Nornagest does not conceal that he is unusually old but does conceal how old, except to Starkadh who refuses to cooperate.
After a battle, Nornagest composes a verse which ends:
"...the wind called souls away." (p. 112)
He tells Starkadh:
"'I feel myself grow ever wearier of roving the earth among the winds.'" (p. 123)
When he wills himself dead:
"The candleflame flickered to naught. Nornagest lay still. Through the hall sounded a wind of the oncoming winter." (p. 131)
Before that, there is one of Poul Anderson's frequent Biblical quotations:
"Come unto me, all ye that labor..." etc (p. 130)
- and another right at the end of the novel:
"When I consider thy heavens..." etc (XIX, pp. 599-600)
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Very Tolkienian! I recall how, in THE SILMARILLION, even one of the immortal elves could become so weary of life he was willing to pass to the Halls of Mandos.
As always Anderson gives us very apt quotations from the Bible.
Ad astra! Sean
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