The Wind

What might the wind signify in myth, scripture, literature and fiction? Many things, no doubt. First, the unknown. There is a New Testament passage to the effect that we hear the wind blowing but do not know where it comes from or where it goes. Of course, we now have some understanding of meteorology. However, much remains unknown - or chaotic and unpredictable.

Poul Anderson's science fiction captures this dichotomy. His characters explore the universe, acquiring a wealth of scientific knowledge and always encountering the unknown. New environments are worth exploring but also dangerous because they are unknown. How often does an Anderson astronaut who thinks that he is safe have his environment blow up in his face? And beyond the merely unknown is the ever mysterious. Anderson's characters include believers in diverse religions and also agnostics who take religious questions seriously.

But, paradoxically, the wind is also associated with knowledge:

"'Wodan-Mercury-Hermes is the Wanderer because he's the god of the wind. This leads to him becoming the patron of travelers and traders. Faring as widely as he does, he must have learned a great deal, so he likewise becomes associated with wisdom, poetry ... and magic. These attributes join with the idea of the dead riding on the night wind - they join to make him the psychopomp, the conductor of the dead down to the Afterworld.'" (Time Patrol, pp. 390-391)

This is mythological reasoning but reasoning nevertheless:

the wind wanders and carries the dead;

therefore the god of the wind is the Wanderer, is the patron of traders and other travelers and the leader of the dead and has learned a lot.

Nicholas van Rijn, interstellar trader, invokes St Dismas and also refers to Mercury. And none of this is what I set out to say when I began this post! There will be more say about the wind...