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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=severiansola@hotmail.com
href="mailto:severiansola@hotmail.com">Lee Berman</A> </DIV>
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<DIV><BR>Gerry Quinn: </DIV>
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<DIV>> > You are ignore the actual context of the references. Urth,
Verthandi and Skuld <BR>> > are all planets of the same solar system in
the same cycle, and the reasons they are given <BR>> > the names Past,
Present and Future are explained.<BR><BR> <BR>> I am quite aware of the
superficial context of the references. You ignore that the text can be<BR>>
understood at more than one literary level. I don't think there is a
particularly good explanation <BR>> for the names of all three planets.
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<DIV>It’s reasonable. Earth was considered – at least by those colonising
Mars - the past of humanity, Mars the present, hence its new name.
Then those interested in colonising Venus decided to go one up on both.</DIV>
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<DIV>One thing is certain: you don’t need to do “<FONT
face="Times New Roman">further readings and research“. The meanings of
past, present and future are explicitly noted, with no references to Norns
needed. Wolfe doesn’t generally hide cryptic clues like this. He did
assume that many or most readers would know that Mars (“which was then called
War”) derives from the name of the Roman god of war – but he also noted that it
was red just in case anyone needed an extra clue.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>> But I think you missed a clue there which hints at a connection
<BR>> to earth. An ancient language is mentioned in which the words for gift
and now are homophones. This <BR>> language is surely english. The chances of
it being another language are slim and pointless.<BR><BR>What makes you think I
missed something so completely obvious? </DIV>
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<DIV>If Urth is a reference to a past universe, Verthandi and Skuld are the Mars
and Venus of that universe. Every iteration has an Urth, a Verthandi and a
Skuld. So their names say nothing about which iteration they are in.</DIV>
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<DIV>- Gerry Quinn</DIV>
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