Severian among the Ascians

Lexicon Urthis suggests that Severian spent a year among the Ascians. Does anyone know when this is thought to have occurred?

It must be after he became Autarch (1 S.R.) and before leaving for Briah (10 S.R.). The most likely scenario is that he was captured while leading a battle against the Ascians. Just like the first time he and the old Autarch were captured, he wouldn't have been recognized as Autarch. He was enslaved by them for about a year.

I'm reminded of the Mormon claim that Jesus spent some of the Missing Years in America. Also, of course, the fairy-story trope of rulers switching kingdoms for a year and a day. Adam

I'm assuming that by Missing Years, you mean between age 8 and 30. The Mormon claim is actually that Jesus spent time in America after his resurrection.

Is there any evidence in the text for Severian spending a year with the Ascians? Or is this a doctrine, like the Immaculate Conception, that is derived by clever reasoning? Best wishes, Jack

My biggest problem with Lexicon Urthus is that he throws out some wild suggestions and then often doesn't cite any text that supports it. I love the speculation, but lets back it up. Of course there are many great things about the L.U. ~witz

Son of Witz wrote: My biggest problem with Lexicon Urthus is that he throws out some wild

L.U. does give a reference on this one under "History of Urth" in the timeline. It's UotNS, Chapter 51. It says Sev spent a year among the Ascians, but not that he was a slave. The part comes from a Wolfe interview, referenced here: http://lists.urth.net/htdig.cgi/urth-urth.net/2007-July/008043.html

Who knows? I believe that if you had the right connections you could get a boat in the Middle East that was going to America, or would meet up with one that did. .

There are, apparently, (according to modern, Christian Polynesians) pre-Christian Polynesian stories about some white guy going around on a big boat around the time of Christ and doing miracles. Also, and I don't think there is a connection, large numbers of Tongans are Mormons (the official Church is Weslayan, and there are also a lot of Catholics in Tonga). .

Sounds likely---thanks!

The text is here: Again I endured my imprisonment in the jungle ziggurat by Vodalus, the year I had spent among the Ascians, my flight from the white wolves in the Secret House; and a thousand similiar terrors, until at last it seemed to me that a demon desired that I surrender my miserable existence to Apu-Punchau, and that the demon was myself. Wolfe is here: Wolfe: "There was the time when Severian encountered assassins in the Secret House who had come to kill Ymar, an autarch a chiliad dead. I may write about that sometime. And the year he spent as a slave of the Ascians. But I doubt that either will make it into print." Since this was in 1982, it was before he wrote TUotNS, in which Severian does indeed meet a corpse of an assassin who comes to life as he watches, then presumably stabs Valeria.