"East of Windhome the country rolled low for a while, then lifted in the Hesperian Hills." (2, p. 76)
Merely because of its meaning, "Windhome" is already an evocative place name. It gains an extra significance because of the prominence of the wind in Poul Anderson's works. "Windhome" is akin to "Stormgate." Some parts of English cities have names like "Marketgate" and "Fishergate," derived from Danish "gata," meaning "street." See here. There are Hesperian islands on Avalon.
Ivar Frederiksen, cold and shivering in ambush, recalls a line from a Rudyard Kipling poem quoted here:
"Brother, the watch was long and cold.
This line:
"A pair of wings likewise caught rays from the hidden sun and shone gold against indigo heaven." (p. 77) -
- recalls James Elroy Flecker. See The Hidden Sun.
The sun is named:
"Virgil slipped beneath an unseen horizon. Night burst forth." (p. 79)
This is the first indication that the action is back in the same planetary system as The Rebel Worlds - unless we have recognized the name of Hugh McCormac's former residence, Windhome.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And I recall, from my visits to London, of how that city has streets with names like "Black Friars Lane." Referring, obviously, to how there was once a Dominican convent there before Henry VIII's suppression of the monasteries.
Ad astra and Merry Christmas! Seanthe
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