The narrative proceeds through the year.
"At noon upon that Birthday of Mithras, the sun blazed low in an ice-clear heaven."
-I, 1, p. 13.
"Imbolc marked the season of making ready for the year's work, the lambing that would soon begin, spring sowing later, fishing whenever Manandan and the merfolk would allow."
-II, 1, p. 31.
"Festivals surrounded Midsummer."
-XIX, 1, p. 337.
"Summer advanced in triumphal procession."
-XX, 2, p. 351.
"Summer welled forth in its final great warmth, light, and greenness."
-XXI, 1, p. 356.
"At equinox all the Nine must be in Ys, attending the Council and carrying out certain rites."
-XX11, 1, p. 366.
"The Black Months were upon Armorica. As Midwinter drew nigh, day shrank..."
-XXIII, 1, p.380.
"There was no wind on the night before Solstice Eve, nor was the air unduly cold."
-XXIV, 1, p. 3933.
"Seas ran high on the morning after solstice, but wind had fallen off and skies were clearing."
-XXV, 5, p. 421.
And we are nearly at the end of this novel.
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I assume the "Black Months" refers to January, February, and March.
Ad astra! Sean
Must do.
Americans tend to forget how far -north- most of Europe is.
Vienna is on the same line of latitude as the southern shore of Lake Superior; England is on the same one as Labrador.
The correlation between climate and north-south location is quite different. So around Vienna they grow wine-grapes and apricots, and England has a very mild climate. Which Labrador does -not-; it's glacial up there, far north of the area where agriculture is possible on this continent.
But the seasonal variation in the length of day/night is not, of course.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Well, I knew! Because I've actually LOOKED at maps and globes. (Smiles)
And sometimes the climate in southern England is so mild that grapes were grown there and wine made from them.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: not just southern England. In the Roman Warm Period there were vineyards in -Scotland-, bizzare though that seems.
Temperatures in Europe were about 2 degrees Celsius warmer then than they are now. (And considerably wetter, in the Mediterranean countries).
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Vineyards in SCOTLAND? That is bizarre!
Got it, warmer climate in Roman times.
Ad astra! Sean
Here in Calgary I'm about the same latitude as London, England (& well north of the namesake in Ontario).
However, with almost 1000 km of mountainous terrain between here and the nearest ocean the summers get to 30 C and the winters get to -30 C. However the coastal strip of British Columbia is about as mild as the British Isles. I think it is just a matter of having ocean to the west that makes a mid latitude region mild. Mountains limit how far inland that mildness extends.
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