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A Tale of the House of the Wolfings and All the Kindreds of the Mark
A Tale of the House of the Wolfings and All the Kindreds of the Mark Author:William Morris Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. THIODOLF TALKETH WITH THE WOOD-SUN. BUT yet sat Thiodolf under the Hall-Sun for awhile as one in deep thought; till at last as he stirred, his s... more »word clattered on him; and then he lifted up his eyes and looked down the hall and saw no man stirring; so he stood up and settled his raiment on him, and went forth, and so took his ways through the hall-door, as one who hath an errand. The moonlight lay in a great flood on the grass without, and the dew was falling in the coldest hour of the night, and the earth smelled sweetly. The whole habitation was asleep now, and there was no sound to be known as the sound of any creature, save that from the distant meadow came the lowing of a cow that had lost her calf, and that a white owl was flitting about near the eaves of the Roof with her wild cry that sounded like the mocking of merriment now silent. Thiodolf turned toward the wood, and walked steadily through the scattered hazel-trees, and thereby into the thick of the beech-trees, whoseboles grew smooth and silver-grey, high and close- set; and so on and on he went as one going by a well-known path, though there was no path, till all the moonlight was quenched under the close roof of the beech-leaves; though yet, for all the darkness, no man could go there and not feel that the roof was green above him. Still he went on in despite of the darkness, till at last there was a glimmer before him, that grew greater till he came unto a small wood-lawn whereon the turf grew again, though the grass was but thin, because little sunlight got to it, so close and thick were the tall trees round about it. In the heavens above it by now there was a light that was not all of the moon, though it might scarce be told whether that light were the memory of yesterday or the promise of t...« less