In Poul Anderson's Technic History, winged Ythrians fly, need large territories for hunting or herding and do not gather or congregate in cities. In Fire Time, quadrupedal Ishtarians can gallop across wide areas, e.g., living in one place and working in another, and again do not have cities.
"Sehala...was not a capital city; in many human senses, it was not a city at all. It was merely the largest, most prosperous of the areas where certain activities and institutions concentrated, therefore also the most convenient rendezvous. Sparling maintained that the South Beronnen phrase for those territories where civilization was represented in force had been mistranslated and should go into English as 'the Gathering at Sehala." (pp. 102-103) (Not "...of Sehala.")
Maybe. We import our own presuppositions. When, teaching Religious Education, I asked "What does 'Guru Granth Sahib' mean?," I received the answer: "Lord Teacher's Book," entirely missing the point. The Sikh scripture, the Granth, is itself address as "Guru" and "Sahib." Thus: "Lord Teacher Book."
Ishtarians gather at Sehala. No one in Sehala organizes or controls the gatherings.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I can see centauroids having widely spaced out "built up" areas. I suspect, however, Anderson's libertarian leaning views affected how he depicted Gathering politics. I am not so sure all centauroid races would be like the Ishtarians.
Ad astra! Sean
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