Tuesday 11 May 2021

Nomads On Rendezvous

I am not sure whether a sequence of propositions in CHAPTER I of Poul Anderson's The Peregrine quite adds up. To paraphrase:

in a Nomad, the knowledge that Rendezvous is not Earth becomes a hunger that will not let him remain on the planet;

however, he has never seen Earth and would not remain there either!

It seems that what began as an urge to move from planet to planet in search of Earth has become an urge to move from planet to planet period as we saw with Thorkild Erling, the first Nomad captain.

In CHAPTER II, we learn some Nomad customs that have developed since "Gypsy":

on Rendezvous, Nomads from different ships meet and set up their booths in Nomad Valley;

death is referred to as the Long Trip;

a Nomad is identified by ship's name, surname and personal name, thus, Peregrine Joachim Henry;

Joachim wears a Peregrine tartan kilt, Joachim coat of arms on a vest, insignia for captain and astrogation on a sleeve, plumed bonnet, buskins, pouch, holstered gun, purple and scarlet cloak and a large gold necklace with a diamond pendant.

How did the kilts originate? - as in Heinlein's Future History. Is it just that the future has to seem exotic and different?

7 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!


I like how Anderson handled the idea of nostalgia for "Mother Terra" in "A Message in Secret."

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

A kilt is a perfectly practical garment.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

?

S.M. Stirling said...

There’s no reason kilts shouldn’t come back into fashion. No law of nature prescribes pants.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Of course not! And I can see kilts being practical on a planet as warm and rainy as Unan Besar. But trousers are more practical on cold, frigid planets such as Altai.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Or the Scottish highlands...😊

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Or the cold, freezing Scottish Highlands! (Smiles)

Ad astra! Sean