Wodenites are neither theroids nor herpetoids but are endothermic, two-sexed and viviparous and breed only in season, making celibacy easier for them than for human beings.
This information is imparted when Diana Crowfeather meets Francis Xavier Axor whose first two names, taken at baptism, reveal him to be a Christian.
Unfortunately, although three cover illustrations for Poul Anderson's The Game Of Empire show the land Starkadian, Targovi, none display the large, quadrupedal, dinosaurian Axor. However, another Wodenite, Adzel, is to be seen on a cover of Satan's World.
All the details in Anderson's Technic History hang together.
10 comments:
Yeah, Poul was remarkably consistent. That ain't easy!
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Both: Anderson made surprisingly few slipups in his Technic stories, which is amazing considering how many of these stories there were, written over 34 years. He made some however, one of which I discussed in my "Unexpected Contradiction" article.
Paul: None of the covers I've seen for THE GAME OF EMPIRE really satisfies me--and the one chosen here is truly ghastly. The least irritating cover I've seen being for the Baen paperback edition of 1985.
Ad astra! Sean
I have my doubts about an intelligent species with a fixed breeding season. Those herd animals that have that have short infancies. But an intelligent species would, in most cases, have a -long- infancy period. You need that to learn what you need to learn.
Neanderthals and other pre-human hominids matured sexually at about eight, they think.
Good thinking.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That makes sense. I could plead in extenuation for Anderson that the Wodenites might be an exception to that general rule.
I was interested in wha you said about researchers think Neanderthals and pre-human hominins attained sexual maturity at about age eight. That seems very young compared to modern humans, us, where sexual maturity is reached around age 13-14.
Physical maturity, that is! Which is not always the same as having ordinary good sense.
Ad astra! Sean
The evolution of Wodenites allowed for both a fixed breeding season and a long infancy. I don't know the details...
Sean: well, that seems to be the case. Neanderthals developed about 15% faster than humans and were physically fully mature by 14-15.
If you compare humans to chimps, they start puberty at around 6-7 years for females... which is a long time by animal standards.
Humans pushed it further down the track, which allowed for longer childhoods and brain formation.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: I missed that in the stories, re Wodenites.
Mr. Stirling: That is interesting, Neanderthals maturing 15% faster than modern humans. And the long period of helplessness for human children was one factor encouraging stable family/social units for us moderns. Another being year around sexual receptivity by human females.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Well, no, that was not said in the stories. It was just my attempt to rationalize the inconsistency that has been pointed out.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Understood, re the Wodenites. Their young probably did have long childhoods.
Ad astra! Sean
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