Runes, Part 1 Ch. 4: Old Friends

[iQuestor]

Runes of the Earth Part 1, Chapter 4: Old Friends

The chapter begins as Linden and Anele’s flight from the ceasure that caused the destruction of Kevin’s Watch has come to a close. Anele has fled to an outcrop of gutrock, and is now apparently being controlled by Lord Foul himself, who addresses Linden directly. Foul issues his usual diatribe of despair and doom-speak, confirming again to Linden that he has her son Jeremiah, and that he will wait to deliver Jeremiah’s fate when she is present to witness and despair. He also professes to have gained white gold, apparently Joan’s ring (and Joan herself) is also in his control. Linden surmises that Roger is likely present also in the Land, and is in service to Lord Foul as well.

Linden, a much stronger and stable woman than in the past chronicles, warns Foul that she will find him and tear his heart out, unless he releases Jeremiah. She turns her back on Anele/Foul, analyzing the import of Fouls’ words, and deciding to focus on more immediate needs of aliantha and rest.

Enter the Haruchai: Ancient Bloodguard, protectors of the Old and New Lords, who once again pledged their lives to the Land in a new way, self-proclaimed Masters of the Land. We learn (later in the chapter) the yet un-named Haruchai that they serve the land by permitting no use of Earthpower. For this reason, they seek to capture and restrain Anele (a being of Earthpower) within Revelstone. Anele cowers, and speaks once again in Foul’s voice:

“Where is your power now? The wild magic that destroys peace?”

Linden reveals that she is the Chosen of the Land’s past, but she is knocked flat when she attempts to intervene the Haruchai’s capture of Anele. In the blackness, she dreams Thomas Covenant is speaking to her, telling her:

You need the Staff of Law.

And

Do something they don’t expect.

He also tells to not to worry that Foul has Jeremiah. This is probably going to be important later on; it seems TC knows something about the situation with Jeremiah, and possibly a foreshadowing of some information we can look forward to in FR.

Linden and Anele wake up in a home-turned-cell in Mithil Stonedown, where they are given water and aliantha stew. They both eat and drink. Anele laments that he should not eat or drink:

"Better to perish. They only prolong Aneles life to hurt him. Hold him for it. "

He meant a ceasure.

"What will it do to you?" She asks. "What are you afraid of?"

“It severs.”

She swore to herself. “So you said. Severs what?”

“Life.” Anele moaned as though she dismayed him. “It is the maw of the seven hells. Betrayed trust. Failure. Sorrow. “

Spoiler

This is a hint that the ceasures are in fact time distortions, tunnels to the Lands past. Anele makes a reference to the Seven Hells, the myths spread by the Clave that the Lands residents were in hell. He also speaks of the trust he betrayed, his failure, his sorrow because we find out later that he lost the Staff of Law back there.

Stave enters the cell, the Haruchai who struck Linden. She learns of the Haruchai’s misguided service as Masters of the Land. She repeats that she is Linden Avery the Chosen, and, after some questions, Stave agrees that she is who she says, telling her:

”Be free among us.” Reaching behind him, he held the curtain aside for her. “Tell us how we may honor your fidelity to Ur-Lord Thomas Covenant and your triumph over corruption.”

She asks them to free Anele, which they refuse. Stave explains more thoroughly their role as Masters of the Land, allowing no use of Earthpower. Apparently, Haruchai are stationed at mithil stonedown, and presumably at other stonedowns and woodhelvin as well, watching for anyone making use of Earthpower.

“You do not comprehend,” the Haruchai informed her dispassionately, “any use of earthpower serves Corruption.”

Linden is struck at the paradox of the Haruchai’s new role: professing service to the Land, but serving Lord Foul by preventing the use of the Land’s essential goodness: Earthpower.

During this conversation, Anele pleads with Linden:

“Do not permit them! They are fierce and terrible. Can you not see? They will destroy Anele.” Then he cried out, “He is the hope of the Land. “

Spoiler

This statement is again possibly a reference to his loss of the Staff of Law. Only he knows of its last whereabouts. It might also be a reference to some quality or lore we do not yet know about. Anele is certainly an enigma.

Stave presses the point that the use of Earthpower is bad, recounting the major events that doomed the Land in the past all stemmed from the use of earthopwer: the Ritual of Desecration enacted by Kevin and Foul that blasted the Land and made it unliveable for a thousand years; Elena’s breaking of the Law of Death by summoning Kevin from the Dead; The Haruchai’s vow to the Old Lords; Korik, sill and Doar’s failed attempt on Foul under the influence of the illearth fragment; The coming of the Clave and the Sunbane.

Linden learns of the loss of the Staff of Law. She also learns that the Giants are still around, though they seldom visit the Land and likely would not visit the Land during her lifetime.

Stave also points to the failure of the elohim, and the Forrestal Caer-Caveral, who broke the Law of Life, and subsequently left Andelain and the old forests to slowly die out.

“The vow which mislead the honor of the Bloodguard was made possible by Earthpower. Like the sunbane before it, Kevins Dirt is an expression of Earthpower. Beasts of Earthpower rage upon Mount Thunder, and the Lurker of the Sarangrave grows restive. “

This last quote gives a lot of information. The beasts of Earthpower might be the same chancres Linden observed in the darkness before she awoke on Kevin’s Watch. These beasts burned and consumed the Land as she watched. These could also be the skurj, but I am not sure.

Stave completes his affirmation of the Haruchai’s new role, reminding her of Brinn’s sacrifice at the Island of the One Tree, and that the Haruchai must not let him down; Because of Brinn’s sacrifice and role as Guardian of the One Tree, they feel that they must take on the role as Masters of the Land to prove themselves worthy of this act.

Stave also relates that the Haruchai fear that Kevin’s Dirt is Foul’s preparation to re-desecrate the Land.

Thoughts:

It seems obvious that the new role of the Haruchai as the Land's Masters is very close to the New Lords folley of the Oath of Peace. The Oath of Peace assumed all violence and anger was bad, so everyone vowed to never be aggressive, use violence only for defense, and above all, avoid any taking of life for any reason. The same logic seems to have been applied to Earthpower by the Haruchai: all of the Lands problems seem to have stemmed from its use, so using it must always be bad.

It is also alarming to think of Haruchai stationed in every stonedown and woodhelvin to prevent any use of Earthpower. This smacks of a self-appointed "protecting them from themselves" mind-set, which never turns out well.

Linden now knows the Staff of Law has been lost, and knows that the Haruchai will oppose her finding it, since it is a tool of Earthpower.

There is a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter, subtle hints at things that keep us reading, raising even more questions:

Foul’s ability to control Anele. How in the heck can he do that??

Anele proclaiming he is the Lands Last hope - what does that mean?

Thomas Covenant’s comment to “not worry” about Foul having Jeremiah; this either means TC iknows about that situation, or that was not TC talking to Her.

The beasts of Earthpower on Mount Thunder - what are these things?

The implications of Kevin’s Dirt

The true nature of Ceasures - what are they?


I look forward the your comments and discussions on this dissection.

[Avatar]

Nice dissection Iquestor.

Yeah, I found the new role of the Haruchai something of a surprise at first myself.

Of course, perhaps it shouldn't be. Foul is well known to manipulate certainty, and it seems that the extravagence of the Haruchai have gone a long way toward setting themselves up for this.

--A

[I'm Murrin]

I still believe that the Masters are a direct consequence of Covenant's last words to the Haruchai at Revelstone in WGW.
If you need reminding, I hunted down my last post on the topic to get the quote (long one, but incredibly important in this context):

'Have you forgottn why the Vow was broken?
'I'll tell you why. Three Bloodguard got their hands on a piece of the Illearth Stone, and they thought that made them powerful enough to do what they always wanted. So they went to Foul's Creche, challenged Corruption. But they were wrong. No flesh and blood is immune. Foul mastered them - the same way he mastered Kevin when Elena broke the Law of Death. He maimed them to look like me - like this' - he waved his halfhand stiffly - 'and sent them back to Revelstone to mock the Bloodguard.
'Are you surprised the Vow was broken? I thought it was going to break their hearts.
'Bannor didn't turn aside. He gave me exactly what I needed. He showed me it was still possible to go on living.'

'The fact is, you've been wrong all along. You've misunderstood your own doubt from the beginning. What it means. Why it matters. First Kevin, then the other Lords, then me - ever since you people first came to the Land, you've been swearing yourselves in service to ordinary men and women who simply can't be worthy of what you offer. Kevin was a good man who broke down when the pressure got to be worse than he could stand - and the Bloodguard were never able to forgive him because they pinned their faith on him and when he failed they thought it was their fault for not making him worthy, not preventing him from being human. Over and over again, you put yourselves in the position of serving someone who has to fail you for the mere reason that he's human and all humans fail at one time or another - and then you can't forgive him because his failure casts doubt on your service. And you can't forgive yourselves either. You want to serve perfectly, and that means you're responsible for everything. And whenever something comes along to remind you you're mortal - like the merewives - that's unforgivable too, and you decide you aren't worthy to go on serving. Or else you want to do something crazy, like fighting Foul in person.'

'You can do better than that. Nobody questions your worth. You've demonstrated it a thousand times. And if that's not enough for you, remember Brinn faced the Guardian of the One Tree and won. Ak-Haru Kenaustin Ardenol. Any one of you would've done the same in his place. You don't need to serve me anymore.

[Avatar]

So you think they've decided to give their service to the Land instead of some fallible human?

--A

[I'm Murrin]

Covenant gave the keeping of the Land into their hands. The protection of Revelstone and its people. And in that speech, he gave gave them a reason why their service was never enough for them: because they serve the fallible. It seems from Runes that they took it to heart--if they want to serve perfectly, they must stop serving men. Now, they have made themselves the rulers, they serve noone, and claim to serve the Land.

Covenent also pointed out what happened when the three came into contact with the Illearth Stone. As Stave explains, that is one of the things that leads to their resolution, their choice to rule the Land and eliminate the use of Earthpower.
It also led to another unsettling part of their new society, which we find out about later in this book.
Everything that Covenant said in that speech seems to have been taken into account when the Haruchai rethought their entire approach. It only seems logical to assume that it was through Covenant himself pointing it out to them in such a way that they rethought it at all.

[iQuestor]

Murrin - that is amazing; I had not given thought to this passage, but it certainly fits with TC comments to the bloodguard.

[Avatar]

Yeah, excellent post. It makes a chilling kind of sense...

--A

[iQuestor]

it almost as if SRD knew what was going to happen...

[dlbpharmd]

Great dissection Iquestor!

I agree with Murrin that much of the Mastery of the Land stems from Covenant's conversation with Durris at Revelstone.

[Avatar]

Speaking of, (and off topic) where is Durris these days?

--A

[Aleksandr]

Beasts of Earthpower rage upon Mount Thunder

I took this as a reference to the Fire Lions, who may also be related in some way to the Skurj and to Kastenessen's "Fire in the North".

[iQuestor]

I took this as a reference to the Fire Lions, who may also be related in some way to the Skurj and to Kastenessen's "Fire in the North".

the fire lions are the good guys; Stave;s reference seemed to indicate that the beings of earthpower on mt thunder were malicious.

[Avatar]

Yeah, I pretty much assumed the Skurj are "bad guys."

On the topic of fire-lions though, I've always wondered if they were something special, or if it was just a poetic way of describing a volcanic eruption and the resultant streams of lava.

--A

[SoulBiter]

“Life.” Anele moaned as though she dismayed him. “It is the maw of the seven hells. Betrayed trust. Failure. Sorrow. “

There is a reference to the seven hells in the First Chronicles... perhaps in a song.. im away from my books and racking my brain.. anyone remember this?

[Warmark]

“Life.” Anele moaned as though she dismayed him. “It is the maw of the seven hells. Betrayed trust. Failure. Sorrow. “

There is a reference to the seven hells in the First Chronicles... perhaps in a song.. im away from my books and racking my brain.. anyone remember this?

There is one in the Second Chronicles - The Seven Hells of A-Jeroth.

[SoulBiter]

I know about that one.. its mentioned many times in the Second Chronicles... no this was definetly in the First Chronicles.. I will look when I get home from work. Im sure I saw it there.

[iQuestor]

Spoiler

It makes sense Anele says this about the seven hells of A Jeroth - he was after all from the time of the Sunbane, would have this frame of reference.

[SoulBiter]

I did find it.. its in Lord Fouls Bane chapter 16

Seven hells for failed faith
For lands betrayers, man and wraith
and one brave lord to deal the doom
to keep the blacking blight from beautys bloom

[Avatar]

Hmmm. I'd never remembered that. I thought the 7 hells were purely products of the Sunbane-afflicted land. Very interesting...guess this is where it came from originally.

--A

[wayfriend]

Hi all. I finally caught up with my reading; sorry I'm late.

That's a real good dissection, iquestor. Long chapter, eh?

You know, I never caught on that Thomas Covenant told Linden "never mind" about Jeremiah. That's dang interesting.

There's a whole raft of previous posts about "Is that really Covenant". And you have to wonder, reading Covenant behave like that, if that's really Covenant. If it is, where do these "speak in dreams" powers come from?

Here's some things worth considering about this one scene.

First, Linden gets knocked on the head. Did anyone notice that Linden gets knocked on the head a lot in this book? This is the third time, I think. Or fourth. THOOLAH rejoice. But consider Joan, for whom getting knocked on the head a lot is significant. Is it significant to Linden, too?

And every time she is knocked on the head, someone stuffs visions into her head. Foul and Ravers. Is it Covenant this time, or is it Foul and/or a Raver pretending to be Covenant? They've already proven that they can give Linden visions of things that never were, that are lies when taken literally.

Finally, we get the old Staff of Law quest. What good is a Chronicles if we don't have to find the Staff of Law at some point, eh? Pesky Staff, someone should staple it to Revelstone or something.

But seriously, every time we have a quest for the Staff of Law, it's A RUSE, in one sense or another. In the First Chronicles, Foul helped them get the Staff because he needed the Lords to eliminate Drool. In the Second Chronicles, the Staff they thought they wanted to find was a chimera. So we need to seriously ask ourselves, what's the catch this time? How is this quest for the Staff not really what it seems?

Frankly, I don't trust anyone who sends anyone out to find the Staff of Law. So I have some reservations about this dream-Covenant.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Stave also relates that the Haruchai fear that Kevin’s Dirt is Foul’s preparation to re-desecrate the Land.

They seem to consider it a "foretaste of desecration" - interesting phrase. Can blindness and insensitivity lead to desecration?

But I don't think Stave claimed it was Foul's dirt. I nit pick only because it is significant I believe.

What strikes me is how nicely Kevin's Dirt resonates with the Masters' plan. They consider earthpower bad, because it leads to descration. Kevin's dirt blinds people from earthpower. And it is a foretaste, a preperation, for descration.

Is there a contradiction in there somewhere? Wouldn't the Masters consider something that quells the use of Earthpower as helping prevent desecration?

The Earth is alive, and so carries in it the seeds of its own destruction. And this is why Earthpower can serve corruption. But there is also another use for that seed; sometimes something alive brings about it's own end when it is time to end.

Therefore, I have to add the Masters on my list of people who are opposed to Covenant's resolution in the Final Chronicles. (As I mentioned in "Letting it all go" (plug plug)).

Lastly, it is here clearly stated that Kevin's Dirt is an "expression of Earthpower". What are the implications of that? Is it a corruption? Or, if it is a preparation, is it something the Earth itself desires, knowing it is going to end? Is what the masters call "desecration" really "letting go"???

- - - - - - - - - - -

I agree about Covenant being ultimately responsible for the Masters. It falls into the same category of things as destroying the Staff, his Bargains, Nom, etc. When you touch stuff, sometimes there's unforseen consequences.

- - - - - - - - - -

There's a significant passage I would like to highlight, because it touches so nicely on my comments in the previous chapter.

In response, an abrupt torrent of rage flashed through her, and she did not doubt herself. Inspired by memories of argent, she surged back up the hillside like a rush of fire. As she caught her fists in the front of his tattered raiment, she seemed on the verge of wild magic, almost capable of erupting into flame at will

Foul-via-Anele just explained Jeremiah's situation to Linden. And there's the wild magic, right at her fingertips. Lord Foul has my son seems to be a trigger for Linden's passion. When the passion is there, and she does not "doubt herself", Linden has no trouble finding the power of her ring.

So, for now, my theory stands, and is somewhat supported. Linden's trouble with the ring is some combination of her inability to use passion to weild it, and her forgetting that it is her ring, her right.

In an earlier chapter, I linked Jeremiah's kidnapping with Linden's deepest passions. The passion of love; the passion of guilt.

Now, is it any wonder when later Linden speaks thusly to Covenant, I grow concerned?

All I have is your ring. It isn't mine.

- - - - - - - - - -

My usual collection of other discussable ditties.

Chatty Foul!!! I feel sorry for Anele ... but I do love Chatty Foul. It's so dang interesting that he actually is present during the Chronicles, and not just at the bookends. I hope Donaldson fulfills his promise of delving into Foul's character, respecting his character, this time around.

Other than that, does anyone wonder WHY Foul is speaking to Linden NOW? Is he setting the hearer on the path that he chooses for them?

At one point, he seems to test Linden to see if she can use the wild magic. Hmm.

Stave says "You will no longer threaten the Land", to Anele. This sounds very specific, that he expects some specific danger from Anele. Earthpower may need to be hidden, but Anele walking around doesn't seem to do anything - no one else can sense his Earthpower. I can only figure that the Masters fear Anele using that Earthpower himself.

When Linden dreams of Covenant, it seems to end in a way that brings up a lot of ocean metaphors. Breakers and tides. I think that this is significant, but the reason for this is later in the story. (Hint: it's related to Joan's whereabouts.) Yet another reason for my suspicion. I wanted to note it here.

"They will not return in your lifetime." I have no hope for Giants. But that's okay, its someone elses turn.

Stave says "The Worm of the World's End is Earthpower incarnate".

Wow. How does he get this information?

I'm sure it's correct, as anyone who has read "A Tale of Two Cosmologies" could attest to. (Plug plug.) But this is another case where Donaldson just seems to be adjusting our view of the cosmology as the story lifts off, as if he didn't leave it exactly where he wanted it before.