# IGJ: altar scene *The Whorl list — 5 messages, 4 voices, 09 Aug 2000* > 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. --- ### Adam Stephanides *09 Aug 2000, 23:17* I was reviewing the altar scene, and I just noticed the following sentence, where Horn is narrating the manifestation of the Outsider: "I knew that he was there, that if I turned, I would see them." (285) Is that "them" a typo? If not, what does it mean? --Adam *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. --- ### Urash, Tom *10 Aug 2000, 14:19 · follows Adam Stephanides* -----Original Message----- From: Adam Stephanides [mailto:adamsteph at earthlink.net] Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2000 1:18 AM To: whorl at lists.best.com Subject: (whorl) IGJ: altar scene I was reviewing the altar scene, and I just noticed the following sentence, where Horn is narrating the manifestation of the Outsider: "I knew that he was there, that if I turned, I would see them." (285) Is that "them" a typo? If not, what does it mean? --Adam The triple god? Father, son & holy ghost? *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. --- ### Adam Stephanides *10 Aug 2000, 17:56 · follows Urash, Tom* > Urash, Tom wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > From: Adam Stephanides [mailto:adamsteph at earthlink.net] > Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2000 1:18 AM > To: whorl at lists.best.com > Subject: (whorl) IGJ: altar scene > > I was reviewing the altar scene, and I just noticed the following > sentence, where Horn is narrating the manifestation of the Outsider: "I > knew that he was there, that if I turned, I would see them." (285) > > Is that "them" a typo? If not, what does it mean? > > --Adam > > The triple god? Father, son & holy ghost? Perhaps, but I don't recall anywhere else where Horn indicates a belief in the Outsider's multiple nature. And even if he did, the unexplained shift from singular to plural in the same sentence would still be very odd if both referred to the Outsider. --Adam *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. --- ### Jim Jordan *10 Aug 2000, 18:50 · follows Adam Stephanides* > At 05:56 PM 8/10/2000 -0700, you wrote: > > Perhaps, but I don't recall anywhere else where Horn indicates a belief > in the Outsider's multiple nature. And even if he did, the unexplained > shift from singular to plural in the same sentence would still be very > odd if both referred to the Outsider. > > --Adam The same one and many is seen in the first paragraph of Nightside. I'd say that the Outsider comes with His retinue, which is the angels and the dead saints. But a hint of the trinity cannot be excluded. Pat. Nut. *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. --- ### Peter Westlake *24 Aug 2000, 11:03 · follows Jim Jordan* > At 23:17 2000-08-09 -0700, Adam Stephanides wrote: > I was reviewing the altar scene, and I just noticed the following > sentence, where Horn is narrating the manifestation of the Outsider: "I > knew that he was there, that if I turned, I would see them." (285) > > Is that "them" a typo? If not, what does it mean? Is the baletiger around yet? SBear. *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. ---