The Water of the Wondrous Isles · Chapter
VI: Atra Tells of How They Three Came Unto the Isle of Increase Unsought explained
Atra recounts the story of how she, Aurea, and Viridis were born and raised in a land southwest along the Great Water, became childhood friends, and grew into maidenhood and womanhood.
What happens
Atra recounts the story of how she, Aurea, and Viridis were born and raised in a land southwest along the Great Water, became childhood friends, and grew into maidenhood and womanhood. They were wooed by many but loved only three knights: the Golden Knight (Aurea's man), the Green Knight (Viridis's man), and the Black Squire (Atra's man). Due to old feuds, their love was perilous. At a royal court, they pleaded with the king, who ordered the weddings, but turmoil erupted. The king then declared a trial by combat after two months. Before the combat, the three ladies were lured by a witch (the Witch Wife) into a Sending Boat and taken to the Isle of Increase Unsought, where they were given to the witch's sister. They lived there as captives, unable to depart, until Birdalone arrived. Atra ends her tale, expressing hope that Birdalone will carry their errand to their champions.
Themes in this chapter
Female Agency and Autonomy
The three ladies actively plead their case before the king, but their fate is ultimately decided by male authority and the witch's magic, illustrating limited agency.
Love and Desire
The central conflict revolves around the love between the ladies and their champions, which is endangered by feuds and sorcery.
Power and Sorcery
The witch uses the Sending Boat to abduct the ladies, demonstrating magical power that overrides human will and social structures.
Class and Servitude
The ladies become thralls on the Isle of Increase Unsought, serving the witch's sister, highlighting themes of captivity and subjugation.
Characters to notice
- Atra
Narrates the story of how she, Aurea, and Viridis came to the Isle of Increase Unsought, describing their love for the Black Squire and their capture by the witch.
- Aurea
One of the three ladies, beloved of the Golden Knight; present during the events described by Atra.
- Viridis
One of the three ladies, beloved of the Green Knight; present during the events described by Atra.
- Arthur the Black Squire
Atra's beloved, one of the three champions who were to fight in the trial by combat.
- Hugh the Green Knight
Viridis's beloved, one of the three champions.
- Sir Baudoin
Aurea's beloved, the Golden Knight, one of the three champions.
- The Witch Wife
The witch who lured the three ladies into the Sending Boat and brought them to the Isle of Increase Unsought.
- Birdalone
The guest and sister to whom Atra tells the story, and who is hoped to carry their errand to the champions.
Key passages
“We were born and bred in the land that lies southwest along this Great Water, and we waxed happily, and became fellows when we were yet but children, and thus grew up dear friends into maidenhood and womanhood.”
Atra explains that she, Aurea, and Viridis grew up together as close friends from childhood to adulthood in a land southwest of the Great Water.
Establishes the origin and bond of the three ladies.
“We were wooed by many men, but our hearts turned to none of them save unto three, who were goodly, kind, and valiant; and thou mayst call them the Golden Knight, who is Aurea’s man; the Green Knight, who is man of Viridis; and my man, the Black Squire.”
Many men courted them, but they only loved three knights: the Golden Knight (Aurea's), the Green Knight (Viridis's), and the Black Squire (Atra's).
Introduces the three champions and their respective loves.
“But in this was unhap, that because of certain feuds which had endured from old time, this love was perilous unto them and us; so that we lived in doubt and unrest.”
Their love was dangerous due to long-standing feuds, causing them to live in uncertainty and anxiety.
Explains the central conflict of the chapter.
“Came a day, now three years ago, when the king of the whole land brought his folk into our lakeside country, and there held a court and a mote in a fair great meadow anigh to the water.”
Three years ago, the king held a court and assembly in a meadow near the lake.
Sets the scene for the pivotal court event.
“But even as the mote was hallowed, and the Peace of God proclaimed at the blast of the war-horn, came we three woeful ladies clad in black and knelt before the lord king, and prayed him hearken us.”
During the sacred assembly, the three ladies, dressed in black, knelt before the king and begged him to listen.
Highlights the ladies' desperate plea.
“The king looked on us kindly, and said: Who be the swains for whom these lovely damsels make such a piece of work? So we named them, and said that they were there in the mote; and the king knew them for valiant men who had done him good service; and he cried out their names, and bade them stand forth out of the throng.”
The king kindly asked who the young men were, and upon learning their names, he called them forward, recognizing their valor.
The king's initial favorable response.
