Grass Stains

[lurch]

Way back in Runes,,as Linden traversed the Verge of The Wandering, her jeans became stained by the grasses that grew there,They left a design that was of the grass itself. Linden had been wearing the jeans thus the grass stains, across the remaining of Runes, Fatal Remanent, Against All Things and half of The Last Dark until as Kevinswatch put it..Wildwood bleached out the stains. I've dropped a few words in two other threads about the Stains. I thought it would be better to have a single thread on the subject.

The Grass Stains: green, like malachite ..just about permanent being only removed by some magik of a Forestal. And at that, removed from the jeans, Linden's jeans, upon favorably answering Wildwood's worry, what happens when there is nobody left to protect and preserve the Beauty?,,So, What were They About?

I put together some thoughts and came up with: the stains were The Land's perhaps desperate reminder to Linden about The Land's Beauty..and her need to not lose sight of it. On a metaphoric view,,its the natural beauty in side of Linden, inside and at the core of all of us...and we're not to lose sight of it.
Wildwood removes the reminder once he sees that Mahrtir is the answer to his worry..Linden came back with an answer, she did not forget.

In any case, the author has those Grass Stains in play across all the books of The Last Chrons with just a few hints as to what they are about: Mystery carried over the books and over years, literally. Yet in The Last Dark, the Stains are linked to the Malachite. In chapter 2 an innocuous statement by the story teller has the stains looking very much like the veins of Malachite. The author gives a clue. Malachite manipulates Time in Chapter 7. As a reminder, the stains have Linden hop skipping and jumping in Time,,to be reminded of her failures and find paths forward from them...with reminders always with her reminding her of a beauty that is at her core. Linden's encounter with Wildwood gets her the Runes and the iron ends with a promise to find an answer to the Forestal's major concern. When she goes back in Time with an answer,,she also gets a way to save the Elohim from the Worm in the future. The Grass Stains have fulfilled their mission. With a Love like that you know she can't be bad. Yea, she Loves TC and they marry right after.

Being worn Across All of The Last Chronicles, I'm sure they connect to a lot of other things as well...How cool. What else is there about these Grass Stains?

[deer of the dawn]

Great insights, lurch. We've had conversations about them before. I think we were all wondering how the grass stains would play out... for TC, a warning; for Linden, an affirmation... I'll have to go back and look at those other conversations we had. They were always significant.

[Vraith]

I'm pretty sure some folk were bugged by the stains in other places/comments about them...

I think they're serving a double purpose, though somewhat related.
One is for us...a connecting thread through the books. A "small" reminder of the mystic/magic difference between the ordinary and the Land...that it isn't only big things like Earthpower and Immortals that matter or signify...every blade of grass does.

For the characters...it is something else. They have little/no "power," or "meaning" themselves. They are imbued with it by the marked one. To be a bit silly/reductive: it's kinda like a ball-player that won't change or wash his 'lucky socks.' On a slightly higher level, like the placebo effect. The "placebo" is not medicine, it does not heal...but SOMETHING really happens, at least sometimes. That something isn't in the dirty socks nor the "medicine," though. It is in/from the person.

[lurch]

Thanks Deer ,and Vraith, you bring up a fascinating observation ; the humble nature of the Grass Stains. No big powers like sticks and rings and stones and blades.Just being there ..is the point..I am reminded of Shakespeares ,,by any other name, a rose is still a rose.. the natural beauty of the grass, the Land,and of course, it feeds the Ranyhyn..

The Mystery of the Grass Stains; How Donaldson imbued " mystery" with beauty.