the taproom is like "...a snug cave..." -Poul and Karen Anderson, Dahut, Chapter VII, section 1, p. 368;
a hypocaust warms its tiled floor;
kitchen odors sweeten the stench of tallow candles and blubber lamps;
there are vivid murals;
there is a wide choice of drinks and good food;
furniture is plain and heavy but well made;
the landlord's four large sons keep order;
this inn is frequented by Ysan commoners and moderately prosperous foreigners like Niall from Hivernia who drinks with the fisher captain, Maeloch.
Outside is rain, sleet, wind and Ocean roar. Hooting gale rattles shutters. A stormy year - and more pathetic fallacy because the reader knows that Niall spies in order to bring about the, to us legendary, inundation of Ys.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I thought of the "Sign of the Prancing Pony," from Tolkien's THE LORD OF THE RINGS as another example from literature of a snug and comfortable inn. And of course there's Anderson's "The Old Phoenix" inn.
Sean
Paul and Sean:
Spider Robinson created "Callahan's Place" in stories collected as *Callahan's Crosstime Saloon*, *Time Travelers Strictly Cash*, and several other books with titles beginning *Callahan's*.... Snug and welcoming indeed.
As Wikipedia says, "The regulars are welcoming and willing to listen to any visitor's problems, no matter how strange, but do not snoop if a visitor is unwilling to share. Strange and unusual events and visitors turn up with frequency...."
Watch out for the puns, though. Speaking of which, the first sentence of Paul's entry tickled me, since "eponymous" is the term for a person or thing who/that has something named after him/her/it. To have "Epona" occur in such proximity to an eponymous reference makes for a pun....
Hi, David!
Darn! I should have thought of Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Place" books as well. I've read the first two or three of them, after all. And I also recall several of Callahan's heresies, such as his insistence on having NORMAL lighting.
Sean
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