Monday 20 June 2016

Bright Gold

Poul Anderson, Hrolf Kraki's Saga (New York, 1973), pp. 92-93.

During the Blessing festival at Hart:

hawthorns are white;
heaven is full of songbirds;
the shrine on Frey's wagon is bright gold;
draught oxen and dancing girls are garlanded;
swains sing;
snow-water gurgles;
trees are green;
"...a heaven of slanting sun-beams and towering clouds..." (p. 92);
cattle are rust-red in the mist;
the breeze is cool and damp;
it is "...swollen by smells of growth." (p. 92)

Colors
white hawthorn
bright gold
green leaves
rust-red
sun-beams
clouds

Sounds
bird song
singing swains
gurgling water

Sensation
coolness
dampness

Smells...
...of growth

Only taste is absent and that is partly compensated for by mention of "...a feast..." on p. 23.

2 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I question the inclusion of "clouds" as a color. I've seen clouds tinted with different colors by the sun. A cloud is composed of a variable collection of particles of water or ice suspended in the air. Water by itself is colorless.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
Good point. I thought of the clouds as white but should have specified.
Paul.