Hanter-hwor is the island where Prince James came ashore alive after a storm wrecked his ship at Serpent’s Pass. Its beach marks the unexplained end of a disaster that killed the entire crew and the beginning of James’s memory of being rescued by unseen arms and a singing voice.

Setting and Geography

Hanter-hwor lies beside Hanter-broder, with the hazardous ring of protruding stones known as Serpent’s Pass between them. The rocks make passage difficult even in calm weather; at night, amid rain and rising seas, they become especially hard to see. The geography places the island beside the site of the wreck while distinguishing the dangerous waters from the shore where James was later found.

The Shipwreck and James’s Arrival

A fortnight before recounting the experience to Galahad Stormcrane, Prince James was traveling home from Hanter-broder when a storm drove his ship onto the stones at Serpent’s Pass. The vessel was completely smashed, and all its crew were lost. The following morning, James found himself lying unharmed on the beach of Hanter-hwor. The account establishes the island as the place where he survived the catastrophe, without explaining how he reached it or why he alone lived.

The Rescue and Narrative Significance

James remembers arms taking hold of him and a voice singing. Hearing it, he forgot to be afraid. His recollection links Hanter-hwor not only to survival but to an encounter whose rescuer remains unidentified in this account. The contrast between the wreck’s total loss and James’s unexplained arrival on the island makes its beach the first trace of a rescue whose emotional impression is clearer than its circumstances.