BEYOND THE BLUE 

 SEPTENTRIONS 



TWO LEGENDS OF THE POLAR STARS 



The star Septentrion is, for the peoples of the 

 North and above all for the shepherd, the 

 seaman and the wayfarer, the star of stars. A 

 hundred legends embody its mystery, its 

 steadfast incalculable service, its unswerving 

 isolation over the Pole. Polaris, the North 

 Star, the Pole-Star, the Lodestar, the Seaman's 

 Star, the Star of the Sea, the Gate of Heaven, 

 Phoenice, Cynosure, how many names, in all 

 languages, at all times. The Mongolian nomad 

 called it the Imperial Ruler of Heaven : the 

 Himalayan shepherd, Grahadara, the Pivot of 

 the Planets : the Arab knows it as the Torch 

 of Prayer, burning for ever at the portal of the 

 heavenly Mecca. It shines through all litera- 

 ture, since (and indeed long before) Euripides 

 wrote his superb verse of how the two great 



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