How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He's thinking about Merle. How something seems to wait in her eyes. How he felt calm, just standing next to her.
"Well, so it is," he says, smiling with wonder. (1.1.6-7)
This looks like the start of a beautiful catchphrase. Eric says this little statement in every single life he lives. It's an interesting one for him because the phrase indicates that he's sort of resigned to what's happening. Things just are what they are and what can you do, right? This is kind of true for Eric in a way.
Quote #2
Inside, he makes a note to punish himself later for such a lame reply, and yet, he had not said it with arrogance, or even an attempt at being funny. He said it as if someone else was saying it for him. (1.2.6)
Eric Seven doesn't know it yet, but this stuff has been said before. He's kind of tongue-tied and fumbles for words around Merle; he doesn't quite know what he's going on about. Someone else seems to be talking—some past self. Spooky.
Quote #3
Before she can say more, something distracts her and she looks over his shoulder.
"Forthwith the devil did appear"—she sighs—"for name him and he's always near."
"Pardon?" says Eric, but Merle does not reply. He turns to see Tor standing behind him. (1.7.20-22)
And here we have Merle's little catchphrase. This time she's quoting from the poem "Hans Carvel" by Matthew Prior, but she always says some variation on this little sentiment. It's kind of fitting for Merle, who is always following Eric from life to life. She thinks of him or speaks of him and—poof—there he is.
Quote #4
"I followed you."
Eric hesitates for a moment, wondering, but then he's laughing, and Merle is, too. (1.10.24-25)
Okay, this phrase doesn't make a whole lot of sense at the moment. Merle followed Eric? Where? From her house on the island? But it's language that connects them to their shared past when she promised to always follow him, way back when she was his queen.
Quote #5
"Look," said Bridget, "speak of the Devil!"
"Mommy, that's rude!" cried Merle.
"No, it's just what you say when, well, when that happens." (4.10.17-19)
Aw… Cute little Merle doesn't much like her signature line. Is her mom calling her friend the Devil? Merle sees the phrase as literal, and so will her future selves—she'll use this more literally when she talks about Tor in 2073.
Quote #6
"What did you mean? What you said at the quayside. 'Say his name and his horns appear…?'"
Merle smiled. "It's just what people say. When they have been speaking of someone, and then they are there."
"But horns? Am I a beast? A goat, or a ram?"
Merle looked at Erik. She noticed that the bottoms of his rough trousers were wet from the meadow grass, too.
"But you're wet," she said. She took a step closer to him.
"What kind of beast am I?" Erik asked again.
Merle's smile had gone.
She stepped closer to Erik, and then he gently placed his hands on her hips, and they kissed, for a long, long time.
"You still didn't answer my question," he said. "What kind of beast am I…?"
Merle laughed, too. She touched his forearm, very briefly.
She whispered, a grin on her face, laughter in her eyes.
"One that will be the death of me." (5.3.35-47)
Erik(a) and Merle discuss the meaning of her little saying. Is it just something people say, or does its significance run deeper than that? We think it does.
Quote #7
"Say that you will never leave me," he said, holding her hands.
"I shall never leave you," said Merle.
"Is it so easy to say?" Erik asked, surprised.
"It is, since it is you I speak of," Merle answered. "I will never leave you. No matter what happens, or where you go, or what you do. I will never leave you."
"But it might not be so easy," Erik said. "Our love is forbidden. It might become impossible for us to be together."
Merle shook her head. "I will find a way," she said. "I will always find a way." (5.415-21)
Words have power. Here, Merle swears never to leave Erik(a). She's already promised as much in other lives, but here she is renewing it. This pledge, of course, is going to be her downfall—bye bye, bunny.
Quote #8
He cried, "Leif! Our skald! We must have words! Give us words to remember our long voyage, and our great deeds, and to remember those who we lost."
There was Leif, walking into the center of the longhouse, to stand by the firelight, to give us his words.
He was a beautiful man, tall and thin, not one for fighting, though he fought with the others when it was needed so. But his tools were words; those mysterious gifts from the gods, and while most men merely learned how to use them, Leif was one of the wizards who had learned the secret of how to make magic with them.
He stood by the fire, and waited for silence.
Then, he cried.
"Hwaet!"
And so, we all knew his words were about to begin, and wonderful they were to hear. (6.4.24-30)
Ah, the magic of language. Leif is a Nordic poet and he wields his words like weapons. He doesn't fight with his hands, he tells tales with his tongue—and luckily, his talents are pretty useful when it comes to not being killed.
Quote #9
Eirikr had never been short of words for his people, not before. Not when the crops bloomed under the sun and summer rain, not when the raiding was good, when the children came quickly and grew happily.
He had not been short of words in times of need either, or when a warrior had fallen, or when a battle had been won, at great cost.
And yet now, he thought, as he looked across the silent faces of his people, what words are there?
My time has run.
What can I say to these people now?
I can say nothing to my queen, what then can I say to them? (7.2.34-39)
King Eirikr is about to die and words are failing him. Hey, we get it: There's a lot of pressure on him, especially since his death is supposed to reverse years of pestilence and famine. And he's not even sure that it's going to work. What can he say? Here's hoping? Fingers crossed?
Quote #10
Knowing her time was at an end, she lay down on the table.
People gathered around, but she still saw no one but the face in front of her, the face of Eirikr, her king.
She shut her eyes, and as the life sighed gently away from her, she finally answered his question.
"Yes," she whispered, "I will follow you." (7.4.25-28)
This is where is all begins. With these simple words, Queen Melle starts their journey. She agrees to follow King Eirikr and she does—through seven different lifetimes. That's devotion.