The Roots of the Mountains: Wherein Is Told Somewhat of the Lives of the Men of Burgdale, Their Friends, Their Neighbours, Their Foemen and Their Fellows in Arms was published by Reeves & Turner in 1890. The Men of Burgdale live in a mountain valley — an isolated community of free farmers and craftsmen. Beyond the mountains, a warlike people (resembling Huns) called the Dusky Men have conquered neighboring tribes and now threaten Burgdale itself.
Face-of-god, a young man of Burgdale, discovers a hidden community of refugees in the mountains — the surviving remnants of the conquered tribe — and falls in love with their leader, the Sun-beam. This complicates his existing betrothal to the Bride, a woman of Burgdale. The love triangle resolves through the necessities of war: the alliance between Burgdale and the refugees requires Face-of-god’s loyalty to be undivided.
The novel is longer than Wolfings and more politically complex: the alliance-building, the diplomacy between proud communities, and the logistics of warfare receive detailed attention. Morris’s conviction that free communities can only survive through mutual aid — his socialist principle translated into narrative — drives the plot’s resolution. Tolkien admired this novel as much as Wolfings; the alliance of free peoples against a dark enemy in The Lord of the Rings owes much to Morris’s pattern.
Collecting The Roots of the Mountains
First edition (Reeves & Turner, London, 1890): Blue cloth.
Market values:
- First edition, fine: $200–$600
- Very good: $80–$200