Matron's Lethe

[Andaeron]

So in telling my girlfriend where to find Cotton Bolls in Bentbranch, I mentioned that she was going towards Matron's Lethe. But what I SAID was, "Matron's Lathe. Or Lee-thee. Actually, I've never been sure how to pronounce it."

See, I had always looked at the fallen tree as resembling a lathe, and with the localization team using so many archaic spellings, I assumed this was such. Well, tonight I was determined to get down to the bottom of this. First I looked up "lethe" to see if I could support the "archaic theory," and, no, not so much. All I could find is references to the River of Forgetfulness in Hades and the noun "lethe," which means, "forgetfulness, oblivion." So I looked up a Japanese map of the Shroud, and interestingly enough, the Japanese name uses the word 忘却, which basically means, "lethe."

So, the question then becomes, why is it Matron's "Lethe." Was the tree forsaken to oblivion in the Calamity, forgotten by the Matron and her protection (and hence allowed to fall)?

[Wolfandre]

I believe in one quest an NPC (during the main scenario quests for Gridania...the NPC at the top of the lethe who is afraid of heights. I think his name is Theodore.) tells you the history of the lethe. It is believed by the devout that, during the Calamity, the earth was shattered in the Shroud in that section. It would have been impossible for people to traverse that section of the Shroud any longer, but Nophica (the Matron whom it is named for) stepped in and allowed that passageway to exist via nature.

I personally have very little to go on as to how the name came to be. I'm thinking some form of irony...but that's all I can think up.

[Enkidoh]

Well, the Matron's Lethe is a root, and it was stated that it was formerly buried underground only to be revealed by the massive land upheaval caused by the Calamity, so, using the etymology of the word 'lethe', maybe the 'lethe' part refers to the fact that the tree it was formerly attached to is gone, but the (formerly buried) root remains, a literal 'forgotten memory' now revealed? Or maybe I'm just clutching at straws here.

[Andaeron]

Oh, you're right- it IS a root. Maybe the name actually refers to the giant pit at the top?

Nope, I just checked. The name only pops up when you are ON it, not under. Also, the marker is much farther east than the hole at the top.

According to the Wiki page for the River Lethe, the word in Classical Greek literally means "oblivion", "forgetfulness", or "concealment". Not speaking Classical Greek and taking their word for it, maybe it comes from that last meaning, though I found no source that lists that as the meaning of the English word.

[NoloeTazier]

The tree that the root went to would be MASSIVE, the root itself doesn't seem to be brittle like most dead plants would be...so I wonder if the tree itself is still around. If it was knocked down in the Calamity, you would think there would be a "body."

[Enkidoh]

But remember, in 1.0 the trees of the Black Shroud really were massive - the opening scene alone for Gridania in 1.0 literally started with the player walking amongst the trees, and the player is tiny by comparison - here's a screenshot of the scene in question which clearly shows just how big the trees in the Black Shroud really were, with Enki dwarfed by it (the tree is so huge, it doesn't even fit into the frame of the scene - all you can see is the bottom of the trunk):


So yeah, the size of that tree alone does explain the massive length and bulk of the Matron's Lethe.

[NoloeTazier]

Oh I remember these trees indeed, but none of the roots are in comparison to the size of the Matron's Lethe. A general rule for most trees is that the roots grow out 2-3x the length of the branches/crown size, now we don't know where the root ends or where it begins but it's really big. Course SE could have just added this to be a cute infrastructure thing, but it's why we have the Lore section to ask questions...I still see the Matron's Lethe as being larger than those example trees.

[Nialle]

But remember, in 1.0 the trees of the Black Shroud really were massive - the opening scene alone for Gridania in 1.0 literally started with the player walking amongst the trees, and the player is tiny by comparison - here's a screenshot of the scene in question which clearly shows just how big the trees in the Black Shroud really were)

The only place that even remotely looks like old Shroud now is the Sylphlands, which is why I like that area so much. For a forest that's supposed to be ancient and mysterious and more than a little ominous, most of the Shroud now is too bright and open, imo.

[Enkidoh]

That's because lore wise the Black Shroud took the most damage from the Calamity, you can actually see how the large trees that are still standing look like they've had their tops literally sheared off at the crown of the tree, with new foliage appearing around it. But yeah, the East Shroud definitely is the only part of the Black Shroud that still resembles the original form. Unfortunately the design of the Black Shroud in 1.0 from a gameplay perspective was one of the most hated things about 1.0, hence why the lore was made to give a reason for completely devastating it.

Oh I remember these trees indeed, but none of the roots are in comparison to the size of the Matron's Lethe. A general rule for most trees is that the roots grow out 2-3x the length of the branches/crown size, now we don't know where the root ends or where it begins but it's really big. Course SE could have just added this to be a cute infrastructure thing, but it's why we have the Lore section to ask questions...I still see the Matron's Lethe as being larger than those example trees.

Ah, but look closely at that pic I posted Noloe - despite appearances, that pic is of the one tree - that 'trunk' on the left of the picture is in fact a root that split off the side of the tree on the right - the player literally walks through the archway formed by that one tree. Hence when you look at it like that, it really does explain the size of the Matron's Lethe, especially when you use the size of my character in that pic for comparison.

[NoloeTazier]

Hm interesting then, carry on. A tree that large could make quite a few houses or maybe Cid used it for the airship~ /joking