The Wood Beyond the World · Chapter
Of the Triumphant Summer Array of the Maid explained
Walter and the Maid journey toward the Land of the Bear-folk, discussing the peril of being captured and possibly sacrificed.
What happens
Walter and the Maid journey toward the Land of the Bear-folk, discussing the peril of being captured and possibly sacrificed. The Maid reveals that the Bear-folk worship a female deity, and she plans to present herself as their new goddess, having slain the previous one. She adorns herself with flowers, using her hidden wisdom to keep them fresh, and they proceed with hope and confidence.
Themes in this chapter
Power of Wisdom and Sorcery
The Maid uses her hidden wisdom to keep her floral array fresh, demonstrating her magical abilities.
Sacrifice and Redemption
The Bear-folk's practice of sacrificing newcomers is discussed, and the Maid's plan to become their goddess offers a path to avoid death.
Characters to notice
- Golden Walter
Walks with the Maid, expresses concern about the Bear-folk, and admires her floral array.
- The Maid
Plans to impersonate the Bear-folk's goddess, adorns herself with flowers, and uses her wisdom to keep them fresh.
Key passages
“She made a garland for her head of eglantine where the roses were the fairest; and with mingled flowers of the summer she wreathed her middle about, and let the garland of them hang down to below her knees; and knots of the flowers she made fast to the skirts of her coat, and did them for arm-rings about her arms, and for anklets and sandals for her feet.”
She crafted a headdress from the finest eglantine roses, wrapped a floral belt around her waist that hung to her knees, and attached flower clusters to her coat, arms, and feet as ornaments.
Describes the Maid's elaborate floral costume to appear as the Mother of Summer.
“Their God is a woman, and the Mother of their nation and tribes (or so they deem) before the days when they had chieftains and Lords of Battle.”
The Bear-folk worship a female deity, whom they consider the ancestral mother of their people from a time before chieftains and war leaders.
The Maid explains the Bear-folk's matriarchal religion to Walter.