Mistwood

The People Of The Wind, X.

Does "Mistwood" sound Tolkienian?

"Before sunrise, Ferune departed Mistwood." (p. 558)

That is to say that the body of First Marwarden Ferune, who has died defending Avalon, is disposed of according to the rite of the Ythrian New Faith. We gather that it is appropriate to set off while it is still dark.

The text continues:

"That day his home country bore its name well." (ibid.)

The name bears two syllables, each a distinct word, "Mist..." and "...wood." Both are well represented in the following description.

Mist

There is "Fog..." and "Smokiness..." (ibid.) The fog blows cold, wet and blinding from the sea while the smokiness prowls among trees.

Wood

Hammerbranch boles are thick.

Lightningrod trunks soar.

Sword-of-sorrow stems are ringed.

Boomer tree noise rolls beneath Ferune's house and echoes from ancestral shields.

Boomer trees are remnants of Old Avalon.

Mist and Wood

Moisture drips from trees onto fallen leaves and chimes when it strikes pools among ringed stems.

The rest of this passage describes the funeral ceremony. Sons surrounded by their torches-bearing choth carry the body on a litter over the wilderness high enough to see the Weathermother snowpeaks lit by the hidden sun. When the sun rises, the new Wyvan of Mistwood blows the horn and speaks the words. The sons tilt the litter. The choth drop torches. The widow leads the sky dance. Ferune's spirit is always remembered.