Kevin's Watch

Fullmetal660 wrote:Its says in one of the books, can't remember which one, that the worm is an actual worm. It travsered space eating stars and curled up on itself once full. This is how the land was formed. The one tree is meant to be part of its tail or something?
So, logically, if the worm is roused, the land would kind of split apart thus causing utter destruction, shattering the arch of time and setting foul free.

This tale was told by Findail of the Elihim during the 2nd Chrons if memory serves me right. This story implies that the Land was formed as a by-product of this HUGE worm going to sleep after eating a whole heap of stars.. The rousing of the Worm will necessarily result in the world's destruction.

Does anyone else see the discrepancy between that version of events and the Creation story with our good friends the Creator and Fangthane? Did the Creator rock up and say, "check it out, that huge worm's asleep! Brilliant, I'll plant a few tres on it, cover 60% with water and that worm will look a right fool when he wakes up!" and then the Creator goes a bit overboad, but then notices his rival, Foul (for want of a better name) is messing up the worm in his own way on the other side, so the creator says "Perfect, now I'll trap my Nemesis AND the giant space worm in a shiny, impenetrable bubble and call that bubble the Arch.. of Time!. Brilliant! Now to check on my other creations.."

The Worm = the Arch of Time. I didn't originally invent it but I agree with it. I would also add that the Arch of Time = the system of natural laws (the Laws of Death, Life, Time, etc., etc.).

So in the beginning the Creator made the set of Laws that bounded the universe. His "bright children", the Elohim, were drawn to it and went inside. Then the affair with Lord Foul and his imprisonment took place. The Creator created a new Law, which we can call the Law of Translation, which made the formerly-easy dimensional travel and interdimensional influence practically impossible and turned the universe into a prison for Foul and also accidentally the Elohim.

So the things settled down. As the universe was good as finished as far as the Creator was concerned, no new Laws were made or the old ones modified. The system that used to be in flux "curled around itself and went to sleep", making the things for the first time stable enough for life as we know it take place. But even though it was immobile and quiescent, the system of the world was alive. Damaged Laws strove to repair themselves like a body heals wounds. The Worm slept through it all. But one night, the Arch lost its Timewarden. The sudden loss reverberated through the universe, shaking it to its roots. And for the first time in aeons, the Worm awoke. The system of the natural laws opened its eyes and slowly, ponderously started to uncurl from its rest...

That's how I see it, anyway.

Nerdanel wrote:The Worm = the Arch of Time. I didn't originally invent it but I agree with it. I would also add that the Arch of Time = the system of natural laws (the Laws of Death, Life, Time, etc., etc.).

I would go one step forther. I would say that the Arch of Time and the Worm are different mythical metaphors for the same underlying principle, the principle that is responsible for the system of natural laws.

For neither the Arch nor the Worm are literally real. They represent something, in the way a flaming chariot to the Romans represents the reason the sun crosses the sky.

wayfriend wrote:I would say that the Arch of Time and the Worm are different mythical metaphors for the same underlying principle, the principle that is responsible for the system of natural laws.

Agreed. Very well put. I personally believe that this is why the breaking of the laws of life and death start to compromise the arch and thus in that sense enable Fouls' plans. Of course, Foul may be more metaphor than man as well...

Here's a thought. Probably not unique. But, what if the Creator hasn't appeared in this Chronicles because he has already told Linden what what she needs. In other words, the Creator's appearance ten years ago was meant to prepare Linden for now (in an ultimate sense). His warning applied then, but was really meant for now. Maybe 'he' is not Foul. I think that this idea has been put forward on the Watch before.

Well, it's okay if it's come up before, no one is penalized for bring it up again.

But I do remember it's been noted that the Creator appears only once to someone. He didn't reappear for TC ten years later, so he would not reappear for Linden ten years later, either. This I am sure is to minimize his overt influence on whomever is chosen.

But if the Creator has appeared to anyone else this time (and it doesn't look like he has), then there's nothing known about it.

He didn't appear to Roger. Maybe because he's a bad guy. And if Jeremiah is a bad guy, as SRD hints to us, then the Creator may not have appeared to him for a similar reason. They work for Foul.

vision in The Runes of the Earth wrote:Unchecked, her needs goaded the Worm to wakefulness. It lifted its vast head, seeking havoc. For a moment as terrible as eternity, it looked into her eyes with recognition.

If Lord Foul was able to show Linden the worm as a physical entity, I'm inclined to believe the Worm can indeed manifest as such. The skurj in the next vision were 100% accurate to their look and behavior too.

And, by the way, the skurj are so going to come in huge numbers from the north and eat up Andelain as per the vision. I'm expecting that in the next book... (Dun, dun, dunnn...)

The Elohim didn't actually call it a "Worm", that was what the Giants called it. Although, they also claim that the Nicor are the offspring of the WotWE, a fact which seems to be supported by the abundant numbers of Nicor near the Isle of the One Tree.

The Elohim called it the Word, Wierd, or Wurd - the same word the Ur-Viles and Waynhim use to describe their fate, mandate, or destiny.

Of course, there are two possible explanations for the creation: the internal, and the external.

According to the internal, what poeple encounter in the Land is a result of their own past experiences and character. The Creator appeared in the First and Second Chronicles precisely because he was a necessary construct for Thomas Covenant; as a creator himself, he was able to understand this world best with the paradigm of a benign creator who owed his creation integrity.

Linden, on the other hand, brought with her the story of the Worm. I don't fully understand why it's more significant for her, but I'm working on it.

Anyway, according to this explanation, the Creator didn't appear because TC is dead, and LA doesn't share that background of creation with TC. In that view, TC himself at the end of Fatal Revenant is just another projection from Linden's subconscious.

Of course, then we have the external explanation.
The Land is real. The Creator is real. The Worm / Word / Wierd is real. However, the knowledge of the inhabitants of the Land is not absolute. Thus, their creation stories emphasize certain aspects which have meaning for them; as imperfect metaphors, however, the different stories are bound to contradict each other on the details.

I've got to go now, but I'll post more on this later.