Wind In Ys II

Gallicenae, VIII, 4.

As Gratillonius sets off to face the challenger in the Wood:

"The wind shrilled, sent dead leaves scrittling along the street, roused little breakers on rain puddles." (p. 184)

Dead leaves lead the King to a death, either his or the challenger's. Or so we think.

"...a squad of marines formed a line to hold back the crowd.

"Through the wind, Gratillonius heard shouted wishes for his victory." (p. 185)

The wind symbolizes the forces ranged against him and, against that, is the support of his subjects.

In the Wood where the fight must take place:

"Wind eddied about, wailed and mumbled." (p. 186)

Incessant threat.

When, by the royal oak, the Speaker for Taranis signs the kneeling King and challenger with holy water and invokes the Father God:

"Wind boomed. A raven flew overhead." (p. 187)

When Gratillonius and the challenger, Rufinus, already known to each other, go off alone and converse before fighting:

"Wind brawled, swirled under armour, made the Wood groan." (p. 189)

They do not want to fight. Groaning is appropriate.

When Rufinus promises to be gentle with the Queens and their daughters if he wins, he:

"...traced a sign with his spear, in the wind." (p. 189)

When they prepare to fight:

"Wind keened; the raven, settled on an unrestful bough, croaked hoarsely; fallen leaves squelped." (p. 190)

The Greek chorus of the wind has been joined by the raven and the leaves.

And again:

"Wind blew." (ibid.)

It never lets up. While they fight:

"Through the wind, Gratillonius heard how Rufinus panted, while blood soaked his breeches and footsteps." (p. 191)

When Gratillonius should, by the law of Ys, kill the defeated Rufinus, he remembers that Mithras forbids human sacrifice and:

"It was as if Bodilis were suddenly there in the wind and the wet, Bodilis whom Gratillonius would seek back to as soon as he was able." (p. 192)

Gratillonius extracts Rufinus' surrender and spares his life. The wind brings death and life.

Weather And Seasons

As events in Ys approach a climax, weather conditions and seasonal changes seem to sympathise.

"Rain lashed from the west..." (p. 269)

"Weather cleared. The morning sun stood low...nearly heatless." (p. 272)

"The afternoon grew mild." (p. 275)

"Clouds drove low on a wind that howled..." (p. 278)

"Weather turned clear and cold." (p. 295)

"Wind woke anew..." (p. 300)

"The winter sun was barely aloft." (p. 305)

"Rain and sleet scourged the streets." (p. 307)

"...Gratillonius stood before the winter Council..." (p. 309)

"Snow fell in small dry flakes." (p. 328)

"Weather turned bitterly cold and clear." (p. 333)

"Snow returned, this time on a wind from the sea..." (p. 342)

"During the night snowfall ceased and freezing weather moved in." (p. 347)

"The cold spell ended. Snow began to melt." (p. 366)

"Rain mingled with sleet dashed down the streets of Ys. Wind clamoured, Ocean roared. This had become a stormy year." (p. 368)

"Clouds raced on a wild wind." (p. 380)

"Wind blustered outside." (p. 387)

"The wind yowled." (p. 390)

"A gale from the west drove an onslaught of rain before it." (p. 392)

" 'The weather...It's been vile throughout, this year.' " (p. 394)

"Suddenly came a quiet spell among the storms ramping over Armorica at that winter's close." (p. 394)

"The night...was the first clear one of their homeward journey." (p. 406)

"Foul weather returned and worsened. Wind came..." (p. 410)

"Ocean raged...Wind was an elemental force...The blast had been strengthening throughout this day...The Wood of the King surged under the storm..." (p. 413)

"If the storm got much worse, they would have been in danger." (p. 416)

"Still the wind mounted. By dawn it was like none that chronicles remembered. And still it mounted." (p. 422)

"The wind wuthered, the sea thundered." (p. 425)

"By sunset the wind had indeed lessened. It was still such as few could travel in..." (p. 428)

"The wind keened. The sea rumbled." (p. 432)

Also, a Witch-Queen learns by clairvoyance that above the clouds there is an unpredicted lunar eclipse. And shortly afterwards there is a comet. All this parallels the spiritual storms experienced by the characters and expresses the turmoil of their Gods.

Rain, Wind And Saxon Galleys

King Niall's men bring bad news:

"'The Romans took us unawares...
"'Suddenly, there they were, two Saxon galleys...
"'It was butchery...
"'...most died and we lost everything, all we had won in two years of work.'"
-Poul and Karen Anderson, The Dog And The Wolf, Chapter XVI, section 2, p. 317.

Do not feel any sympathy. Two years of work means two years of plunder. All that they lost was what others had lost to them. After such a speech, we expect some response from nature and are not disappointed. Right on cue:

"Rain roared...
"Wind shrilled...
"Cold and darkness gnawed..." (ibid.)

We find this appropriate and therefore are surprised by the opening phrase of the following sentence:

"It was wrong weather..."

- but the sentence concludes:

"...for this festival time." (ibid.)

It is nevertheless right for the bearing of bad news. To add insult to injury, the two Saxon galleys are recognized as the very two that were recently captured from Niall himself when he raided the site of Ys and was ambushed there. It is suggested that whoever captured the ships might have sold them to someone else but Niall replies:

"'They would not'...a gust of wind keened at the words." (p. 318)

The wind that has seemed to comment before does so again. It is like a Greek chorus in the Andersons' text. Niall knows that Grallon, the King of Ys, is behind it. Niall has destroyed Ys and it still haunts him.

Shortly afterwards, Niall reflects:

"...time slips through our fingers till at last we hold no more of it." (p. 320)

His druid companion replies to this unspoken thought:

"'A name can abide...'" (ibid.)

- and we remember:

"Kine die, kinfolk die...
"This I know that never dies:
"How dead men's deeds are deemed."

Weather And Wind In Eriu

The Dog And The Wolf, XVI, 2.

When, shortly after Beltene, Niall's men report that "the Romans," Gratillonius' men, have stolen all their loot:

"Rain roared on the thatch of the King's House. Wind shrilled. Cold and darkness gnawed against the fires inside. It was wrong weather for this festival time." (p. 317)

Wrong weather for Beltene but appropriate weather for the King to hear bad news. Niall knows that his old enemy, the King of Ys, is still at work and when he confirms this:

"...a gust of wind keened at the words." (p. 318)

That keening is a foreboding. Niall will again attack Armorica and this time will lose neither his son nor his fleet but his life.

Foreshadowing

Every major event in Poul and Karen Anderson's The King Of Ys is foreshadowed earlier in the text. Dahut says:

"'Oh, Niall, death itself cannot quench my wanting of you.'
"The wind keened, the sea rumbled."
-Poul and Karen Anderson, Dahut, Chapter XIX, section 3, p. 432.

Our old friend, the wind, returns. As for the sea, when it has destroyed Ys, the drowned Dahut will persist as a siren who sings of vengeance to Niall:

"Someone sported in the surf, white as itself, like a seal but long and lithe of limb..."
-Poul and Karen Anderson, The Dog And The Wolf, Chapter I, section 3, p. 35.

The siren also sings of her love for Niall, stronger than death. Dahut had said that herself, before her death, but we probably do not remember unless we reread.

Wind And Weather

Orion Shall Rise, CHAPTER NINE.

Wind and weather continue their commentary throughout this chapter.

"'Could they be after fissionables? Could that be the basic reason why Norrmen are plotting with members of the Aerogens?'

"Terai, who was no coward, shivered. The gale outside was less terrible than that which Arurturu bespoke." (2, p. 130)

 

For once, the gale fails to match the drama of the dialogue!

 

After assessing the motives of the Federation's current enemy, Terai:

 

"...stopped, short of breath after such an unwontedly long speech. For a while, the storm keened." (p. 131)

 

Keening is an appropriate response to what has been said.

 

"'...the guilty group, with ninety percent certainty, is Northwestern. Our task is to find them, prove their guilt, and break them, before it is too late.'

"He fell silent for a space. The gale ramped." (p. 132)

As the guilty group will ramp if not stopped.

When Terai's partner, Wairoa Haakonu, discusses the seriousness of their mission:

"The wind took the sigh that he heaved and strewed it over the ocean." (3, p. 140)

The wind seems to agree.

 

When Wairoa, despite his pessimism, has said that they still have a chance but that, in any case:

 

"'...come worst to worst, it will be exciting to blow the last trumpet.'" (ibid.)

 

- we are told that:

 

"The ship plunged on into night." (ibid.)

 

"Night" is ambiguous, meaning at least the unknown and possibly also the end.

A Beautiful Paragraph

The Day Of Their Return.

"Beneath stars, moons, Milky Way, three sister planets, Nova Roma had gone elven. The houses were radiance and shadow, the streets dappled darkness, the river and canals mercury. Afar in the desert, a dust storm went like a ghost. Wind keened; Desai, in his warmed cubicle, shivered to think how its chill must cut. His vision sought the brilliances overhead. Too many suns, too many." (3, p. 99)

What have we here?

(i) "...moons..." We are on another planet.

(ii) A reference to the Milky Way.

(iii) An "elven" city.

(iv) The word, "ghost," used to describe a natural scene on Aeneas. See Some Details On Aeneas.

(v) The wind seems to comment yet again: chill and cutting...

(vi) The theme of too many suns/stars for anyone to know or control them. Then don't try. Will there ever be a multi-stellar civilization? So far, human beings cannot control a single planet.