Difference between revisions of "Quiet Isle"

From A Wiki of Ice and Fire
Jump to: navigation, search
m (The Brow of the Hill)
m (Penitent Brothers of the Quiet Isle)
Line 57: Line 57:
 
==Food Production==
 
==Food Production==
 
The brothers provide themselves with their own food and appear to be quite self-sufficient in that regard.  Bread, fresh churned butter, honey, a thick stew of crabs are served when [[Brienne]] is there.  
 
The brothers provide themselves with their own food and appear to be quite self-sufficient in that regard.  Bread, fresh churned butter, honey, a thick stew of crabs are served when [[Brienne]] is there.  
==Penitent Brothers of the Quiet Isle==
+
==Known Penitent Brothers of the Quiet Isle==
 
*[[Elder Brother]]
 
*[[Elder Brother]]
 
*Brother [[Narbert]]
 
*Brother [[Narbert]]
Line 63: Line 63:
 
*Brother [[Rawney]]
 
*Brother [[Rawney]]
 
*The [[Gravedigger/Theories|gravedigger]]
 
*The [[Gravedigger/Theories|gravedigger]]
 +
 
==Recent Events==
 
==Recent Events==
 
===A Feast for Crows===
 
===A Feast for Crows===

Revision as of 02:02, 20 March 2013

The Quiet Isle is an upthrust island that sits at the mouth of the river Trident where it flows into the Bay of Crabs. It is a refuge for those sworn to the Faith of the Seven. [1] The isle lies across the river to the south of Saltpans. Thick mudflats surround the island when the tide goes out. When the tide is in the brothers use a ferry to get to the mainland. Thus far the latest war has not come to the Quiet Isle. Septon Meribald, Brienne of Tarth and her companions visit the island during her quest to find Sansa Stark.

Island Refuge

Those who dwell on the Quiet Isle are male penitents. They seek to atone for their sins through contemplation, prayer, and silence. They are allowed to break silence when confessing. The brothers on the isle wear brown-and-dun robes, with wide bell sleeves and pointed cowls. Many brothers wind lengths of wool about the lower halves of their faces as well, so that all that can be seen of them are their eyes.

Elder Brother keeps the worst of the tidings from outside to himself, so as not to disturb the tranquility of the septry. Many of the brothers came to the isle to escape the horrors of the world, not to dwell upon them.

About

The isle’s septry stands upon the Quiet Isle, half a mile from the shore, where the wide mouth of the Trident widens further still to kiss the Bay of Crabs. When the tide goes out it goes out swiftly, the receding water leaves behind a board expanse of glistening brown mudfalts dotted by tidal pools that glitter like golden coins in the afternoon sun. Even from the other side of the shore Brienne notices that the Quiet Isle’s prosperity is apparent.

The Quiet Isle’s slopes are covered with terraced fields, with fishponds down below and a windmill above, its wood-and-sailcloth blades turn slowly in the breeze off the bay. Sheep graze on the hillside and storks wade in the shallow waters around the ferry landing. There is a whitewashed stable with a thatched roof.

The top of the hill has a low wall of unmortared stone encircling a cluster of buildings and a windmill. The wooden sept has leaded glass windows and wide doors carved with the likenesses of the Mother and Father and a seven-sided steeple. [2]

Only the Elder Brother and his proctors are permitted to speak on the island and the proctors only one day in seven. A vow of silence is an act of contrition, a sacrifice by which they prove their devotion to the Seven above. The brothers are allowed to break their silence when confessing – it is hard to speak of sin with signs and nods. Septon Meribald takes confession when he visits the isle.

Occasionally some visitors are allowed to stay on the island, some are women who are sick, hurt or with child. [3]

The Path of Faith

To get to the island from the mainland by foot you have to cross the mudflats when the tide is out. Only the faithful may cross safely. The wicked are swallowed by the quicksands, or drowned when the tide comes rushing in. Septon Meribald tells his companions to be careful where they set their feet, and to walk only where he walks, and they shall reach to the other side.

Brienne notes that path of faith is a crooked one. Although the island seems to rise northeast of where they leave the shore Septon Meribald starts due east, toward the deeper waters of the bay, which shimmer blue and silver in the distance. The soft brown mud squishes up between his toes. As he walks he pauses from time to time to probe ahead with his quarterstaff.

Brienne follows closely. A hundred yards out Meribald turned abruptly towards the south, so that his back is almost towards the septry. He proceeds in that direction for another 100 yards, leading them between two shallow tidal pools. Ser Hyle comments that they seem to be walking every way but towards the isle, however Septon Meribald urges,

Faith….Believe, persist, and follow, and we shall find the peace we seek.

They are met by three brothers when they reach to the other side.

The Slope

Brother Narbert leads Septon Meribald and his companions along a pebbled path and through a grove of apple trees to a whitewashed stable with a peaked that roof. The stable is more than three quarters empty. At one end are half a dozen mules and to the far end, well away from the other animals a huge black stallion.

The slope is steeper than it looks from across the mudflats. To ease it the brothers have erected a flight of wooden steps that wander back and forth across the hillside and amongst the buildings.

Brienne pass a dozen bothers of the order on their way up, they speak no word of greeting. There is a summer arbour which produces small, tart grapes, but make drinkable wine. The brothers brew their own ale as well, and their mead and cider are far famed.

The Brow of the Hill

The brow of the hill is crowned by a low wall of unmortatred stone, encircling a cluster of large buildings:

  • A windmill - its sails creek as they turn
  • The cloisters - where the brothers sleep on pallets
  • The common hall - where the brothers take their meals
  • A wooden sept - for prayer and meditation, the sept has windows of leaded glass, wide doors carved with the likeness of the Mother and the Father, and a seven-sided steeple with a walk on top

Behind the sept is a vegetable garden where Brienne spies some of the older brothers pulling weeds. Brother Narbert leads the visitors around a chestnut tree to a wooden door set in the side of the hill – called “the Hermit’s Hole”.

Hermit's Hole

The Hermit's Hole is a cave is located in the side of a hill with a wooden door at its entrance. It is the original residence of the first holy man to live on the Quiet Isle roughly 2,000 years before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire. Currently Elder Brother occupies the cave.

When Brienne and her companions enter the hermit’s hole to meet the Elder Brother it is a warm, snug sanctum. Woolen carpets cover the ground, tapestries cover the walls. Tall beeswax candles give more than ample light. The furnishings are strange but simple. A long table, a settle, a chest, several tall cases full of books and chairs. All are made of driftwood, oddly shaped pieces cunningly joined together and polished till they shine a deep gold in the candlelight. There are cups carved from driftwood, no two are the same.

Women’s Cottages

Although women do not live on the Quiet Isle they are allowed on the Quiet Isle. There are some modest cottages set aside for the women who visit the isle, be they noble ladies or common village girls. The cottages are not often used but the brothers keep them clean and dry. On the Quiet Isle men and women do not sleep beneath the same roof unless they are wed.

The women’s cottages are on the east side of the isle, looking out over a broad expanse of mud and the distant waters of the Bay of Crabs. It is colder on the east side than on the sheltered side and wilder. The hill is steeper and the path meanders back and forth through weeds and briars, wind carved rocks, and twisted, thorny trees that cling tenaciously to the stony hillside. Prior to the sack of Saltpans the towns fires could be seen across the bay on a clear night. The cottages look like beehives made of stone, low and rounded, windowless with smokeholes in the center of their roofs.

Brienne has to duck her head when entering hers to keep from banging her head against the lintel. Inside she finds a dirt floor, a straw pallet, furs and blankets to keep her warm, a basin of water, a flagon of cider, some bread and cheese, a small fire and two low chairs.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Where the river meets the bay, the currents and tides wrestle, one against the other, and many strange and wondrous things are pushed toward the Quiet Isle. Driftwood is the least of it. The brothers have found silver cups, iron pots, sacks of wool and bolts of silk, rusted helms and shining swords and rubies. So far six rubies have been found, the brothers are waiting for the seventh. Not all the rivers gifts are pleasant, the brothers collect the dead as well. Drowned cows, drowned deer, dead pigs swollen up to half the size of horses and corpses. Rivermen, westermen, northmen. Knights and knaves alike.

Food Production

The brothers provide themselves with their own food and appear to be quite self-sufficient in that regard. Bread, fresh churned butter, honey, a thick stew of crabs are served when Brienne is there.

Known Penitent Brothers of the Quiet Isle

Recent Events

A Feast for Crows

Brienne, Septon Meribald, Podrick Payne and Ser Hyle Hunt visit the island. There they speak with the Elder Brother and have a discussion on the war and what happened at Saltpans. After the others leave, the Elder Brother and Brienne discuss Brienne's mission and why she has to find Sansa Stark.[4]

Quotes

Though I hope you have some better sins than last time I came through.” [Dog barked]. “You see? even Dog was bored”. [5]

- Septon Meribald, to Elder Brother, agreeing to hear confession on the Quiet Isle.

References and Notes