What does “sheafs” mean in “The rays cut straight sheafs”?

Question

This sentence is from *Atlas Shrugged*, depicting rays of light running through coils of steam enveloping a building:> The rays of a few strong lights **cut straight *sheafs*** through the> coils.Could anyone please explain to me how *sheafs* is to be understood here? Does it denote the verb *sheaf*, as in *bundle*? That was the first thing to come to mind, but that seems wrong to me.

Answer 1

The word "sheafs" here appears to refer to those rays of light which resemble sheafs/bundles of grain, i.e. Rand is using it as a metaphor. The use of the more archaic spelling (sheafs) rather than the typical "sheaves" just adds to the confusion, but this seems to be the best way of reading the sentence. I hope that helps!