Skafloc At Sea

The Broken Sword, V. 

Imric raises a wind for his black longship whose warrior crew will deal with any trolls or kraken. Skafloc, who has been given witch-sight, sees, whether by night or day:

porpoises;

an old bull seal acquaintance;

a broaching whale;

sea maidens;

"...the drowned tower of Ys..." (p. 31) (see Versions);

a gleam of Valkyries overhead.

There are also sounds. First, there is a hawk-scream from the Valkyries.

Secondly, because the voyage goes well:

"Wind sang in the rigging..." (ibid.)

- although, also:

"...and waves roared at the strakes." (ibid.)

Roaring wind would have conveyed a different message from singing wind although maybe the roaring waves should be seen not as a threat but just as one of the natural elements easily mastered by Imric's magic.

When the elves reach land, they visit dwarves and we are told that:

"The bandy-legged men scarce came to Skafloc's waist..." (p. 32)

The height difference between men and dwarves generated some minor comedy in one of the The Lord Of The Rings films although not in Tolkien's texts. Despite their shortness, Anderson's dwarves are broad-shouldered and long-armed with dark, bearded, angry faces. No comedy here, either.

Blog readers might be forgiven for thinking that my attention is not always on the text. Indeed. Life continues here. Today is a Bank Holiday Monday which meant that the gym was closed although that did not prevent me from walking to it! It also meant that the Friends' Meeting House was closed. Therefore, there was no Zen group. However, there was, in a nearby Methodist Community Centre, a launch meeting for a new book to mark the centenary of the British General Strike. All of this means that I can't just stay here and blog! Nevertheless, we will persevere with the tale of Skafloc.