-Poul Anderson, "Virgin Planet" IN Anderson, Starship (New York, 1982), pp. 83-181 AT p. 83;
-Poul Anderson, Virgin Planet (London, 1966), Chapter I, p. 9.
"Lord Brannoch dhu Crombar, Tertiary Admiral of the Fleet, High Noble of Thor, ambassador of the League of Alpha Centauri to the Solar Technate, did not look like a dignitary of any civilized power."
-Poul Anderson, The Long Way Home (Frogmore, St Albans, Herts, 1975), Chapter Two, p.17.
"Grand Admiral Syranax hyr Urnan, hereditary Commander-in-chief of the Fleet of Drak'ho, Fisher of the Western Seas, Leader in Sacrifice, and Oracle of the Lodestar, spread his wings and brought them together again in an astonished thunderclap."
-Poul Anderson, The Man Who Counts IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), pp. 337-515 AT I, p. 339;
-Poul Anderson, War Of The Wing Men (New York, 1958), I, p. 5.
"His Imperial Majesty, High Emperor Hans Friedrich Molitor, of his dynasty the first, Supreme Guardian of the Pax, Grand Director of the Stellar Council, Commander-in-chief, Final Arbiter, acknowledged supreme on more worlds and honorary head of more organizations than any man could remember, sat by himself in a room at the top of a tower."
-Poul Anderson, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, 2012), pp. 339-606 AT pp. 377-378.
See also Grandiose Titles.
We discern a pattern here.
Barbara is in the Psychotechnic History;
Brannoch is in a one-off novel;
Syranax and Hans are in the Technic History.
Barbara is a novice in the Mysteries and Syranax is a sacrifice-leading Oracle whereas Brannoch and Hans have no religious functions. I was going to analyze Barbara's various ranks and titles but I think that I will leave it there for tonight!
4 comments:
It's also from the sagas; they usually start out with a description of the protagonist -- "There was a man named so-and-so, son of so-and-so and so-and-so of the line of X, who dwelt in the X and was of Y social status, and was often called Z.
Kaor, Paul!
I'm not sure if you knew it, but VIRGIN PLANET comes in two forms or texts. The text in our copies of STARSHIP was pub. in 1957 by VENTURE. But, it's a hundred pages shorter than in my copy of Avalon Books 1959 edition of the story. Plus, the Avalon Books edition includes a ten pages "Author's Note" not seen in STARSHIP. Even allowing for differences in page sizes affecting the length, I think you have a shorter version of VIRGIN PLANET that Anderson revised and expanded for Avalon Books.
I like the titles of the Terran Emperors. As I discussed in the combox of "Grandiose Titles," their titles were functional, descriptive of their powers and responsibilities. And avoided any impossible claims to ruling the universe.
And I could wish Hans Molitor been "Henry Frederick Murasaki, of the Wang Dynasty the SIXTH," because that would have meant the "legitimate order of succession" had not "dissolved in chaos." Iow, it would have meant Josip III had been firmly succeeded by his heir.
Sean
Sean,
I quoted the opening line from VIRGIN PLANET and "Virgin Planet."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Noted. Of course PA would have carried over most of the text from the shorter to the longer form of the story.
Sean
Post a Comment