flying ship — Urth Net

Ashley Crill29 Nov 2007, 07:34as archived

flying ship

'Ship volant' is not the only piece of evidence we have concerning the nature of the ship on Severian's tomb. Consider this bit: I know too in whose mausoleum I tarried as a child, that little building of stone with its rose, its fountain and its flying ship all graven. I have disturbed my own tomb, and now I go to lie in it." Citadel XXXVIII Since none of the sailing vessels that Severian uses in the narrative are mentioned as ahving wings, I think its safe to assume that he does mean a ship that flies. The ship is graven on his tomb as one of the symbols of his life, and to those that built the tomb, Severian disappeared while traveling on a space ship. Its possible that the graven ship is actually the tender on which Severian flew to Tzadkiel's ship. The tender looks like a terrestrial sailing vessel according to Book of the New Sun, which could have led to the ambiguity about its nature, especially in the mind of a young Severian who may have originally thought that it was a terrestrial vessel.

Jeff Wilson03 Dec 2007, 10:51as archived

↳ in reply to Ashley Crill

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Ashley Crill wrote: 'Ship volant' is not the only piece of evidence we have concerning the nature of the ship on Severian's tomb. Consider this bit: I know too in whose mausoleum I tarried as a child, that little building of stone with its rose, its fountain and its flying ship all graven. I have disturbed my own tomb, and now I go to lie in it." Citadel XXXVIII Since none of the sailing vessels that Severian uses in the narrative are mentioned as ahving wings, I think its safe to assume that he does mean a ship that flies. The ship is graven on his tomb as one of the symbols of his life, and to those that built the tomb, Severian disappeared while traveling on a space ship. Its possible that the graven ship is actually the tender on which Severian flew to Tzadkiel's ship. The tender looks like a terrestrial sailing vessel according to Book of the New Sun, which could have led to the ambiguity about its nature, especially in the mind of a young Severian who may have originally thought that it was a terrestrial vessel.

I think the tender would primarily resemble a sailing vessel in that it would be likely to have a seaworthy hull for water landings and taking advantage of less-sophisticated port facilities. Perhaps the notion of a ship with no waterline would apply. in part. If the ship appears above the rose and the fountain, with the entire hull visible, it might seem to be flying above the other two.

Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com < http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

matthew at calmeilles.co.uk03 Dec 2007, 12:05as archived

↳ in reply to Jeff Wilson

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jwilson at io.com wrote: Perhaps the notion of a ship with no waterline would apply. in part. If the ship appears above the rose and the fountain, with the entire hull visible, it might seem to be flying above the other two.

What are people thinking when it says "fountain" here? An heraldic fountain is a bit odd. For example the arms of Runcorn Or on a Base barry wavy of four Azure and Argent a Lymphad proper flying Flags and Pennon of St. George and the sail also Azure charged with a Garb Gold on a Chief Gules two Flaying Knives in saltire proper handles Or between as many Fountains. http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/runcorn.JPG Matthew

Andy Robertson03 Dec 2007, 15:42as archived

↳ in reply to matthew at calmeilles.co.uk

T matthew at calmeilles.co.uk writes:

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What are people thinking when it says "fountain" here? An heraldic fountain is a bit odd.

The reference is surely to the Vatic fountain in the House Absolute (in which a ship appears when S casts in a coin) So I asssume it's that type of fountain. hartshorn http://www.thenightland.co.uk 01273-488272 / 0777-214-9545

Tony Ellis03 Dec 2007, 22:04as archived

↳ follows Andy Robertson · by subject

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hartshorn wrote: matthew at calmeilles.co.uk writes:

What are people thinking when it says "fountain" here? An heraldic fountain is a bit odd.

The reference is surely to the Vatic fountain in the House Absolute (in which a ship appears when S casts in a coin) So I asssume it's that type of fountain.

The reference is surely to the White Fountain, that being the great achievement of Severian's life and everything. :-) I don't know what it looks like but as with the flying ship I don't think it matters. It's what it symbolises that's significant.

Jeff Wilson04 Dec 2007, 04:57as archived

↳ in reply to Tony Ellis

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Tony Ellis wrote: hartshorn wrote:

matthew at calmeilles.co.uk writes:

What are people thinking when it says "fountain" here? An heraldic fountain is a bit odd.

The reference is surely to the Vatic fountain in the House Absolute (in which a ship appears when S casts in a coin) So I asssume it's that type of fountain.

The reference is surely to the White Fountain, that being the great achievement of Severian's life and everything. :-) I don't know what it looks like but as with the flying ship I don't think it matters. It's what it symbolises that's significant.

However, a symbol has to be recognized and properly identified in order to convey the intended meaning. I suppose the symbolism could be intended solely for the reader and have no valid context in the fictional setting but I think most of his readers would agree Wolfe is a bit more careful than that.

Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com < http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

Tony Ellis05 Dec 2007, 16:44as archived

↳ follows Jeff Wilson · by subject

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Jeff Wilson wrote: However, a symbol has to be recognized and properly identified in order to convey the intended meaning. I suppose the symbolism could be intended solely for the reader and have no valid context in the fictional setting but I think most of his readers would agree Wolfe is a bit more careful than that.

The symbolism does have a valid context in the fictional setting. Severian, a character in the fiction, has chosen these symbols. The fact that other people won't recognise the meaning of one of them is irrelevant. He's under no obligation to create a coat of arms that makes sense to anyone but himself.

Jeff Wilson05 Dec 2007, 22:14as archived

↳ in reply to Tony Ellis

Tony said:

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Jeff Wilson wrote:

However, a symbol has to be recognized and properly identified in order to convey the intended meaning. I suppose the symbolism could be intended solely for the reader and have no valid context in the fictional setting but I think most of his readers would agree Wolfe is a bit more careful than that.

The symbolism does have a valid context in the fictional setting. Severian, a character in the fiction, has chosen these symbols. The fact that other people won't recognise the meaning of one of them is irrelevant. He's under no obligation to create a coat of arms that makes sense to anyone but himself.

So not only was Severian interred multiple times before his birth, but he was the tomb builder as well?

Tony Ellis06 Dec 2007, 09:47as archived

↳ follows Jeff Wilson · by subject

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Jeff Wilson wrote: So not only was Severian interred multiple times before his birth, but he was the tomb builder as well?

Anyone could have built the tomb, as far as I can see. But either Severian, or someone else who knew the cosmic secrets of his life, must have designed its coat of arms.