“In that dale, the light was like a red sunset, but the light came up from the lake - and there he beheld strange shapes of flame bending and branching and wavering like great weeds in a sea dingle, and fiery creatures went to and fro among them.”
The narrative delves into the world of Faery, a land where the supernatural and magical creatures reside. In the magical land, Smith encounters a world that is anything other than his human world. Thus, the narrative introduces the reader into a world of fairy and paint imagery that justifies it. The statement is meant to offer an image that is otherworldly for the narrative to indeed make sense when exploring a fairy story. It aims to demonstrate the attraction that the Land of Faery has that infatuates the children in the story.
"If he has not told you, Starbrow, then I may not. But he makes many journeys and may be met in unlikely places. Now kneel of your courtesy."
Tolkien is renowned for his imaginative worlds in his narratives that would mold the modern perception of fantasy. The story is not an exception since it delves into the world of faeries thus allows the reader to amass themselves in the splendor. The statement is her response in regard to the whereabouts of the king. It serves a the great mystery in the narrative since the King of Faery is disguised in the world of men as an apprentice. Thus, the assertion demonstrates the element of mystery that is always found in Tolkien's narratives.
