King Vanimen tells his people:
"'This is not the whole universe.'" (p. 28)
Europe and its coastal waters are not the whole universe. But what lies beyond them? In his youth, Vanimen wandered widely as far as Greenland. Merfolk, men and dolphins informed him:
"'...of countries beyond.'" (ibid.)
There are:
"'...wonderful shoals and shores...'" (ibid.)
- beyond Christendom.
If the merfolk go there, they will be able:
"'...to grow into...vastness, life, and beauty...free and at peace.'" (ibid.)
Because it is too far to swim, he urges them to steal a human ship:
"'...and steer for the western lands - the new world!'" (p. 29)
We share the sense of adventure.
"From harbors like this, a few life-times hence, men would set sail for the New World."
-Poul Anderson, "Death and the Knight" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, December 2010), pp. 737-765 AT HARFLEUR, WEDNESDAY, 11 OCTOBER 1307, p. 754.
The King of Ys contemplated trans-Atlantic trade but the distance was too great.
4 comments:
Humans (and quasi-humans) have a huge set of reasons for moving.
Kaor, Paul!
Besides what Stirling sad Europe was starting to get near that explosion called the Age of Exploration.
Ad astra! Sean
Note that the Age of Exploration wasn't about ship technology, not mostly. It was about acquiring new knowledge of how deep-ocean wind and current patterns work.
The northern Atlantic has a clockwise pattern of winds and oceanic currents. The Atlantic south of the equator has a counterclockwise pattern. The Pacific has a much bigger clockwise pattern, and the Indian Ocean has a monsoon season.
Down north of Antarctica, there's a consistent pattern of winds blowing east in a circle around that part of the globe.
Once you know all this, you can go anywhere in the world.
By the 19th century, when sailing-ship tech reached its peak, you could go fairly -fast- anywhere in the world -- China to Britain in about 3.5 months, Australia to Britain in as little as 80-90 days.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I think the Portuguese started gaining that kind of knowledge, backed by the patronage of Prince Henry, after 1400.
And steamship technology drastically cut down travel time in the later 1800's.
Ad astra! Sean
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