Thursday 12 November 2015

Gunnhild And Ragnhild

"A skuta bucked its way around the headland and inward to the mole."
-Poul Anderson, Mother Of Kings (New York, 2003), Book Six, Chapter XXVIII, p. 573.

Point of view becomes unclear in this chapter. Gunnhild, staying with her daughter, Ragnhild, invites visitors inside for hospitality.

"Ragnhild pinched her lips together, irked. 'Yes, of course.' As the lady of the house, she should have made the offer, But she hadn't thought of it. How much else had she lost in her years alone?" (p. 574)
(Grammatical error in the text.)

Either Ragnhild feels irked, realizes that she herself should have made the offer but hadn't thought of it and wonders how much else she has lost or Gunnhild sees that Ragnhild looks irked, realizes that Ragnhild should have made the offer and wonders how much else Ragnhild has lost.

Ragnhild's brother addresses a remark only to Gunnhild:

"Ragnhild marked that. Gunnhild saw her inwardly withdraw..." (p. 575)

Are we being told that "Ragnhild marked that..." or that Gunnhild saw that Ragnhild marked that? The next sentence at last clarifies that this passage is narrated from Gunnhild's point of view.

1 comment:

Jim Baerg said...

'mole'
In this case etymology 4 is meant.
Does any other word have so many barely related meanings?