-SM Stirling, The Sky-Blue Wolves (New York, 2018), CHAPTER FOUR, p. 57.
Poul Anderson introduced us to the Nine Worthies who, we learned, included Godfrey de Bouillon;
we remembered Godfrey in GK Chesterton's Lepanto, then in James Blish's Cities In Flight;
now Godfrey was accompanied by an ancestor of a noblewoman in Change Year 46/2044 AD;
and the Internet provides the attached image of Godfrey on the wall of Jerusalem.
We never know who is going to drop in.
Why does the demonic enemy in the Emberverse merely want to destroy? I am not summarizing the plot of the novel. The plan is that blog readers read the book while I post about interesting details like Godfrey de Bouillon and demonic motivation.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I recall reading of how the ferocity, even savagery, of the "Franks" was a shock to the Byzantines and their Arab enemies. Not really surprising when you recall how western Europe was just barely recovering from more than two centuries of anarchy, chaos, and barbarian invasions from north and east (Scandinavians and Magyars) following the collapse of the Carolingian Empire.
My vague recollection is that Godfrey de Bouillon was said to have been both a great warrior and more gentler than many men of his times. But I will have to look him up to be sure.
What are some of the qualities or attributes of good and good things? Order, stability, the peace needed for any society to have TIME for doing constructive things, etc. To say nothing of being open to God and seeking the ultimate good. So, why SHOULDN'T Satan desire to destroy all this? If he set himself up in opposition to God, he would naturally do the opposite of all the things I listed. And more besides.
Sean
Sean,
Is it Satan that we are talking about in the Change series?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That was how * I * interpreted or deduced was the Being so hostile to mankind in the Emberverse series. The power ultimately behind whoever it was that said to some characters "I...see...you.."
Sean
Paul and Sean:
Concerning Godfrey of Bouillon: In my early teens, I read a short history of the Crusades. It mentioned how the Byzantine Emperor Alexios asked the First Crusade's leaders to swear fealty to him and promise to return to the Byzantine Empire any land recovered from the Turks. Godfrey of Bouillon and almost all the other leaders took the oath. Only Count Raymond of Toulouse refused to swear fealty to Alexios, instead pledging that he would simply cause no harm to the Empire. That history book noted that Raymond was the sole leader to come out of the First Crusade with a reputation for keeping his word.
Kaor, DAVID!
Many thanks for your comments! I did look this up a bit and it certainly seems there was a lot of acrimony and bad faith from both the Byzantines and many Crusader leaders. Except, as you said, from Count Raymond.
Sean
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