Sunday 31 January 2021

"How Many Heads Do Ymirites Have?" by Sean M. Brooks

One of the things I most admire about Dr. Paul Shackley's work in the Poul Anderson Appreciation blog is the detailed attention he pays to the texts of the works of Poul Anderson.  Far more attention than what I have usually done since the last time I was writing letters to Anderson himself (and before my participation on this blog).
 
Currently, I have been slowly rereading the stories about Dominic Flandry, set during the era of the Terran Empire in Anderson's Technic Civilization series.  And while doing so I have been striving to pay attention to, and appreciate, even the smallest details to be found in those stories. One example, from the Gregg Press (August, 1979) edition of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE, is from the beginning of Chapter II of HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE (also called WE CLAIM THESE STARS), in an artificial satellite orbiting Jupiter called the Crystal Moon:  "He wasted no time on excuses but almost ran to the cloakroom. His feet whispered along the crystalline floor, where Orion glittered hundreds of light years beneath."  In all my previous readings of HUNTERS I don't think I had ever really NOTICED that bit about Flandry racing along a crystalline floor, beneath which Orion could be seen hundreds of light years away!
 
But the textual detail I wish to pay special attention to is a truly obscure one: how many heads do Ymirites have?  The only time we see any members of this hydrogen breathing non human intelligent race is in HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE.  And while I was reading Chapter IV of that story I noticed a tiny but intriguing detail (quoting from page 115 of the Gregg Press edition): "Flandry looked into the screen.  The Ymirite didn't quite register on his mind.  His eyes weren't trained to those shapes and proportions, seen by that weirdly shifting red-blue-brassy light. (Which wasn't the real thing, even, but an electronic translation.  A human looking straight into the thick Jovian air would see only darkness.)  "Hello, Horx," he said to the great black multi- legged shape with the peculiarly tendrilled heads."
 
It was that last bit, "...the peculiarly tendrilled heads," which caught my eye. How literally are we supposed to understand that word "heads"?  Do Ymirites have at least two heads?  We see Flandry conversing with two Ymirites in HUNTERS, his guide/interpreter Horx and the Ymirite governor of Jupiter, Thua.   But no mention is made of those beings having multiple personalities if they have more than one head, which is what we see in human conjoined twins.  Rather, if Ymirites have more than one head, only one personality is seen as using and speaking with those heads.
 
I was surprised!  In all my previous readings of HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE, I had never noticed that bit about Horx having "...peculiarly tendrilled heads."  I wondered if that might have been just a misprint for "head" and decided to see what the other copies I have of that story said at exactly the same place in those texts.
 
From Chapter IV of WE CLAIM THESE STARS (Ace Books: 1959), page 26 : "Hello, Horx," he said to the great black multi-legged shape with the peculiarly tendrilled heads."
 
AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE (Chilton Books: 1965), from Chapter IV of HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE,  page 100: "Hello, Horx," he said to the great black multi-legged shape with the peculiarly tendrilled heads."
 
WE CLAIM THESE STARS (London, Dobson Books: 1976 [rpt. of the 1959 Ace Books text]), from Chapter IV, page  26: "Hello, Horx,"  he said to the great black multi-legged shape with the peculiarly tendrilled heads."
 
ALL the copies I have of HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE have "heads" at precisely this same part of the text. Based on this evidence, I have to conclude "heads" was not a misprint for "head."  I feel forced to at least tentatively say Ymirites have more than one head. Even though that single sentence I have been quoting is the only time where Ymirite heads are mentioned.  And Ymirites are not described as being any kind of conjoined twins, two different persons sharing the same body or parts of bodies.
 
Despite everything, was  this use of "heads" still a mistake? Did Poul Anderson actually intend "head"?  If he meant the former, he certainly left us a mystery!  All the other few mentions of Ymirites in the Technic stories (such as in ENSIGN FLANDRY or THE GAME OF EMPIRE), says nothing about their bodies and appearances. E.g., this is what we see near the beginning of Chapter 9 of ENSIGN FLANDRY, about the Ymirites, as Lord Hauksberg's ship was traveling from Starkad to Merseia:  "Once, also, another vessel passed within a light-year and thus its "wake" was detected.  The pattern indicated it was Ymirite, crewed by hydrogen breathers whose civilization was nearly irrelevant to man or Merseian."
 
I have to admit that these questions would only be of interest to Andersonian obsessives! If I had noticed this detail and thought of writing to Anderson about it while he was alive, I think he would most likely have replied it was "head" he meant at that part of WE CLAIM THESE STARS/HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE.  Another way of settling this question, after Anderson died, would be to check what the original manuscript of HUNTERS had at this part of the text.  Assuming that manuscript still exists, of course.
 
I think some commentators who discuss science fiction stories have complained that too many writers make their non-human aliens look too much like  human beings.  A hydrogen breathing, multi-legged intelligent species with "peculiarly tendrilled heads" could not be considered as humanoid by any reasonable interpretation of that word.  Poul Anderson's Ymirites cannot be accused of being too humanoid looking.

13 comments:

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

And how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?!

THE TECHNIC CIVILIZATION SAGA, Vol V, SIR DOMINIC FLANDRY: THE LAST KNIGHT OF TERRA also has "heads" on p. 177. I think that this would have been corrected somewhere along the way if it had been an error/misprint etc.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

If I remember correctly, the answer given by Aristotelian/Scholastic theologians is: any number you like. Because angels, being non-corporeal, non-physical beings, are not limited or bound as material beings are.

I did wonder what the now "standard" TECHNIC CIVILIZATION SAGA text for HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE had for the reading of that part of Chapter IV! Yes, despite my boggling at the idea of an intelligent species having at least two heads, I have to agree that Anderson (or his estate) would have corrected "heads" to "head" if the latter had been what he meant.

I am still amazed that I never noticed before that bit about the "...peculiarly tendrilled heads"! Someone should have! And I really hope some readers will find this interesting to read.

And many thanks for uploading this article to your blog. I hope it interested you.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

I didn't expect an answer about the angels. I didn't even know there was one. Thank you for it.

I had noticed the multiple heads on Ymirites but it had not occurred to me that it was worthy of comment which it clearly is. How many other words and phrases in Anderson's works wait for someone to draw attention to them?

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

If I could remember where I came across the answer to that question about the angels, I would have quoted it.

Good! At least you had "tripped" over that "heads" in Chapter IV of HUNTERS. I only wished I had, before now.

And I am sure there are many other words, terms, phrases, etc., in Anderson's works which may strike some readers as interesting or odd.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Blogger becomes thoroughly confusing:

I published Sean's article on this blog;
then I copied it to the Poul Anderson: Contributor Articles blog;
then I commented on the article on this blog;
then I left the combox, expecting to find myself in the behind-the-scenes Design section of this blog;
instead, I found myself in the Design section of the Contributor Articles blog;
so I thought that I had inadvertently commented on the Contributor Articles blog;
so I commented (again) on this blog;
then I found that I had commented twice on the same blog;
so I deleted the first comment;
and I still keep finding myself in Design on the wrong blog.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Ha! Eventually I will catch up with you! And thanks for already copying my article to the "Contributors" blog.

Ad astra! Sean

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

This is as good a place as any to discuss yet another textual anomaly I found in HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE. In Chapter VII (page 135 of the 1979 Gregg Press edition of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE) I found this oddity: "Memory blank," Flandry scrowled." That jarred on me so much I checked my other copies of the story. The 1965 Chilton Books edition of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE also had "scrowled" in Chapter VII of HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE. That started me wondering if this was either a neologism by Anderson or a printer's error.

However, when I looked up Chapter VII of WE CLAIM THESE STARS (Ace Books, 1959), this is what I found on page 46: "Memory blank," Flandry scowled." And the 1976 Dobson Books reprint of WE CLAIM THESE STARS had "scowled" in Chapter VII. Only two of my copies of HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE / WE CLAIM THESE STARS had "scrowled," while the other two had "scowled."

Here at least I am sure "scrowled" was not meant by Anderson. Rather, this was an error and the text should read "scowled" for this part of Chapter VII of HUNTERS OF THE SKY CAVE. I found that a much more satisfactory solution to a textual oddity than feeling forced to think Ymirites had more than one head!

What is the reading for this part of Chapter VII of HUNTERS in the TECHNIC CIVILIZATION SAGA?

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

The SAGA has "scowled."

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Good, I am glad! I did not want to think "scrowled" was a deliberate neologism by Anderson. The word "scowled" is much better!

Ad astra! Sean

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Could you make a correction for me? I would like to have the word "previously" eliminated from the second sentence of the fifth paragraph. It's needlessly repetitive.

Ad astra and thanks! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

Change made on both blogs.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Many thanks. Much appreciated!

Ad astra! Sean