(urth) Questions . . .

[Lane Haygood]

On Nov 26, 2007, at 11:28 PM, David Duffy wrote:

> On Mon, 26 Nov 2007, Jeff Wilson wrote:
>
>> Eric Ortlund wrote:
>>
>>> 3) Is there a deeper significance to the code phrases Vodalus gives
>>> Severian?  There's so much about ships elsewhere in the book (the
>>> pelagic argosy) - the ship on the tomb Sev rests in as a boy, the  
>>> ship
>>> he sails to Yesod in - and the Autarch drops the phrase to Sev.  
>>> as he's
>>> talking about the higher world Severian will eventually travel  
>>> to.  Or
>>> is it "just" a phrase?
>>
>> "pelagic" makes it a specific sort of ship, one that sails the high
>> seas. This distinguishes it from the Tzadkiel, or the riverine vessel
>> Severian nearly sinks in Urth. Also, argosy can be multiple ships.  
>> Hmm,
>> perhaps "pelagic" is the only sort of vessel *not* encountered in
>> Severian's chronicle, though the crypt would seem to depict one.
>>
>
> One reading is that it refers to those enemies of the Commonwealth  
> that
> have their home underwater.  Perhaps an overreading, but I quite liked
> the possibility it also referred to Pelagianism (perfectability  
> without
> grace, yada yada).
>
> David Duffy.

Why assume it has but one meaning? Wolfe probably intended for it to  
have different layers of meaning. He's crafty like that.

Lane