Wind In Greenland And Elsewhere Later

Poul Anderson, The Merman's Children (London, 1981).

When Eyjan questions the local chief, Haakon Arnorsson, in his steading:

"Haakon brooded. The wind moaned, the folk whispered and made signs in the air, not all of the Cross." (VIII, p. 164)

Brooding, moaning, whispering and signs portend evil. Of course the wind joins the chorus.

When, during their lengthy exchange, Haakon discloses that he and his men have slaughtered some Inuit:

"Shadows closed in as the fire waned. Dank chill gnawed and gnawed." (p. 169)

Shadows, dankness and chill underline the evil.

When Haakon requests the merfolks' help:

"Again was a windy hush." (p. 171)

When they refuse, Haakon's men overwhelm them. When they have spent a night bound on the floor:

"Wind blew whetted. Tauno wondered if the wind was always keening around this place." (IX, p. 173)

The wind keens throughout Poul Anderson's universes. When Tauno and his captors sail to battle, the cries of the black guillemots:

"...were lost in the sinister singing of wind. The sun was a dull and heatless wheel, barely above the mountains; it was as if cold radiated from their snows and the glacier beyond." (p. 175)

Wind sounds sinister when battle is imminent. Cold does not radiate but can seem as if it does.

Later and elsewhere, when Ingeborg and Niels bear good news to Margrete:

"A flaw of wind swooped into the court, raw and boisterous. A cloud passed overhead like a white banner. Crows laughed." (XI, p. 187)

Nature changes its tune. Wind is not sinister but boisterous. The text mentions not a cloud shadow but a white banner. Birds do not cry but laugh.