"Windsinger" (Need Not Have Read the Book) Quiz

Answer: Artemis

Artemis is the Greek goddess of the moon and of the hunt. Diana is her Roman counterpart. In "Windsinger", Artemis is a young woman dedicated to saving women in distress. She has healing and warrior skills, so her chosen name is suitable. Selene is another name sometimes applied to the moon, and Juno was a Roman goddess of marriage.

Answer: Kestrel Windhover

Kestrel Windhover is doubly named for the kestrel. The kestrel is a small hawk measuring around 30 cm or one foot in length. It is known as the windhover because of its ability to hover head to the wind. In "Windsinger", Kestrel belongs to the windfolk, most of whom use names with associations of birds or flight. Windsingers live according to strict traditions, which cause endless trouble to Kestrel and his lover. Eagles are also birds of prey, but are not the same as kestrels. Dove is a bird name, but "faireye" is descriptive rather than synonymous, while "alulae" refers to feathers rather than a specific bird.

Answer: Maeve

According to legend, Queen Maeve of Connaught invaded Ulster because she wanted a royal bull to match the one her husband, King Ailill, had. In "Windsinger", Dia Maeve of the Mercies is a medic and one of the most powerful women on Alida. She is the mentor and champion of Artemis, but when Artemis falls in love with a Windsinger, even Maeve can't save her. Isis is an Egyptian goddess, Titania was the fairy queen as named by Shakespeare, and Rhuadh is a Celtic term meaning "red".

Answer: tongue-loose

Tongue-loose is a stimulating liquor brewed by the Karvallian lionfolk, who feed it to their opponents in battle in the hopes of getting a good fight! As a side effect, it loosens tongues so the person who drinks it can't help but babble on and spill whatever he or she knows. Sodium pentothal seems to act the same way in movies, but in real life it has other effects.

It actually calms the nervous system and although subjects do lose some inhibitions under its influence, they don't necessarily tell the truth. If the drug had been called "tongue-tie" it would have had an inhibiting effect, "deaf-mute" would have rendered the subject silent and deaf and "ice-cold" would probably have frozen him.

Answer: Daemons

"Daemon" is the Greek form of "demon", and is rendered as "devil" in the Authorized Version of the New Testament. In "Windsinger", Daemons are hulking sadistic monsters that roam the settled worlds looking for trouble. They use an inbuilt weapon called "daemonic acid" to kill their victims in agony. It is these monsters that have attacked Kestrel Windhover when Artemis comes to his rescue. Goblins are little monsters a bit like bad elves, Baal was a Syrian god and Nicklebee is a name I made up.

Answer: Cleo

Dia Cleo is a stickler for rules and tradition. She insists on carrying every element of Mercy Lore to the extreme. When she realises a Mercy has fallen in love and "married" a Windsinger, she has no hesitation in recommending trial-by-combat, even though Artemis is heavily pregnant. Dia Cleo takes her name from a short form of Cleopatra the 7th of Egypt's name. Cleopatra was actually of Greek blood, but became famous as one of the most powerful women in history. There have been queens named Boudicca, Mary and Jezebel, but these were the full forms of their names.

Answer: Gale

Gale is the Windsinger planet where Kestrel Windhover was born. The winds of Gale are known and loved by the Windfolk, who call the wind their "fosterbrother". Alida is the planet where Artemis and the other Mercies live. The other two planets are also mentioned in "Windsinger", but the names have nothing to do with "wind".

Answer: sah

The terms used on Seabra are "shoremem" or "mem" for women and "shoresah" or "sah" for men. The names are based on the names sometimes used in India for European men ("sahib") and women ("memsahib"). Properly, the female form of "sahib" is "sahiba", but "memsahib" is a hybrid term deriving from "madam" and "sahib". "Mister" is the long form of the more usual "Mr", derived from "master". "Bull" is used for some male animals, and "Monsieur" is the French form of "Mr".

It's female counterpart is "Madame".

Answer: leechmoss

Leechmoss is a dry-looking plant that grows on Alida. It absorbs fluid, but if left in place too long, it will continue to absorb untilt he patient has been sucked dry. Artemis uses leechmoss as an emergency measure when Kestrel suffers from daemonic poisoning. Later she narrowly avoids an encounter with leechmoss herself.

The name is appropriate as leeches were used medicinally to suck blood. A plant called spew-wort would probably have been an emetic, stanchwort would have stopped bleeding and safebalm would not have been dangerous.

Answer: A diadem

Artemis wears a silver diadem. It looks like a delicate crown, but the decorative curlicues hide a mass of complicated circuitry. It is because the diadem is damaged that Artemis and Kestrel have their almost fatal misunderstanding. The translation circuit fails and by the time it is mended the die is cast for both of them.

The reason "diadem" is the right answer is that only a diadem is worn on the head. A torc (or torq) is worn around the neck, a ring on the finger or toe and an anklet on the ankle. Therefore being "cheek to cheek" would not have an effect.