The Evening and the Morning

“He had found buried treasure, something worth more than all the gold in the world, and then he had lost it. Life stretched ahead of him, empty.”

After the Viking raid, Edgar contemplates his life without Sungifu and his father. His entire future revolved around his life with Sungifu. Now that his livelihood is gone and his love interest is dead, he feels empty. However, without attachments, his future is also filled with new opportunities. Thus, Follett foreshadows the adventures to come for Edgar.

“Edgar grieved for what he would never have. He would never marry Sunni, or raise children with her, or wake up in the night for middle-aged sex; there would never be time for him and Sunni to grow accustomed to each other, to take each other for granted; and he felt so sad he could hardly bear it.”

Edgar talks with his mother about her loss of Pa and his loss of Sungifu. In his quiet moments, he torments himself over the loss of his potential future with her. He will never experience the good or the bad of a marriage to her.

“Edgar was not much troubled by religious feelings. When people discussed how the dead spent their time in heaven, or whether the devil had a tail, Edgar became impatient, believing that no one would ever know the truth of such things in this life. He liked questions that had definite answers, such as how high the mast of a ship should be”

During the church service at Dreng’s Ferry, Edgar is impatient. Although his parents raised them to obey the doctrine of the church, Edgar is largely uninterested. If a question does not have a provable, testable answer, Edgar spends his time, thoughts, and effort on other matters. He finds shipbuilding more practical than religion.

“You want a grand passion, a lifelong romance, but those exist only in poems. In real life we women settle for what we can get.”

Genevieve tries to convince Ragna to be realistic about her prospects for a fulfilling life. Genevieve understands the romantic ideals of a young woman, but she is also experienced enough to know that her era does not cater to romanticism. Genevieve has a position of influence, but she is adjacent to her husband’s power; she must settle for that as a substitute for her own independence.

“The sin of lust was more difficult to avoid than the sin of gluttony, for Aldred.”

When Aldred visits with Edgar, sexual thoughts assail him. Aldred never has much difficulty with his vow of poverty and his ascetic lifestyle, but sexual attraction is a frequent burden. Monks took vows of celibacy because they believed it amplified the power—or purity—of their prayers.

“Spinning, weaving, dyeing, stitching, embroidery, and of course, laundry. A woman should rule that world the way her husband rules his domain.”

While Guillaume tries to court Ragna, he reveals the mindset of the times as it pertains to women’s duties. It does not occur to him that Ragna might want a larger scope of responsibility, because it is typically futile for women of the time to aspire to more than domestic work and childrearing. Ragna’s independent streak is part of what attracts Edgar.

“So court often involved a power struggle between two more or less equal forces, as when a sailor found that the wind was blowing his boat one way while the tide took it another.”

Degbert contemplates the difficulties in managing the hundred court. If he makes life too challenging for the peasants, they can refuse to obey his orders. But if he is too lax with his people, they will take advantage of him and ask for lenience on their payments. Degbert and the other leaders—whether corrupt or not—are always caught between opposing forces.

“Perhaps there were principles more important than the rule of law.”

Edgar is conflicted as he considers helping Blod escape. He does not want to commit a crime, and Blod is technically Dreng’s property. However, he can no longer endure the way that Dreng treats her. He would rather live by his principles and risk legal punishment than stand by as Dreng slowly batters Blod to death.

“She knew how to behave at ceremonies: move slowly, smile at everyone, do what you’re told, and if no one tells you what to do, stand still.”

As Ragna prepares on her wedding day, she thinks about the training she—and all noblewomen—receive. She is ostensibly Wilf’s partner in the day’s festivities, but she is also an ornament who is expected to behave in specific ways. She does not have the freedom that the peasants might think she does.

“In dog philosophy it was always better to go somewhere than to be left behind.”

Joining Edgar on the raft is his dog Brindle, a creature who prefers to be in motion. In comparing himself to the dog, Edgar wonders if it is possible for him to settle anywhere for long. He could have imagined a relatively stationary future with Sungifu, but her death—combined with the Viking attack—has set him on a course of constant motion.

“Owning a person had to be bad for the soul. Cruelty was normal: there were laws about ill-treatment of slaves, but they were feebly enforced and the punishments were mild. To be able to beat or rape or even murder someone brought out the very worst in human nature.”

Slavery is constant in the novel, but there are different levels of slavery. Some are captives, such as those taken in Viking raids. Others enter indentured servitude because they see no other option. In both cases, however, they have no autonomy and are subject to the whims of their owners. In the worst-case scenario, they have owners like Dreng or Wigelm.

“Two things gave him joy: money and power. And they were the same, really. He loved to have power over people, and money gave him that. He could not imagine ever having more power and money than he wanted.”

Wynstan is aware of his needs and appetites. He maintains as much decorum as necessary to prevent the peasants from revolting against him, but he does not fool himself; he enjoys domination and wealth and will do anything to increase his fortune and influence. Wealth and power are also bottomless appetites that he can never sate.

“This must be how the devil made a man his own, Aldred thought; by stages, one sin leading to a worse.”

Aldred builds his knowledge in increments, precept upon precept. Sin and corruption happen the same way. The smallest sin can build upon itself, accumulating until it becomes a catastrophic evil. This is most obvious in Wynstan’s progression from greedy Bishop to a man who helps murder his own brother.

“And so, Aldred thought, great ones sin with impunity while lesser men are brutally chastised. What could God’s purpose be in this travesty of justice?”

Aldred believes that God’s law is the highest authority. However, people like Wynstan indulge themselves in salacious, evil ways, subverting God’s law and avoiding punishment. Aldred cannot always reconcile this contradiction in his heart.

“Monks ought never to accept evil. They had to fight against it.”

Aldred disagrees with Osmund, who says that monks must have dispositions of acceptance. Aldred always gravitates towards a more proactive approach. For him, passivity in the face of evil is tantamount to tacit acceptance. This is what drove him to such rage against Wynstan.

“She was patient and still. Women could do that. Wynstan could not.”

Wynstan envies Gytha’s ability to stay calm and quiet during tense moments. Like most of the men in the novel, he is more likely to react quickly when pressed, which often leads to an overreaction. Like Ragna, Gytha can bide her time when necessary.

“They called her Ragna the Just. No one had done well when everyone was cheating and stealing. Now, with Seric in charge, people were more willing to pay their dues, knowing they were not being robbed, and they worked harder when they felt confident they would reap the rewards.”

Ragna reflects on the changes she has helped make. She rules in a way that benefits her people, which is how the system should work. When Ragna thinks about her potential legacy, she feels it is important to be an honest, honorable ruler. She sees how easy it is to keep the peasants relatively happy, which makes the behavior of Wigelm, Wynstan, and Degbert even more inexcusable.

“Every man who ever robbed or raped or murdered had a mother, and many had wives who loved them and children who needed them. But they killed other women’s husbands, and sold other men’s children into slavery, and took other people’s life savings to spend in alehouses and brothels. They must be punished.”

Ragna wishes she could show mercy to Agnes’s husband, but she cannot pick and choose who deserves justice. Agnes’s husband contributed to every crime committed by Ironface. If she ignores her husband’s culpability, she cannot be taken seriously by others.

“You realize, I’m sure, that the nature of the relic doesn’t matter as much as the use you make of it. You must create the circumstances in which miracles are likely.”

Elfweard talks to Alfred about using the bones of Saint Adolphus. Even the relics of a saint’s bones must involve an amount of showmanship to convince people that miracles happen. Aldred will take his words to heart as he soon demonstrates. It does not matter that he has the bones of Saint Adolphus; the key is that he uses the bones in a flamboyant way that will inspire awe and generosity.

“I understand that kings avoid conflict whenever they can, but sometimes a king should rule!”

Aldred is unhappy with the hypocrisy of the rulers. King Ethelred is tempted to make Wynstan the archbishop, just to give himself a period of calm, even though he knows that Wynstan is corrupt and evil. Aldred does not see the point of having power if the king refuses to use it to enforce justice and righteousness.

“Nothing had gone the way she planned, but she was going to make the best of things. She still had most of her life ahead of her, and she was going to live it to the fullest.”

After Edgar rejects the offer to return to Dreng’s Ferry, Ragna commits to living her life to the utmost. Rather than spend time in frustration and resentment, she insists on pursuing her own interests and passions. She wasted enough time hating Wilf and Wigelm and is ready for a period of fulfillment.

“We don’t want men and we don’t need them.”

After Ethel’s death, Blod and Mairead intend to raise the baby together. After enduring such harsh treatment by Dreng and other men throughout their lives, they are no longer interested in even the possibility of relationships with good men. Rather, they will depend on each other, and the baby will probably benefit from it.

“When people were happy they were slow to quarrel and committed fewer crimes. It was in the miserable depths of winter that men strangled their wives and knifed their rivals and it was in the hungry spring that women stole from their neighbors to feed their children.”

Ragna enjoys a period of calm in the absence of Viking raids. She reflects that there are many reasons to ensure the happiness of the peasants. Their thoughts are positive when their lives are positive. The absence of negative thinking and moods results in a reduction in negative acts and crimes.