(urth) Atlantis and Gonawanaland

[Lee Berman]

>David Stockhoff: Of course I meant them in a limited sense (i.e., limited to Fifth Head), 
>but they do seem to recur in Wolfe. I'd relate them to his general idea about myths, how 
>ancient myths reflect attempts by intelligent people to understand the world and approach 
>divinity, etc. Stories we tell ourselves about who-came-before are all grist for Wolfe's 
>mill, or meat for his fangs, or ....

>In other words, I wouldn't go so far as to say Wolfe thinks giants (or shadows) did once roam 
>the earth, or that they did on Urth, or that they did on Blue, etc. Just that we humans always 
>talk about such ideas and they hold---and generate---meaning for us.  

 
I would go that far. Wolfe had point blank stated he considers the ancient gods to be real.
Real in what sense is a question. Using real places of origin like Gondwanaland and Africa
and pairing them with legendary and fictional places like Atlantis, Mu and Poictesme may be
his way of saying their "reality" may be best expressed in fiction (hopefully that contradiction
doesn't cause some purists to tear their hair out).
 
Gondwanaland was probably picked because it predates even primate evolution. Shadow Children 
and their ilk on each planet go deeper than just an evolutionary memory of little monkeys and
big monkeys. Probably deeper than the reptiles and white worms and parasitic vines which are
hinted at in various stories. There is something essentially evil in the essence of Creation.
 
Science is damn good tool but limited to explaining the things we can consciously perceive. I
think Wolfe is saying that God (good) and Evil are such ancient, cosmic, vast entities that we
can only attempt to comprehend them through subconscious processes like dreams and the gut-level
apprehension of mystic fiction (like the Bible and like a Wolfe story).
 
He feels free to flesh out angels and demons and gods and monsters in his stories because they ARE
fiction and that is where fleshly versions of such things belong. (hint from the author, I think- 
don't discount dream evidence in Wolfe stories).