Rain has washed the dawn pure. (I think that we know that feeling.)
Tomislav and Vanimen stand at the edge of the woods before the former departs.
The sky is white in the east, blue above them and violet in the west.
The western sky holds a planet and the Moon. (The mention of a planet makes Poul Anderson's readers think science fictional thoughts.)
Trees are described as "...all bronze and brass and blood..." (p. 139)
Dead leaves crunch.
Cocks crow.
Air is chill.
Maybe all Poul Anderson's descriptions of mornings, evenings, nights, storms and seasons comprise a vaster narrative than the doings of mere mortals?
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeletePeople from Middle Earth might well have thought of that planet/star as Earendil bearing the shining Silmaril after he was set in the heavens by the Valar.
Ad astra! Sean
Note that before the modern age, humans had. no sense of how -big- the universe is, or how -old-.
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteI agree pre-modern age humans had little or no sense of how big the universe is, but I don't entirely agree with the second part of your comment. I would have to do some digging for specific quotes, but I recall how Pharaonic literature included statements from writers aware of how old their civilization was and of how time worn even the Great Pyramids were.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: Christians thought the world was about 6000 years old.
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteI know, but I was going back somewhat further than Ussher's chronology.
Ad astra! Sea