Chapter 2 of A Viking of the Sky is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of A Viking of the Sky is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him. A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage. He was laid out on the ground. A wet handkerchief mopped blood out of his eyes. He felt broken all over.
Chapter 2 of A Viking of the Sky is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
cross in a pattern, often random
From this reading “WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.”
a native or inhabitant of Denmark
From this reading “WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.”
release from entanglement of difficulty
From this reading “A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.”
plural of “lantern” — light in a transparent protective case
From this reading “WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.”
inflected form of “mop” — to wash or wipe with or as if with a mop
From this reading “A wet handkerchief mopped blood out of his eyes.”
not reversible or capable of having either side out
From this reading “A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.”
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading “A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.”
the remaining parts of something that has been wrecked
From this reading “A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.”
In this reading “He was laid out on the ground.”
In this reading “A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
The red fluid that circulates in the heart and blood vessels.
From this reading A wet handkerchief mopped blood out of his eyes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading He felt broken all over.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
fall or come down violently
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
cross in a pattern, often random
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
a native or inhabitant of Denmark
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
release from entanglement of difficulty
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
opinion or judgment
From this reading A wet handkerchief mopped blood out of his eyes.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading He felt broken all over.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
the solid part of the earth's surface
From this reading He was laid out on the ground.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
a square piece of cloth used for wiping the eyes or nose or as a costume accessory
From this reading A wet handkerchief mopped blood out of his eyes.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was laid out on the ground.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading A wet handkerchief mopped blood out of his eyes.
set down according to a plan
From this reading He was laid out on the ground.
plural of “lantern” — light in a transparent protective case
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
inflected form of “mop” — to wash or wipe with or as if with a mop
From this reading A wet handkerchief mopped blood out of his eyes.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
not reversible or capable of having either side out
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He was laid out on the ground.
above and across; more than
From this reading He felt broken all over.
an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
plural of “side” — a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
plural of “torch” — a light usually carried in the hand; consists of some flammable substance
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was laid out on the ground.
covered or soaked with a liquid such as water
From this reading A wet handkerchief mopped blood out of his eyes.
at the time that
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
a means of flight or ascent
From this reading WINGS When Hal Dane came to himself, lanterns and electric torches on all sides bobbed crisscross lights above him.
the remaining parts of something that has been wrecked
From this reading A dozen hands seemed pulling and tugging to extricate him from the one-sided crash of plane wreckage.
Chapter 2 of A Viking of the Sky by Hugh McAlister holds 127 sentences, grouped into 26 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 2 holds 127 sentences of A Viking of the Sky, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of A Viking of the Sky by Hugh McAlister exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 127 sentences, grouped into 26 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 2 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A Viking of the Sky by Hugh McAlister on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2894 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #45447 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #45447, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 241 minutes of reading across 579 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Viking of the Sky section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of A Viking of the Sky to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Viking of the Sky, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
