(urth) Ash (was: Re: Shadow Children and Inhumi)
Jane Delawney
jane_delawney at sky.com
Tue Nov 30 17:23:52 PST 2010
On 30/11/10 04:29, Lee Berman wrote:
>
> James wonders if there is any relationship of this secret vine origin to Dionysus, god of the vine.
> I wonder if there is any possible relationship of any of this to Master Ash's missing mate Vine?
> I dunno. But her name has to mean something, doesn't it? If there is a Dionysian deity popping up
> in various guises throughout Severian's story, Master Ash would likely be among them, perhaps.
> _________
>
Sorry I appear to have missed the original reference (I get overwhelmed
with internet stuff quite often, blame my age) but regarding Ash and
Vine, I have always assumed that these are cognates / references to Ask
and Embla (Ash and Vine, in translation) the first human couple of
post-Fimbulwinter, post-Ragnarok Midgard in Norse tradition.
In a different timeline, which doesn't exist in Briah's multiple
iterations as often as Severian's (but still has some local substance,
hence the presence of Master Ash and his time machine in visible form
upon Urth), Ash is not only the last holdout on post-Ragnarok Urth, but
in those timeline possibilities, its Meschia equivalent. On the
occasions when this timeline does exist, Vine, whom according to
Severian's account he still hopes to see again, is his Meschiane.
jd
More information about the Urth
mailing list