We need to notice not only Biblical but also Shakespearean quotations, including parodies, especially in A Midsummer Tempest. Thus, Will Fairweather, riding bareback, says:
"'My kingdom for a zaddle!'" (p. 66)
In this timeline, Richard III had said:
"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!"
-see here.
The kingdom that Will has to offer is the one that he would conquer, maybe in America, if he had a saddle.
Several of Poul Anderson's works are set in Europe in periods when the Americas were the New World, the setting of adventures that were still in the future. With Anderson, we look forward and also back at our ancestors looking forward.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Darn! I don't think I ever thought of that line from RICHARD III in my previous readings of A MIDSUMMER TEMPEST.
Ad astra! Sean
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