[General] Akward use of "moving"

[H. P. Wordcraft]

Hello,

I have come across a use of "moving" that I do not fully understand. I found the sentence in a novel by Poul Anderson, and it describes trolls:

"Their skin was green and cold and slippery, moving on their stone-hard flesh."

Do you think it means that the skin is actually moving? And would there be any difference of meaning if it was said that the skin was "upon" their stone-hard flesh ?

(And I think we can say with certainty that the verb is "moving" and not "moving on".)

Thank you for your help

 

[5jj]

Welcome to the forum, HP. :hi:

As this is a troll, it could well be that the skin is actually moving. I don't think that 'upon' works.

 

[H. P. Wordcraft]

Indeed, with fantasy you can never be sure whether the words really mean what you think they mean, or wheter it is another "language trick".

Thank you for answering so quickly, and for the welcome