"'The Hand of the Vach Ynvory desired my presence?'
"'Yes, yes.' Brechdan waved impatiently. 'Let us have no more etiquette. I'm fed to the occiput with it.'"
-Poul Anderson, Ensign Flandry IN Anderson, Young Flandry (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 1-192 AT Chapter Ten, pp. 98-99.
Brechdan has just come from a welcoming festival at the Terran Embassy: enough etiquette, foreseer!
"Arleh Dwyer" is not a given name followed by a surname. The given name is "Dwyer" and this individual is nicknamed "the Hook," although he was once "the Merry." Arlech must be a Merseian rank that I admit to being unfamiliar with. Dwyr had:
"'...worked on the staff of Fodaich Runei's Intelligence corps...'" (p. 99)
- on Starkad.
"Fodaich" is perhaps "Commander" and Runei is nicknamed "the Wanderer." (Chapter Seven, p. 63)
We could expound on Vachs and Hands but have done so before and no doubt will again. See Merseians.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Since we also see "Fodaich" being used as the title for a commander of Merseian NAVAL ships in Chapter 16 of ENSIGN FLANDRY, my thought is that "Fodaich" ranked higher than simply "commander." Perhaps it was equivalent to the Terran commodore or rear admiral?
Also, we are told that Merseians distinguished civilian and military ranks less clearly than humans did.
Sean
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