Questions . . .

Lane Haygood · 27 Nov 2007, 05:30 · from 2007-November.txt.gz

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From: lhaygood at gmail.com (Lane Haygood)
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:30:57 -0600
Subject: (urth) Questions . . .
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0711271512020.8667 at orpheus.qimr.edu.au>
References: <4E82554550FE5149AD4B30A4FEA22492AF8A82 at xchange.briercrest.ca>
	<474B939A.8040103 at io.com>
	<Pine.LNX.4.64.0711271512020.8667 at orpheus.qimr.edu.au>
Message-ID: <728BBE1C-85C4-4405-ADBA-B4C9501599B4 at gmail.com>


On Nov 26, 2007, at 11:28 PM, David Duffy wrote:

> On Mon, 26 Nov 2007, Jeff Wilson wrote:
>
>> Eric Ortlund wrote:
>>
>>> 3) Is there a deeper significance to the code phrases Vodalus gives
>>> Severian?  There's so much about ships elsewhere in the book (the
>>> pelagic argosy) - the ship on the tomb Sev rests in as a boy, the  
>>> ship
>>> he sails to Yesod in - and the Autarch drops the phrase to Sev.  
>>> as he's
>>> talking about the higher world Severian will eventually travel  
>>> to.  Or
>>> is it "just" a phrase?
>>
>> "pelagic" makes it a specific sort of ship, one that sails the high
>> seas. This distinguishes it from the Tzadkiel, or the riverine vessel
>> Severian nearly sinks in Urth. Also, argosy can be multiple ships.  
>> Hmm,
>> perhaps "pelagic" is the only sort of vessel *not* encountered in
>> Severian's chronicle, though the crypt would seem to depict one.
>>
>
> One reading is that it refers to those enemies of the Commonwealth  
> that
> have their home underwater.  Perhaps an overreading, but I quite liked
> the possibility it also referred to Pelagianism (perfectability  
> without
> grace, yada yada).
>
> David Duffy.

Why assume it has but one meaning? Wolfe probably intended for it to  
have different layers of meaning. He's crafty like that.

Lane

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