Sunday 24 October 2021

Two Consummations

Harvest Of Stars, 38-40.

When Fireball intervenes decisively in the North American civil war, Rinndalir comments:

"'Consummatum est.'" (38, p. 377)

- the Latin translation of "It is finished."  (John 19:30.) Need I say more?

When I wrote Kyra Versus Anti-Guthrie, I had forgotten that anti-Guthrie is revived and does indeed have an appropriate concluding dialogue with the authentic Guthrie. He requests and receives termination. Yet again, consummatum est.

"Nothing will ever be the same again..." (39, p. 381)

All the ducking and diving with Sepo is over. The transcendent future begins on p. 384 with PART THREE demeter and another Biblical quotation:

"And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." (40, p. 384)

And that is a good place to end this evening.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

You did not note it, but here we see Anderson using the Latin Vulgate to quote from the Bible, instead of the Anglican Authorized Version.

And, amusingly, Anderson also used Latin in Chapter Three of THE HIGH CRUSADE, as spoken by the captive alien: "Branithar sprang from his seat and snarled at me: "Consummati estis!" His Latin was very bad."

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

That is yet another Biblical quote then in THE HIGH CRUSADE.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And an unwitting Biblical allusion from Branithar! And Brother Parvus' criticism of Branithar's use of Latin was amusing.

I recall Baron Roger instructing Brother Parvus to teach Branithar Latin instead of Norman French, to keep the prisoner more under his control.

Ad astra! Sean