Here's some lines from Bilbo's Last Song by J. R. R. Tolkien ... Farewell, friends! The sails are set, the wind is east, the moorings fret. Shadows long before me lie, beneath the ever-bending sky, but islands lie behind the Sun that I shall raise ere all is done; ...
The last line says "that I shall raise ere all is done", but what shall he "raise"? Would it mean he shall raise "that"(the sun or the island in the previous line), or raise himself, from the bed? I checked every dictionary for the definition of "raise", still can't make sense of it. I really enjoy reading JRRT's Middle-earth, often my poor English won't help though:(
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
Here, raise = see, arrive at . It is a nautical term.
— Mister Micawber
Here, raise = see, arrive at .
It is a nautical term.
Free · every Monday
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
Still one more question. Is there any special term in "the moorings fret" too? I don't really understand what this phrase implies. Should it be interpreted as "the ship-mooring equipments or place are worrying, anxious or irritated"?