Recognizing A Time Traveler

(Now we are among the Caucasus mountains.)

We are on familiar Poul Anderson territory on p. 277 of The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991).

(i) The chapter heading is 1765 B.C.-15,926 B.C.-1765 B.C. Thus, we expect some time travel.

(ii) The opening paragraph describes a breath of autumn on the foothills, sunrise, forest, dark fir, yellowing ash, browning oak, huge outbound flocks of swan, goose etc, stag, heaven and snowpeaks.

(ii) The second paragraph lists human activities: "The camp of the Bakhri boiled." (p. 277) Striking tents, loading wagons, hitching oxen to wagons and horses to chariots, rounding up herds.

(iii) Next, the King converses with a character whom we might suspect of time traveling. Denesh is a wanderer, somewhat secretive, surely powerful, much taller than the King, clearly not Aryan, a seeker of wisdom, now called away by his god...

Is he someone that we already know? (He does not have a battle-dented nose so he is not Everard.)