(urth) flying ship

[Jeff Wilson]

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 >