Neighbors as Faeries

John Watkins · 19 Mar 2009, 22:21 · from 2009-March.txt.gz

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From: john.watkins04 at gmail.com (John Watkins)
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:21:25 -0400
Subject: (urth) Neighbors as Faeries
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I think the sine qua non has got to be that it's really Silk talking to
Remora at the big reveal, right?  Either Silk was clinging to his body when
Neighbor/Horn(?) got poured into it, or Silk reentered the body via Pig at
some point, but that's Silk in there at the end.
Not necessarily "only" Silk, though.


On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 6:12 PM, Jordon Flato <jordonflato at gmail.com> wrote:

> And, why would a neighbor, finally admitting what he is, if only to
> himself, choose to return to the Whorl, at the very end?  Silk, yes, but a
> neighbor?
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 3:09 PM, Jordon Flato <jordonflato at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Well, I'll be looking for evidence of the Neighbor's personality
>> manifesting in the book in this read through.  There are plenty of instances
>> of Silk manifesting momentarily through Horn without his intention (which I
>> don't see how that has much resonance or meaning aside from a red herring if
>> a neighbor is actually inhabiting Horn), but I can't think of many
>> instances, save your ambiguous quote at the end about killing their father,
>> where the personality doesn't seem to be Horn or Silk.  I would expect, if
>> you are right, there are other clues throughout.  I don't see them.  *yet*
>> But it does give me something new to look for in this read through!
>>
>> I would agree that chasing the stag, falling in the Pit (which was in the
>> midst of a classic faerie circle of the ruins) represented a crossing over
>> of sorts, but I don't think it necessitates Horns death.  That is a turning
>> point in the narrative for a number of reasons, not the least of which is
>> that it brings Horn directly to the attention of the neighbors (without, I
>> would posit, necessitating a transfer of 'souls' into Horn).
>>
>> I grant it is possible, but I just don't see it yet.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 3:03 PM, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> In "An Evil Guest" one of the characters says that the term "banshee",
>>> which means "woman of the faerie mounds" means that they are one of the
>>> "gray neighbors".
>>>
>>> In folklore/mythology, chasing a white stag inevitably leads one to
>>> Faerieland, meaning the other world, the world of spirits, where one's
>>> ancestors go. The most famous case was Pwyll in the Mabinogion, who become
>>> the Head of the Annwn (that is, Faerieland). Incidentally Pwyll's name meant
>>> "sense" and his son Pryderi's name meant "care" or "thought". This is a
>>> naming convention that I thought of when I was reading Long Sun.
>>>
>>> There's another way to get to Faerieland too. You can enter a faerie
>>> circle. For Horn, the faerie circle was a pit. Seawrack and Babbie were not
>>> mistaken. Horn was dead dead dead. He had gone on the Summer lands.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>
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