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Rosewater: I have a proposal. Goldenrod: Say on. Rosewater: On. Goldenrod: Excuse me? Rosewater: ... Indeed. Goldenrod: Excuse me? Rosewater: I have a proposal. Goldenrod: Say o- that is, do tell. Rosewater: I propose we rouse the king's army. Goldenrod: From their beds? Rosewater: To battle Hallow the Eater. Goldenrod: And? Rosewater: Victory, one would hope. Goldenrod: Ah, so you would rouse the sleeping giant. Rosewater: The which? Goldenrod: The sleeping giant. {Unsure} The army? Rosewater: Which? Goldenrod: Whichever is... sleeping? Rosewater: And? Goldenrod: And... snoring? Rosewater: No. Goldenrod: No? Rosewater: No... what then, after the waking? Goldenrod: {Lost} Eating breakfast? Rosewater: Well, eating, surely, what with Hallow being about. Goldenrod: Right! Hallow... what do you think we should do about him? Rosewater: {Disgusted} No ideas. You? Goldenrod: {V. Thoughtful} I thought... we might... rouse... the king's army. Rosewater: Ah. Well-thought. And then? Goldenrod: Well, battle Hallow the Eater. Rosewater: For victory? Goldenrod: One would hope. What do you think of the plan? Rosewater: Brilliant. Goldenrod: You don't say. Rosewater: Precisely. Goldenrod: You don't precisely say? Why not? Rosewater: Understand that it is a fine plan, except... Goldenrod: Except? Rosewater: Well, you'll notice that, as we stand here, Hallow the Eater has, himself, already eaten the army. Goldenrod: Pity, that. Still, Hallow is an naturally occuring artifact of destruction, they say... what's to be done? Rosewater: Quite. Also, he's eaten the king. Goldenrod: Ah. I've heard he does. Bit of a rumor, that. Rosewater: Hardly rumor now. Goldenrod: True. Rosewater: Finally, there is the matter of the battlefield. Goldenrod: Eaten it as well? Rosewater: Quite. Goldenrod: I see. Rosewater: Other than that, an admirable plan. Goldenrod: Thank you. I... have another. Rosewater: Plan? Goldenrod: Quite. Rosewater: Say on. Goldenrod: ... I thought we might head off and have something to eat. Watching Hallow -- Rosewater: Don't say it. -- Act 1, Scene Four, Rosewater and Goldenrod Hang from the Appian Way
Although often referred to as 'he' in histories and tales, the proper appelation for Hallow the Eater would be "it", as the thing itself was in fact a sort of miraculous automaton or Construct of massive capacity -- by which we mean 'ability', not actual stomach size, since Hallow the Eater of course has no stomach to speak of -- its 'consumption' was, most now accept, a type of controlled reverse-Anaphora, (which theory is most strongly supported by the nature of its downfall). One of the lesser horrors (or, it has been argued, naturally occuring phenomena) of the Second Age, Hallow the Eater was almost entirely unstoppable in its unrelenting but unpredictable procession through creation -- it would move for weeks along Yggdrasil in one steady swatch of destruction, then simply vanish only to reappear at some distant locale. Any number of heroes and enigmas of the Second Age are said to have attempted its destruction, inluding even Drenveldin Larkspur (by mischance, of course). It is ironic (or again, possibly tragic) that, in the end, it was the Excrucians who destroyed Hallow the Eater -- destruction by association, as it appears, for the constuct itself could not exist (or, possibly, subsist) once Anaphora had been removed from Creation; as a physical representation of the Estate's obverse side, it simply ceased to be. See also: |
