traveling north

Roy C. Lackey · 07 Jun 2010, 05:57 · from 2010-June.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 00:57:58 -0500
Subject: (urth) traveling north
References: <4C06DFE0.3040805 at sky.com>	<4C06E4C7.7020706 at sky.com><476916.92692.qm at web50707.mail.re2.yahoo.com>	<4C0AF273.7070303 at sky.com><009b01cb0535$75580760$9ace4a0c@rclackey>
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Message-ID: <006901cb0606$65730bc0$90cd4a0c@rclackey>

Jane Delawney wrote:
> Thanks Roy, however I'm still wondering a little, because of the
> frequently stressed similarity in terms of materials between the City
> Wall and the Citadel wall. While the City Wall is obviously a great deal
> more sophisticated than that of the Citadel (the City Wall is large
> enough to contain barracks for both human and alien soldiers, weapons
> emplacements, and presumably much more besides - it seems to be a 'city'
> of sorts in itself) the *materials* of which these walls are composed
> are very similar and must have been constructed using similar levels of
> technology.

I agree.

> And the City Wall of Nessus is incontestably far far to the North
> (Severian's north :) ) of the Citadel, at Severian's time - yet the
> technology to build such a structure  has not existed for millennia,
> indeed given the (apparent?) comparative levels of technology displayed,
> the City Wall could as well have been built *before* the wall of the
> Citadel as after.

The City Wall seems to be circular and there are at least two southern
gates, Sorrowing and Praise (SHADOW, chap. XXXV). The Citadel is at or near
the center of the city (ibid.) as circumscribed by the City Wall. The area
inside the City Wall includes large undeveloped tracts of land in the
northern section, as well as vast uninhabited ruins in the southern
sections.

> I guess the question is whether you believe the curtain wall of the
> Citadel represents an earlier version of the extreme high tech that
> build the Wall of Nessus, or whether the Citadel wall is a decadent
> version of the City Wall, built in the same unsmeltable metal but with a
> lower level of sophistication.

The Curtain Wall around the Citadel didn't need to be as big or
sophisticated as the City Wall. The purpose of the Curtain Wall (according
to Cyriaca's tale) was to safeguard the writings that became Ultan's
Library. Her tale also implies that the City Wall and the curtain wall date
from the same period. That is, "Their spoil was gathered into a great heap
in the city of Nessus, which was then newly built, to be burned." She goes
on to say that the cache of books was enclosed by a curtain wall when the
ruler changed his mind about burning the books. That ruler had planned to
retire behind the curtain wall if his dreams of a "new empire" (as distinct
from the "first empire") should fail (SWORD, chap. VI ).

The implication, of course, is that Typhon was that ruler, though he died
alone on his mountain. So, yes, if Cyriaca is to be believed, the walls are
the same age.

-Roy

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