Friday 2 February 2024

Tabitha Falkayn And Philippe Rochefort

The People Of The Wind.

Tabitha captures a Terran. We recognize him:

"He was tall, swarthy by Avalonian measure...people with such chromosomes generally settled between stronger suns than Laura...." (IX, p. 550)

( - like the sun of Nyanza.) 

We realize that Draun has killed Helu but Tabitha has rescued Rochefort. The latter reminds us of a later Terran:

Rochefort:

"...he stretched to the limit the tolerance granted officers regarding their dress uniforms - rakishly tilted bonnet bearing the sunburst of Empire, gold-trimmed blue tunic, scarlet sash and cloak, snowy trousers tucked into low boots of authentic Terran beef-leather." (IV, p. 487)

Flandry:

"...his bonnet was tilted more rakishly on his seal-brown hair than a strict interpretation of rules would have allowed; his frame was draped in a fantastic glittergold version of dress tunic and snowy trousers rucked into handsome beefleather halfboots; the cloak that fluttered behind him glowed with phosphorescent patterns through the chill dusk..."
-Poul Anderson, A Circus Of Hells IN Anderson, Young Flandry (Riverdale, NY, January 2010), pp. 193-365 AT CHAPTER TWO, p. 203.

Contrast Admiral Cajal:

"His uniform was as plain as his rank allowed." 
-The People Of The Wind, VII, p. 514.

We value human diversity.

On p. 667 of The People Of The Wind, Sandra Miesel's CHRONOLGY OF TECHNIC CIVILIZATION informs us that:

"A descendant of Falkayn and an ancestor of Flandry cross paths." 

Rochefort is a precursor of Flandry but is not known to be his ancestor.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And the Imperial admiral John Ridenour conferred with in "Outpost of Empire" was content with a plain, businesslike field uniform.

Exactly, Sandra Miesel was only speculating that Rochefort was an ancestor of Flandry.

Ad astra! Sean