"Wind gusted out of twilight as the door opened."
-Poul Anderson, "The Sorrow of Odin the Goth" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2006), 372, p. 333.
Later:
"The door flew open.
"Dusk had deepened fast, when autumn was on hand, so that the newcomer stood in the middle of blackness. Wind flapped the edges of his blue cloak, flung a few dead leaves in past him, whistled and chilled along the room. Folk turned to see who had come, drew a sharp breath, and those who had been seated now scrambled to stand. It was the Wanderer." (p. 339)
Time Patrolman Carl Farness, who is the Wanderer, explains to Manse Everard:
"'Wodan-Mercury-Hermes is the Wanderer because he's the god of the wind.'" (1980, p. 390)
The Roman general Cerialis tells Everardus:
"'You're royal at home, descended from Mercury. Got to be, the way you bear yourself.'"
-"Star of the Sea" IN Time Patrol, 16, p. 604.
Mercury, divine super-speedster, would make an appropriate patron deity for the Time Patrol. Nicholas van Rijn tells us here that Mercury is also the god of thieves - who work in darkness.
When Carl as the Wanderer leaves his descendants for the last time:
"He strode through the shadows, out the door, into the rain and the wind."
-"The Sorrow of Odin the Goth," 372, p. 459.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And one reason why Everard seemed so regal to Cerialis is because the former was backed, if need be, by the powers and weapons of the Time Patrol. That can't help but to give Patrol agents more ASSURANCE.
And to counterbalance Mercury, the god of thieves, there is St. Dismas, the patron of REPENTANT thieves! And St. Dismas was one of Old Nick's favorite saints, as we know.
Sean
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