Mantis on some NEW SUN names

From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at siriusfiction.com> To: Roy C. Lackey <rclackey at stic.net> Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 9:35 AM Subject: Re: Fw: (urth) Chris' last name Pirate freedom Hello there Roy, On the topic of decoding names, this seems like a perfect opportunity for challenging readers to crack "the bloody three," the names called out at the Sanguinary Field: Laurentia of the House of the Harp Cadroe of the Seventeen Stones Sabas of the Parted Meadow The first names are not an issue here, the "last names" are. In PLAN[E]T ENGINEERING, Wolfe shows a bit of his onomastic bent by translating several names: Larry Niven = the Man from the Snows of Laurentum Kate Wilhelm = the Pure Woman With the Desirable Helmet Gene Wolfe = a Wolf Is Born David Hartwell = the Beloved Man From the Spring Where the Deer Come to Drink Vincent Di Fate = the Liege of the Conqueror From Faerie I think the bloody three are just like the right column names, that is, I sense that the names are coded versions of real names that we would recognize. I believe that the first letter of each first name is true to the initial of the real name, giving us: L. "House of the Harp" C. "Seventeen Stones" S. "Parted Meadow" "House of the Harp" couldn't be simply "Harper," since that would lack the house part. "House of the Harp" has a Tolkien ring to it <g>, but let's not be distracted by that. "Seventeen Stones" has a powerful link to the Group of Seventeen, to be sure. Historically there are also stone rings in the British Isles and an old cemetery of slaves in the US. I find it very difficult to reverse engineer a surname from "seventeen," but maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way. "Parted Meadow" seems more accommodating than the other two, giving us names like Spalding. At times it seems like this full name decoded might be "Sprague de Camp." So there it is, a contest of sorts. Get cracking! =Michael=

On Nov 28, 2007, at 1:08 PM, Roy C. Lackey wrote: Rex, Mantis said he couldn't comment on your speculations regarding his surname and PIRATE FREEDOM (he hasn't read the book), other than to say that Christopher is not any of his names. But he decided to seek the list's input on the related topic of deciphering three names from NEW SUN. (I tried this months ago and got nowhere.) -Roy -----Original Message----- From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at siriusfiction.com> To: Roy C. Lackey <rclackey at stic.net> Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 9:35 AM Subject: Re: Fw: (urth) Chris' last name Pirate freedom

Hello there Roy, On the topic of decoding names, this seems like a perfect opportunity for challenging readers to crack "the bloody three," the names called out at the Sanguinary Field: Laurentia of the House of the Harp Cadroe of the Seventeen Stones Sabas of the Parted Meadow The first names are not an issue here, the "last names" are. In PLAN[E]T ENGINEERING, Wolfe shows a bit of his onomastic bent by translating several names: Larry Niven = the Man from the Snows of Laurentum Kate Wilhelm = the Pure Woman With the Desirable Helmet Gene Wolfe = a Wolf Is Born David Hartwell = the Beloved Man From the Spring Where the Deer Come to Drink Vincent Di Fate = the Liege of the Conqueror From Faerie I think the bloody three are just like the right column names, that is, I sense that the names are coded versions of real names that we would recognize. I believe that the first letter of each first name is true to the initial of the real name, giving us: L. "House of the Harp" C. "Seventeen Stones" S. "Parted Meadow" "House of the Harp" couldn't be simply "Harper," since that would lack the house part. "House of the Harp" has a Tolkien ring to it <g>, but let's not be distracted by that. "Seventeen Stones" has a powerful link to the Group of Seventeen, to be sure. Historically there are also stone rings in the British Isles and an old cemetery of slaves in the US. I find it very difficult to reverse engineer a surname from "seventeen," but maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way. "Parted Meadow" seems more accommodating than the other two, giving us names like Spalding. At times it seems like this full name decoded might be "Sprague de Camp." So there it is, a contest of sorts. Get cracking! =Michael=

_______________________________________________

On Nov 28, 2007, at 1:08 PM, Roy C. Lackey wrote: I believe that the first letter of each first name is true to the initial of the real name, giving us: L. "House of the Harp" C. "Seventeen Stones" S. "Parted Meadow" "House of the Harp" couldn't be simply "Harper," since that would lack the house part. "House of the Harp" has a Tolkien ring to it <g>, but let's not be distracted by that.

On the topic of decoding names, this seems like a perfect opportunity for challenging readers to crack "the bloody three," the names called out at the Sanguinary Field: Laurentia of the House of the Harp Cadroe of the Seventeen Stones Sabas of the Parted Meadow The first names are not an issue here, the "last names" are. "Seventeen Stones" has a powerful link to the Group of Seventeen, to be sure. Historically there are also stone rings in the British Isles and an old cemetery of slaves in the US. I find it very difficult to reverse engineer a surname from "seventeen," but maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way.

On the topic of decoding names, this seems like a perfect opportunity for challenging readers to crack "the bloody three," the names called out at the Sanguinary Field: Laurentia of the House of the Harp Cadroe of the Seventeen Stones Sabas of the Parted Meadow The first names are not an issue here, the "last names" are. "Seventeen Stones" has a powerful link to the Group of Seventeen, to be sure. Historically there are also stone rings in the British Isles and an old cemetery of slaves in the US. I find it very difficult to reverse engineer a surname from "seventeen," but maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way.

Harpers Magazine runs brain-stretching puzzles similar to this every issue and I've never been particularly good at solving them, but I'll gladly take a crack at Cadroe of the Seventeen Stones. As anyone who has ever been to Scotland knows, cod roe is one of its national delicacies (especially the smoked variety). And since Seventeen Stones can be rearranged to spell Stevenson, could this be a reference to Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson? -- Rex Lycanthrosaurus lycanthrosaurus at fastmail.fm -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and love email again _______________________________________________

It seems that you are assuming that the names relate to some influence or other? Has there been any discussion of Stevensonian influences?

--- Matthew Keeley <matthew.keeley.1 at gmail.com> wrote: Perhaps "Seventeen Stones" could be a reference to weight (1 stone = 14 pounds). Then again, I'm not sure if there's anything we can do with 238 pounds, unless Wolfe is commenting on some friend's size here, not their name. -Matt _______________________________________________