Chapter 22 of A Viking of the Sky is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXII
Chapter 22 of A Viking of the Sky is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision. He snatched a few hours' sleep. Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway. Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain! But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
Chapter 22 of A Viking of the Sky is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
the first light of day
From this reading “Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.”
a heavy rain
From this reading “But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.”
the act of making something completely wet
From this reading “Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!”
to an indefinite extent; for an indefinite time
From this reading “But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.”
look over carefully
From this reading “Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.”
a bar or pair of parallel bars of rolled steel making the railway along which railroad cars or other vehicles can roll
From this reading “Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.”
planned or scheduled for some certain time or times
From this reading “But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.”
-ing form of “wing” — travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading “WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.”
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 “WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.”
move out of or depart from
In this reading “Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.”
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 He snatched a few hours' sleep.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
continue a certain state, condition, or activity
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
a native or inhabitant of Denmark
From this reading WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.
the first light of day
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
the act of making up your mind about something
From this reading WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.
a heavy rain
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
the act of making something completely wet
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading He snatched a few hours' sleep.
a piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
the solid part of the earth's surface
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He snatched a few hours' sleep.
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading He snatched a few hours' sleep.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
to an indefinite extent; for an indefinite time
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
look over carefully
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
in place of, or as an alternative to
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
and nothing more
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
a bar or pair of parallel bars of rolled steel making the railway along which railroad cars or other vehicles can roll
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
planned or scheduled for some certain time or times
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading He snatched a few hours' sleep.
past form of “snatch” — to grasp hastily or eagerly
From this reading He snatched a few hours' sleep.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Then in the early dawning he went out to inspect the Mazarin Field runway.
toward the west
From this reading WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.
covered or soaked with a liquid such as water
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
-ing form of “wing” — travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading WINGING WESTWARD At midnight Hal Dane made his decision.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Not so good--ground wet and heavy with days of drenching rain!
(comparative of “bad”) inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability
From this reading But as the downpour seemed scheduled to continue indefinitely, things could only get worse instead of better.
Chapter 22 of A Viking of the Sky by Hugh McAlister holds 135 sentences, grouped into 27 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 22 holds 135 sentences of A Viking of the Sky, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 22 of A Viking of the Sky by Hugh McAlister exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 135 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 22 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.
