Challenge 508

Biting Bugs

In Bertil Falk’s “The Saga of the Flight Homewards”:
1. About how long does an “ell” appear to be?
2. Why are Domalde, Bölverk and Dag pursuing Gardar so determinedly?
3. Einar and Dag kill each other at the same time. What problems does that solve for Gardar? For the author?
In Ron Van Sweringen’s “The Boy Next Door”:
1. The store clerk is described with a euphemism. Why? And what purpose does it appear to serve?
2. The word “freebie,” with various spellings, appears to have been coined at some time in the 1940’s. Was it in common use in 1944?
3. It is not impossible though highly implausible that the clerk would address Erthelene as “girl.” Why? What would she be more likely to say?
4. Erthelene is depicted as feeling that segregation is an inconvenience. What is it compared to?
5. Is it plausible that Erthelene would worry about her fingernails?
6. Why is it impossible that either Erthelene or her next-door neighbors live where they do?