In a divergent timeline:
"...he spied Notre Dame. But it wasn't the cathedral he remembered. It seemed to cover nearly half the island, a mountain of soot-gray stone soaring up and up and up, tier upon tier, tower above tower, like a Christian ziggurat, till the topmost spires raked heaven a thousand feet aloft. What ambition had replaced the lovely Gothic with this?"
-Poul Anderson, The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991), PART SIX, 1980alpha A. D., p. 286.
In the city of Domkirk on the planet, Freehold:
"...the bishop's seat was raised two centuries ago, in a style already ancient. It was all colored vitryl, panes that formed one enormous many-faceted jewel, so that by day the interior was nothing except radiances - and even by moonlight, the outside flashed and dim spectra played."
-Poul Anderson, "Outpost of Empire" IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 1-72 AT p. 20.
In the Cathedral of St. Clement in the city of Zorkagrad on the planet, Dennitza:
"Evening sunlight slanted through windows and among columns, filtered to a domed ceiling, brought forth out of dusk, remote upon gold and blue, the Twelve Apostles and Christ Lord of All."
-Poul Anderson, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, 2012), XVIII, p. 576.
In the goetic timeline:
the Johannine Cathedral soars;
its flat, white walls go "...up and up and up..." (Operation Chaos, XXV, p. 181);
its roof climbs even further to "...the vast central cupola..." (p. 182);
a stained-glass Mandala fills half of the west wall;
the Eye of God fills half of the east wall;
the single tower leaps "...into the stars." (ibid.)
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Very impressive, indeed, these descriptions of churches and cathedrals by Anderson. As we both know, Notre Dame Cathedral was badly damaged by fire last year. And I can only the repairs and reconstruction will be done with reverence and good taste.
I was esp. impressed by the description of the Domkirk Cathedral. The closest real world analogy I could think being the Sainte Chapel in Paris, because of how the builders strove as much as possible to use only stained glass. With modern day materials and technology, I think a cathedral like that of Domkirk (in "Outpost of Empire") could be built!
And I can't help but wonder what FULLY initiated priests of the Johannine Church in OPERATION CHAOS really interpreted what that "Eye of God" stained glass window to mean. Another "Eye" I've thought of being that of Sauron!
Ad astra! Sean
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