And I'm allowing myself to respond to literally!<br><br>There is no denying the mythic resonance of the scene with the pit, the greenbuck, and Horn's 'death'. And now that I've just freshly read the encounter with the Neighbors, their resonance with the faerie is undeniable. Something was given to Horn in the Pit. I might have been new life, or at least a reparied life. Some of a neighbor might have gone into him. I don't think, at this point, it replaced him.<br>
<br>For one, he has memories of seeing Babbie looking down at him from the edge of the pit, so when Babbie sees him and assumes he's dead, he isn't. Also, after the first meeting with Krait, he sees an actual neighbor, who sends his spirit flying back to Nettle (a loaded moment if ever there was one), by touching something to his head. If he is already inhabited by a neighbor, what is the use of this? Well, I'm sure I could think of some if I tried.<br>
<br>It is certainly giving me an interesting perspective on this read through. I'm very grateful for that!<br><br>Here are few questions I've come up with this time through OBW:<br><br>1) The Neighbors knew of the Mother, and while Horn calls her a Goddess, I don't think we ever know if the Neighbors considered her to be so. It is Seawrack who gives Horn the ring which identifies him as a neighbor/man to He-Pens-Sheep, and may single him out as a representative of all humanity for the Neighbors (or, he IS a neighbor if you want to go that route, which I don't yet). Seawrack comes back with the ring after disappearing under the waves for a while. Could the Mother have given her the ring to give to horn, in an effort to engineer a peace between the neighbors and humanity? Is that part of seawracks purpose, and part of why she was sent to Horn? It's a stretch, but something tingles in the back of my head about it.<br>
<br>2) The neighbors say, when talking of their world: "Some of you call the placw where we are the Neighbor Whorl. It does not matter what we call it, or what we once called this one." Who on Blue would know what World the Neighbors went to, and call it the Neighbor whorl? It is clear in the sentence they are talking about a world other than Blue. Who else on Blue knows about it? Felt significant (and is maybe touched on later, and I'm completely forgetting).<br>
<br><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 6:36 PM, David Stockhoff <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dstockhoff@verizon.net">dstockhoff@verizon.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Not at all. But I'm allowing myself to be understood too literally. <br>
I'm suggesting that Wolfe rewrites or incorporates myths and mythical systems, and that we can easily recognize elements from time to time. So Pas is obviously Zeus; certain people have a certain resonance with Christ, some characters resemble angels, others fairy-tale monsters, and still others are people who can't be seen unless they want you to see them. Like the Little People of Ireland, the Neighbors once lived on Blue but now have gone away and will never be seen again. Or not.<br>
<br>
Divinity has nothing to do with it, in other words. It's more about niches in literary ecosystems. Just as a horse goddess could be worshiped across pre-Roman Europe under dozens of names, figures out of myth can easily be mixed up and switched around.<br>
<br>
------------------------------<br>
<br>
Message: 2<br>
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:22:33 -0700<br>
From: Jordon Flato <<a href="mailto:jordonflato@gmail.com" target="_blank">jordonflato@gmail.com</a>><br>
Subject: Re: (urth) Babbie<br>
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<<a href="mailto:273409710903191422s3e787dd8xf0424a020f62fff4@mail.gmail.com" target="_blank">273409710903191422s3e787dd8xf0424a020f62fff4@mail.gmail.com</a>><div class="im"><br>
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I'm not sure where you fall on the 'hierodules' argument, but hopefully, you<br>
are not one to see them as "insect beings" who have no divinity or<br>
legitimate connection with divinity. Otherwise, it seems like it would be<br>
hard to make the case for the Neighbors having that quality and not the<br>
Hierodules....<br>
<br>
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