White Gold and Loric's Krill

[The Forgotten One]

I'm not sure if this question has been broached but I am curious. In The Power That Preserves when, during the siege of Revelstone the light of the Krill went out and High Lord Mhoram said that Ur Lord Covenant had left the land. We find out that his ring had been taken by High Lord Elena's dead visage. Mhoram had said that Covenant WAS the White Gold, so even if High Lord Elena had possession of the physical ring Covenant was still present in the Land....so, why did the Krill loose the light?

[wayfriend]

I think the krill dimmed exactly for the reason stated ... because Covenant had lost his ring, and it was in Foul's hands.

It's tempting to oversimplify the "you are white gold" thing. It's way too complex to summarize in four words, and besides even the author refuses to let it be simple. It serves a literary need which is more important than whether the far-ranging implications of logic stand up to scrutiny.

You also have to remember that Covenant needs that ring to be who he is. He is the white gold, but he's still powerless without that wedding band. Logic aside, Covenant requires a "means of articulation" because, among other things, it justifies and excuses having power. Without a ring, and without a trigger, Covenant doesn't believe he should have power, and the necessity of "the honest subterfuge of the heart" then mandates that he won't have any.

So... Covenant hadn't left the Land, but the Ringweilder was gone.

Also, there are other times in the story where things simply happen for no other reason than the Land and everything in it generally honoring and respecting Covenant. For example, the obeisance of the Wraiths in Andelain. Perhaps it's just a bit of literary drama, but it adds a feeling of "magic" in my mind.

[The Forgotten One]

Ok I went back and looked and what I found was this......
"My friends," he went on with the rawness livid in his tone, "the light of the krill has failed. You know the meaning of this. Thomas Covenant has left the Land-or has fallen to his death-or has been bereft of his ring. Therein lies our sole hope. If the Unbeliever lives-and while the wild magic has not been brought into use against us-we can hope that he will regain his ring.
"We must act on this hope. It is small-but all hopes are small in this extremity. It is our work to redeem victory from the blood and havoc of despair. We must act. Surely the Despiser knows that ur-Lord Covenant has lost the white gold-if it has been lost and not withdrawn from the Land or captured. Therefore his thoughts may be turned from us for a time. In that time we may have some hope of success against samadhi Raver. And if Lord Foul seeks to prevent the Unbeliever's recovery of his ring, we may give a distant aid to ur-Lord Covenant by requiring the Despiser to look toward us again."

It does mention being bereft of the ring but I am still a bit leary of the answer held within. If he IS the white gold and the ring is a physical manifestation of the wild magic then the Krill should have stayed lit. In later writings it is said that the wild magic will not work if the ring is not freely given. Thank you for taking the time to read and respond

"Be True"

[DrPaul]

The sequence of events was basically as follows:

1. The ring was taken from Covenant by Triock (possessed by turiya Herem).

2. This caused the light of the krill to go out.

3. Turiya then gave the ring to Elena.

4. This caused the light of the krill to shine a hideous green. Despite this, Mhoram still rode into battle against Satansfist.

5. Triock (freed from the Raver's possession) struck the ring from Elena's hand and it was recovered by Covenant. Elena then killed Triock and tried to kill Covenant with the Staff of Law, but the Staff was destroyed when it made contact with the ring in Covenant's hand.

6. The flare of wild magic from the ring activated the white light in the krill, thereby enabling Mhoram to slay Satansfist.

[wayfriend]

If he IS the white gold and the ring is a physical manifestation of the wild magic then the Krill should have stayed lit.

Maybe you need to question your assumptions. Maybe the krill wasn't alight because Covenant was in the Land. Maybe it was something else.

The krill wasn't alight at the beginning of TOT, although Covenant was in the Land. It didn't light until Covenant slammed it into the table. Perhaps the krill responded to contact with the ring. Perhaps it responded to wild magic being chanelled through it.

Like I said, I like magic things to be magic. So I'd like to think the krill responded to Covenant's passion. I think that the krill recognized, in the way that Glimmermere recognized, that Covenant was going to save the Land. It wasn't just that Covenant was present, but that Hope was also present.

That hope was taken away when Covenant lost the ring.

[Lazy Luke]

I'm not sure if this question has been broached but I am curious. In The Power That Preserves when, during the siege of Revelstone the light of the Krill went out and High Lord Mhoram said that Ur Lord Covenant had left the land. We find out that his ring had been taken by High Lord Elena's dead visage. Mhoram had said that Covenant WAS the White Gold, so even if High Lord Elena had possession of the physical ring Covenant was still present in the Land....so, why did the Krill loose the light?

The krill wasn't alight at the beginning of TOT, although Covenant was in the Land. It didn't light until Covenant slammed it into the table. Perhaps the krill responded to contact with the ring. Perhaps it responded to wild magic being chanelled through it.

Didn't the Krill also respond to the statue of Myhra (anundivian yajna + suru-pa-maerl) - Amok mentions the "absent bone of the Earthpower".