The rainbow imagery at the end

[Trumpet77]

I read on an amazon review that the imagery of the rainbow at the end of the story may have been a reference to a story told in LFB... Does that ring a bell with anyone ?

[wayfriend]

Foamfollower gives us this tale, as he and Covenant journey to Revelstone in Lord Fouls Bane.

"Ah, Stone and Sea! Do you know the old lore legend of the Wounded Rainbow, Thomas Covenant? It is said that in the dimmest past of the Earth, there were no stars in our sky. The heavens were a blankness which separated us from the eternal universe of the Creator. There he lived with his people and his myriad bright children, and they moved to the music of play and joy.

"Now, as the ages spired from forever to forever, the Creator was moved to make a new thing for the happy hearts of his children. He descended to the great forges and cauldrons of his power, and brewed and hammered and cast rare theurgies. And when he was done, he turned to the heavens, and threw his mystic creation to the sky - and, behold! A rainbow spread its arms across the universe.

"For a moment, the Creator was glad. But then he looked closely at the rainbow - and there, high in the shimmering span, he saw a wound, a breach in the beauty he had made. He did not know that his Enemy, the demon spirit of murk and mire that crawled through the bowels of even his universe, had seen him at work, and had cast spite into the mortar of his creating. So now, as the rainbow stood across the heavens, it was marred.

"In vexation, the Creator returned to his works, to find a cure for his creation. But while he labored, his children, his myriad bright children, found the rainbow, and were filled with rejoicing at its beauty. Together, they climbed into the heavens and scampered happily up the bow, dancing gay dances across its colors. High on the span, they discovered the wound. But they did not understand it. Chorusing joy, they danced through the wound, and found themselves in our sky. This new unlighted world only gladdened them the more, and they spun through the sky until it sparkled with the glee of play.

"When they tired of this sport, they sought to return to their universe of light. But their door was shut. For the Creator had discovered his Enemy's handiwork -- the cause of the wound - and in his anger his mind had been clouded. Thoughtless, he had torn the rainbow from the heavens. Not until his anger was done did he realize that he had trapped his children in our sky. And there they remain, stars to guide the sojourners of our nights, until the Creator can rid his universe of his Enemy, and find a way to bring his children Home."

[Trumpet77]

Ah. That'll be it then! Nicely done... I wonder if that has significance or is what he was aiming for with the rainbow at the end of TLD

[wayfriend]

I think there was an allusion involved there, yes. Anyway, I didn't think it was corny ... I thought it was Andelain.

[lurch]

T77...The author put the rainbow in the book at the very end, so it has significance. You can suppose that its presence at the end is of purpose. A thing of beauty that brings pleasure and joy but also has flaws, is a Motif repeated thru out the Chonicles. From Human Beings to the Land and every thing in between there is no perfection yet there is an abundance to provide pleasure and joy. This is Donaldson's line," our weaknesses can make us stronger" as metaphor. We as Flawed Rainbow.

For me, the extra step that brings it home is the rainbow as a natural phenomena; the spring shower in the southwest...time and space are returned to natural state, even tho a bit distant, and produce the rainbow. There is no hint of perfection , just the beauty of a natural state and the Covenants blending and disappearing into it..beauty.

One can suppose that the rainbow is just a fantasy lollipop, cotton candy, unicorns etc, without any more perceived than an inclusiveness, a utopian dream land ending. For me that short changes all the previous words written in The Chrons from LFB on . With Lord Foul inside of him, and an admitted lack of Real Knowledge with the need to do a lot educating, and with Haruchai, Elohim, even Giants admitting to their flaws and mistakes, its very difficult for me to see any utopian ending.

Perhaps the author suggests that Love is not utopian, Hope is not Utopian, Compassion is not utopian, but All
are Natural States of Mind for a Human Being.

[TheFallen]

Lurch for the second time in less than a week, I'd largely agree... . For all my annoyance at what I see as the abruptness of the ending, the final rainbow is clearly a multi-faceted symbol every bit as much as it is an Andelainian actuality.

Yes it very definitely is intended to hark back to Foamfollower's creation myth - all's currently right with the world, since the rainbow's back. As previously quoted:-

When they tired of this sport, they sought to return to their universe of light. But their door was shut. For the Creator had discovered his Enemy's handiwork -- the cause of the wound - and in his anger his mind had been clouded. Thoughtless, he had torn the rainbow from the heavens. Not until his anger was done did he realize that he had trapped his children in our sky. And there they remain, stars to guide the sojourners of our nights, until the Creator can rid his universe of his Enemy, and find a way to bring his children Home.

The Creator has been rid of his enemy (or looking at it another way, TC as perceptual Creator has rid himself of his enemy in the only possible way) and thus the rainbow that was once torn from the heavens has returned... one could even presume that the Creator's children at last have a way home to their proper place in things (much like SHE achieved). I don't recall any other rainbow ever appearing in TCoTC.

Equally, specifically within the setting of TCoTC, the rainbow has connotations of the repaired Arch of Time, plus multiple wider-reaching metaphysical symbologies. Here are a few of the more obvious ones.

Christianity - God's covenant (!!!) with mankind. This from Genesis:-

This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Norse - Bifrost, the rainbow bridge that is connection between Heaven and Earth, the Divine and the Mundane.

Australian Aboriginal - The theme consistent with most Australian tribes is that the Rainbow Serpent is the creator of the world and all beings.

Buddhism - The rainbow represents "the highest state achievable before attaining Nirvana, where individual desire and consciousness are extinguished."

There'll be many more.

I also agree that the ending, although full of hope and peace - again rainbow symbology, since it signifies the end of the storm - is not eternally utopian. There's work to be done - TC, Linden and Jeremiah need to learn how to fully assimilate their power, to reconcile their transfigurations and most of all to handle the danger of their "unearned knowledge". And the denizens of the Land have plenty to do to restore things to anywhere near their former glory. The ending's a rebirth where hope is miraculously restored after the utter destruction of all things was a seeming absolute certainty... but an ever-lasting paradise is most certainly not assured. Rainbows are fleeting and evanescent and hence people still need to strive.