Roland Green, co-author of Great King's War, also wrote the Drakas! story, "Written By The Wind, A Story Of The Draka." Two Draka observe a Japanese-Russian air-sea battle in 1905. The Japanese who are about to die are said to be approaching the Yasukuni Shrine, founded by Emperor Meiji, who is named in the story.
One Draka carries a crucifix and survives. The other carries a Thorshammer and doesn't. Dying, she holds out the hammer and says:
"'Take it - take it to a shrine. Or - or Ran's.'" (Drakas!, p. 119)
Ran was the wife of the sea giant, Aegir. See here. Welcoming the dead under the sea, she resembles Naerdha. At the end, the surviving Draka, holding the hammer, asks:
"'...if there is a shrine to Thor or Ran in the Empire?'" (p. 121)
Obviously, there is not. Equally obviously, his colleague meant that her amulet should be given to the sea.
The story is mainly about the deployment and effects of military hardware. Although most of us do not want to be in a land, sea, air or space battle, we often enjoy reading about them. See here and here.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Interesting, how Christianity lingered among some of the Draka as late as the early 1900's in the Domination timeline. I mean the Draka we see with a crucifix.
Sean
Sean:
There was also that Draka colonel mentioned in the post on David Drake's contribution, who exclaimed "Good Christ!" before continuing with a statement that it wasn't right to LIKE the act of killing locals to clear the area for Draka settlement. Religions which produce an attitude such as the colonel's are of course just BEGGING for the Draka regime to penalize them even if it doesn't simply stamp them out....
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, you are right, I should have remembered Colonel Evertsen from David Drake's contribution to DRAKAS!. The colonel's exclamation and comment would be an example of a lingering remnant of Christian sentiments or ethics.
And, yes, at least by the time of the Eurasian War the Drakas were mostly openly hostile to Christianity, because it was impossible to reconcile Christian tenets with the philosophy and acts of the Draka.
Colonel Evertsen's parents, if not himself, were probably among the last Christians to be seen among the Draka. And I can easily imagine Evertsen himself being marked down by the Security Directorate as "subversive."
But, I think Dave Drake made one mistake in "The Tradesmen." Colonel Eversen and District Administrator Kuyper frequently refer to the orders they get from "Capestown." That can't be right if Capestown means the capital of the Domination, which was called Archona.
Sean
Sean:
A trifle off-topic, but there is or was an alternate history webnovel, "The Flying Cloud, Airship R-505" which has a humorous take on how to "reconcile Christian tenets":
[Sarah's Scottish-born mother had married into a cannibal tribe in the South Pacific islands]
“How did she reconcile eating human flesh with the tenets of her Christian faith?” asked Abercrombie, appalled.
“Oh, she was Presbyterian,” said Sarah with a wave of dismissal. “Their tenets only apply to other Presbyterians.”
Abercrombie scowled. As a Scottish Presbyterian, he had to admit that the girl’s observation contained a grain of truth.
Hi, Dave!
Ha, ha, ha!!! I have to admit that was amusing! Of COURSE only Presbyterians would believe in uniquely Presbyterian beliefs. But Presbyterians are still Christians, albeit heretically so in Catholic eyes, and I simply can't see most Presbyterians accepting cannibalism!
Sean
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