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The Wild Magic Song
Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 11:42 am
by Sherman Landlearner
So, the song seems semi-prophetic, so I thought an anylasis might be welcome.
There is wild magic graven in every rock,
contained for white gold to unleash or control-
gold, rare metal, not born of the Land,
nor ruled, limited, subdued
by the Law with which the Land was created
(for the Land is beautiful,
as if it were a strong soul's dream of peace and
harmony,
and Beauty is not possible without discipline-
and the Law which gave birth to Time
is the Land's Creator's self-control)-
but keystone rather, pivot, crux
for the anarchy out of which Time was made,
and with Time Earth,
and with Earth those who people it:
wild magic restrained in every particle of life,
and unleashed or controlled by gold
(not born of the Land)
because that power is the anchor of the arch of
life
that spans and masters Time:
and white-white gold,
not ebon, ichor, incarnadine, viridian-
becuase white is the hue of bone:
structure of flesh,
discipline of life.
This power is a paradox,
because Power does not exist without Law,
and wild magic has no Law,
and white gold is a paradox, because it speaks for the bone of life, but has no part of the Land.
and he who wields white wild magic gold is a paradox-
for he is everything and nothing,
hero and fool,
potent , helpless-
and with one word of truth or treachery
he will save or damn the Earth
because he is mad and sane,
cold and passionate,
lost and found.
Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 11:40 am
by Sherman Landlearner
Why isn't wood mentioned at all? IS wood too young, or something? It specifies rock, but not wood. Hm....
Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:31 pm
by wayfriend
I think that the rock in "wild magic is graven in every rock" isn't a reference to either Wood And Stone, or Stone and Sea, etc. I think it's a reference to the notion that wild magic, because it is the keystone of the arch, is a fundamental part of reality that affects all matter, and this all matter is "graven" with it. (Not so much that everything is made by wild magic, but that the laws of physics are built around wild magic, and so all matter has been shaped by it, and all matter is influenced by it.)
He may as well have said "is graven in every physical object", except that seems far less poetic, right?
You know, if you want to analyze this poem/prophecy (which is a great idea) you'll get a better response if you start if off.
Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:45 pm
by Sherman Landlearner
Point taken, wayfriend.
So, if wild magic is the keystone of the arch, that means it's only part of the arch. So what's the rest of it.
Also, if it's in every particle of life, that means that really, life itself is the keystone of the arch. So if life is the keystone, protecting itself, and everything is living in some way, then everything protects everything from the chaos of the universe. So if everything is the keystone, how can anything else exist to be the Arch, since everything is the keystone, not the whole thing? What could possibly be the rest?
Why, I wonder, do they specify not "ebon, ichor, incarnadine, viridain-"?
I think, maybe, because black (ebon), and green(incarnadine, viridian) is what he specifies as evil.
Plus, if wild magic is in everything, that means that technically, as he fought the illearth stone, he fought it with power partially gleaned from itself. Weird.
It must be(the song) a partial prophecy, because they didn't know who would wield the wild magic. But covenant does fit the description, doesn't he? Hm...
Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 5:43 pm
by wayfriend
Well, I can share my opinion, which comes from my finding significance in certain statements; others will see other things as significant, and come to different conclusions.
To me, the Arch of Time represents the Laws of Physics, if you will. A set of rules which are necessary for the Earth to exist in the form that it exists in.
In the Gradual Interview, Stephen R Donaldson wrote:I see the Arch as the (admittedly linear) system of rules--e.g. cause and effect, sequence, linearity itself--which makes it possible for life (as I understand it) to exist; which makes it possible for human beings to think, feel, choose, and experience consequences.
(02/05/2005)
In the Gradual Interview, Stephen R Donaldson wrote:My best analogy is the act of storytelling. “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” would be gibberish if I didn’t abide by a number of rules (like the Law of Time), some of which are so obvious that we don’t even think about them. Like sequence, linearity: sentences don’t actually mean anything unless the words are arranged in a very specific order. If you change the order, you change the meaning. And if you remove “order” itself, you remove all meaning. *That*, in its simplest terms, is the Arch of Time. It both imprisons and enhances each individual word, each individual character, each individual situation; each LIFE.
(03/15/2006)
On that basis, the Creator cannot interfere because to do so would be breaking the very rules that allow life and the Earth to exist. And Foul is trapped in the sense that he is constrained by rules he finds unnatural to his natural form of existance.
Wild magic, then, is a fundamental force within this framework of physical laws. It is like the weak nuclear force. It's part of everything. It's one of the building blocks of this universe. Earthpower is another.
Life plays into it to. In Donaldson's universe, the Earth and the Arch and wild magic and Earthpower are all alive in some sense. But life isn't a building block - life is the result. All these building blocks and forces result in things that are alive. The Creator set out to make a
living world - he chose what was needed to build it so that it would be alive.