Inhumi in the Whorl

David Stockhoff · 10 Feb 2011, 03:20 · from 2011-February.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:20:36 -0500
Subject: (urth) Inhumi in the Whorl
In-Reply-To: <4D534EEE.7090400 at gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTi=QSyDC3djSHpKxVRJzp6ZR=3CR29K6+py5oCNB at mail.gmail.com>
	<4D534EEE.7090400 at gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4D535984.5040705 at verizon.net>

Exactly. That interpretation of "Neighbor" has been with me from my 
first reading. But I don't have any idea what to do with it.

I tend to consider conclusions like these to be too literal and not 
literary enough; that is, they try to make too much of references. For 
all we know, we are to understand that the Neighbors went sideways when 
they left.

But, borrowing from the parallel discussion of astral projection, it 
seems an argument could be made that the Neighbors somehow co-opted the 
Inhumi ability to astral project as humans, combined with time travel, 
to go back to old Earth and become our gods.

On 2/9/2011 9:35 PM, James Wynn wrote:
> This quote, though, in my opinion, proves that the Neighbors have left 
> through the Whorl, traveling back in Time all the way to Urth. Did 
> they end up there? I'm not sure. Here is my point:
>
> The Neighbor says that the place they went "Some of you call [...] 
> Neighbor Whorl."
> Well, other that right here, that term is never used from 'Nightside 
> of the Long Sun' to 'Return to the Whorl". Who calls it that? I 
> believe that Wolfe chose the term 'neighbor' deliberately as a synonym 
> for "fairy". We know Wolfe is fully aware of this meaning because he 
> has a character point it out in "An Evil Guest". Who calls it Neighbor 
> Whorl? WE do. Only we call it Fairyland, that is, Faerie. Where the 
> Neighbors ultimately ended up, I'm not sure. Perhaps in Urth's ancient 
> pre-history.
>
> u+16b9
> _______________________________________________
>


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