Hethor

Alice Turner · 15 Mar 1998, 19:25 · from urth-v0008.mbox · original

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From: "Alice Turner" <al at interport.net>
Subject: (urth) Hethor
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 19:25:12
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[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other work=
s]

mantis,

>"BEOCCA AND HETHOR, monks and martyrs of Chertsey (Surrey), killed by
>the Danes in 870.  The memory of these monks, supposed to be as many
>as ninety, was kept alive in fragmentary chronicles and by William of
>Malmesbury.  Their deaths, like those of monks of Peterborough,
>Bardney, Ely, and Crowland, were believed to be the work of the same
>Danish army as that which killed Edmund of East Anglia.  It seems
>unlikely that the number of the monks concerned is accurate.  Feast:
>10 April.
>"G.P., p. 143; R.P.S.; C.S.P." (THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF SAINTS,
>third edition).

Well, GDItH, I own that book, that edition, and I feel absolutely cheated
that it's under "B!"  Jeez, is there no justice? But seriously, this is a
clue that it is a false name. Hethor should not have a saint's name; like
Jonas he could have a biblical name, or he could have a "modern" name,
biblical or not. This is the first time I have considered Kimleesoong
seriously as his name. Hmmmm.

>There is talk in UotNS of sailors getting older, younger, or just staying
the
>same forever, but that is on the ship of Tzadkiel and not Urth. It could be
>that Hethor found himself in the antichamber, but was able to escape with
his
>powers of thaumatugy (after fathering children, or whatever), and then
perhaps
>spent more time in space before coming back to Urth in Severian's era.

I am sure this is true.

>Of course, Jonas and Hethor (if KLS is indeed his real name) are both
Korean,
>but they served on different ships, or did they?

Jonas is Korean? How so?

>Are the Quasar and Fortunate Cloud the same?

They can't be. Wolfe plays lots of tricks, but not that kind of tricks.

 >Incidentally, Severian says to the Hierodules (Famulimus, Babatus, and
>Ossipago) that Hethor never mentioned his ship's name, but he did, and it
was
>the Quasar. So whose memory is at fault here, Severian or Wolfe's?


Hmmmm. I know you're right, but citation please. (chapter, since we've all
got different editions.

-alga-


*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

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