It is with some trepidation that I am putting forward
my thoughts on this subject, but nothing ventured,
nothing gained!. The copy of 'Rewards and Fairies'
that I am using is the 1946 Macmillan reprint with
illustrations by Charles E. Brock.
There are many italicised words in stories other than
'Cold Iron', some of which are proper names, or
exclamations, and could therefore be excluded from the
analysis. However, a brief sample of those that are
not (not at all exhaustive) includes:
'The Wrong Thing' - p58 HIM, p63 I, p67 I
'Marklake Witches' - p90 I, p92 THAT, p92 MUCH
'The Knife and the Naked Chalk' - p121 HE
'The Conversion of St Wilfrid' - p229 NOW
In all cases, including 'Cold Iron', the words seem to
me to be italicised for emphasis, and would quite
naturally be stressed if read aloud. In fact this
happens in my mind when reading them, and therefore I
am doubtful that the italics signify an anagram.
In 'Cold Iron' (p22) Puck reads the runes on the iron
ring:
"Few can see
Further forth
Than when the child
Meets the Cold Iron."
This seems a very cryptic message from the maker,
Thor, and doesn't appear to advance the story at all.
In fact if the writing and the fortytwo words before
it are ignored, the story is not affected.
Thus, could the rune be the cryptogram? I can't
decipher it, unless it is a link to the poem 'Cold
Iron' at the end of the story. The Son of God (child)
Jesus meets the Cold Iron when nailed to the Cross. I
hope that someone more knowledgeable might make
something of it, or shoot my suppositions down in
flames.
With best regards
David Page
Harrow UK
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