But then I reread the account of Ferune of Mistwood's funeral (see here) and Holm's response to it:
"'And that Terran thought we'd surrender.'"
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 560.
Here, Daniel Holm, who resisted his son joining a choth, draws strength from a rite of the two thousand years old Ythrian New Faith and says "'...we...'" All the barriers between himself and the Ythrians are down as he sets himself against those inspired by the Roman Empire.
Holm's other source of inspiration is the Terrestrial literature quoted by his deceased friend, Ferune of Mistwood:
"'...-their finest hour-...'" (p. 567)
Cultural fusion could not be completer.
10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I suspect First Marchwarden Ferune himself would be a bit skeptical of what Daniel Holm said. The Poles, for example, had plenty of pride and courage, but it did not enable them to stop the Germans and Soviets from invading and divvying up Poland in 1939 (but the Poles were certainly proud and tough enough the Nazi and Soviet occupations and shake off the Soviet yoke by 1989). And it's worthy of being pointed out that the Empire's goals in the war with the Domain were limited, and did not include annexing the entire Domain.
Also, as combat operations were beginning in the Lauran system, this bit from Chapter VII of THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND is interesting to remember: "Ferune waited motionless for details. Through his mind passed words from one of the old Terran books it pleasured him to read. ' The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.' " I understood this as a hint from Anderson that not all justice was on the Ythrian side, that the Domain itself had to share in the blame for the war breaking out. Such as aggressive border clashes with the Empire needlessly provoking it to anger. Needless and dangerous, because the Empire was far stronger and vaster than the Domain.
This text from Proverbs20.2 is interesting both in showing Poul Anderson's familiarity with the Bible and the apt use he made of it and in depicting non humans also reading and recalling it. Anderson seems to have quoted from the Authorized Version of King James I. The Douai/Reims/Challoner version renders Proverbs 20.2 thus: "As the roaring of a lion, so also is the dread of a king: he that provoketh him sinneth against his own soul."
Sean
Sean,
Thank you for explaining the significance of this otherwise rather obscure text.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Hmmm, you truly thought that bit from Chapter VII of THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND was obscure? I thought it was a fairly plain hint from Anderson to his readers to keep in mind that the quarrel between the Empire and the Domain was not as one sided as some might think.
Simply for completeness' sake here's how the 1970 NEW AMERICAN BIBLE rendered Proverbs 20.2: "The dread of the king is as when a lion roars; he who incurs his anger forfeits his life."
Sean
Sean,
"...forfeits his life..." makes more sense than "...sins against soul..."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Hmmm, I think I see your point, because later translators at least sometimes had a sounder understanding of the Hebrew text. But Anderson himself seems to have preferred older Biblical translations like the A.V. or D.R.C. Also, the older rendering of Proverbs 20.2 probably fits in better with the point PA had in mind, that not all justice lay on the Ythrian side in the war with the Empire.
Sean
Kaor ,Paul!
Another thought I forgot to include in my previous notes was dissatisfaction at Daniel Holm's quoting of Winston Churchill's words about "their finest hour." To me, it smacked of implying the Terran Empire was like National Socialist Germany. And that simply was not true. The Empire did not have "universalist" ambitions of conquering the entire galaxy (comparable to the grandiose ambitions of the Nazis) nor was it genocidal or racist.
I think if it had been Merseia which fought Ythri here, the Roidhunate would have been far more ruthless and done whatever it took to conquer Avalon. And maybe the entire Domain as well. A regime willing to exterminate entire intelligent races would not have shared the moral self restraint of the Empire.
Sean
Sean,
You have also made clearer how the Biblical text fits into Anderson's novel.
Holm is thinking about preserving the distinctive Avalonian way of life so maybe his quote is not too inappropriate.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I'm glad my comments about Anderson's use of Proverbs 20.2 in Chapter VII of THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND helped to clarify an otherwise obscure text.
Yes, Daniel Holm was thinking of defending the existence culture or way of life on Avalon. But, considering how Churchill's noble words about "their finest hour" was a challenge flung into the face of a genuinely evil and monstrous regime, I still found it odd and unconvincing when applied against the Terran Empire. It would have felt less jarring if they had been applied against Merseia.
Perhaps it should be understood as simply Holm being a little overwrought?
Sean
Sean,
Yes. Vickery had just said that the winds of change were blowing so Holm felt obliged to reply with something even more dramatic.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I remember that argument. Both Vickery and Holm were angry at each other and I can certainly see how angry men can say hot words in an argument.
If you can stand it, I'll quote Proverbs 20.2 from yet another translation of the Bible, this time from the NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE: "Like the roaring of a lion is the fury of a king: whoever provokes him sins against himself."
Here we see the NJB basically following both the A.V. and the D.R.C. versions. Plainly, those translators who prefer "sins against himself" or "his own soul" rather than "forfeits his life" thought that a better reading of the Hebrew text. We would either of us need to read Hebrew and have access to the Hebrew text of Proverbs to attempt determining the best reading!
Sean
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