When Gratillonius walks outside at night:
"His first sight was of stars, numberless in crystalline black above roofs and lanes." (p. 305)
"...the stars watched indifferent." (p. 306)
XVI, 1.
"The earliest stars trembled forth." (p. 311)
When Poul Anderson fans read about stars, they wonder whether there are Merseians and Ythrians out there or whether this is one of the universes where organic life is rare. But these are inappropriate questions in this context. The Andersons refer to the stars just as one part of the perennial background of human life on Earth like the sun, the sky and the sea. We must not think about Merseians but focus on Romans and barbarians.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
The thought I had was that educated people of Gratillonius' time would, when they thought about the stars, do so using the framework provided by Ptolemaic astronomy. Inadequate as we now know it to be, it was the best that was available in those days.
Ad astra! Sean
Also, stars were much more numerous and bright to most people's vision before artificial bright lights.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I noticed that during my visits to my late brother on the island of Maui, some distance from Lahaina. The nights were usually clear and I could see hundreds, even thousands of stars. Not at all like the often cloudy, light hazed nights in Massachusetts!
Ad astra! Sean
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