In the night sky, Lucas:
"...recognized old friends, Arcturus, Vega, Polaris, the Twins, and white Venus." (p. 60)
We live in the midst of the stellar universe not only if we travel between stars but also if we remain on the surface of a single planet. In this passage of a historical novel, Poul Anderson reminds some of his readers that he also writes interstellar sf.
The universe remains our total environment. Even when we focus our attention entirely on Earthly events, heavenly bodies remain visible overhead and are frequently mentioned in works of fiction although authors do not usually list names of stars or planets. Poul Anderson emphasizes the point here. If we want to travel in imagination to Arcturus etc, then we turn to many of the same author's other works although, for the time being, we are concerned with Lucas' struggle to survive in Europe in 1306. That will sustain us until the end of the present novel.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Soon, I hope, humans will be contemplating the stars from the Moon and Mars.
Ad astra! Sean
Note that medieval people didn't know the stars were suns. They thought they were lights in a crystal sphere, if they had any education. They also thought the Earth was the center of the universe and only about 6000 years old.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That is true, but educated Europeans had known for scientific reasons since Eratosthenes that the Earth was round. In fact, Columbus' critics at the court of Ferdinand and Isabel complained he was underestimating the Earth's size.
Ad astra! Sean
Dante presents the medieval world view with a spherical Earth at the centre. Milton is ambiguous. Engels said Dante's COMEDY was the last great medieval poem and the first great modern poem.
Names to conjure with.
Kaor, Paul!
Of course, because Dante accepted the Ptolemaic astronomy dominant since Roman times. Yes, I agree the DIVINE COMEDY was the last great Medieval poem and first great modern poem. And far better than Milton's heavy, ponderously slogging effort. I've read three different translations of the COMEDY.
Ad astra! Sean
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