The Well at the World’s End · Chapter
VII: The Lady Tells of the Strife and Trouble That Befell After Her Coming to the Country of the King's Son explained
The Lady of Abundance recounts her arrival at the King's House, the hostility of the king, her flight with her lord, their capture, her imprisonment and trial for sorcery, and her eventual rescue and reign as Queen of the Land of the Tower,
What happens
The Lady of Abundance recounts her arrival at the King's House, the hostility of the king, her flight with her lord, their capture, her imprisonment and trial for sorcery, and her eventual rescue and reign as Queen of the Land of the Tower, including the return of the carline from the Dale of Lore.
Themes in this chapter
Power and Tyranny
The king's tyrannical rule and the Lady's struggle against unjust authority.
Sacrifice and Loss
The Lady's suffering, imprisonment, and the loss of her beauty and happiness.
Love and Desire
The enduring love between the Lady and her lord, and the devotion of the young knight.
Characters to notice
- The Lady of Abundance
Narrates her past trials, including her flight, capture, trial for sorcery, and eventual reign as queen.
- Ralph of Upmeads
Present as the listener to the Lady's story; he kisses her feet and comforts her.
- The King of Cheaping Knowe
The Lady's father-in-law, who opposed her and had her imprisoned and sentenced to be burned.
- Roger
Mentioned as the one who led Ralph from the Burg of the Four Friths.
- Redhead
The young knight who loved the Lady and helped her escape; he was grievously hurt but survived.
Key passages
“I say now and once for all that their fierceness was and is but kindness and pity when set against the cruelty of the Burg of the Four Friths”
The Lady asserts that the savagery of the Dry Tree is mild compared to the cruelty of the Burg of the Four Friths.
The Lady contrasts the relative mercy of her allies with the inhumanity of her enemies.
“I sat a crowned Queen upon the throne high raised on the very place where erst I stood awaiting the coming of the torch to the faggots which were to consume me.”
The Lady was crowned queen on the same spot where she had been condemned to be burned.
A powerful image of triumph over persecution.
“The dead may not drink of the Well at the World's End; yet the living may, even if they be old; and that blessed water giveth them new might”
The carline explains that the Well at the World's End can restore youth to the living, but not raise the dead.
Introduction of the mystical Well and its rejuvenating properties.