Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The moon is like an old friend. It's always there shining up in the night sky offering us a little bit of light in the dark. But, the moon is also associated with all kinds of crazy things—the word lunacy, for instance, is suspiciously close to lunar. Guess that's why it fits so nicely into this story.
The Time of the Moon
The moons in this story have a pretty simple function: They help mark the passage of time. The grain moon happens when it's time to harvest grain, and the snow moon shines when it starts to snow. Sounds simple, right? It's the way people tracked the seasons and months before there were calendars on every iPhone.
But these moons don't just track passing moments; they also emphasize how the story is playing with linear time lines. You might have noticed that each story in this novel not only moves backward in years, but also moves by one month. We start in June, then go to July and August and so on, and because of this, the moon doesn't just represent time, but also time changing.
As for the old time-y moon names, they show us how tied to the past Blessed Island is. Sure, it might be pretty smart to use the names for the moons in 1848, but it's a little weird in 2011. Yet they keep coming up. For instance:
"It's the flower moon."
"The what?"
"It's the old name for this month's moon," Merle explains.
"The flower moon. Do you see how pink it is?"
"That's quite a sight," Eric agrees.
They say nothing for a while, just staring at the moon, ancient, as old as time, and unknowable. Mysterious. Powerful. (1.3.57-62)
These names for the moon keep the past present, which is kind of a big idea in this book: The past is here, right now.
Story on the Moon
The moon names also work as little plot points in our stories. After all, Tor doesn't rise from the grave under a snow moon for no reason. Here's the scoop on the events under the different moons:
- Pink Moon: Also called the flower moon, perhaps because of all the creepy flowers Eric finds. Also, under this moon, they're plotting Eric's death—it's almost blood red out there.
- Hay Moon: Eric was injured as a young boy under a hay moon while his father was harvesting wheat with a scythe.
- Grain Moon: David makes a break for it the night before the grain moon when they're supposed to start harvesting.
- Fruit Moon: Merle picks blooming apples from Eric's trees.
- Hunter's Moon: Merle turns into a hare and is shot by a hunter.
- Snow Moon: The Vikings come back as the snow starts and Tor rises from the grave but never leaves footprints in the snow.
- Blood Moon: King Eirikr dies under a blood moon because, well, of course he does.
There's a feeling that the moon is kind of looming over the characters. The whole epic story starts when King Eirikr dies under a full moon. But it's not just any full moon—it's, like, the ultimate full moon:
The full blood moon hangs high in the always-night sky, above the temple. It is a triple portent.
The full moon.
The winter solstice.
A lunar eclipse, casting the moon an ominous red. (7.1.4-7)
With the events of the book set into motion under such a might lunar event, it's no wonder the moon keeps popping up in characters' lives. It's like a reminder that the cycle will repeat itself, that the sacrifice will happen again and again. Eric's time is always running out and the moons are like a creepy, yet handy, little countdown.