On previous readings, I understandably concentrated on the physical details of Yggdrasil. We should also appreciate the humor involved in the idea of traveling to another universe to ask Mimir to solve the riddle of the US tax system:
"'Enemy wizards have made a riddle no man in our homeland can solve, and laid it on us. Unless we find the answer, and so unbind ourselves from it, we and our works will go under; and what we're waging is a fight against wicked trolls. Recalling how Odin himself seeks to you for advice, I trusted you might grant it to me.'" (p. 354)
Ginny does not use an alias because Mimir would see through it and might be insulted at the suggestion that he would cast "...a nymic spell." (p. 354) Nymic?
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And I agree with the frustration felt by the Matucheks and Nornwell Scryotronics with the baffling US tax code! Congress keeps changing the tax laws and the IRS' attempts to make sense of those changes both combine to make the paying of taxes an utterly miserable experience.
IDEALLY, the tax laws should be clear and transparent enough that everyone would be able to pay his due taxes without needing to consult expensive accountants and lawyers. I wish!
I inferred from context that "mymic" meant or had something to do with "names." Hence a "nymic spell" would be used to discover someone's real name.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
It's also possible "nymic" was a neologism coined by Anderson for OPERATION LUNA. A hitherto unknown word.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Or to curse them using the name they had given.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, nymic spells could also be cast by some for malevolent purposes.
Ad astra! Sean
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