Tzadkiel's ship

Jeff Wilson · 29 Nov 2007, 04:53 · from 2007-November.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:53:36 -0600
Subject: (urth) Tzadkiel's ship
In-Reply-To: <1f7617370711281351w3eedf9c8h7ddcaa80e3f1b286 at mail.gmail.com>
References: <9a33123d0711280610g2ebe9adbte27022bd9af837ca at mail.gmail.com>	<1718.24.119.55.228.1196282468.squirrel at webmail.io.com>
	<1f7617370711281351w3eedf9c8h7ddcaa80e3f1b286 at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <474E45D0.80909 at io.com>

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:
> On Nov 28, 2007 12:41 PM, Jeff Wilson <jwilson at io.com 
> <mailto:jwilson at io.com>> wrote:
> 
>      > Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:
>      > The fact that we're told this armorial ship is 'a ship volant' is a
>      > punning clue that in this case, it's probably a spaceship. Since
>      > Tzadkiel's ship plays such a key role in Severian's life, it seems a
>      > pretty safe bet that it's meant to be Tzad's.
> 
>     Volant means flying, but could figuratively mean the ship is depicted
>     moving swiftly under sail power, vide The Flying Dutchman.
> 
> 
> Actually, that wasn't me, but I agree with what was said. "Volant"
> in heraldry most definitely *does* mean "flying," and is not to be
> taken figuratively - indeed, none of the descriptive terms in heraldry
> are to be taken figuratively, as they are intended to instruct an artist
> exactly how to paint the arms. If the ship were in water, it would be
> "natant."

If "ship" can come to include "rockets and four masters and magical 
space time machines that traffic with other universes" over millenia, 
why must "volant" remain fixed in stone? If you insist on strictly 
historical heraldry, "a ship volant" is as meaningless a device as "a 
serpent rampant"; you can't draw it because historical ships have no 
wings any more than historical serpents had feet.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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