Falkayn Bay (blog search result)
The city of Gray on the planet Avalon is named after the captain of the Grand Survey ship, Olga, which made first contact with Ythri and discovered Avalon. The city is on Falkayn Bay which, of course, is named after the Founder of the Avalonian colony, David Falkayn.
Three ecologies coexist: native Avalonian; imported Terran and Ythrian. Many plant and animal species are named and described as if by someone who is acquainted with them. Native flowers include:
"...sweet small janie, pungent livewell, graceful trefoil and Buddha's cup..."
-Poul Anderson, The People Of The Wind IN Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, March 2011), pp. 437-662 AT I, p. 444.
Names must have been bestowed by colonists because there are no native Avalonians. The last flower listed here must have been named by Terrans!
Poul Anderson's characters live in this history and we feel as though we do too.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And, of course botanists must have coined scientific names using Latin for scholarly purposes. But I don't think Anderson ever gave us such Linnaean names for fictional non-Terrestrial plants.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: Poul was aiming at immediacy -- putting you mentally 'in' the place, making it vivid. Latin species names do not contribute to that!
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, and he does that very well. I was succumbing to a bit of pedantry!
Ad astra! Sean
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