White Gold Wielder

infobox Book |
name = White Gold Wielder
orig title =
translator =


image_caption = Cover of "White Gold Wielder"
author = Stephen R. Donaldson
cover_artist = Darrell K. Sweet
country = United States
language = English
series = The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Del Rey
release_date = 1983
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 512 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-345-34870-2 (USA paperback)
preceded_by = The One Tree
followed_by = The Runes of the Earth

"White Gold Wielder" is the last book of the second trilogy of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever fantasy series written by Stephen R. Donaldson.

Plot summary

Leaving the sunken island of the One Tree, the Giant ship Starfare's Gem sets course to return to the Land. In a region of the ocean known as the Soulbiter, the ship is blown off into the far northern reaches of the Earth and becomes ice-bound. Realizing that the Land's need cannot wait for the spring melt, Thomas Covenant leaves the ship and strikes out south over the ice-scape, accompanied by Linden, Vain, Findail the "Elohim", Cail of the "Haruchai", and four Giants.

The party encounters many dangers on its journey but reconnoiters with Sunder and Hollian, the man and woman of the Land who Covenant left behind in order to attempt to gather resistance to the Clave, the corrupt rulers of the Land. They have little comfort to offer: the Clave has become so blood-hungry that entire villages have been completely emptied in order to sustain the Banefire. Only the stalwart "Haruchai", freed from the Clave's magical coercion, have rallied to the side of freedom.

Covenant and his companions nevertheless march on Revelstone, the mountain fortress of the Clave. Once there, Covenant stuns the others by summoning a Sandgorgon, the beast responsible for the deaths of two of his "Haruchai" companions in the previous book. The Sandgorgon, grateful to Covenant for having previously spared its life, breaches the outer defenses of the great Keep. After a tremendous struggle, Covenant and the Sandgorgon are able to destroy the Raver who leads the Clave, although at the price of the life of Grimmand Honninscrave, the valiant Giant captain of Starfare's Gem.

Mourning the loss of his friend and the deaths of many of the innocent denizens of Revelstone, Covenant is able to come to terms with his power-madness, through a process in which he mimics the Giantish "Caamora". Using the Banefire and the wild magic of his white gold ring, he is able to negate the effect of the strange venom with which he has been infected. The process hurts Covenant but does not do him permanent injury. With the aid of the Sandgorgon, Linden and Covenant are able to extinguish the Banefire. The defeat of the Clave causes the problem of the Sunbane to diminish but not to disappear.

Charging the "Haruchai" to resume their Bloodguard forebears' role as the warders of Revelstone, Covenant and the rest of his party set out to challenge Lord Foul directly, in his lair in the depths of Mount Thunder. En route, Hollian and her unborn child die resisting an attack of a band of Sunbane-warped ur-viles. Sunder is left numb and wordless with grief: in Andelain the Forestal Caer-Caveral sacrifices his life to re-unite Sunder with Hollian and the yet-to-be-born-child and give them a second chance at life. Covenant leaves the young family in Andelain and continues on, accompanied by Linden, two Giants, Vain, and Findail.

At Mount Thunder, Covenant gives the white gold ring willingly to the Despiser, an action which was foretold by Lord Foul at the beginning of the epic; Linden Avery refrains from preventing him from this action, despite her ability to do so. The Despiser then kills Covenant, and attempts to destroy the "Arch of Time" with the wild magic. However, Covenant's spirit blocks his assault: in a manner similar to the cleansing experience with the Banefire, the power of wild magic causes Covenant pain but does not harm him, and in fact makes him more powerful with each attack. (Covenant later explains, "Foul did the one thing I couldn't: he burned the venom away.") Unable to comprehend this, Lord Foul continues to attack Covenant's spirit until he vanishes, drained of all his power. Linden Avery then takes the white gold ring, and uses it to bond Vain with Findail. Linden thus creates a new Staff of Law, combining the rigidness and structure of the Ur-Vile's lore with the pure and free Earthpower of the "Elohim". Then, combining the new Staff with the power of the wild magic, she heals the Land of the Sunbane.

Giving the Staff to the Giants to take to Sunder and Hollian, Linden fades away. In the limbo between the worlds, Covenant speaks to her and explains how he defeated Foul and re-assures her that their love will transcend both time and death. Linden wakes up in the "real" world, finding Covenant dead, as expected, but takes comfort in the knowledge that through his love, she has redeemed both herself and the Land.

External links

* [http://theland.antgear.com/glossary.html#second Glossary of terms from the Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]