Hinds’ Feet on High Places

The Chief Shepherd of the village in the Valley of Humiliation later reveals himself to be the King of Love, only doing so on the summit of the mountains in the High Places. Having gathered a community of friends and servants in the Valley, he sends little Much-Afraid on a quest into the High Places to be given “hinds’ feet” and be capable of the Ascent of Love. He is also revealed to be the Priest of the High Altar upon which Much-Afraid makes an offering of her love and desire, and who tears out the natural love that has taken root in her heart to replace it with the flower of True Love.

Sorrow and Suffering are twin sisters given to Much-Afraid to be her companions on the journey, and they provide constant support and guidance along the way. At many points it is Sorrow and Suffering alone who are able to support Much-Afraid and prevent her from falling away from the right path, or from acquiescing to the intermittent mockery and temptation of her many relatives who try to draw her away from the Shepherd. In the High Places, they are transformed (much like Much-Afraid) into Joy and Peace, having reached the end of their journey and being no longer necessary companions in the same way as before

The Family of Fearings consists of Mrs. Dismal Forebodings, Craven Fear, Gloomy, Spiteful, Old Lord Fearing, Coward, and Timid Skulking. They are Much-Afraid’s relatives who attempt to marry her off to Craven Fear and do everything to separate Much-Afraid from the Shepherd, whom they despise and whom they avoid whenever possible due to their fear of him. Much-Afraid lives her life with her aunt, Mrs. Dismal Forebodings, who makes her life a constant misery and schemes up a plan to get Much-Afraid to marry her son, Craven Fear.

Craven Fear, the brother of Gloomy and Spiteful, spends the entire narrative harassing and bullying Much-Afraid, trying his best to convince her to leave her quest to join the Shepherd in the High Places and to instead return to the Valley to marry him. Showing up at inopportune moments along the path, he tries to scare Much-Afraid from fulfilling her heart’s desire only to be repeatedly driven back and defeated by the Shepherd. Gloomy and Spiteful are wives to Coward (the son of Lord Fearing) and Timid-Skulking, respectively.

Old Lord Fearing is the family patriarch and the one who gathers the family together when Much-Afraid rejects Craven Fear’s advances. Convinced that Much-Afraid has simply been misinformed as to the circumstances of the family’s intentions, he attempts to reason with her. When this plan fails, it is to the mansion of old Lord Fearing that the family plans to take her by means of a kidnapping.

When the Fearings realize that Much-Afraid has stolen off in the night, they hatch a plan in which Pride, one of their distant relations, is to venture off and try to coax her back to the Valley into their waiting clutches. Pride continues to hunt down Much-Afraid throughout almost the whole of the narrative until he is finally tossed of a cliff by the Shepherd, though he ends up surviving and slinking away. When the Fearings discover that Pride has failed in his initial attempt to disturb Much-Afraid, they send their other relatives back along with him—Resentment, Bitterness, and Self-Pity, who all in turns attempt to disrupt Much-Afraid’s journey using their strongest temptations.