(urth) Bringin' it back to Wolfe by the long road

[James Wynn]

 don doggett writes:
> >I'm thinking especially
> > of Wizard Knight, which involves both Arthur and the
> > most overt references to Christianity I have
> > encountered from Wolfe. I found it a weakness myself;
> > having Odin (the Vallfather) bow down to Michael was a
> > little close to proselytising for me,

Hartshorn replies:
> Not realy.   Michael here is not precisely a Christian figure in a christian
> universe: rather he's a being of a certain rank, in a non-Christian
> universe, who is explained/derived in terms of Christan myth much as the
> Overcyns are explained/derived in terms of Nordic myth.   He is of higher
> rank than Odin but other beings of non-Christian derivation like Parka are
> of higher rank than him,.

Granting that Parka is of the same level as Michael, I think it is a
significant point of which Wolfe was aware that in Germany the temples
of Woden were overbuilt with chapels dedicated to St. Michael. (heh
heh why do you suppose that is?)

Of course, Able himself is a pretty blatant Christ-figure although, of
course, not to the extent Narnia's Aslan is.