(urth) Appearances of Inire

[brunians at brunians.org]

These guys are not gods.

They are angels or fairies or some such.

The distinction is nontrivial.

.


> Wolfe bases all his "gods" on "real" gods. Yes, there does seem to be a
> pairing of Mother and Father in Inire and the Cumaean, but then there
> would be.
>
> Lee Berman wrote:
>>> Well, obviously Inire's also Master Ultan.  Since he's clearly the
>>> Librarian.
>>>
>>
>> Yes, Ultan is a curator. And like some other candidates, Ultan's eyes
>> are obscured. I think the dark haired woman in the grave is some version
>> of Catherine. Why does Severian see her face in Ultan's? Could he be
>> Catherine's father? If Inire is also Dorcas' husband, he would appear
>> as grandfather to Severian on both sides of the family. Why IS he called
>> "Father" Inire? I can't recall any religious association.
>>
>>
>>
>>> Is Inire known to travel in time, himself?
>>>
>>
>> If he is Isangoma, who resembles the jungle shaman, then I'd say, yes.
>>
>>
>>
>>> Why limit Inire to male characters? If he can be a fraking robot
>>> (Ossipago)
>>> and monkey his way up Agia's family tree (which, according to some,
>>> makes
>>> him related to Severian), and be both dead characters (Boatman,
>>> Maxellindis'
>>> uncle) and living ones, a change of gender is no obstacle.
>>>
>>
>> In UotNS we are rather explicitly shown that Tzadkiel can change size,
>> shape
>> gender and plurality, so I agree with Roy's statement. If there is a
>> female
>> version of Father Inire, the most likely candidate is Cumaean. One is
>> Father,
>> the other is The Mother. We hear them paired as alike but they are never
>> quite
>> together. Inire has his monkey essence, the Cumaean has her snake
>> essence. I
>> don't know if they are supposed to be borne of the same original entity
>> or not
>> but they could be.
>>
>> Given the Tzadkiel model, there is no reason there can't be multiple
>> versions
>> of the same being running around manipulating Severian's life and
>> travels. We
>> are told that not even Tzadkiel can resurrect a dead person. So, I
>> suspect,
>> neither can Father Inire (or the Cumaean, by herself). Perhaps it wasn't
>> a
>> coincidence the boatman just happened to be there on the lake when
>> Severian
>> showed up. How else could he restore his long dead wife?
>>
>> Tzadkiel is an angel (who never comes to Urth). What is Inire?
>>
>> Genesis 6:1-8 seems to suggest that the purpose of The Flood was to
>> cleanse
>> the earth and humanity of a corruption brought on by the mating of
>> fallen
>> angels and human women, producing giants, demons, etc. Severian's
>> resistance to
>> the seduction of Juturna is significant. What is the purpose of the
>> Flood
>> of Urth? The same as the Biblical Flood, I think.
>>
>> I suspect that Wolfe is making the point that the fallen angels of
>> Judeo-Christianity bear a striking resemblance to the gods and monsters
>> of pagan mythology and are, perhaps, one and the same. Incestuous, large
>> sized,
>> animal essenced, shape-changing, other "magic" abilities, mating with
>> humans, the
>> pattern is fairly consistent. (Hephaestus is an artisan, bent and
>> twisted,
>> sometimes depicted with red hair).
>>
>> One more candidate for Father Inire- Cyriaca's book-loving "uncle" who
>> seems to
>> know so much about the inner workings of the Autarchy and the history of
>> humanity
>> and the universe. And Cyriaca does share some characteristics with
>> Catherine.
>> Cyriaca's dark hair paired with a red-headed father might produce the
>> chestnut color
>> we find in Agia and Agilus. Thus the origin of the incestuous curse
>> which seems to
>> plague Severian's family- the Father.
>>
>>
>>> Severian only screws his relatives, by logical extension "All You
>>> Zombies"
>>> is us and we are Inire, but we are not alone.
>>>
>>
>> Yes. I once read a Gene Wolfe interview in which he said he was unhappy
>> with his
>> status as an only child and spent much of his youth scouring the faces
>> of strangers
>> for signs of hidden family and lost kinship. This is more explicitly
>> themed in
>> Fifth Head of Cerberus but I think it makes a significant appearance in
>> New Sun also.
>>
>> (p.s. the "battles" over these issues from a few years ago were
>> invaluable to me in
>> helping clarify my interpretations. I truly appreciate all those who
>> participated and
>> helped me)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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