(urth) Wolfean epiphany

[Jeff Wilson]

On 12/2/2011 4:31 PM, David Stockhoff wrote:
> On 12/2/2011 5:10 PM, Jeff Wilson wrote:
>> On Fri, December 2, 2011 15:59, David Stockhoff wrote:
>>> Why is this a clue to a strange and climactic scene of UNS? Because the
>>> unmanning was not a random punishment. There were surely practical
>>> reasons for it, but I think Wolfean logic demanded it. It's ridiculously
>>> simple. Positive is balanced with negative, presence with absence.
>>> Either you pass and your genitals contribute to a mythic regeneration or
>>> you fail and they no longer exist.
>> This seems culturally relative, and not particularly of a BotNS-wide
>> culture; in Norse myth, which is very much a part of the mix, missing
>> body
>> parts indicate the opposite outcome of a fruitful sacrifice: Heads for
>> wisdom, eyes for knowledge, hands for justice.
>
> Ah, so there is precedent for it. Yes, it seems to have a mythical
> force, so I'm not surprised.
>
> But my point has nothing to do with any BNS culture and everything to do
> with the kind of logical path Wolfe expects us to know how to follow. If
> there are such rules in myth, then so much the better.

By opposite outcome, I mean the opposite of what you propose. Mimir 
loses his head, but the head endures and becomes guardian of the well. 
Odin is missing an eye because he successfully traded it for drinking at 
the well. Tyr loses his hand when he successfully tricks Fenris into 
captivity. Loki fails to win his challenge but keeps his head. Sif falls 
for Loki's tricks or just falls for Loki romantically but ends with more 
exotic and alluring hair than before instead of losing her charms for good.


-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at clueland.com
Computational Intelligence Laboratory - Texas A&M Texarkana
< http://www.tamut.edu/CIL >