"Among the Lann, the Chief held supreme power over even the Doctors." (p. 160)
A sensible arrangement, given the Doctors' reactionary role. However, the Lann Chief accepts a Doctor's advice to have the time vault and its contents destroyed. This will both destroy the dangerous books and machines preserved in the vault and prevent the Dalesmen from deploying any ancient powers against the Lann: a sensible proposal if you accept the Doctors' superstitious premises.
Pp. 157-162 are set in the Lann camp, described from Lenard's pov. On p. 162, a double gap between paragraphs indicates a change of scene. Sure enough, we are now inside the besieged town on the following morning so whose is the pov?
"...Ralph, mounting one of the towers to peer over the valley, saw..." (p. 162)
Lenard is Carl's opposite number. Ralph is his father. For this chapter, so far, we have moved away from Carl's pov.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
It was another realistic touch by Poul Anderson to have the Lann chief being the "pontifex maximus" of his Doctors. It was the custom for pagan religions to be agents of the state or tribe. We don't see anything like rendering to God and Caesar what belongs to them among pagans. And nothing like the Church resisting encroachments into its proper sphere by the state.
Sean
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