The Pilgrims now descend into the Valley of Humiliation. They know of Christian's fight with Apollyon, and talk about it, expressing fear of a similar fate. Great Heart assures them that they will be safe. Christian's fight with Apollyon actually resulted from Christian's missteps as he descended into the valley. Great Heart goes on to say that the Valley is actually a very pleasant place, that our Lord actually had a country house here, and loved to walk and partake of the beauty of this place. Here is solitude and rest. They see the spot where Christian and Apollyon fought, and there is a pillar erected there to commemorate Christian's victory. Great Heart tells them that when Apollyon was defeated, he fled to the Valley of the Shadow of Death, their next destination.
Now they come upon the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and they have two advantages that Christian did not have: they enter the Valley in daylight, and they have Great Heart as their guide (as well as each other). The Valley is long and difficult still, and the boys are afraid. Great Heart gives them comfort from his experience. He has traveled this Valley many times, and this time is not as challenging as the worst of them, so he tells the boys to take comfort from the fact that he is still alive. One of the boys becomes ill, but Christiana applies some of the medicine obtained from the Physician at the Family's house, and he recovers. Christiana soon sees something fiendish and ugly approaching them from the front, and gathers the boys and Mercy around her, but as it comes closer, it vanishes as if they were passing through fog. Later, Mercy hears a lion roaring, and looks back to see a lion stalking them. Great Heart moves to the rear, and when the lion sees his drawn sword, stops the pursuit. Later they come upon an open pit, and cannot see the bottom for all the smoke and fire about it. Great Heart tells them this is like doing business on the Great Deep, or going down to the roots of mountains. He directs them to pray, and soon the hindrance is cleared and they are able to continue.
One last obstacle remains, the cave at the end of the valley. However, this time, they do not encounter Pope and Pagan, as Christian did, but a raging giant, Maul who demands that Great Heart stop his business with pilgrims. Maul is known for encountering Pilgrims with sophistry, subtle reasoning and deception leading to a skeptical view of the truth. Great Heart confronts Maul, saying they shall fight, but not until the Pilgrims hear the reason for the fight. Maul accuses Great Heart of robbing the country. Great Heart asks him to be specific in his accusations. Maul says, "You practice the craft of a kidnapper. You gather up women and children and carry them into a strange country to the weakening of my Master's kingdom." Great Heart replies, "I am a servant of the God of Heaven. My business is to bring Sinners to repentance...And if this is indeed the business of your quarrel, let us get to it as soon as you would like."
The giant has a club, Great Heart a sword. The giant strikes first, bringing Great Heart down to his knees, but he recovers and delivers a wound to the giant's arm. The fight is fierce and takes more than an hour. Eventually both have to stop to rest. Maul simply catches his breath, but Great Heart prays earnestly. The women and children stand nearby, huddled together, sighing and crying all through the battle. When the fight resumes, Great Heart knocks the giant down, whereupon the giant cries out "Stop, let me recover!" Great Heart stops and lets the giant get up. As soon as the giant is up, he delivers a blow which just barely misses breaking Great Heart's skull, but in the weak moment after the thrust, Great Heart pierces the giant's chest with the sword. The giant begins to faint, and Great Heart cuts off his head.
Thoughts on this chapter
The Valley of Humiliation, which many people view as a bad thing, is actually a desired place to be closer to the Lord.
The Valley of the Shadow of Death presents many dangers. Some of them are just illusions, figments of our imagination. Others are real, but thwarted with the strong defense of the sword of God's word. Others are more difficult to travers and require fervent prayer. Then there is the ever present chatter from those who would discourage Christians from going on their Pilgrimage or encouraging others to do so. Confronting them may be difficult, even violent (in spiritual terms), but we are called to take on the Pilgrimage boldly. It helps to have a guide with a sword to do the actual fighting, however.