The Sandman - Issue 9 - Tales in the Sand

RECAP: At first impression, Tales in the Sand appears to be a standalone story. In truth, it's a prologue to what takes place in The Doll's House, the second story arc of The Sandman, following the triumphant introduction to Morpheus in the first eight issues of this iconic series. What takes place in Tales in the Sand has long-lasting effects across the entire Sandman series and, more importantly, Morpheus himself. The character Nada we met briefly in issue #4, Hope in Hell, returns, and her relationship with Morpheus is revealed to us in all its terrible tragedy.

Our story opens on the dunes of an unnamed desert with two lone figures walking across the vast expanse, a grandfather and his grandson. Accompanying them is Gaiman's explanation of storytelling from its earliest beginnings. I always loved this introduction because it's a reminder that before television, movies, radio, and hell, even printing, stories were passed orally from one person to another. Sometimes around a campfire, among family members, or performed to an audience. In pre-colonial Australia, indigenous tribes often shared stories of the places they traveled. This gave them a more accurate picture of the continent's geography than any produced by the European explorers who came after.

Through Gaiman's narrative, we learn the telling of this tale is the last component in a young man's rite of manhood. As the older warrior builds a fire, he gives instructions to his younger charge to go and find something that must be brought back. Naturally, the youth is confused by this, but his grandfather assures him, 'you will know it when you find it.' And he does. The young man returns after sunset with a piece of glass he's found in the sand.

Over the fire, the grandfather explains to his newly circumcised grandson the oral traditions of the tribe, and the glass found, is a piece of the city that once stood where they are now camped. It was a city of glass surrounded by fertile land, far removed from the desolation surrounding them, where bounty was plentiful. Not only was it the first city, but so were its people. Their tribe is all that's left of those ancient folk, and it's a secret told to no outsider for fear of death.

The glass city was ruled by a Queen, Nada, who was not only the most beautiful woman by her sixteenth year but a wise ruler beloved by her people. However, she remained alone because, by her reckoning, there was no man for her. Of course, this changes when a stranger dressed in black arrives in the city and looks up at her tower. Nada is immediately drawn to him and, after a sleepless night, orders the man to be brought to her.

But he is nowhere to be found.

What follows is Nada's desperate attempt to find this mysterious keeper of her heart. She enlists the aid of the Bird King, who sends out his minions across the land in search of Nada's stranger. Only a white weaver bird has any information to reveal, telling of an encounter where the man fed it before vanishing. The King of the Birds surmises Nada's stranger is no man, or god for that matter, and cautions her against pursuing him any further. The weaver bird (who I'm sure is Desire in some form) tells Nada of a tree that grows flame berries on the mountains of the sun. If ingested, the berries of this tree will take a person to the side of their true love.

The weaver bird (or Desire - I'm dying on this hill!) offers to get Nada the berry. When it returns, it is singed brown from the journey. In gratitude, Nada promises weaver birds will never be harmed by her people, a tradition that continues even to the telling of this tale. Falling into a deep sleep after swallowing the berry, Nada finds herself in a strange land and witnesses Cain and Abel locked in their usual cycle of violence. After murdering his brother, Cain tells Nada she has arrived in the Dreamworld, the realm of Kai'ckul, the Lord of Dreams.

Nada discovers, upon meeting Kai'ckul, that he is the mysterious stranger she is in love with, and the Lord of Dreams feels the same for her. Instead of elation, Nada is gripped with terror, understanding belatedly why the Bird King cautioned her away. The love between a mortal and the Endless can only end in disaster, and Nada coughs out the berry, returning herself to the waking world. Kai'ckul, however, isn't about to give up so easily. He follows her back to her glass city, offering her his hand in marriage and promising to make her the queen of the Dreaming.

Nada refuses by fleeing, assuming different shapes to evade Kai'ckul, even going so far as to sacrificing her maidenhead, but Kai'ckul is undeterred. He loves her, not her body, and upon healing her, the two finally consummate their love. It is a night of passion and heat, shared by every living thing capable of dreaming that night. But it is love that comes at a terrible price.

A fireball descends from the sun in the light of day, obliterating the glass city. The surrounding land, once fertile, is now a wasteland, covered in fragments of fused sand and glass, pieces that look not unlike the one found by the young warrior. Nada grasps immediately this disaster has occurred because of them. If she were to remain with Kai'ckul, worse would follow. Showing more responsibility than Kai'ckul should as one of the Endless, Nada throws herself off the mountain, dashing herself against the rocks to escape him.

Kai'ckul, now wearing his helm, a sure sign of his rage, demands Nada accept his hand or suffer eternal pain. Once again, Nada refuses, guilt-ridden by what her passion has done to her people. She won't risk worse to the rest of the world by staying with Kai'ckul. None of this seems to resonate with Kai'ckul, who makes one last offer.

The grandfather's tale ends there, with his grandson, not to mention the reading audience, understandably frustrated by the lack of a conclusion. In the end, the old man reveals Nada gave the only answer she could. With the coming of dawn, the ritual has ended. The fragment is returned to the desert, and the story has been passed from one generation to another. One day the new warrior will take the same journey with another youth and tell the story again.

Gaiman ends with the possibility that the women folk of the tribe might have a different version of the tale, but it remains their secret. As readers, however, we know how the story ends or where it goes from here. It does not end well for Nada as seen in Hope in Hell and Kai'ckul or rather Morpheus reveals immortality does not engender compassion.

That lesson is yet to come.

Well, that's it for this recap. I hope you enjoyed it!

NEXT - Issue 10 - The Doll's House

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