(urth) TBOTNS fan cover art‏

[Lee]

>Mark Lewin: "Gyoll is a great river which runs through the city, in which the
>apprentices have just been swimming. Its name is probably a reference to
>the Norse Gjoll, a river which symbolized death and ran near the gates
>of Hel — not unlike the Greek Styx."


Yes. 


Gjöll is also the name of the rock to which the monstrous Norse wolf,

Fenrir is chained. Not a reference that can be ignored when it comes to

this particular author.


Furthermore, that river is likely represented in our world  by the Rio De La 

Plata. The proximity to Buenos Aires (Nessus) and its estuarial nature jibes 

with the presence of some oceanic beings who would seem to appear in Gyoll.


A single literary element serving double or triple duty seems common in the 

works of Gene Wolfe.