(urth) Castleview comments

[Dave Tallman]

I recently re-read "Castleview" and I put some references and comments about
it on http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.Castleview.

References:

   - The song Will Shields and family sing (pp. 114, 232, 276) is The Ducks
   of Magheralin <http://www.theballadeers.com/Lyrics_D3.htm>.
   - Ann Schindler rediscovers the need for faith when faced with the
   unknown. The cheesecake recipe becomes her rosary. The meaning of her name
   is "one who covers a roof with shingles, a roofer." Possibly more
   interesting is the connection with the heroic Oskar Schindler from
Schindler's
   List <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/>.
   - The Wrangler is "Artie" (Arthur) Dunstan, and he is no doubt a
   descendant of the Doctor Dunstan whose house became the County Museum (p.
   25), with the Excalibur-carved fireplace (p. 113-114).
   - Both Magheralin and Castleview are the names of wards in Northern
   Ireland<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Government_%28Boundaries%29_Act_%28Northern_Ireland%29_1971>.

   - Viviane Morgan seems to combine Viviane, the Lady of the
Lake<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Lake>and Morgan
   le Fey <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_le_Fay>. She is also the ghostly
   hitchhiker <http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/vanish.asp> of urban
   legend. See The Magic
Animal<http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Stories.TheMagicAnimal>for
another take on the Lady of the Lake.
   - The Master of the Hunt combines many legends also:


   1. The Green Man <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Man> -- a pagan
   nature spirit, associated with resurrection and Spring.
   2. The Green Knight <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Knight> --
   especially his beheading exchange with Sir Gawain.
   3. Odin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odin> -- with one eye, a
   dawrf-forged spear, and his eight-legged horse Sleipnir (p. 261).
   4. Leader of the Wild Hunt <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hunt>,
   which is normally death for mortals to see.
   5. Cernunnos <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cernunos>, the Horned God,
   associated with stags and other horned animals.


   - The hairy, smelly, red-eyed monster who attacks Will Shields is
   probably a troll <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll>, especially because
   of the Peer Gynt reference (see below). Trolls can turn invisible and shift
   their shapes, so the boy caught in the trap was probably the troll in
   disguise to catch Shields off-guard. Bright light can burn trolls (p. 160);
   sunlight can turn them to stone.
   - "Rex von Madadh" means "King of the Dogs." (Madadh means large dog or
   wolf in Gaelic). He is a werewolf and seems to have no fear of ordinary
   firearms (p. 272).
   - Liam Fee is a vampire because he:


   1. Enters the Howard home only on invitation (p. 72).
   2. Breaks mirrors and other reflective glass, like Dracula (p. 89).
   3. Recruits young women like Lucie and Sancha to become vampires.
   4. Lucie was probably bitten by Fee, and she would have risen as a
   vampire after her death, but Long Jim says that modern embalming kills
   vampires (p. 253).
   5. Sancha's coma allowed her spirit to wander Fairyland as a vampire.
   Since she didn't die she wasn't embalmed.
   6. Kate, Judy's mother, also had a wandering spirit (p. 204) -- it was
   probably vampiric mind-control that caused her to become suicidal.


   - Von Madadh seems to fit the archetype of the relatively good opponents
   of King Arthur, like Lancelot or
Accolon<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accolon>,
   whereas the vampire Liam Fee is more like
Mordred<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordred>.
   Both seem to be rivals to replace Tom as Sally's husband (Sally is something
   like Guinevere <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinevere>). Von Madadh is
   comfortable with French and how it should really be pronounced (p. 135), a
   trait Lancelot and Accolon of Gaul would share.
   - Will Shield's fight with von Madadh has echoes of the fight with
   Accolon in Le Morte
d'Arthur<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morte_d%27Arthur>,
   in that Sheilds fights on bravely with a useless weapon and his side gets
   back Excalibur with a little help from the Lady of the Lake.
   - Robert Borski once suggested Lucie and G. Gordon Kitty are the same. I
   think he is basically correct, with the qualification that this is only so
   after her death. Lucie's death by vampire attack seems to have caused her to
   change sides.


   1. Lucie's last name is d'Carabas (p. 37), a name associated with Puss in
   Boots <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puss_in_Boots_%28fairy_tale%29>(referenced
on p. 274).
   2. G. Gordon Kitty only starts acting human after the death of Lucie, so
   it may be due to a possession by her spirit.
   3. Kitty is a tomcat, but there is a suggestion that females may be
   playing male roles (p. 226).
   4. Kitty's first words to Mercedes are in French: "Chère Mademoiselle"
   (p. 243).
   5. The courage and chivalry of the small cat recall C.S. Lewis'
   Reepicheep <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reepicheep>.


   - The "Valse Triste" (p. 53) is not from Grieg's music for "Peer Gynt"
   but actually a piece by Sibelius. In Peer
Gynt<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_Gynt>,
   the protagonist encounters trolls. In Valse
Triste<http://www.musicwithease.com/sibelius-valse-triste.html>,
   a dying woman waltzes with Death. It seems that von Madadh is the one who
   played the piece on the organ -- he hums a "doleful waltz" later (p. 218).

Interpretations:

   - The goal of the fay seems to be to find a brave champion of the blood
   of Arthur to fight in single combat with their champion. Even if he loses,
   the champion's sacrifice will allow the surrender of the Master of the
   Hunt/Green Man/Green Knight/Odin/Cernunnos to the beheading by Winter which
   he will return (ala Gawain and the Green Knight), allowing the cycle of the
   seasons to continue. The champion is healed and taken by boat to Avalon, as
   in "Le Morte 'd Arthur" and "The Once and Future King."
   - Wolfe is trying in not only the old Arthurian legends but also modern
   legends, showing that people continue to believe in strange beings but
   differ in what they call them, like elves vs. aliens. The being in A
   Cabin on the
Coast<http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Stories.ACabinOnTheCoast>can
take many forms.
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