# unsubscribe *The Urth list — 1 messages, 1 voices, 03 Aug 1998* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Internet Megantic *03 Aug 1998, 09:31* > At 16:10 02-08-98 -0700, you wrote: > > -------------- BEGIN urth.v017.n012 -------------- > > 001 - "Peter T. Cash" 002 - mary whalen 003 - mary whalen 004 - m.driussi at genie.com - (urth) Aquastor!!! > > URTH Digest -- for discussion of Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other works > > > --------------- MESSAGE urth.v017.n012.1 --------------- > > From: "Peter T. Cash" > Subject: ground wire > Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 17:19:59 -0700 > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Robert Borski wrote: >> I'd like to suggest the following >> about "Silhouette:" in my opinion it's meant to be read as the science >> fiction equivalent of a medieval Mystery Play. Throw in a little Francis > This is a compelling suggestion. The German names would make sense in that > context, wouldn't they? Weren't these plays a Germanic phenomenon? > ... >> Neuerddraht--German for "New Earth Wire > Actually, I believe it's better translated as "new ground wire". Perhaps > Wolfe was staring at a German circuit diagram when he was thinking about > this story. > > Hmmm. The ground wire is connected to...well...the ground, or the earth. The > inner Earth was traditionally thought to be location of Hell, so the imagery > really isn't inconsistent with your interpretation at all. The ground wire > draws the current down, into the earth, where it is lost. > > So if the ground wire is Hell, what is Heaven? The antenna? > > > > > > > > --------------- MESSAGE urth.v017.n012.2 --------------- > > From: mary whalen > Subject: (urth) Aquastor!!! > Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 21:10:17 -0700 (PDT) > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > This is Sean Whalen (prion). > > I think that I have found the name aquastor. While reading about > golems, I saw that aquastor is the mystical name for a created being, > such as a golem or homunculus. > > One legend about the golem is that God told a Jew to sculpt a man out > of the clay of the River Jordan. On this was placed a tablet > inscribed with the name of god (remember the Hierodules' lecture on > souls being like carved words?). The golem was then a healer; a slave > of the Jews. Any Jew who looked on it was healed. This resembles > Severian so much, I can't help but think it's related. > > Supposedly, the concentration and power of a trained mind is required > for an aquastor's creation and maintenance. Also, the creator is > responsible for the actions of the aquastors it creates. > > Perhaps part of Severian's special relationship with the people from > Yesod is that they made an eidolon of him when he died, and are > responsible for him. Why would they resurrect some anonymous Urth > boy? Because they knew him in his future, which is their past. It's > all cyclic, you see. > > In the BNS, if there is any difference between the terms eidolon and > aquastor, it seems to be that the eidolon is created from the memories > of the person being recreated. Aquastors come from the memories of > other people. The mind from which the memories for the aquastor would > not be able to tell that they were not the real people, since they > would never act in a way that the originator wouldn't believe them to > do, even if the real person would have done something different from > that. An eidolon would be exactly like the original, since it is > created from the original's memories. Actually, the eidolon would > only be a perfect copy if the original had all the memories of its > life. A being with imperfect memory would have experienced things and > have memories hidden (or unavailable) to its current memories, and > would probably actually be slightly different from the original, > though not in significant ways, since only remembered memories would > probably have affected the original anyway. > > May I propose a theory? Severian resurrects people; that is apparent. > But, what do these renati do? They do one of two things. They > appear normal to Severian if he knew them, or they have almost no > memories if he didn't. When Severian resurrects the uhlan, he acts > like Sev. thinks an uhlan should act, and remembers what Sev. saw > happen to him. When Sev. resurrects the soldier, he has no memory, > but acts in a way like Jonas, whom Sev. was reminded of when > resurrecting him. He knows only what Sev. knew about him: that he was > a soldier, and that he had a love. He even completely adopts the name > Sev. decided to use for him. The man animated by the necromancer was > unknown to him, too, and has no memories except hatred for the > necromancer, whom Sev. already knew had "raised" him. There seems to > be no reason for these people to have no memories, other than what > Sev. knows about them. This theory, if true, solves many problems and > questions using only information provided in the books. > > When Sev. resurrects Thecla in his mind he had eaten part of her and > the alzabo, so he had all of her memories when giving her life > (recreating her soul in him). We can't even be sure exactly what the > process of autarchization is like to someone with imperfect memory and > without revitalizing power. > > prion > _________________________________________________________ > DO YOU YAHOO!? > Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com > > > > --------------- MESSAGE urth.v017.n012.3 --------------- > > From: mary whalen > Subject: (urth) Notule > Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 21:25:22 -0700 (PDT) > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > This is Sean Whalen (prion). > > Here are the results of my exhaustive research into notules. If this > is actually what Wolfe meant, I'm actually stupefied to the extent > he'll go for a silly pun. > > Notule is French for a short note, comment, or minute. It comes from > Latin notula, the diminutive of nota (mark, token, note, sign). A > notula is a distinguishing mark or a mark of punctuation. If a notule > is supposed to resemble a vampire bat, the latter leaves a > distinguishing mark: a mark of puncturation. Shudder. > > Robert Borski has also previously reported that a noctule is a red bat > (Nyctalus noctula). I've also found that it is the diminutive of > notus (meaning well-known, famous), the diminutive of Notus (the south > wind). Notum is also the back part of an insect thorax. > > prion > _________________________________________________________ > DO YOU YAHOO!? > Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com > > > > --------------- MESSAGE urth.v017.n012.4 --------------- > > From: m.driussi at genie.com > Subject: (urth) Aquastor!!! > Date: Sun, 2 Aug 98 14:57:00 GMT > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > prion, > > Could we have a text citation for that "aquastor" tidbit? Author, > title, publisher, date of publication, page number of item. > > Thanks in advance! > > =mantis= > > > --------------- END urth.v017.n012 --------------- ---