The Mist of Time

The Mist of Time is a fictional romance novel by the equally fictional author Sirichai Jones. It was written in 1891, and is 1,023 pages long, at least in the 1991 reprint by Yggdrasil Publishing. The Mist of Time features as a motif throughout the 2017 horror novel Erogrendel.

Plot
Not much is known about the plot of The Mist of Time, other than that it follows protagonist James Tannen and his lifelong unrequited love for Elizabeth Marlowe. In the brief snippet appearing in Erogrendel, Tannen seems to imply that he has become successful in life, a "perfect James Tannen," motivated entirely by his love for her. The climax of the book seems to center around Elizabeth confessing that she loves James in return, and James realizing that he no longer needs her as his motivation for living a good life.

"And with my words..."
The Mist of Time is the source of Nick McMann's quote, "...and with my words, I thou set free." The original context for the quote is that the protagonist of the novel, James Tannen is confronting the woman he has been in love with for many years, Elizabeth Marlowe, who continued to reject him. She finally decides that she loves him back, but Tannen realizes that he never loved her, he only loved chasing her. He asks her to "release" him, to say that nothing will ever come of their relationship. Elizabeth speaks the famous quote and they part each other's company.

A flashback scene in Erogrendel depicts Nick McMann and Olivia Cambridge, on a date in the forests of Vermont. Nick brings up the quote, seemingly for no reason, explaining its backstory.

Olivia later repeats the quote to Nick as he is dying of breast cancer.

Olivia repeats the quote to Erogrendel — the reincarnation of her father — just before he takes an enormous round of bullets to save her life, dying in the process.

Known characters

 * James Tannen – The protagonist of the novel. He is in love with Elizabeth Marlowe.


 * Elizabeth Marlowe – James Tannen's love interest. Olivia Cambridge takes this name as her pseudonym.