-Poul Anderson, The Merman's Children, Book Four, Chapter XI, p. 254.
Another nautical term, the last.
"...this was the Eve of St. Hans..." (ibid.)
Another name for Midsummer or St John's Day.
Eyjan, Tauno's sister, has been christened as Dagmar. Ingeborg, his lover, magically merges with Nada and takes the name of Eyjan. As Horatio said:
"...this is wondrous strange!"
We can only echo Hamlet's response. See here.
Tauno and Ingeborg/Nada/Eyjan depart:
"Their craft surged forward, north-northwest over the Kattegat, to round the Skaw and find the ocean. Above her mast, catching on their wings the light of a sun still hidden, went a flight of wild swans." (p. 256)
Another sunrise; more light on wings. The wild swans are perfect symbols for Tauno and his companion, "...bound...into the unknown...Westward, maybe to Vinland or beyond. Whole vast realms of nature..." (ibid.)
Anderson's sf characters go further, beyond the horizon, into space.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I have my doubts, however, that two persons alone could sail any boat large and strong enough to travel across the Atlantic Ocean.
Sean
Sean:
You might be right with 14th century technology, but given that people have sailed around the world alone you would be wrong for any time since at least the late 19th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Slocum
Kaor, Jim!
Or far earlier than 1300. I should have remembered the stories about St. Brendan, using Irish boats far more primitive than 14th century yachts.
Ad astra! Sean
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