To sleep, perchance to dream...

I awoke from this dream at 4:30 this morning. What it means, I have no idea - I shall leave that to those that know more about such matters. It was pretty definitely part of a longer dream, but this is the only piece of the story I was left with on waking.

We are in a city. I say 'we' because Elaine is with me but there is at least one other person with us. I am sure that I knew who this person was within the dream but now, all is can be certain of is that there was someone else there. We are looking round an outdoor site. It is part-museum, part-ruin as there are remains of walls and the outlines of great rooms still visible on the ground and amongst these are exhibits and information boards. One piece of the ruin seems to be a window made from an almost clear crystal of some sort. The crystal has a regular structure but much of it has been eaten away (by the elements?) so that it looks like a stained glass window with much of the glass removed and only the lead outlines remaining intact. I find myself thinking "Why not move this inside to protect it? Surely this will soon disappear entirely and be lost forever."

We continue to move around the site and eventually we come across a great window of the crystal that is complete and unaffected by erosion. I can see now that the milky crystal is made up of elongated hexagons that tessellate to form a uniform pattern. It reminds me a little of the Giant's Causeway rendered as a 2D pattern. Elaine and the mystery 'other' person move away from the window and I start to walk away also but I decide I need to know what this strange 'window crystal' is made from. I start to walk round the arch that contains the window looking for a board with information about this strange structure but, as I arrive on the opposite side of the window, I find that it has transformed into a huge bas-relief sculpture of what appears to be a Viking warrior, laid out on the ground in front of me: a tall, vertical structure has transformed into a long, horizontal sculpture. A sign beside it proclaims "The Great Norse Warrior".

As I move away from the warrior, I notice that everyone on the site has stopped moving and is looking at something behind me. As I turn to look, there are several screams and shouts of "Oh God!". I can now see that a massive wave is starting to engulf the buildings of the city. None of the buildings are taller than three or four storeys (I think this dream may have its roots in our visit to Reykjavik) but the wave towers above them before engulfing them. In that moment, I am aware of the need to escape from this area but also of the futility of trying to run because the wave is moving so quickly. I am gripped by a terrible emptiness as I realise that Elaine is not with me, that I will not be with her as the end approaches. As the roaring and crashing grows louder, I feel so lonely and so sad.

And then I woke.