| Date: 14 April 2011, 08:09
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If literature is music, then Lawhead's "Song of Albion" trilogy is a profound symphony, with a tremendously passionate ending. In the final book of the series, "The Endless Knot" (which sees the welcome return of Llew as the narrator), both the High King Llew and his ally King Cynan find themselves wives: Llew the beautiful Goewyn, and Cynan the mysterious Tangwen. Without becoming sappy or secular in his depiction, Lawhead shows the beauty of pure and passionate love between husband and wife. But Llew's joy is quickly dashed as the two queens are abducted and carried off to distant lands. Accompanied by their warband and the bard Tegid, Llew and Cynan set off in pursuit. The quest through hostile lands and far-off places turns into a Tolkienesque journey, as the land itself becomes the essence of evil, with putrid smells and hidden enemies. As they venture into the heart of evil through the Foul Land (Tir Aflan), our heroes must battle a hostile landscape and its corrupt creatures which have been awakened by evil, such as the dreaded Wyrm which has been awakened by evil. When they finally discover the source of the evil that has stolen their brides and threatened Albion, the shock is greater than ever, because it ushers in a final battle is against the intruder Simon (Siawn).
The conflict reaches an apocalyptic climax in the closing pages, as Llew and Simon meet face to face. The cruel bondage of many that Llew seeks to liberate is a clear portrayal of the horrific slavery to Satan. Meanwhile in Llew, Lawhead paints a portrait of the work of Christ as Messianic king, who "becomes justice for his people" who in turn can "shelter beneath his protection" (p82). Like Christ, Llew sacrifices his own life to rescue his bride. And just as the Bride of Christ will be completely redeemed on the day of His return, so Llew's arrival culminates in a grand conflagration that purifies the world of evil and transforms it to perfection. "Out of the molten heat, I saw the foul land of Tir Aflan recast, reshaped, and in fire reborn. Nothing escaped the refining fire of his irresistible will: all imperfection, all ugliness, all weakness and deformity, all frailty, infirmity, disease, deficiency and defect, every fault and failing, every blight and every blemish, every flaw effaced, purged, and purified...When the fire at last subsided, Tir Aflan had been consumed and its elements transmuted in a finer, more noble conception: recreated with a grandeur as far surpassing its former degradation as if an old garment had been [taken] away and not merely restored, but replaced with a raiment of unrivalled splendor." (p394). Lawhead's extensive description of this cosmic transformation is moving, and all the more moving because of its deep spiritual significance for Christians.
Llew's dazed shock at returning to the real world in the end mirrors the reader's emptiness after a passionate and profound journey to the other world. "How could anyone ever understand even the smallest, most minute part of all I had experienced? I had been a king in Albion! I had fought battles and slain enemies, and had, in turn, been killed. Only, instead of going on to another world, I had been returned to the one I had left. Nothing had changed. It was as if nothing had happened at all. All I had done, all I had experienced meant nothing." (p411) Yet Llew also returns with a new understanding of is present world. After witnessing the reminder of Christ's sacrifice at the celebration of the Lord's Supper in a local church, he realizes the profound significance of his own experiences for the present. "This is my body, broken for you ... Ancient words, words from beyond the creation of the world. Words to explain all that had happened to me. Like a star exploding in the frigid void of space,understanding detonated in my brain. I knew, knew, what it meant...Albion had been transformed - and this world was no longer the same either. Though not as obviously manifest, the great change had already taken place. And I would find it hidden in a million places: subtle as yeast, working away quietly, unseen and unknown, yet gently, powerfully, altering everything radically. I knew, as I knew the meaning of the Eucharistic words of Holy Kingship, that the rebirth of Albion and the renewal of this world were one. The Hero Feat had been performed." (p413). Llew has a deeper understanding of the growing kingdom of Christ as a result of his heroic and sacrificial death that redeemed his bride, the Church. It is this understanding that makes a journey to Albion more than worthwhile. The return to the real world is dazing, but one returns with a renewed excitement about Christ's kingdom.
In the end, the Song of Albion is like a literary symphony, with powerful profoundness and passion that captures your heart and sweeps you off your feet, and a magnificent finale that leaves you astounded as the echoes of the last note fade away. Like any great symphony, "The Endless Knot" is literary music that unravels your emotions. By ending this tremendous series with such a brilliant and emotional conclusion, the "Song of Albion" has more than matched Lawhead's "Pendragon Cycle", and given it a place among the greatest in contemporary Christian fantasy. If words are music, then this is a song for the heart, soul and mind well worth listening to!
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