Unattached agent Manson Everard interviews Specialist Carl Farness in 1980, pp. 384-391.
Manse uses a homelier version of the metaphor:
"'Operatives must have discretion, or they'd never get their jobs done, and plenty of them have sailed closer to the wind than you did.'" (pp. 385-386)
He claims to have:
"'...kicked around history, prehistory and even posthistory, quite a lot.'" (p. 386)
We know that there is a "posthistory," the Danellian Era, but also thought that Patrol agents did not visit it and would like to know more about Manse's experiences then.
This is where Carl refers to "...the guardian branch of the Patrol..." (p. 389)
Thus, the word "guardian" is used not only in a title, The Guardians Of Time, but also in Patrol terminology.
We learn five names of a single deity:
Gothic Wodan;
west German Wotan;
English Woden;
Frisian Wons;
Scandinavian Odin. (p. 389)
There will be a post about Carl's mission 300-372.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I wonder what exactly is meant by "...the guardian branch" of the Patrol? Were these agents who concentrated on investigating alleged abuses or acts of corruption by Patrol agents? If so, they would be analogous to the Internal Affairs offices of many police forces, whose job is to investigate alleged abuses by police officers.
Hmmm, the bit about Manse Everard adventuring in "post-history" does make me wonder if he had dared to go to the Danellian era. Or even to POST Danellian times?
Sean
The god's name is from a PIE root that originally meant "fury, inspiration". It may well be related to the Greek name "Hercules". Early Indo-European peoples often personalized qualities -- like "Dawn" or "Fire" -- and made them deities.
Sean,
I think that the "guardians" are the Unattached agents who literally guard history from alterations. Guion is in the internal investigation section.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I think that makes sense: Manse Everard and similar colleagues who were Unattached Agents were guardians. Guion concentrated on puzzling oddities and internal affairs.
Sean
Post a Comment