Who is Paul Schafer?
On a purely literal basis, Paul Schafer is one of the students from Toronto who is called upon to make the trip across dimensions into the world of Fionavar. Once there, however, events conspire to turn him mostly into a metaphor. “He was the Twiceborn, he had seen the ravens, heard them speak, heard Dana in the wood, and felt Mórnir within him. He was the Arrow of the God, the Spear. He was Lord of the Summer Tree.” These metaphorical nicknames are the result of a Christ-like three-day experience hanging from a tree. The language is also evidence of the more primal and ancient zeitgeist of life on this other world.
Weaving
Throughout the trilogy as a whole, including this entry, imagery related to weaving is prominent. This imagery is primarily conveyed through metaphorical language. Indeed, it is a natural part of the lexicon in everyday conversation. “Welcome home, Davor. A bright thread in darkness spins you back.” This metaphor is actually spiritual in nature. The centerpiece of religious iconography in Fionavar is an entity known as the Weaver which is basically their creator deity.
The Title
The title of the book is a metaphor, but not in the way that is probably expected. The term originates in an ancient verse in which the meaning had become confused over time. “The wandering fire was the ring Kim wore.” This true meaning revealed, perhaps surprisingly, less than halfway through the book. It certainly seems like the kind of revelation that would come much later. That is the conventional structure of important secrets encoded in metaphor through ancient verse.
When Worlds Collide
The setting of the book is divided between contemporary Toronto and whatever time Fionavar is experiencing. The bulk of the book takes place in Fionavar. This makes for occasionally jarring juxtapositions of colloquial language. “He hit the boar with a flying tackle on the near side shoulder, and he put every ounce of his weight and strength into it. He was bounced like a Ping-Pong ball from a wall.” While boars obviously exist in both the real world and the fantasy world, it just seems more likely such an encounter would occur in the fantasy world. The comparison made in the simile here is all the more jarring because of this distinction.
Jennifer/Guinevere
The first book in the trilogy ends with the revelation of the horrific fate foreshadowed awaiting Jennifer foreshadowed early on. The sequel reveals more to the backstory of Jennifer than could have been expected. Like Paul, she also becomes pure metaphor at one point. “No curse so dark as his had been given her, for no destiny so high, no thread of the Tapestry, had ever been consigned to her name. She was, instead, the agent of his fate, the working out of his bitter grief.” The unexpected introduction of Arthurian characters into the story in the middle of the series is made tangible by the revelation the connection had always been there. Jennifer is Guinevere and the metaphorical references in this passage are to none other than King Arthur himself.
