I haven't really been keeping up with the dissection discussions, so I may touch on topics that have been discussed previously. I tried to skim through all the dissections over the weekend, but I am sure I didn't pick up on everything that was said.
I found this chapter a difficult one to dissect. It's very long, touches on many subjects, and jumps around quite a bit. Like Jay, I started working on my dissection without having gone back to re-read the earlier chapters. My dissection is unlike Jay's in other aspects, though. (And when I took some extra time to finish, I did get to look at those earlier chapters.)
The chapter is called "Aided by Ur-Viles." In the previous chapter, the ur-viles have just aided Linden and her companions by fighting off the kresh which have attacked them. Later, as Linden and the rest climb to the Ramen's place of shelter, the ur-viles bring the drink of vitrim to give them strength for the climb. As the chapter ends, the ur-viles once again come, answering Linden's call for the gift of more vitrim to help her heal the wounded Ramen Sahah.
The previous chapter has ended with Anele telling his tale of how he lost the Staff of Law. As he finishes, Linden states,
Linden's thought is continued in the first line of this chapter:Now I know the truth...You're the Land's Last Hope.
Linden seems to think that Anele is the Land's last hope because he knows where the Staff was last seen. But if the Staff is found, can it really save the Land? It helped heal the Land in the hands of Sunder and Hollian, but the Land has never returned to what it was when Thomas Covenant first saw it. Is this because the Staff was lost before Sunder and Hollian's work could be completed? Do you think the Land could have been fully restored? I have to admit, I have my doubts about that.When Linden said it, she knew it to be true...He knew where the Staff had been lost.
Immediately, Stave, on behalf of the Haruchai, objects to Linden's assertion and appears to deny the truth of Anele's story. This objection causes the ur-viles to begin barking. Are they disagreeing with the Haruchai? That is my guess. Why else would they be reacting in that way?
In Mithil Stonedown, he [Anele] had spoken of Lost things, long dead, creatures that had forced him to remember -
Though it wasn't clear then, surely this must be referring to the ur-viles.
At this point in the story, Anele wonders off and Manethrall Hami formally introduces herself to Linden and the others, and she offers them the aid of the Ramen.
The obvious distrust that exists between the Ramen and the Haruchai is a theme that keeps coming up in this chapter. Stave and Hami seem to lose no opportunity to remark on their distrust of each other at various points throughout the story. They question each other's devotion to the Land, though not each other's honor - there is still some measure of respect between them.Linden hardly knew how to ask for what she needed. Help me find Jeremiah. Lead me to the Staff. Tell me why you distrust Stave.
Linden asks none of her questions right now. Instead she introduces herself and Liand and offers medical assistance to the wounded among the Ramen. Just as an aside, I find it rather surprising that the Ramen use amanibhavam for healing, remembering what we have learned in the past about its toxicity to humans. They say here that drying lessens the potency, but I don't remember any such use being mentioned in the earlier books.
Linden, Stave, Liand and Somo, and the Ramen begin the climb toward the place that the Ramen call the Verge of Wandering, high up in the mountains.
As they climb, Stave tells Linden what he knows of the ur-viles. None of what he says really clarified in my mind exactly what ur-viles are, though. All we know is that they were created by the Demondim. It is asserted that they are totally evil, but their actions in this chapter (and in creating Vain) suggest otherwise. Also, the ur-viles and the Ramen seem to have some understanding, but the Ramen sidestep the issue whenever they are questioned about it, seemingly reluctant to discuss it.
The presence of Liand, the Stonedowner, during this story gives rise to a confrontation about the Haruchai's role in hiding the history of the Land from its inhabitants. Liand speaks up and expresses his feeling about having been left ignorant of his history and heritage. (About time, too. )
During his story, Stave manages to insult the Ramen enough that the ur-viles interpose themselves, blocking the path, and the Ramen disappear. At this point, the ur-viles will not move to let the others pass. One of them comes forward with a cup of Vitrim.
Liand, impressed by Stave's stories, tries to stop Linden going forward to meet them. He has known nothing of ur-viles previously, but he says:
The ur-viles bark at her, and she recognizes the smell of the Vitrim.Linden. No. They are ur-viles. Demondim-spawn.
They are here, and, inexplicably, they are trying to help. What is this mystery?According to Stave, they were a great evil. And they should all have died millennia ago. Lord Foul had certainly tried to destroy them. Yet, impossibly, they were here. Like Anele, they seemed to have been displaced in time.
When the travelers arrive at the Ramens' encampment, Linden does what she can for the grievously wounded Sahah. The Ramen are impressed with her skills in healing.
Linden has been very troubled by the loss of her health-sense, and now she learns that at this altitude, they are above the effects of Kevin's Dirt, and that she may regain her health-sense. This is what happens in the morning, to her joy. Liand, too, is amazed by his new perception of the Land.
As the chapter draws to a close, Linden is desperate to find a healing aid for Sahah so she will live till hurtloam can be brought to her. Linden walks a little bit away from the encampment and, holding Covenant's ring, attempts to call the ur-viles, reminding them of Vain and of who she is.
She heard nothing except the mild curiosity of the breeze; felt nothing except the gravid silence of the mountains. Yet when she raised her head and opened her eys, she saw an ur-vile standing before her on the grass with an iron cup in its hands.
In the burgeoning dawn, the aroma of vitrim - dusky, thick as silk - could not be mistaken.