Manse Everard of the Time Patrol, posing as a first century Goth, has to acknowledge that he is familiar with violence:
"'Whoever calls me coward will feed the ravens before nightfall.'" (p. 506)
Ravens eat corpses. In Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: The Kindly Ones, ravens, including Noah's, gather in the Dreaming because they know that the Furies are about to attack that realm - so there will be fine dining for ravens.
The title character of The Sandman owns one raven whereas Odin - a character both in The Sandman and in Poul Anderson's heroic fantasies - owns two. Sometimes everything connects. Or seems to. But that really is as far as we go tonight.
Tomorrow, gym and Zen.
8 comments:
Huginn and Muninn are the names of Odin's ravens -- but the names mean "Thought" (or possibly "mind") and "memory". They sweep around the world and carry tales to Odin -- obviously symbolic of his thought and memory encompassing the world.
Kaor, Paul!
It's more exact to say Everard had to convince the barbarians that he was just as tough as them and that it would not be wise to pick a fight with him.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: yup. You had to do that, or they'd attack you, if it looked consequence-free.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Exactly! Humans are just like that, status and prestige conscious.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: also predatory, to people they don't know and aren't related to, often enough.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
The sheer predatoriness of so many humans is so obvious to me. A fact Anderson stressed in his prefaces to HROLF KRAKI'S SAGA.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: well, we've been apex predators for around 2 million years.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I take care to lock my doors and turn on the alarm system when away from home or at night.
Ad astra! Sean
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