Monday 15 May 2017

Demonic Possession

Does Poul Anderson describe a demonic possession anywhere? I might have forgotten and have not read all his short stories. He does use various standard fantasy threats in some works, e.g., here.

Is Poul and Karen Anderson's Dahut possessed? Surely some of her behaviour suggests this? See here and here.

I ask about possessions because I am currently reading about one in Miracle Monday. In the Inferno, Dante meets the soul of a guy who is still alive on Earth. The explanation is demonic possession. We have referred to a possession in CS Lewis' Perelandra and to another in Garth Ennis'
Royal Blood.

In real life, some people either are possessed or imagine that they are with comparable results.

3 comments:

David Birr said...

Paul:
"Lord of a Thousand Suns" comes close, but with a technological explanation. I can't, off the top of my head, think of a genuinely supernatural example in PA.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

David,
Thanks. That is just the sort of example that is worth remembering even though technological as against supernatural.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul and DAVID!

I think the closest we see anyone possessed by a demon in the works of Poul Anderson is how Will Greylock, Virginia Matuchek's brother, was possessed by the spirit of the deceased Japanese Crown Princess in OPERATION LUNA.

And I think Poul Anderson had the recently deceased Princess Diana in mind, from how he described the Crown Princess.

Sean