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<p>Sure, they have a "concrete" (literal but not literary?) meaning.
But they surely have other meanings, because the literal one is,
well, fairly meaningless. This is standard Wolfe stuff. <br>
</p>
<p>Yes, Severian is an armed state employee. The torturer has a
shadow. So what?<br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/17/2018 1:56 PM, Dan'l
Danehy-Oakes wrote:<br>
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<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAJ8=rtizu4HBsgiorw61=0zbwNmjZdos7MMh1fpomwy+q=KMEA@mail.gmail.com">
<div dir="ltr">Whereas I am suggesting that, just as the other
three titles do, the title of volume 3 has a direct literal
meaning.
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<div>As for castration, I confess I was confusing Mithras with
Cybele.</div>
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<div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">
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<div>Dan'l Danehy-Oakes</div>
<div><br>
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<div>The spatula is the natural enemy of the
hypothalamus.</div>
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<div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Feb 17, 2018 at 10:04 AM, David
Stockhoff <span dir="ltr"><<a
href="mailto:dstockhoff@verizon.net" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">dstockhoff@verizon.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><br>
<br>
I should clarify. Severian is indeed the "Lictor of Thrax,"
but he is<br>
not a lictor in any other sense that corresponds to the
meaning of<br>
"lictor." For example, Roman towns didn't have one lictor,
although<br>
there were not many of them even in Rome.<br>
<br>
Wolfe is using the word to mean something else, just as he
uses<br>
"pandour" to mean a half-beast soldier instead of a Croatian
mercenary.<br>
<br>
In other words, when we encounter the volume title, it has
no literal<br>
meaning outside the book, since Severian is not a lictor. I
am proposing<br>
that it has a suggestive meaning that is only enhanced by
the Mithraic<br>
connection.<br>
<br>
For example, a Roman lictor "clears the way" for his master
(which<br>
Severian doesn't ever actually do in Thrax as far as I
recall, but I<br>
could be wrong). If this is intended, I assure you that the
reference is<br>
not to the magistrate of Thrax any more than it is to a
magistrate of Rome.
<div class="HOEnZb">
<div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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