priest teaches Birdalone to read, and she proves an apt scholar.

### Atra

Birdalone broiders a goodly pair of shoon for Atra, having worn her borrowed ones.

### Sir Aymeris

Sir Aymeris goes forth to chaffer with weaponed men who come to sell beeves at the gate.

### The Red Knight

Rumor reaches the castle that the Red Knight hath been hurt in some fray and keepeth his bed.

## Key lines

> she took to her broidering again, and fell to doing a goodly pair of shoon for Atra, since she had worn those borrowed ones somewhat hardly. And the women wondered at her needlework, so marvellous fine as it was, and how that in little space of time were come flowers and trees, and birds and beasts, all lovely; and they said that the faery must have learned her that craft.

Birdalone resumed her embroidery, making a fine pair of shoes for Atra to replace the borrowed ones. The women marveled at her exquisite work, which quickly produced flowers, trees, birds, and beasts, and they joked that fairies must have taught her.

_Highlights Birdalone's skill and the women's awe, linking her craft to the supernatural._

> O my body! how thou longest!

Birdalone cries out in physical yearning for the Champions' return, expressing her deep desire and emotional turmoil.

_Captures Birdalone's intense longing and the physicality of her grief._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_water_of_the_wondrous_isles_se/chapters/ii-birdalone-learneth-lore-of-the-priest-ten-days-of-waiting-wear
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_water_of_the_wondrous_isles_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_water_of_the_wondrous_isles_se/chapters