Flight of the Heron read-along: Part I chapters 5-6

[regshoe]

What is right and what is wrang, a short sword and a lang, a weak arm and a strang for to draw...

Welcome back to the read-along! This week's chapters are getting a bit more serious, historically and for our characters...

Next week we'll read the first two chapters of Part II.

Comments

[killclaudio]

Oh, so that's what 'Mac 'ic Ailein' means! From context I thought it might indicate the head of the family, but googling didn't get me anywhere. Thank you. :)

That makes sense about the naming conventions. I thought calling him 'Ardroy' sounded overly formal, but if it was normal even for the gentry then it feels a bit more natural. I can well believe there are dozens more Ewen Camerons, especially since every third character so far has been a Cameron. And first names tend to be passed around within families, so I bet Lochiel has several more relatives called 'Ewen', lol.

Ooh, recs! *bookmarks*

[luzula]

Yeah, the first chapter does kind of introduce all Ewen's names at once, which is kind of confusing!

Actually, the name "Ardroy" is kind of a pun: it's ard + ruadh = tall redness, which ostensibly refers to the red crag by the loch, but also obviously to Ewen himself... *g*

[hyarrowen]

Heavens. I never thought of that pun. Brilliant!

[luzula]

Actually it's regshoe who realized it! So I can't take the credit for that. : )

[regshoe]

Hehe, I love that Ewen's relationship with his home is all meaningful and solemn and really beautifully portrayed, but it's also a pun—excellent story construction :D