Monday, 22 June 2020

Is Pan Dead?

Three Hearts And Three Lions, CHAPTER THREE.

Law and Chaos, which are in perpetual struggle, are:

primeval forces;

modes of existence;

or a terrestrial reflection of the spiritual conflict between heaven and hell? (p. 28)

Holger's guide, Hugi, identifies four sides, Heaven, Hell, Earth and the Middle World, adding that his people, the woods dwarfs, remain neutral. Human beings are the chief agents of Law on Earth although most do not realize this and some, witches, warlocks and other evildoers, have sold out to Chaos. A few nonhuman beings support Law although on the other side is the entire Middle World comprising realms like:

Faerie;
Trollheim;
the Giants, which are a creation of Chaos.

Human wars, as between the Holy Empire and the Saracens, help Chaos. Law means peace, order and liberty but the Middle Worlders work against this and try to extend their realm. The lands of men, comprising the Empire, the southern Saracen countries and lesser kingdoms, are to the west whereas the Middle World is to the east, its closest part being Faerie. Holger has arrived in a disputed borderland.

History:

there was a literal Fall;
then nearly everything was Chaos;
Chaos has been driven back;
when the Saviour lived, the darkness could not stand;
at that time, Pan died;
however, Chaos has rallied;
it prepares to strike back.

Pan imagery has revived on our Earth. CS Lewis cited the "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" chapter of The Wind In The Willows as a literary example of awe.

"Pan has taken their souls, and they stampede."
-Poul Anderson, A Midsummer Tempest (London, 1975), xxiv, p. 221.

7 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And of course we both remember how, in A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS, Aycharaych quoted from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem "A Musical Instrument" the stanza on how the music made by Pan came at the cost of agony for a reed. An agony he paid no heed to.

I can easily see how the story of the death of Pan could be associated with the Incarnation of Christ. My view is that the rise of Christianity has made it impossible, neo-pagans or no neo-pagans, to truly take seriously paganism/polytheism.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Panic derives from Pan's name.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

I did notice, near the end of A MIDSUMMER TEMPEST, how the terror of Pan overwhelmed the retreating rebel infantry Cromwell was trying to lead from a now lost battle.

I think one of the hardest things for any army to do is for a beaten force to retreat in good order from a lost battle. Terror and panic can turn a mere defeat into a calamitous ROUT.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Where does deadpan derive from?

S.M. Stirling said...

Deadpan is a coombination of "dead" (not moving) and "pan", a slang term for a face. IIRC pan in that sense was originally a loan from Romani, but I couldn't swear to it.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Thanks.

The two phrases make a great pun: "Pan is dead"; "Dead pan."

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Even more pointed if you capitalize "pan": e.g., "dead Pan."

Ad astra! Sean