Saturday 4 January 2020

Tea, Telloch And Arthberry Wine

In Ardaig on Merseia, Dagla Quick-to-Anger, Olgor hu Freylin and their guest, Chee Lan, drink a potent wine, poured into goblets from a cut-crystal decanter. Concealing the fact that alcohol does not affect Cynthians, Chee Lan takes a long draught and Dagla takes a larger one. Her equivalent of alcoholic drink is narcotic cigarettes. On Ronraud, Haguan offers her arthberry wine.

In Dalgorad on Merseia, Tachwyr the Dark, Lannawar Belgis and their guest, Dominic Flandry, drink tankards of bitter ale.

On Talwin, Ydwyr the Seeker pours a glass of arthberry wine for Djana every time they meet.

After their private dinner to celebrate the conclusion of the negotiations that have ended of the Jihannath crisis, Uldwyr offers Cunderban Desai more of the pungent Merseian ale but Desai prefers tea - which is grown throughout the Merseian Roidhunate in this period.

When Flandry and Tachwyr meet on Talwin:

"They sought the well-stocked sideboard. Tachwyr reached for Scotch and Flandry for telloch. They caught each other's glances and laughed, Merseian drumroll and human staccato."
-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 IX, p. 454.

Appropriate, because Merseians use drums in rituals, e.g.:

"Kettledrums rolled their ritual from Eidh Hill."
-"Day of Burning," p. 242.

Place names generate a sense of tradition and familiarity.

This post refers to four of the seven volumes of The Technic Civilization Saga.

14 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And I recall the repeated mentions in the stories of how fond Merseians could be of scotch! And of human feeling the same way about Merseian ale or telloch.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Drinks tend to travel well, or at least some do. Americans converted wholesale to German-style beer in the 19th century; the Japanese took to scotch and beer enthusiastically; the Chinese took to beer too — the Germans introduced their style in their Tienstein enclave, and it spread. I like sake myself!

And they cross-fertilize. One of the most popular brands of Tequila now is aged in white-oak barrels previously used for Bourbon whiskey.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

More examples of cross culture fermentation! (Smiles)

Ad astra! Sean

Gedanken said...

Covid has truly changed the world. Our online liquor store has seen a huge increase in daily sales, with wine and tequila leading being the biggest increase.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Gedanken!

I have wondered how this beastly pandemic might affect or change the customs of every day life. Perhaps not as much as some would either hope or fear. After all, I don't think the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19, which killed upwards of fifty millions or more worldwide, does not seem to have affected every day life that much after it subsided.

Ad astra! Sean

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paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Thank you, Anonymous.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Anonymous!

In a way, I do the same thing, usually when I send a link to one of my more geeky guest articles to various persons!

Ad astra! Sean

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paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Anonymous,

Sorry. No.

Paul.

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paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Anonymous,

By "this topic," do you mean Poul Anderson? I am very positive towards him.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Anonymous!

I think the best way to start getting "info" about Poul Anderson is by reading and collecting his works. You might also find it helpful to keep a notebook for writing down lists and any ideas or thoughts about his stories that comes to mind. I've done both!

Ad astra! Sean

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