An Almost Invisible Narrator

"Wings of Victory" by Poul Anderson was published in Analog, April 1972 (see image), and collected first in The Earth Book Of Stormgate, then in The Technic Civilization Saga, Volume I. Thus, our two sources of information about this story's first person narrator are, first, the text of the story, and, secondly, an interstitial passage by Hloch, the Avalonian Ythrian Editor of the Earth Book.

In the story, the narrator:

is a member of the crew of the Grand Survey spaceship, the Olga;

says, "'Pack animals, maybe?'" (Earth Book, p. 5);

is not among the landing party that makes first contact on Ythri, which is what the story is about;

is present but does not speak at the very end of the story.

Thus, s/he is almost invisible but nevertheless present as a first person narrator.

Hloch tells us that she is Maeve Downey, planetologist, and that the story is an extract from her autobiography, Far Adventure.

For the full list of Hloch's sources, see:

Hloch's Sources
Hloch's Sources II
Hloch's Sources III
Hloch's Sources IV
Hloch's Sources V
Hloch's Sources VI
Hloch's New Narratives
Fair Winds Forever