Short Sun blog

Lee Berman · 23 Sep 2010, 02:39 · from 2010-September.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:39:24 -0400
Subject: (urth) Short Sun blog
Message-ID: <SNT123-W14E46C1DFCF66B5AA337A2CF610 at phx.gbl>

>David Stockhoff:   Plus, the fact that he "chose to make Urth his capitol" at least opens 
>up the possibility that he's from somewhere else, not to mention that 
>the source of his powers is still unknown.

I concur with David that these items are important hints that Typhon is extra-terrestrial in
origin.

At least as important is Typhon's statement that "I was not born as I am, or born at all, as
you meant it."

But for me, most important is his name. Everyone else from Urth in his time period has saint 
names, Declan, Zama, Ymar, Burgundofora, Hadelin, etc. etc. (Ceryx is the exception but that
merits a different thread). No St. Typhon.

I think name "Typhon" places him quite firmly in the category of Abaia and Erebus and Scylla and 
Arioch and other mythological monster/demon named characters. I think those characters are fairly 
clear as extra-terrestrial in origin. Add the naming to the other evidence and I don't see much 
that argues that he is human and from Urth, other than his appearance.

[FWIW, I think much of the same logic applies to Baldanders. I place quite a bit of stock in the 
story about how he just appeared one day on the lakeshore. I don't think his advanced scientific
knowledge comes solely from the hierodules. Moreover, monstrous behavior is seen from both
these guys in their treatment of humanity, including their own bodies. 

Severian's musings on utopian society includes "worlds in which all the people, knowing themselves 
descended from a single pair of colonists, treated one another as brothers and sisters...". But that 
ties into my "grand unified theory" involving an alien corruption of humanity on Urth. Enough has 
been said on that subject already.]

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