

Transcribed from the 1897 Longmans, Green, and Co. edition by David
Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org





                             THE WATER OF THE
                            WONDROUS ISLES BY
                              WILLIAM MORRIS


                                * * * * *

                         LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
                       LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY
                                MDCCCXCVII

                                * * * * *

               Copyright, 1897, by Longmans, Green, and Co.

                                * * * * *




_CONTENTS_

            _The First Part_: _Of the House of Captivity_
                                                                  PAGE
    _Chap. I._  _Catch at Utterhay_                                  1
         _II._  _Now shall be told of the House by the               8
                Waterside_
        _III._  _Of Skin-changing_                                  10
         _IV._  _Of the Waxing of the Stolen Child_                 12
          _V._  _Of Birdalone_, _and how she is grown into          15
                Maidenhood_
         _VI._  _Herein is told of Birdalone’s Raiment_             18
        _VII._  _Birdalone hath an Adventure in the Wood_           22
       _VIII._  _Of Birdalone and the Witch-wife_                   30
         _IX._  _Of Birdalone’s Swimming_                           33
          _X._  _Birdalone comes on New Tidings_                    36
         _XI._  _Of Birdalone’s Guilt and the Chastisement          39
                thereof_
        _XII._  _The Words of the Witch-wife to Birdalone_          43
       _XIII._  _Birdalone meeteth the Wood-woman again_            46
        _XIV._  _Of Birdalone’s Fishing_                            51
         _XV._  _Birdalone weareth her Serpent-ring_                54
        _XVI._  _Birdalone meeteth Habundia again_; _and            59
                learneth her First Wisdom of her_
       _XVII._  _The Passing of the Year into Winter_               62
      _XVIII._  _Of Springtide and the Mind of Birdalone_           65
        _XIX._  _They bid Farewell_, _Birdalone and the             68
                Wood-mother_
         _XX._  _Of Birdalone and the Sending Boat_                 70
              _The Second Part_: _Of the Wondrous Isles_
    _Chap. I._  _The First Isle_                                    75
         _II._  _Birdalone falleth in with New Friends_             77
        _III._  _Birdalone is brought before the                    82
                Witch-wife’s Sister_
         _IV._  _Of the Witch’s Prison in the                       85
                Wailing-tower_
          _V._  _They feast in the Witch’s Prison_                  89
         _VI._  _Atra tells of how they three came unto the         97
                Isle of Increase Unsought_
        _VII._  _The three Damsels take Birdalone out of           109
                the Witch’s Prison_
       _VIII._  _In what Wise Birdalone was clad_, _and how        112
                she went her Ways from the Isle of Increase
                Unsought_
         _IX._  _How Birdalone came to the Isle of the             117
                Young and the Old_
          _X._  _Birdalone comes to the Isle of the Queens_        131
         _XI._  _And now she comes to the Isle of the              136
                Kings_
        _XII._  _Of Birdalone_, _how she came unto the Isle        141
                of Nothing_
            _The Third Part_: _Of the Castle of the Quest_
  _  Chap. I._  _Birdalone comes to the Castle of the              146
                Quest_
         _II._  _Of Birdalone_, _and how she rested the            152
                Night through in a Bower without the Castle
                of the Quest_
        _III._  _How Birdalone dight her for meeting the           157
                Champions of the Quest_
         _IV._  _And now she meets the Champions_                  160
          _V._  _Birdalone has True Tokens from the                167
                Champions of the Quest_
         _VI._  _How the Champions would do Birdalone to be        177
                clad anew in the Castle of the Quest_
        _VII._  _Of Birdalone_, _how she told the Champions        180
                all her Tale_
       _VIII._  _In the Meanwhile of the Departing of the          184
                Champions_, _they would pleasure Birdalone
                with Feats of Arms and Games of Prowess_
         _IX._  _Birdalone cometh before the Champions in          186
                her New Array_
          _X._  _The Champions go their Ways in the Sending        190
                Boat_
             _The Fourth Part_: _Of the Days of Abiding_
   _ Chap. I._  _Of Birdalone’s Grief_; _and of Leonard the        194
                Chaplain_
         _II._  _Birdalone learneth Lore of the Priest_.           197
                _Ten Days of Waiting wear_
        _III._  _Now would Birdalone ride abroad_                  200
         _IV._  _Of Birdalone’s Faring abroad_                     205
          _V._  _Sir Aymeris showeth Birdalone the                 208
                Mountains afar off_
         _VI._  _Birdalone heareth tell Tales of the Black         213
                Valley of the Greywethers_
        _VII._  _Birdalone beguileth the Priest to help her        216
                to Outgoing_
       _VIII._  _Birdalone fares on her Adventure_                 220
         _IX._  _Birdalone comes to the Black Valley_              224
          _X._  _How Birdalone fell in with a Man in the           227
                Black Valley of the Greywethers_
         _XI._  _Birdalone is led up the Black Valley_             231
        _XII._  _How those Twain get them from out of the          235
                Black Valley of the Greywethers_
       _XIII._  _Now they rest for the Night in the Strait         243
                Pass_
        _XIV._  _The Black Knight tells the Truth of               245
                Himself_
         _XV._  _The Black Knight brings Birdalone to the          250
                Bower in the Dale_
        _XVI._  _Yet a Day and a Night they tarry in the           255
                Dale_
          _The Fifth Part_: _The Tale of the Quest’s Ending_
    _Chap. I._  _Of Sir Leonard’s trouble and the Coming of        263
                the Quest_
         _II._  _Now ask they of Birdalone_, _and Sir              268
                Leonard speaks_
        _III._  _How they follow the Slot of Birdalone and         271
                the Black Knight_
         _IV._  _Of the Slaying of Friend and Foe_                 276
          _V._  _They come home to the Castle of the Quest_        283
         _VI._  _Of the Talk betwixt Birdalone and Viridis_        285
        _VII._  _Birdalone telleth the Tale of her                 289
                Wandering up the Valley of the Greywethers_
       _VIII._  _Atra and Birdalone talk together while the        305
                Lords sit at the Murder-council_
         _IX._  _Hugh tells the Story of the Quest’s               309
                Ending_
          _X._  _How it fared with the Three Ladies after          340
                the Escape of Birdalone_
         _XI._  _Birdalone and the Black Squire talk               350
                together in the Hall of the Castle_
        _XII._  _The Knights and their Fellows betake them         355
                to the Assaulting of the Red Hold_
       _XIII._  _Birdalone bethinks her to fulfil the              358
                Promise made unto Atra_
        _XIV._  _Birdalone leaves the Castle of the Quest_         364
               _The Sixth Part_: _The Days of Absence_
    _Chap. I._  _Birdalone rides to Greenford and there            366
                takes Leave of Arnold and his Men_
         _II._  _Of Birdalone and her Fellowship_, _their          372
                Faring over the Downland_
        _III._  _They come to the City of the Five Crafts_,        374
                _and Birdalone meets with the Poor-wife_
         _IV._  _Of the Love of Gerard’s Sons and of               385
                Jacobus for Birdalone_
          _V._  _Of the death of Audrey_, _Mother to               389
                Birdalone_.  _She is warned in a Dream to
                seek the Black Squire_, _and is minded to
                depart the City of the Five Crafts_, _and
                seek again the Castle of the Quest_
         _VI._  _Of the Sundering of Birdalone from Gerard         396
                and his Sons_
        _VII._  _Birdalone cometh to Greenford_, _and hears        401
                of the Wasting of the Castle of the Quest_
       _VIII._  _Birdalone cometh to the Castle of the             406
                Quest_, _heareth the Tale thereof from
                Leonard_, _and departeth thence by the
                Sending Boat_
         _IX._  _Birdalone findeth the Isle of Nothing             413
                greatly bettered_, _and is kindly entreated
                there_
          _X._  _Of Birdalone’s Flitting from the Isle of          420
                Nothing_
         _XI._  _Coming to the Isle of Kings Birdalone             422
                findeth there a Score and Two of Fair
                Damsels who would fain have her Company_
        _XII._  _Birdalone cometh again to the Isle of             427
                Queens_, _and findeth a Perilous Adventure
                therein_
       _XIII._  _Coming to the Isle of the Young and the           438
                Old_, _Birdalone findeth it peopled with
                Children_
        _XIV._  _The Sending Boat disappeareth from the            442
                Isle of Increase Unsought_, _and Birdalone
                seeketh to escape thence by Swimming_
         _XV._  _Birdalone lacketh little of Drowning_,            446
                _but cometh latterly to the Green Eyot_
        _XVI._  _Birdalone findeth her Witch-mistress dead_        449
       _XVII._  _Birdalone layeth to Earth the Body of the         454
                Witch_, _and findeth the Sending Boat
                broken up_
      _XVIII._  _The Wood-mother cometh to Birdalone and           458
                heareth her Story_
        _XIX._  _Habundia hideth Birdalone’s Nakedness with        463
                Faery Raiment_
         _XX._  _Birdalone telleth Habundia of her Love for        465
                Arthur_, _and getteth from her Promise of
                Help therein_
        _XXI._  _How the Wood-wife entered the Cot_, _and a        468
                Wonder that befell thereon_
       _XXII._  _Birdalone wendeth the Wildwood in                 472
                Fellowship with Habundia_
      _XXIII._  _The Wood-wife bringeth Birdalone to the           475
                Sight of Arthur in the Wildwood_
       _XXIV._  _The Wood-mother changeth her Form to that         485
                of a Woman stricken in Years_
        _XXV._  _The Wood-wife healeth and tendeth the             489
                Black Squire_
       _XXVI._  _The Black Squire telleth the Wood-wife of         493
                his Doings since Birdalone went from the
                Castle of the Quest_
      _XXVII._  _Sir Arthur cometh to the House under the          500
                Wood_
     _XXVIII._  _Fair Days in the House of Love_                   505
       _XXIX._  _Those Twain will seek the Wisdom of the           505
                Wood-wife_
        _XXX._  _They have Speech with Habundia concerning         509
                the Green Knight and his Fellows_
       _XXXI._  _Habundia cometh with Tidings of those Dear        512
                Friends_
      _XXXII._  _Of the Fight in the Forest and the Rescue         518
                of those Friends from the Men of the Red
                Company_
     _XXXIII._  _Viridis telleth the Tale of their Seeking_        525
             _The Seventh Part_: _The Days of Returning_
    _Chap. I._  _Sir Hugh asketh Birdalone where she would         524
                have the Abode of their Fellowship to be_
         _II._  _Birdalone taketh Counsel with her                 537
                Wood-mother concerning the Matter of Sir
                Hugh_
        _III._  _Of the Journeying through the Forest of           541
                Evilshaw unto the Town of Utterhay_
         _IV._  _Of the Abiding in Utterhay in Love and            550
                Contentment_




THE FIRST PART: OF THE HOUSE OF CAPTIVITY.


CHAPTER I.  CATCH AT UTTERHAY.


WHILOM, as tells the tale, was a walled cheaping-town hight Utterhay,
which was builded in a bight of the land a little off the great highway
which went from over the mountains to the sea.

The said town was hard on the borders of a wood, which men held to be
mighty great, or maybe measureless; though few indeed had entered it, and
they that had, brought back tales wild and confused thereof.

Therein was neither highway nor byway, nor wood-reeve nor way-warden;
never came chapman thence into Utterhay; no man of Utterhay was so poor
or so bold that he durst raise the hunt therein; no outlaw durst flee
thereto; no man of God had such trust in the saints that he durst build
him a cell in that wood.

For all men deemed it more than perilous; and some said that there walked
the worst of the dead; othersome that the Goddesses of the Gentiles
haunted there; others again that it was the faery rather, but they full
of malice and guile.  But most commonly it was deemed that the devils
swarmed amidst of its thickets, and that wheresoever a man sought to, who
was once environed by it, ever it was the Gate of Hell whereto he came.
And the said wood was called Evilshaw.

Nevertheless the cheaping-town throve not ill; for whatso evil things
haunted Evilshaw, never came they into Utterhay in such guise that men
knew them, neither wotted they of any hurt that they had of the Devils of
Evilshaw.

Now in the said cheaping-town, on a day, it was market and high noon, and
in the market-place was much people thronging; and amidst of them went a
woman, tall, and strong of aspect, of some thirty winters by seeming,
black-haired, hook-nosed and hawk-eyed, not so fair to look on as
masterful and proud.  She led a great grey ass betwixt two panniers,
wherein she laded her marketings.  But now she had done her chaffer, and
was looking about her as if to note the folk for her disport; but when
she came across a child, whether it were borne in arms or led by its
kinswomen, or were going alone, as were some, she seemed more heedful of
it, and eyed it more closely than aught else.

So she strolled about till she was come to the outskirts of the throng,
and there she happened on a babe of some two winters, which was crawling
about on its hands and knees, with scarce a rag upon its little body.
She watched it, and looked whereto it was going, and saw a woman sitting
on a stone, with none anigh her, her face bowed over her knees as if she
were weary or sorry.  Unto her crept the little one, murmuring and merry,
and put its arms about the woman’s legs, and buried its face in the folds
of her gown: she looked up therewith, and showed a face which had once
been full fair, but was now grown bony and haggard, though she were
scarce past five and twenty years.  She took the child and strained it to
her bosom, and kissed it, face and hands, and made it great cheer, but
ever woefully.  The tall stranger stood looking down on her, and noted
how evilly she was clad, and how she seemed to have nought to do with
that throng of thriving cheapeners, and she smiled somewhat sourly.

At last she spake, and her voice was not so harsh as might have been
looked for from her face: Dame, she said, thou seemest to be less busy
than most folk here; might I crave of thee to tell an alien who has but
some hour to dwell in this good town where she may find her a chamber
wherein to rest and eat a morsel, and be untroubled of ribalds and ill
company?  Said the poor-wife: Short shall be my tale; I am over poor to
know of hostelries and ale-houses that I may tell thee aught thereof.
Said the other: Maybe some neighbour of thine would take me in for thy
sake?  Said the mother: What neighbours have I since my man died; and I
dying of hunger, and in this town of thrift and abundance?

The leader of the ass was silent a while, then she said: Poor woman!  I
begin to have pity on thee; and I tell thee that luck hath come to thee
to-day.

Now the poor-wife had stood up with the babe in her arms and was turning
to go her ways; but the alien put forth a hand to her, and said: Stand a
while and hearken good tidings.  And she put her hand to her
girdle-pouch, and drew thereout a good golden piece, a noble, and said:
When I am sitting down in thine house thou wilt have earned this, and
when I take my soles out thereof there will be three more of like
countenance, if I be content with thee meanwhile.

The woman looked on the gold, and tears came into her eyes; but she
laughed and said: Houseroom may I give thee for an hour truly, and
therewithal water of the well, and a mouse’s meal of bread.  If thou deem
that worth three nobles, how may I say thee nay, when they may save the
life of my little one.  But what else wouldst thou of me?  Little enough,
said the alien; so lead me straight to thine house.

So went they forth of the market