(urth) Corundum of the Claw

[Lee Berman]

> The corundum represents the accumulated body of Myth and Legend that has
> grown around this artifact of the Conciliator.  Its reality is only dimly
> apprehended through this crystal, as even the Pelerines thought that this
> was "only a flaw at the heart of the jewel", and our man of science,
> Baldanders thought the claw was "Nothing. a fragment of corundum."  All
> either really see is the myth, not the reality.
 
Very nice post Son O'Witz! I think Baldanders also calls it a "monument of 
superstition" or something like that.
 
While the symbolism is poignant, I (too?) think the sapphire enclosure is
significant enough through 2.5 books to deserve a narrative explanation for
how it came to surround the thorn.
 
There has been some debate in the past whether Severian is a "Christian figure"
or a "Christ figure". A recent article in Ultan's Library reminds us Severian
was marked by stigmata on the forehead after viewing Tzadkiel in the book. Now
we are reminded that Severian was also pierced by a thorn. There is the desert
garden and some other stuff that would seem to relate directly to Jesus and not
just Christianity in general. 		 	   		  
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