"[Eyjan] and her brother walked behind as the four left the strand, that their bodies might shield the humans from the wind that streaked in off the sea." (IV, p. 211)
That has to mean something. Wind from the sea signifies a threat to come. Also, the merfolk will be better equipped to counteract such a threat both to themselves and to their human allies. If Poul Anderson had not intended such an implication, then he would not have ended this chapter as he did. A peaceful wind would have meant that any threats were past. A chapter ending without a wind would have been harder to interpret! This makes us check ahead to the ending of the final chapter before the Epilogue. There we find that Tauno's mate (somehow) calls up "...a strong breeze." Then:
"Their craft surged forward, north-northwest over the Kattegat, to round the Skaw and find the ocean. Above her mast, catching on their wings the light of a sun still hidden, went a flight of wild swans." (XI, p. 256)
The wild swans symbolize the freedom of the merman's surviving children.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
But we should remember how Pavle Subitj, the Kingmaker, warned Vanimen that the looming age of science and advancing tech would put an end to that wild freedom all over Earth.
Ad astra! Sean
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