(urth) What the elm?

[Daniel D Jones]

On Wednesday 06 June 2007 14:19, Matthew King wrote:
> On Jun 6, 2007, at 12:21 PM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:
> > This is *not* a put-down to the work Matthew King has done
> > on the elm. I believe it very likely that Wolfe had at least some
> > of this in mind when he chose an elm tree for Weer's grave
> > decoration. The question in my mind, though, is this: how
> > much does knowing this affect my reading of the book? Does
> > knowing the significance of the elm help me to peace, uh,
> > piece together the crabbed and mysterious timeline of
> > Weer's life; to understand why he is (seemingly) trapped in
> > this particular afterworld; or any of the mysteries associated
> > with the individual accounts?
>
> Knowing (or guessing) the connection to the Aeneid doesn't help in
> the interpretation of Peace unless Wolfe borrowed much more than just
> an elm.  Peace is packed so full of fragmentary and subverted stories
> that another classical allusion is hardly illuminating.
>
> If we were to unearth Vergilian (or Dantean) monsters in the
> menagerie of Weer's musings, or if we find some other Aenean
> analogue, then perhaps the connection would be more than merely
> interesting.

The elm standing by the gates of Hell (or the underworld) ties in quite well 
with Borski's "Weer as the Devil" musings.  If you haven't already read it, 
the essay is definitely worth the time, regardless of whether or not you find 
it convincing:


http://www.siriusfiction.com/PaxBorskii.html