Conjunctions 39
The Urth list — 4 messages, 3 voices, 25 Jun 2003
https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/4048

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Michael Andre-Driussi — 25 Jun 2003, 14:19

Nick Gevers told us about the perfect-bound magazine/anthology
"Conjunctions: 39" back in October, I think it was, in this forum because
it has an excerpt from Wolfe's next book, KNIGHT.  About a month ago I
stumbled onto a copy and read it from beginning to end.

Has anybody else seen it?  I like six of the stories (the Wolfe and John
Crowley stories included), which is one third of the total: a very high
percentage of personal likes for an anthology for me.  I'm mainly curious
to talk about "New Wave Fabulism" that the magazine showcases: is it
"real"?  If so, what are the parameters?

Clute provides one of two essays in the book, and as Nick reported, he
makes a possible link between the nine worlds in KNIGHT and the sefiroth of
Kabbalah.  To me the much more immediate association is with the various
worlds listed in Norse mythology -- that is, the story is a straight riff
on the Norse cosmos, where elves have their own world, giants have their
world, etc.  It is true that there might be echoes between the tree
Yggdrasil (with worlds at roots, middle trunk, and upper branches) and the
"tree" of Kabbalah, but that is its own weird mystical musing in itself.

=mantis=

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Anthony Ferrara — 25 Jun 2003, 16:54
  follows, by subject match Michael Andre-Driussi

Is there a new Wolfe short story in addition to the excerpt from Knight, or are your referring to the excerpt itself? Thank you
 
Anthony 
 
Has anybody else seen it?  I like six of the stories (the Wolfe and 
John
Crowley stories included), which is one third of the total: 

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Michael Andre-Driussi — 25 Jun 2003, 18:08
  follows, by subject match Anthony Ferrara

> Anthony wrote:
> Is there a new Wolfe short story in addition to the excerpt from Knight,
> or are your referring to the excerpt itself?

No, there is only the one piece from Wolfe, an excerpt from KNIGHT.

=mantis=

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Josh Geller — 25 Jun 2003, 23:10
  follows, by subject match Michael Andre-Driussi

> On Wed, 2003-06-25 at 07:19, Michael Andre-Driussi wrote:
> Clute provides one of two essays in the book, and as Nick reported, he
> makes a possible link between the nine worlds in KNIGHT and the sefiroth of
> Kabbalah.  To me the much more immediate association is with the various
> worlds listed in Norse mythology -- that is, the story is a straight riff
> on the Norse cosmos, where elves have their own world, giants have their
> world, etc.  It is true that there might be echoes between the tree
> Yggdrasil (with worlds at roots, middle trunk, and upper branches) and the
> "tree" of Kabbalah, but that is its own weird mystical musing in itself.

Both trees are based on the observed structure of the Sky.

The rabbis tried to generalize the QBLH and associate it more directly
with number than with the physical Sky and its inhabitants, the worship
of which (as good monotheists) they were trying to discourage.

The Norse system is nuch more directly and explicitly astronomical:
Asgard is the Arctic sky, Midgard the band of the Zodiac, Hel's kingdom
the hidden (from the North) Antarctic sky. Various other heims and gards
are other specific celestial topoi. And of course, Odin, Thor, Tir etc 
are explicitly Mercury, Jupiter, Mars rather than the dodge the 
qabalists use of having a Sephira associated with a planet among its
many other associations.

I know Wolfe is aware of a great deal of this stuff, how much he chose
to incorporate in WIZARD/KNIGHT I don't know.


J.

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