Wednesday 29 August 2018

Glades And The Dead

Poul Anderson, World Without Stars, XV.

In Rain And Words, I did not understand the phrase:

"...wave-splintered glade..."

Sean suggested in the combox that there might be "...a rarely used meaning for 'glade.'" My Chambers Dictionary gives only:

"an open place in a wood."

Anderson uses the word again:

'"...the moon and Jupiter rose together and threw two perfect glades...'" (p. 111)

Valland and Mary are camped by a lake. Are the glades the light on the water?

Valland goes on to tell us something more important than we realize at the time:

"'We swore to each other we'd always remember our dead.'" (ibid.)

That is what Valland is doing: keeping his promise to Mary.

5 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And I don't understand this use of "glade" by Anderson! I checked THE RANDOM HOUSE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (1973), and the only definition it gives is that of an open space within a forest. It's either a rare mistake by Anderson or a truly OBSCURE use of the word.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Light in the darkness is like a glade in a forest?

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Hmmm, meaning Poul Anderson was thinking of the intergalactic darkness as a night time forest, with the galaxy being a glade of light? I'm doubtful, it seems too strained, too unnatural to be understood like that.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Maybe the patch of light on the lake water is the "glade."
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I think we have to accept that this was a case where "Homer nodded." That is, Poul Anderson made a rare mistake in how he used a word. And the alternative you suggested seems as unnatural as the one I suggested re the galactic darkness.

Sean