In Poul Anderson's works, we vicariously visit many taverns in different historical periods and future histories and on different planets and even one between universes. Here is another, described as "...a smoky kennel with an anchor painted on the gable...":
"Davis coughed. When his eyes were through watering, he saw a room under sooty rafters, filled with benches and tables. A noble collection of casks lined one wall; otherwise, the inn was hung with scrimshaw work and stuffed fish. A whole sealbird roasted in the fireplace." (pp. 120-121)
Anderson compresses a remarkable number of appropriate details into three sentences:
sooty rafters
benches and tables to accommodate a crowd
a cask-lined wall
scrimshaw
stuffed fish
a fireplace with a fire
a visibly roasting sealbird
We then follow the conversation but should not forget the setting which would remain before us in a visual medium.
I sold scrimshaw in a gift shop in New England in the summer of 1973. The "only original American art form," as I heard it described, was celebrated in Moby Dick and is preserved by seafolk on the planet Atlantis.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I did wonder how originally American scrimshaw was as an art form. American mariners could not have been the only ones to think of carving or engraving whale ivory.
Ad astra! Sean
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