-"Star of the Sea," I, p. 467.
"Pure as yourself, your evenstar shines above the sunset." (IV, p. 640)
On the first and last pages of this story: two sightings of the planet Venus (as we understand it).
"...her brow..." is the brow of the goddess, Niaerdh.
"...your evenstar..." is the star of:
"Mary, mother of God, mother of sorrows, mother of salvation..." (IV, p. 639)
Poul Anderson has brought us on a long journey through myth, time and history from Germania, 70 AD, to a ship crossing the Atlantic:
"Westward we sail but night overtakes us. Watch over us through the dark and bring us on into day." (p. 640)
One of our earliest childhood memories, passing through the dark and back into day. The story begins with a myth in the morning and ends with a prayer in the evening. And aspects of the goddess have passed into the Mother of God. Our lives are lived when this process is complete.
12 comments:
That's probably Columbus' voyage, btw.
Kaor, Paul!
No, no aspects of any kind of "goddess." The Church refuses all attempts at deifying the BVM, who is indeed highly favored by God, but not divine.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
In PA's narrative, aspects of a goddess, like the star and the sea, were incorporated into Mary. To say this is not to deify her.
Paul.
Why is it possibly Columbus' voyage?
Because of the emphasis on voyaging west.
BTW, Columbus thought he'd discovered some islands off Japan and died thinking so. He'd miscalculated the diameter of the earth. If the Americas hadn't been in the way, his crews would have died of thirst about a third of the way across the Pacific.
Thanks.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: I know, but Catholics are so often wearisomely, tediously attacked by the Jack Chick types for allegedly worshiping the BV as a goddess that anything like "aspects" of divinity being attributed to her instinctively arouses objections in many of us.
Mr. Stirling: Also, Columbus' critics at the court of Ferdinand and Isabel complained he'd underestimated the size of the Earth. They very likely pointed out how Eratosthenes had long ago accurately measured the Earth's diameter.
I suspect Ferdinand and Isabel agreed but thought Coumbus was worth supporting, just in case the investment paid off--nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Ad astra! Sean
Ad astra! Sean
"died of thirst about a third of the way across the Pacific."
Maybe. The smart thing for someone looking for land far out in the Atlantic to do would be to look at how many days of food & especially water they have, and when that is close to half gone sail north out of the Trade Winds blowing from the east into the latitudes where the prevailing winds blow from west to east. Would Columbus have been too stubborn to do that? Would his crew have mutinied if he was too stubborn?
Well, Columbus would probably have been that stubborn. Whether they had a mutiny is more problematic.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I think there nearly was a mutiny during Columbus' First Voyage.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: yes, there was. Ordinary sailors weren't as familiar with the shape and size of the earth as educated men.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, and some might even have believed in a Flat Earth.
Ad astra! Sean
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