Flandry thinks that the Long Night will involve:
"...famine, plague, more war, more destruction of what centuries have built, until at last the wild folk howl in our temples -" (p. 251)
Does the Terran Empire literally have temples? Poul Anderson makes it sound as much like the Roman Empire as possible. Thus, it does have a literal Emperor at one end of its social spectrum and slaves at the other. In later-written installments, Flandry rationalized slavery as one use to make of convicted criminals.
However, I noticed this passage not for its temples but for its "howling." Yet again, civilization is held up as a bastion against a lot of wild howling!
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Why do you seem to have difficulty taking seriously the idea of "howling barbarians"? Recall how I cited an example from one of Drake/Stirling's THE GENERAL books of how Squadron barbarians were seen literally howling in one incident.
I think we need to keep in mind that what Anderson probably meant by "howling barbarians" was of how, very often, such people will destroy what they cannot understand.
Ad astra and Happy New Year! Sean
Sean,
OK. Rereading Anderson so much, I tend to notice repeated phrases.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I certainly don't object to that! And I have noticed how Anderson, like most writers, have favorite or frequently used words--one example being "trod."
Ad astra and Happy New Year! Sean
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