Dragonsong

“The sky had wept itself out in the past three days: a fitting tribute. And the air was cold. She shivered in her thick wherhide jacket.”

In literature, writers often use the macrocosm of nature and the weather to reflect the microcosm of characters’ inner experiences and emotions. Rain is commonly used to echo characters’ sorrow, as seen in this passage when McCaffrey personifies the sky and depicts it as weeping along with Menolly’s grief over Petiron’s death. McCaffrey further creates a connection between nature and emotions when Menolly’s grief is reflected in the tactile imagery of the cold weather.

“‘It’ll be spring before we see another Harper. Are the children to be left without teaching for months?’ Soreel had punctuated her comments with brushing sounds, and there were other clatters in the room, the swishing of bed rushes being gathered up. Now Menolly could hear the murmur of two other voices supporting Soreel’s arguments.”

McCaffrey makes use of sound effects throughout the story, a tactic that echoes music’s prominence in the narrative. This excerpt abounds with onomatopoeia, including “clatters,” swishing,” and “murmurings” The sounds of cleaning emphasize that this is a time of change for the community as the people of Half-Circle prepare Petiron’s home for a new Harper. The scene also has important implications for the theme of The Struggle Against Oppressive Societal Norms because Soreel and the other women want Menolly to teach their children, and their conversation makes it clear that not everyone in Half-Circle is as resistant to change as Yanus and Mavi.

“The crowning treat for Menolly was when the Weyrleader, F’lar, himself, on bronze Mnementh, circled in for a chat with Yanus. Of course, Menolly wasn’t near enough to hear what the two men said, but she was close enough to smell the firestone reek of the giant bronze dragon. Close enough to see his beautiful eyes catching all colors in the pale wintry sunlight: to see his muscles knot and smooth under the soft hide.”

McCaffrey’s description of the dragon contains visual imagery, such as the bronze dragon’s “beautiful eyes catching all colors,” and she also employs olfactory imagery, such as “the firestone reek,” combining it with tactile descriptions of the dragon’s “soft hide.” The abundance of sensory details reflects Menolly’s elation at seeing a dragon up close, and the experience connects to the theme of Empowerment Through Self-Expression because it inspires the protagonist to compose a song.

“What seemed to worry Yanus and Mavi most, Menolly reasoned to herself, was the fact that the children, whom she was supposed to teach only the proper Ballads and Sagas, might think Menolly’s tunes were Harper-crafted. (If her tunes were that good in her parents’ ears, what was the harm of them?) Basically they didn’t want her to play her songs aloud where they would be heard and perhaps repeated at awkward times.”

The contemplative and half-rebellious tone of Menolly’s thoughts and questions illustrates parents’ antipathy toward her illicit musical compositions, emphasizing her attempts to win The Struggle against Oppressive Norms. The parentheses emphasize the fact that Menolly must keep questions like this to herself even though she makes logical points.

“Dragons always flew in ordered wings, a pattern against the sky. These were darting, dodging, then swooping and climbing. She shaded her eyes. Blue flashes, green, the odd brown and then… Of course, sun glinted golden off the leading, dartlike body. A queen! A queen that tiny?”

The author uses visual imagery about the fire lizards’ coloration—”Blue flashes, green, the odd brown” to create a vivid, visceral sense of Menolly’s delight and surprise upon catching a glimpse of these rare creatures. The colors carry added significance because the dragons and fire lizards in McCaffrey’s fantasy world are hierarchical species with golden queens at the top followed by bronze, brown, green, and then blue. The fragments at the end of the passage convey Menolly’s confusion and excitement as she realizes that she is witnessing the elusive fire lizards that many believe to be mythical.

“‘Menolly!’ Her mothers voice was low, but the urgency was unmistakable. Menolly fumbled in her skirt pocket, found two sweetballs and popped them into old Uncle’s mouth. Whatever he’d been about to say was stopped by the necessity of dealing with two large round objects. He mumbled contentedly to himself as he chewed and chewed and chewed.”

The repetition of the coordinating conjunction ‘and’ in the phrase “chewed and chewed and chewed” is an example of polysyndeton, and the author uses this technique to emphasize how long the sticky sweets last. The phrasing creates a mildly whimsical tone that emphasizes the frustrations and the absurdities of the moment. Although the prevailing mood at Half-Circle Sea Hold before the new Harper’s arrival is one of tense anticipation, the scene in which Menolly struggles to quiet her loquacious relative provides a moment of humor to leaven the occasion.

“It was a long moment before the queen reappeared again. Then she dove toward the sea, hovering over the foamy crest of a wave that rolled in precariously close to the endangered clutch. With a blurred movement, the queen was hovering in front of Menolly and scolding like an old aunt.”

While the simile that describes the fire lizard as “scolding like an old aunt” is meant to be comedic, the figure of speech also serves to humanize the queen. The comparison between the supernatural creature and one of Menolly’s relatives reflects the protagonist’s growing understanding of the fire lizard’s intentions and desires.

“Sea mist was curling up from the quiet harbor waters, the entrances to the dock Cavern visible as darker masses in the gray. But the sun was beginning to burn through the fog, and Menolly’s weather-sense told her that it would soon be clear.”

McCaffrey’s description of the day that Menolly runs away from Half-Circle combines auditory imagery, such as “the quiet harbor waters,” and visual imagery, such as “darker masses in the gray.” The author’s use of diction with the term “weather-sense” reinforces the fact that the protagonist belongs to a maritime culture: one in which grasping the significance of mercurial shifts in the weather can mean the difference between life and death. The passage creates an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, particularly because the gray fog foreshadows the appearance of the deadly, silvery Threadfall.

“That was when she realized that she didn’t plan to return to the Hold. And the sheer audacity of that thought was enough to make her halt in her tracks. Not return to the Hold? Not go back to the endless round of tedious tasks? Of gutting, smoking, salting, pickling fish? Mending nets, sails, clothes? Cleaning dishes, clothes, rooms? Gathering greens, berries, grasses, spiderclaws? Not return to tend old uncles and aunts, fires, pots, looms, glowbaskets? To be able to sing or shout or roar or play if she so chose? To sleep… ah, now where would she sleep? And where would she go when there was Thread in the skies?”

McCaffrey employs a range of stylistic techniques to emphasize the crucial moment when Menolly first considers the prospect of staying away from Half-Circle Sea Hold forever. The author enumerates the girl’s usual chores in a series of fragmented questions, such as “Cleaning dishes, clothes, rooms? Gathering greens, berries, grasses, spiderclaws?” This pattern shows that the Hold is not a true community to Menolly; instead, it is a dreary workplace where she is subjected to an “endless round of tedious tasks.” The use of asyndeton in these lists emphasizes that the details of her work may change, but the thankless labor never ends. By contrast, the author switches to polysyndeton when the protagonist imagines a life outside the Hold: “To be able to sing or shout or roar or play if she so chose?” This technique expresses the boundless sense of freedom that Menolly feels as she considers the possibility of starting a new life away from her parents’ oppressive expectations. In another example of the author’s use of punctuation to reflect the character’s emotions, the ellipsis indicates when the memory of Thread punctures Menolly’s happy, hopeful ideas of running away: “To sleep…ah, now where would she sleep?”

“The grayness was spreading across the horizon. Now she could see flashes against that gray. Flashes? Dragons! She was seeing dragons fighting Thread, their fiery breath charring the dreaded stuff midair. They were so far away that the winking lights were more like lost stars than dragons fighting for the life of Pern.”

The author provides visual imagery in the description of “flashes against that gray,” and she employs a simile to liken the distant dragons to “lost stars.” These literary devices add to the intensity and gravity of the scene as the dragons battle against the dangerous spores “for the life of Pern.”

“The little queen was exactly as she should be: into everything, bossing everyone else, as imperious and demanding as a Sea Holder. She’d listen, however, very quietly to Menolly. And she’d listen to the old queen, too. But she paid no heed to any of the others, although they were expected to obey anything she said. She’d peck them fast enough if they disobeyed her.”

The simile comparing the fledgling fire lizard queen to a Sea Holder emphasizes her bossiness. Due to her experiences with her harsh father, Menolly is all too aware of how “imperious and demanding” a Sea Holder can be. The author’s decision to apply this description in a humorous context indicates that Menolly’s distance from her old home and the community she finds among the fire lizards help her to heal emotionally.

“Elgion sank back to the deck, stunned but still hearing the clear tone of pipes. Pipes? You’d need two whole hands to play multiple pipes. The music ceased and the wind, rising as they tacked past the Dragon Stones, covered his memory of that illusive melody. It could have been the land breeze, sweeping down over the cliffs, sounding into holes.”

The passage provides auditory imagery, such as “the clear tone of pipes,” but in a broader sense, the author’s detailed description of this moment highlights Elgion’s sudden realization that someone has survived holdless during Threadfall and that it might even be the elusive musician that he seeks. However, the sounds in the passage mirror the Harper’s thoughts; the music fades away like Elgion’s hypothesis that the unseen piper is Alemi’s elusive sister.

“She did want some greens; succulent cresses with their odd tangy aftertaste would make a good addition to spiderclaws. She found the greens well above the tidewater, where the stream was fed by tiny trickles from the flat marshy lands through which it looped. She was greedily stuffing a handful of greens into her mouth before she really took in her surroundings. In the distance, low on the horizon, were lightning flashes against a gray sky. Thread!”

The passage contains imagery that appeals to the sense of taste, such as the “succulent cresses” with their “tangy aftertaste,” and these descriptions are paired with intense visuals, such as “lightning flashes against a gray sky.” The shift from gustatory imagery to visual imagery emphasizes the sudden appearance of the deadly spores. The passage closes with the one-word fragment “Thread!” to underscore Menolly’s alarm.

“Beauty appeared above her head, swooping and chittering as she caught Menolly’s fear. Rocky and Diver arrived with Mimic popping in a half-breath later. They experienced her alarm, circling around her head as she ran, calling out with the piercingly sweet tenor bugle of challenge.”

McCaffrey provides auditory imagery, such as “the piercingly sweet tenor bugle” of the fire lizards’ voices, and onomatopoeia, such as “chittering” and “popping.” The sound effects add to the scene’s frenzied mood and help to express the idea the fire lizards experience Menolly’s fear through their psychic link.

“Sweat froze on her forehead and cheeks, down her back, on her calves, her wet and ragged boots and her sore feet. There was no air to breathe and she felt she would suffocate. She tightened her hands convulsively on the dragonrider, but she couldn’t feel him or the dragon she knew she was riding. Now, she thought with that part of her mind that wasn’t frozen in panic, she fully understood that Teaching Song. In terror, she fully understood it.”

Tactile imagery like Menolly’s “wet and ragged boots” and “sore feet” emphasize her alarm at the absence of sensory input in the between, such as her inability to feel the dragonrider or his mount. The author underscores the protagonist’s fear through diction like “suffocate,” “panic,” and “terror.” The repetition of the word “understood” conveys that there is a significant difference between Menolly’s knowledge of songs about the frozen, airless void of the between and the moment in which she experiences this liminal space for herself.

“An injured dragon cried as piteously as a child until his wounds were salved with numbweed. A dragon also cried distressingly if his rider was injured. Elgion watched the touching sight of a green dragon, crooning anxiously at her rider as he leaned against her forearm, while the weyrwomen dressed his Threadscored arm.”

In this passage, the author humanizes dragons and depicts the strength of their bonds with their riders. For example, the simile observing that an “injured dragon cried as piteously as a child” emphasizes the idea that the bond between rider and dragon is just as intense as that between a parent and a child.

“Then my feet took off and my legs went, too,

So my body was obliged to follow

Me with my hands and my mouth full of cress

And my throat too dry to swallow.”

This poem, which has an ABCB rhyme scheme, references the events of Chapter 9. The appearance of this verse suggests that all such poetry that prefaces the chapters are really song lyrics composed by Menolly. This particular poem puts a light, self-deprecating spin on the protagonist’s harrowing experience of being caught outside during Threadfall for the second time, using humorous observations like the fact that her “mouth [was] full of cress” when the disaster struck.

“The little queen, all golden

Flew hissing at the sea.

To keep it back,

To turn it back

She flew forth bravely.”

This poem uses the onomatopoeia “hissing” and the repetition of “back” to show the queen’s sense of urgency. The song immortalizes the inciting incident that leads Menolly to help the fire lizards and intertwine her life with theirs, ultimately transforming her existence.

“‘She just burst into tears, Manora,’ said Felena, as perplexed as everyone else. ‘I’m happy, I’m happy, I’m happy,’ Menolly managed to blurt out, each repetition punctuated by a heaving sob.”

Menolly’s repeated insistence that she’s “happy” as she sobs emphasizes the protagonist’s powerful emotions during a key moment in which she fully appreciates the benefit of having a kind, supportive community. The weyrpeople are “perplexed” because they don’t know how meaningful it is for the girl to be accepted after years of being treated like a disgrace by her family.

“The knack in making the fish stew tasty was in the long baking, so Menolly applied herself to prepare the huge pots quickly, to give them enough time to simmer into succulence. She did so with such dispatch that there were still plenty of roots left to pare.”

The alliteration in “simmer into succulence” makes the feast that the protagonist and the weyrpeople prepare sound more enticing. Much of Chapter 12 focuses on the preparations for the Hatching, and the frenzied activity shows how momentous the occasion is for the world of Pern. The observation that “there were still plenty of roots left to pare” adds a touch of irony; Menolly’s reward for her efficiency is that she is assigned more work. However, unlike at Half-Circle Sea Hold, the weyrpeople’s camaraderie makes her feel that these tasks are less onerous than her former work amongst her family. In a far cry from Mavi and Yanus’s abuse, she is now treated with respect by the members of Benden Weyr’s community.

“The humming ceased so abruptly that a little ripple of reaction ran through those assembled. In the expectant silence, the faint crack of a shell was clear, and the pop and shatter of others. First one dragonet, then another, awkward, ugly, glistening creatures, flopped and rolled from their casings, squawking and creeling, their wedge-shaped heads too big for the thin, sinuous short necks.”

In keeping with the novel’s focus on sound, the Hatching scene teems with auditory imagery, such as “expectant silence,” and onomatopoeia, such as “crack” and “squawking.” This narrative pattern conveys the noises made by the baby dragons and the humans who have gathered to watch their births. Specific word choices, such as “abruptly” and “ripple of reaction,” add to the scene’s suspenseful mood.

“As he gently settled her into her chair, Menolly heard Felena’s teasing remark, ‘…terrible fellow, Master Robinton… terrible fellow, Master Robinton…’ She stared at him, disbelieving.”

The repetition of the phrase “terrible fellow, Master Robinton” shows how stunned Menolly is to discover that she is speaking with the leader of the Harpers—the very man who heads the organization that she longs to join. Felena’s “teasing remark” is an example of verbal irony because the “terrible” thing that Robinton did was to insist on helping an injured girl. Masterharper’s appearance at the end of the novel is foreshadowed from the first chapter through the letters sent between him and Petiron.

“She thought she recognized Elgion’s strong tenor in one song, but it was unlikely he’d look for her at the back of the kitchen cavern. His voice made her briefly homesick for seawinds and the taste of salty air; briefly, too, she longed for the solitude of her cave. Only briefly; this Weyr was the place for her.”

The passage contains auditory imagery with “Elgion’s strong tenor,” tactile imagery with the “seawinds,” and gustatory imagery with “the taste of salty air.” Through these sensory details, McCaffrey depicts how Menolly’s idea of home has shifted over the course of the novel from Half-Circle Sea Hold to the seaside cave to Benden Weyr. By calling attention to these changes, the author foreshadows that Menolly will move once more and take her place at Harperhall at the end of the novel: an eventuality that lends a sense of irony to her current conviction that “this Weyr was the place for her.”