Finally, Flandry sends a messenger in a spaceship with a letter to the Terran Admiral Walton who arrives with twice the strength of the already demoralized opposition and easily defeats the forces of either the royalist Duke Markagrav or the rebel Kelsy. Identification is uncertain.
Scothan tradition nearly traps Flandry at the end:
Gunli, oath-breaker, can regain her honor only by arranging single combat between Flandry and Cerdic;
Cerdic thinks that a civilized Terran will be unable to fight with a sword;
Flandry, triumphant to the end, demonstrates that decadence includes archaisms like scientific fencing.
Poul Anderson has no trouble in rationalizing a sword fight in an ancient castle in a futuristic sf story.
5 comments:
Hi, Paul!
I would point out that there ARE people right now who practice and enjoy the kind of scientific fencing which enabled Flandry to defeat Cerdic. And, Poul Anderson himself was one of the founders of the Society for Creative Anachronism, which focuses on studying and learning the arts and crafts, military and civilian, of Medieval Europe. Perhaps the Society is not as prominent among UK science fiction fans as it is with Americans?
Sean
Sean,
I have heard of the SCA but not in the UK.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
I hope there are SCA chapters in the UK!
Sean
There are significant differences between early and late editions of that fight between Cerdic and Flandry -- Poul's knowledge of sword-fighting had grown in the interim.
The early versions have Flandry somehow disarming Cerdic with a circling motion of the blade; you can't actually do this, though Hollywood is fond of it. You particularly can't do it with a medieval-style longsword, which uses a very strong hatchet grip, not a modern sport-fencer's light one.
But you can, as the later version states, hit the other guy's fingers when the sword has only a simple cross hilt.
(The complex basket hilts of later European backswords and rapiers were to guard against exactly that.)
Dear Mr. Stirling and Paul,
Mr. Stirling:Yes, I remember the more detailed and accurate account of how Flandry fought Prince Cerdic in the revised version of "Tiger By The Tail"
Paul: And in Stirling's Change books take note of how Sandra Arminger did not make Duke Asdagaar's mistake. She was very careful about her servants and retainers, picking them for intelligence, ability, and loyalty. Lady Sandra took pains to both treat her servants justly but also to let them know only what she wanted them to know.
Sean
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