Mantis on some NEW SUN names

Roy C. Lackey · 28 Nov 2007, 19:08 · from 2007-November.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:08:29 -0600
Subject: (urth) Mantis on some NEW SUN names
Message-ID: <000c01c831f2$13438d60$18c85a42 at rclackey.stic.net>

Rex,

Mantis said he couldn't comment on your speculations regarding his surname
and PIRATE FREEDOM (he hasn't read the book), other than to say that
Christopher is not any of his names. But he decided to seek the list's input
on the related topic of deciphering three names from NEW SUN. (I tried this
months ago and got nowhere.)

-Roy

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at siriusfiction.com>
To: Roy C. Lackey <rclackey at stic.net>
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 9:35 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: (urth) Chris' last name *Pirate freedom*


>Hello there Roy,
>
>On the topic of decoding names, this seems like a perfect opportunity
>for challenging readers to crack "the bloody three," the names called
>out at the Sanguinary Field:
>
>Laurentia of the House of the Harp
>Cadroe of the Seventeen Stones
>Sabas of the Parted Meadow
>
>The first names are not an issue here, the "last names" are.
>
>In PLAN[E]T ENGINEERING, Wolfe shows a bit of his onomastic bent by
>translating several names:
>
>Larry Niven = the Man from the Snows of Laurentum
>Kate Wilhelm = the Pure Woman With the Desirable Helmet
>Gene Wolfe = a Wolf Is Born
>David Hartwell = the Beloved Man From the Spring Where the Deer Come to
Drink
>Vincent Di Fate = the Liege of the Conqueror From Faerie
>
>I think the bloody three are just like the right column names, that
>is, I sense that the names are coded versions of real names that we
>would recognize.
>
>I believe that the first letter of each first name is true to the
>initial of the real name, giving us:
>
>L. "House of the Harp"
>C. "Seventeen Stones"
>S. "Parted Meadow"
>
>"House of the Harp" couldn't be simply "Harper," since that would
>lack the house part.  "House of the Harp" has a Tolkien ring to it
><g>, but let's not be distracted by that.
>
>"Seventeen Stones" has a powerful link to the Group of Seventeen, to
>be sure.  Historically there are also stone rings in the British
>Isles and an old cemetery of slaves in the US.  I find it very
>difficult to reverse engineer a surname from "seventeen," but maybe
>I'm looking at it the wrong way.
>
>"Parted Meadow" seems more accommodating than the other two, giving
>us names like Spalding.  At times it seems like this full name
>decoded might be "Sprague de Camp."
>
>So there it is, a contest of sorts.  Get cracking!
>
>=Michael=
>

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