Ythrians And Wodenites

"Lodestar."

Just within The Earth Book Of Stormgate alone, we have already encountered Ythrians in "Wings of Victory" and "The Problem of Pain" and one Wodenite, Adzel, in "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson," "Day of Burning" and earlier in "Lodestar." Therefore, it means something to us when we read that Hirharouk, an Ythrian:

"...matched pride against Nadi's patience..." (p. 363)

- Nadi being a newly introduced Wodenite. Trekkies know what Vulcans and Klingons are like. Poul Anderson's readers know what Ythrians, Wodenites, Cynthians and Merseians are like.

Hloch's introduction to "How To Be Ethnic..." informs his readers that this story:

"...makes the first mention known to Hloch of a being who was to take a significant part in later history."

-Poul Anderson, "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson" IN Anderson, The Earth Book Of Stormgate (New York, 1978), pp. 55-70 AT p. 55.

The text of the story opens:

"Adzel..." (p. 56)

- which is the name of that "being." Later in the Earth Book, we see Adzel taking a significant part in history on Merseia and at Mirkheim. If we read "How To Be Ethnic..." not as the fifth story in the first volume of The Technic Civilization Saga but as collected in the Earth Book and after the previous Technic History volumes, then we have already seen Adzel in action alongside a Hermetian and a Cynthian in Nicholas van Rijn's first trade pioneer crew. In the latter case, the name is already of considerable significance and it is a pleasure to re-encounter this character in a different context.