The Barrow: Chapter 27 Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Collum asleep in the forest when a Saxon hunting party stumbles onto the camp—literally stepping on his hand. He wakes shouting for arms, and a chaotic, moonlight skirmish erupts. The Saxons are poorly armed for a real fight, carrying only spears and knives, and the knights quickly gain the upper hand. Collum kills two men with their own blades: first the graybeard who stepped on him, then a red-haired man Dinadan has already shot with an arrow. He notes, almost dispassionately, that he is getting quicker at killing and at suppressing the horror that follows. Scipio collects the distinctive broken-backed Saxon knives from the bodies, and Collum stabs one into a tree rather than keep it.

After the fight, Palomides warns that the Saxons will now hunt them, but Bedivere insists they keep moving. Dagonet, who had climbed a tree when the fighting started, drops down to rejoin them. They push on through the night, exhausted, and Bedivere and Nimue take Collum aside to ask whether he might be Arthur's hidden child—a theory Collum rejects outright. Nimue presses the point, noting that Morgan le Fay has shown unusual interest in him, but Collum insists he knows who his father was not. Nimue muses that fathers cast long shadows, and some sons act out their fathers' sins without meaning to.

The group soon smells something foul—sulfur and brimstone—and Nimue recognizes the place: Merlin's Hill, the mound where she buried the wizard. The hill is a barren wasteland, its trees stunted and burned, the ground warm to the touch. Scipio urinates on the mound in contempt. Nimue calls out to Merlin, and the earth itself answers. The entombed wizard senses each knight by name, including Collum, whom he identifies as the fisherman's bastard. Bedivere tells Merlin that Arthur is dead, killed by Mordred.

Merlin offers his help in exchange for release, promising Bedivere a new hand and Dinadan his heart's desire. He taunts the group as sidekicks and spear carriers, not heroes, and claims he could raise a new king as he once raised Arthur. Constantine and Dinadan urge Nimue to free him, but she refuses, calling him a monster. Collum proposes a gesture of good faith: a spell to transport them north past the Saxon lands. Merlin provides instructions for crafting a travel stone—a smooth river stone with three bands, struck three times with a brass hammer, inscribed with Greek words in the blood of a hoof-less animal, baked in birch embers, and cut with a silver knife.

The knights take the instructions and leave. As they walk away, Nimue reveals the truth: there is no key, no lock, and no door. She will never let Merlin out. The wizard erupts in fury, the hill glowing red with cracks and fissures, molten rock appearing at the summit as he screams to be released.

Key Events

A Saxon hunting party stumbles onto the sleeping knights, triggering a brief night skirmish.
Collum kills two Saxons with their own knives and reflects on his growing desensitization to killing.
Palomides warns that the Saxons will now hunt them, but the group presses on.
Bedivere and Nimue question Collum about the possibility that he is Arthur's hidden son; he rejects the idea.
The knights discover Merlin's burial mound, a poisoned wasteland reeking of sulfur.
Merlin senses the group, learns of Arthur's death, and offers help in exchange for release.
Collum negotiates a travel spell as a gesture of good faith; Merlin provides instructions for crafting a travel stone.
The knights take the spell but refuse to free Merlin; Nimue reveals there is no door or key.
Merlin rages as the hill begins to crack open, glowing red with molten rock.

Character Development

Collum continues to evolve from an outsider into a capable fighter. His observation that he is getting better at killing—more efficient, quicker to bury the guilt—shows a hardening that is both practical and troubling. He also demonstrates growing confidence: he stands up to Merlin when the wizard insults Nimue, and he takes the initiative to negotiate the travel spell. His rejection of the royal-lineage theory is firm, though Nimue's questions plant a seed of doubt he seems unwilling to examine.

Nimue is resolute throughout. She refuses to free Merlin despite pressure from Constantine and Dinadan, and her final revelation—that there was never a door at all—reveals the depth of her commitment to keeping him imprisoned. Her brief squeeze of Collum's hand in the darkness suggests a quiet bond forming between them.

Bedivere shows both loyalty and pragmatism. He tells Merlin of Arthur's death despite Nimue's objection, and his parting speech reframes the group's status: they may be the odd ones out, the losers, but losing has made them tough.

Merlin is revealed as manipulative, bitter, and dangerous. He alternates between flattery, offers of power, nostalgia, and threats, and his final eruption—claiming he was born underground and hell is where he comes from—confirms Nimue's warnings about his nature.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Sidekicks vs. heroes. Merlin's taunt that the knights are spear carriers and stagehands, not heroes, cuts to the heart of the group's identity. Bedivere's response—that being losers has made them tough—recasts their marginality as strength.

Fathers' shadows. Nimue's observation that fathers cast long shadows, and that some sons act out their fathers' sins, applies both to Collum's unknown father and to the larger Arthurian legacy the knights are trying to escape or honor.

The barrow as poisoned wasteland. Merlin's burial mound is a dead zone where nothing grows, a physical manifestation of the wizard's corrupting influence. Nimue's line that Merlin poisons everything he touches makes the symbolism explicit.

The nonexistent key. Nimue's revelation that there is no door, no lock, and no key transforms Merlin's imprisonment from a reversible punishment into an absolute condition. The absence of a way out is more final than any barrier.

Providence vs. agency. Merlin claims God brought the knights to his hill; Nimue suspects Merlin himself reached out. The question of who is guiding events—divine will, Merlin's power, or blind chance—remains unresolved.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter marks the first direct encounter with Merlin, the legendary wizard whose absence has shaped the post-Arthurian world. It establishes the terms of his imprisonment—absolute, with no possibility of release—while also providing the knights with a practical tool: the travel spell that will allow them to continue their quest for the Lance. The chapter also crystallizes the novel's central tension between heroes and those who serve them, as Merlin's taunt forces the group to define themselves on their own terms. Finally, Merlin's rage at the chapter's end foreshadows a threat that may not stay buried.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Nimue refuse to free Merlin, even when Constantine and Dinadan argue that he could help them?

Nimue knows Merlin better than anyone in the group. She calls him a monster and warns that nothing will stop him if released. Her claim that she is a better magician than he was suggests she understands his power intimately—and fears what he would do with it. The fact that there is no door or key reveals that she designed his imprisonment to be permanent from the start.

2. What does Merlin's taunt about sidekicks and spear carriers reveal about the knights, and how does Bedivere respond?

Merlin dismisses the group as stagehands left on an empty stage, implying they are unworthy of the heroic legacy they are trying to continue. Bedivere's response reframes their status: being the odd ones out, the losers, is precisely why they have survived. Losing, he suggests, makes you tough.

3. How does Collum's killing of the two Saxons reflect his character development?

Collum kills both men with their own knives, a detail that emphasizes his resourcefulness and his growing competence in combat. More significantly, he notes that he is getting quicker at killing and at suppressing the horror and guilt afterward. This desensitization is presented as both a survival mechanism and a moral cost—he is becoming what the quest requires, but the chapter does not let the reader forget what that costs him.