comments on "azoth"

Peter Cash · 06 Dec 1996, 14:32 · from whorl-v0001.mbox · original

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From: Peter Cash <cash at convex.convex.com>
Subject: (whorl) comments on "azoth"
Date: Fri, 06 Dec 1996 14:32:26
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[Posted from Whorl, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

Ranjit Bhatnagar <ranjit at best.com>

>Azoth -- an alchemical term for mercury.  My best guess is that it's a
>punning reference to Terminus Est, Severian's sword in the New Sun
>books.  (Master Gurloes translated "terminus est" as "this is the line
>of division," but I like to imagine Arnold Schwartzeneger translating
>it as "I am the Terminator."  Anyway, the azoth is certainly a line of
>division.)

I always preferred to translate "Terminus Est" as "It is finished". And
when that sword gets through with you, it is definetely all over! 8^)

In addition to "mercury", my dictionary (the huge Merriam-Webster) also
gives "the universal remedy of Paracelsus" as a meaning for "azoth". If
you think about it, the azoth was a pretty drastic remedy, just like
Terminus Est! And yes, I want one!



--=20
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                 Die Welt ist alles, was Zerfall ist.  =20
                  (apologies to Ludwig Wittgenstein)   =20
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