Inhumi in the Whorl

Gerry Quinn · 10 Feb 2011, 15:28 · from 2011-February.txt.gz

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From: gerryq at indigo.ie (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:28:56 -0000
Subject: (urth) Inhumi in the Whorl
References: <SNT123-W27C2312E513185D764A6BDCFEC0 at phx.gbl><4D53D9D2.9000803 at verizon.net>
	<4D53EFEF.5030707 at gmail.com>
Message-ID: <B6E180614BF94BE0A1CAEF2B08D2283F@jill>

From: "James Wynn" <crushtv at gmail.com>
>
> I get what you mean about allusions, heaven knows. But I think this is 
> different. We know the Neighbors left for some actual place, and the 
> Neighbor says the _some_ of humanity call it "Neighbor Whorl". But the 
> humanity he is talking about is not the humanity on the Short Sun whorls. 
> Assuming "Neighbor Whorl" means "Faeri", the Neighbor has to be talking 
> about people of Western France to Ireland 1000-2000 years ago.
>
> It doesn't feel like an allusion. An allusion in my mind is Quetzal as a 
> demon-Dionysus on the Whorl ship. This statement by the Neighbor seems to 
> be a statement of fact.

I don't believe "Neighbour Whorl" means Faerie.  The words themselves don't 
really carry any strong weight.  After all, one obvious interpretation is 
that it just means "the whorl where the neighbours live" just as the "Human 
Whorl" could mean Urth.  And it's not at all obvious that he is referring to 
huimanity in general (on Urth and the many other colonised planets) rather 
than humanity on the Short Sun whorls.

I do get the impression that they have moved to another dimension rather 
than another star.  Silkhorn gives us no indication, however, as he tosses 
out both possibilities at different times.  At one time he suggests a whorl 
circling another short sun, at another he says "the place beyond this 
place".

My main reasons for thinking it is not Faerie:

1. Why should it be a particular mythological dimension on distant a 
unrelated planet, a mythological dimension that is not mentioned anywhere in 
the Solar Cycle?

2. The Vanished People don't have major characteristics in common with fairy 
folk.  [Now somebody is going to come up with some obscure four-legged 
Croatian river demon and argue that this is what Wolfe was talking about...]

They went somewhere; we don't know where.  If Wolfe wanted to tell us where, 
he would have.

- Gerry Quinn

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