(urth) Seawrack and the Mother

[David Stockhoff]

On 9/23/2012 8:31 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
>> We both wanted to know why Scylla wanted to talk to that other Scylla in the
>> >Red Sun Whorl and he said, "She wants to describe her efforts in the Long Sun
>> >Whorl, and to obtain the Greater Scylla's advice"....>
>> >People started coming out of the water ahead...they were all women. The ones
>> >closest to us were smaller, and the ones further away were bigger, so they all
>> >seemed like they were the same size. Some of the farthest back ones were as tall
>> >as Father (Silkhorn), Juganu and me put together. A lot had on black robes and
>> >cowls, but some were naked, especially the big ones further back. The closest
>> >ones talked and sang, and called to us...
>> >The girl kept singing to them, and they got quieter and started to come toward
>> >us. It was like they were standing on something under the water that moved....
>> >Two sort of rose up and talked to the girl and Father then, their robes getting
>> >longer and longer as they came up out of the water until they would have dragged
>> >behind them clear across the deck if they had been walking on the boat. There was
>> >something under them that the women were standing on, if those women had any feet.
>> >...one looked at me and smiled, and she had little sharp, pointed teeth like tacks.
>> >Her eyes were all one color and sort of glowed or gleamed under the cowl... I told
>> >[Father] about the woman who had looked at me and smiled and said, "Was that Scylla?"
>> >The girl was mad about it.
> I don't think Wolfe is going to give it to us more clearly than this. I think having
> a collection of smaller singing women and giant, naked women with sharp teeth rising
> up out of the water (almost) clearly ties sirens, the Mother, Scylla, undines and
> Abaia together. And if there were some doubt, Wolfe give us the women wearing black
> robes and cowls. This garb is called an Abaya or Abaia. Hard to swallow that as
> coincidence given all the other connections between giant sea monster/gods. And more
> evidence that Wolfe is willing to use english word play as direct reader clues to names
> in the Sun Series. (like Rhea Silvia and perhaps Sirenia, Cilinia and Seawrack)

I can't argue with that, although there is no "ship" or island in that 
scene, so the particulars are still up for debate. Those women do appear 
to be flesh puppets, not possessed corpses, though the difference may be 
slight after all.

I have not read Short Sun twice, so I need to finish the second read and 
get back to RTTW. I agree, the book is so full of revelations it's 
difficult to absorb them all.