An Ythrian On Aeneas

"A breeze bore smoky odors of starkwood. They recalled the smell of the Ythrian, as if his forefathers once flew too near their sun." (Scroll down.)
-Poul Anderson, The Day Of Their Return IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 74-238 AT 8, p. 139.

What is happening in these two sentences?

(i)  Wind often intervenes, or at least seems to comment, in Andersonian texts. Here it is a, gentler, breeze.

(ii) Starkwood is part of the Aenean environment, like hammerbranch on Ythri or ironleaf on Avalon.

(iii) Breeze is felt and starkwood is smelled. In the immediately preceding sentence, hoofs clop - so we do get our usual minimum of three senses.

(iv) Ythrians, proud winged hunting carnivores, are appropriately compared to Icarus.

Anderson packs much meaning into two sentences.