(urth) Lupiverse(s)

[DAVID STOCKHOFF]

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 From: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com>
To: urth at urth.net 
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 9:52 AM
Subject: (urth) Lupiverse(s)
 
>Craig Brewer> So my real question here is how sure we are 
>that Urth isn't just Earth.

I don't think we can be. And I agree that the interview, 
by itself, could be dismissed as retrofitting.  Much as
we'd hate to think of Wolfe doing that, he is human.

Here is what sways me to believe Briah was intended as a past
universe from the start. On first reading most readers will
assume that "Urth" is just a funny spelling of earth.

But with further readings and research you come to learn that
Urth is a spelling for one of the three Norns, the one who
embodies the Past. This could be a coincidence until you become 
aware of how learned and immersed in mythology Gene Wolfe is. It
is unlikely to be an accident.

Furthermore, the other two Norns, Skuld and Verthandi are also 
referenced. This seems to me a clear example of Wolfe speaking in 
code to those who are (or become) familiar with the minutiae of 
Norse mythology. Urth is not the future. It is not the present. 
It is the past.

This allows Urth and Briah to be futuristic but still be Christ-
absent. And it allows there to be a Flood without having God
break his Covenant. These two components seem necessary for what
Wolfe was trying to accomplish with this work.                           
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I completely agree with the logic here, as well as the thought-out significance of the name "Urth." Add to that the text's suggestions of iterations and a great cycle, and there you are. It fits.

However, going back to Craig's question and the first line of your answer---that's true too. For example, we can't ever be totally sure from what perspective to see that past. Our own perspective is a logical possibility---but so is the perspective of Ushas, which replaces Urth. There is always a yesterday where a story began, a today where choices must be made, and a tomorrow which is uncertain at best. This fits too (at least it fits New Sun, if not so well Urth of the New Sun).
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