The Water of the Wondrous Isles · Chapter
XXIII: The Wood-Wife Bringeth Birdalone to the Sight of Arthur in the Wildwood explained
Habundia leads Birdalone through the forest to a hidden dale where they find Arthur, now living wild and clad in deerskins, tormented by grief and rage.
What happens
Habundia leads Birdalone through the forest to a hidden dale where they find Arthur, now living wild and clad in deerskins, tormented by grief and rage. Birdalone reveals herself, but Arthur mistakes her for a tormenting image and threatens her with a sword. Habundia intervenes, and Arthur eventually casts aside his weapon, recognizing Birdalone. Habundia carries the unconscious Arthur to a cave, where Birdalone watches over him, and the wood-wife promises to care for him upon his awakening.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and the Wild
The chapter is set in a wildwood dale with oak-trees, thickets, and a stream; Arthur lives in a beast-like state, clad in deerskins, embodying the wild.
Love and Desire
Birdalone's intense longing for Arthur drives her actions; Arthur's grief and rage stem from his love for Birdalone, and their reunion is fraught with emotional turmoil.
Identity and Transformation
Arthur has transformed into a wild, beast-like man; Birdalone's identity is questioned by Arthur, who sees her as an 'image' of his tormentor, and Habundia plans to change her shape to avoid confusing him.
Characters to notice
- Birdalone
Birdalone is led by Habundia to find Arthur; she is overcome with emotion, trembling and weeping, and later confronts Arthur, who initially threatens her.
- Habundia
Habundia guides Birdalone stealthily, intervenes to protect her from Arthur's attack, and carries Arthur to a cave, promising to care for him.
- Arthur the Black Squire
Arthur is found living wild in the forest, clad in deerskins, playing a harp and lamenting; he mistakes Birdalone for an image and threatens her, but later casts aside his weapon.
Key passages
“Now they go on again, no less speedily than before, and rest but little, until it was hard on an hour before sunset.”
They continue moving quickly with little rest until nearly sunset.
Describes the pace of their journey through the forest.
“Birdalone looked up, pale and wild-eyed, and into the dale, and saw a man sitting on the grass by the stream-side with his head bowed down on to his knees and his face covered with his hands; he was clad but in two or three deerskins hung about him, with a strip of skin for a girdle, wherein was thrust a short sword; his brown hair hung down long and shaggy over his face.”
Birdalone sees a man in the dale, dressed in deerskins with a short sword, his head bowed and face hidden by long, shaggy brown hair.
First description of Arthur's wild appearance.
“He leapt up as she spake, and thrust forward his head and looked fierce at her, and cried out: What! art thou come again? This is the second time I have seen thee, thou image of her that hath tormented me so long; of her that left me in my most need and hid herself away from me.”
Arthur jumps up angrily, accusing Birdalone of being a tormenting image of the woman who abandoned him.
Arthur's initial hostile reaction to Birdalone's appearance.
“Then he raised his arm and cast the weapon far into the bushes of the bank-side, and then came forward and stood before Birdalone, and drew down her hands from her face and stared in the eyes of her, holding her by the two arms; and he said: Thou hast forgotten now, belike, how fair a life we two might have lived if thou hadst not fled from me and spoiled me.”
Arthur throws away his sword, takes Birdalone's hands from her face, and gazes into her eyes, lamenting the life they could have had if she had not left him.
Arthur's shift from aggression to sorrowful recognition.
