(urth) Questions . . .

David Duffy David.Duffy at qimr.edu.au
Mon Nov 26 21:28:08 PST 2007


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.



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