Birds And Future Histories

There was a birds of prey display at the Southport Flower Show today as there has been in the past at Muncaster. Was I alone in Southport in thinking of Poul Anderson's intelligent flying carnivores, the Ythrians? They always come to mind on sight of peregrines etc.

Anderson's History of Technic Civilization, which features Ythrians, is what Isaac Asimov's Foundation series and Frank Herbert's Dune series should have been: a detailed history of interstellar civilizations with a vast cast covering multiple periods. What matters is the details of personal lives in planetary environments, not political manipulations by powerful cliques. James Blish's Cities In Flight, Volume III, Earthman, Come Home, shows us the Mayor and City Manager but not the population of New-York-in-flight but Blish - partly - made up for this in the later-written Volume II, A Life For The Stars.

Cities In Flight, like Robert Heinlein's Future History, would have matched the Technic History if lengthened whereas the Foundation series and the Dune series would have needed total rewrites. Thus, this blog ranks sf works.

Blish's major disadvantage vis a vis Anderson is a much smaller output.

Extinction

Harvest The Fire, CHAPTER 2.

"...extinction had claimed some splendid creatures, mammoth, saber-tooth, great-antlered Irish elk; and it seemed to Nicol that eagles or tigers, existing on narrow ranges under strict protection, were not what their natures meant them to be." (p. 52)

Sure. If we had resources enough, then we could populate a terrestroid planet with birds of prey and wild animals. But protecting them is better than letting them become extinct and every species eventually ceases to exist in one way or another in any case. Individual eagles or tigers do not instantiate Platonic Ideas of eaglehood or tigerhood. Their natures are temporary and changing but scientists can observe and record. Nothing is meant to be but it is for a while.

Soaring Hawk

Conan The Rebel, XI. 

Conan and his three companions are fugitives and Daris suggests that they steal the lightly guarded wingboat. Conan ponders, staring into heaven. And what happens while he does this?

"A hawk soared there." (p. 107)

Not the wind this time but yet another hovering bird of prey. Such birds are another Andersonian motif although not as ubiquitous as the wind. This hawk might represent the troops searching for the fugitives or the freedom of the fugitives if they steal the wingboat. 

We realize that the text has been carefully constructed. Both Daris and Falco have been been transported in the wingboat and have heard the monosyllabic spells spoken by the acolytes to control the motion and speed of the boat. Probably escape by this route will proceed as planned but we will have to read on to find out and, as some of you might now, I turn to other reading at this time of the evening. I will be up early tomorrow morning for an adventure of sorts in another town but should be back to blogging again later in the day.

A Cool Breeze

The Avatar, L.

In Ireland, after everything:

"A cool breeze bore odors of sea and soil and growth. High overhead a lark sang." (p. 400)

Appropriate to the ending of this novel: not a cold wind bearing storm clouds but a cool breeze etc.

For once a character comments on the wind as it comments on the conclusion:

"'Aye,' Caitlin said. 'As if the country would bid us goodbye with a blessing.'" (ibid.)

And, even closer to the end, yet another of Poul Anderson's many hovering birds of prey:

"From behind a ridge, a hawk swung to hover where the sun turned its wings golden." (p. 404)

Anderson's The People Of The Wind ends with the last line of a song:

"High is heaven and holy."

The Avatar ends with the last line of another song:

"Rejoice in the joy that comes after!" (ibid.)

Living In The Technic History

Poul Anderson fandom becomes a state of mind. I wonder what Britain will be like in the Terran Empire especially since this island will have a Mayor Palatine in Flandry's time. When Flandry is a guest of the Mayor, it is in his lodge on Catalina so we do not see anything of Britain. Will London have engulfed the entire South? Will the Lake District, Morecambe Bay and Lancaster Castle have been preserved? I expect that country roads will be buried under grass and forest unless someone has kept them clear for recreational purposes. I imagine Flandry visiting Lancaster Priory Church or St. Peter's Church in Heysham - the latter already over one thousand years old - and again wondering about contact with Kossara.

When I see birds, I think of Ythrians. There are birds of prey at Muncaster Castle in Cumbria. Seagulls scavenge along the coast. In Caernarfon, Wales, seagulls swooped down to take food from customers' plates on tables outside cafes. I imagine Ythrians - although not stealing food, of course. If I lived on Avalon, then I would want to join a choth and to participate in Khruaths, not to vote for the Parliament of Man, but it would have to be a new kind of choth that combined what its members regarded as the best aspects of Ythrian and human traditions, e.g., the rule of law as against deathpride or duels. We would participate in Oherran by boycott, not by violence. From Avalon, I would want to visit Hermes and Dennitza.

If I lived on Earth in that timeline, then I would prefer it to be during the Solar Commonwealth, working for a government service or department, not for any of the Home Companies, and a member of the relevant trade union. 

Is time travel possible in the Technic History timeline? As a matter of fact, yes. It is possible to pass from that timeline to the inter-universal inn, the Old Phoenix. Therefore, it should be possible to re-enter the timeline at an earlier time. This is probably against the rules for ordinary guests of the inn but it should be feasible for magically propelled travelers like Valeria Matuchek or Holger Danske.

I have recently stopped driving a car. I would not be able to cope with an aircar unless it was 100% self-driving.

There is probably more to be said about living in the Technic History.

Wind And Hawks

 

Dahut, XI, 2.

Tommaltach and a hooded Dahut walk in the countryside:

"Ys sank from sight. It was as if they had the world to themselves, they and the wind and a pair of hawks wheeling high above." (p. 242)

Significances:

the omnipresent Andersonian wind;

hovering birds of prey;

Dahut beginning to lead her first young man astray.

In Chapter IX, Corentinus foreknew that:

"'If Dahut does not come to the Light, she will do such ill that it were better that she had died in her mother's womb.'" (7, p. 209)

That latter process is just beginning. It is all downhill from here.

Saint Corentin

Gallicenae, VII, 3.

When Gratillonius rides out of Aquilo, he adds to our list of hovering birds of prey:

"...a falcon afar." (p. 144)

Gratillonius is an overnight guest in the tiny, cylindrical, conically thatched, wicker and clay hut of the hermit, Corentinus, who eats only once a day except when fasting although, on this occasion, he does eat a little extra but only to keep his guest company. 

This reminds us of Reverend Peter of Rochdale Zen Retreat who rises at an unGodly hour, 5:00 AM, I think, meditates for two hours before breakfast and, in the Indian tradition, usually eats nothing after lunch. On the evening of the fortieth anniversary of our meditation group, Peter accompanied us to a pizza restaurant where, without glancing at the menu, he ate the pizza with the simplest topping and no sweet course although some members of the lay Sangha indulged in cheese cake with ice cream.

Nicholas van Rijn praises God by savouring the best food and wine.

"Wisdom is justified by all her children." (Luke 7:35)

And Poul Anderson shows us every kind of character.

Addendum: Also, in SM Stirling's Emberverse series, a Christian monk ate bread and drank water while his companions feasted.

Swordwings And Wind

Genesis, PART TWO, VIII.

"Two swordwings hovered on high, watching for prey." (p. 197)

More hovering birds of prey.

"Brannock" is the narrative designation of Wayfarer's robot that has been delegated to explore the physical Earth as opposed to either the database or the emulations. When Brannock confronts Kalava and his men, Ilyandi, with the wisdom of a Vilku, recognizes:

"'A god, or a messenger from the gods, I think.' [Kalava] could barely make her out beneath the wind." (p. 199)

Overawed, she speaks softly. The wind of the divine presence almost silences her.

To communicate, Brannock shows an appropriate male human face in the screen on the front of his head:

"Though it was black, the features were not quite like anything anyone had seen before, nose broad, lips heavy, eyes round, hair tightly curled." (p. 200)

But we recognize it! They see a recording from an earlier age. We almost meet them.

Summer In Haven

War Of The Gods, XIV.

Summer:

grain ripples in the wind;

red cows graze in green paddocks;

storks stalk frogs in a fen;

a wood rustles, bright above, shadowed below;

a hawk hovers, then hurtles.

A description worth pausing at. We have listed hovering hawks and other birds of prey before (see here) and I cannot remember whether this was among them.

Natural descriptions can occur in any fiction: historical, fantasy, sf etc. Poul Anderson never forgets the natural environment.

Oceanic Community

The Stars Are Also Fire, 5.

The oceanic community of human beings and intelligent seals sounds more and more like the Avalonian community of human beings and winged Ythrians - the main difference being that, whereas Avalon is a self-sufficient planet, the seals' uncontrolled breeding and hunting brings them into conflict with the planned Terrestrial ecology. (Avalon is in conflict with the Terran Empire but that is merely a political matter.)

In one paragraph:

subtropical rain passes quickly;

the setting sun shines gold on blue and violet waves rocking a boat;

the air cools;

green odors give way to salt mist;

"...sunset glowed off the wings of an albatross..." (p. 80);

for a while, the viewpoint character is free;

she is "...lullabied..." by the waves.

Assuming that the lullaby is the sound of the waves, the paragraph addresses four senses. The albatross joins the frigate birds among our hovering birds of prey.

Frigate Birds And Intelligent Seals

The Stars Are Also Fire, 5.

"Two frigate birds cruised on high, wings and split tails like drawn swords." (p. 70)

The frigate birds join our list of birds of prey while their sword-like wings and tails symbolize the inter-species conflict below them.

Among the intelligent seals, the alpha bull who grunts:

"'[So shall flow this tide.]'" (ibid.)

- and his followers are perhaps marine counterparts of Anderson's carnivorous winged Ythrians.

Virtual Reality And More On The Holont

Starfarers.

Nansen adventures in virtual reality and wishes he hadn't because his companion in the adventure is the dead Jean Kilbirnie. We also notice that:

"Two condors wheeled on high." (41, pp. 396-397)

See Birds Of Prey.

The Holont receive a message from their future selves.

Hawking thought that, since contradictions are impossible, time travel must also be impossible. However, although a time traveler cannot change the past, his "'...actions can be part of what did happen.'" (42, p. 398)

Kerr, Thorne and Tipler described time machines consistent with relativity but physically impossible, e.g.:

a torus as massive as a giant star with an impossibly large electric charge and magnetic field, rotating at near light speed;

an infinitely long cylinder denser than a nuclear particle, spinning at near light speed.

The Holont:

form massive but stable nuclei;

use electromagnetic forces to spin such nuclei at a required speed, density and field strength;

with this miniature Kerr smoke ring or Tipler cylinder or whatever it is, generate a space-time warp;

send energetic gamma-ray photons through the warp;

modulate the photons to bear information;

instruct their earlier selves in how to communicate with human beings;

know how to communicate with human beings because they remember the instruction that they received.

Environmental Details

Starfarers.

On Earth:

"A hawk swooped low." (5, p. 35)

On Harbor, eleven thousand years later:

"...a sunhawk overhead, watchful for prey, had four wings." (49, p. 472)

Two more birds of prey.

On Harbor, while it is being explored:

"The sward grew low, dense, a mat of minutely convoluted soft nuggets." (2, pp. 23-24)

Another grass equivalent.

On Aerie:

"Terrestrial grass stretched away....

"Northward persisted native forest..." (17, p. 128)

Another mixed ecology.

Jean Kilbirnie discussing starship berths:

"'I'll take whatever I can get, as soon as I can get it.'

"The wind whispered through the leaves." (2, p. 26)

Another instance of the wind seeming to comment on the dialogue.

Eagles With Golden Wings

Orion Shall Rise, CHAPTER FOUR.

Hovering birds of prey in Poul Anderson's works have become another regular blog theme. When Ronica Birken walks back down into civilization, she sees:

woodlots;

pastures;

"Cook Inlet aglitter"; (p. 55)

snowpeaks;

yellow aspen and birch;

dark spruce;

timbered houses;

chimney smoke;

hovering eagles with golden wings;

sky and clouds;

peninsula ramparts;

sea;

rain;

hospitable dwellings.

We suspect that she has been on a mission for Wolf Lodge but first we enjoy the account of her journey. I have summarized only the return because it includes the eagles.

Birds And Other Life

The Shield Of Time, PART THREE, 13,212 B.C.

Wanda Tamberly, She Who Knows Strangeness, and Aryuk of the Tulat walk inland across open marshy country carpeted with herbs interrupted by occasional willows, reindeer moss and invasive birch:

 "Two hawks cruised the wind, theirs the only wings in sight; grouse, ptarmigan, and the rest must be lying as low as the muskrat and lemmings. The mammoths moved slowly, feeding..." (I, pp. 145-146)

As ever, we appreciate Poul Anderson's descriptions of nature, of abundant life long before the advent of civilization and of yet another two hovering birds of prey.

(Hopefully, problems with the New Blogger have ended.)

Birds

The Shield Of Time, PART FOUR, 13,212 B.C.

"Cries cut through from birds aloft in their hundreds, gulls, ducks, geese, cranes, swans, plover, snipe, curlews, an eagle high at hover. After two years she still found marvel in the lavishness of life, at the very gates of the Ice. Not before leaving her home world had she really known how impoverished it was." (I, p. 140)

Wanda finds a new world in 13,212 BC. These are the details of Poul Anderson's time travel saga. I quoted this passage because it presents yet another hovering bird of prey.

"Gibraltar Falls": Scene-Setting

"Gibraltar Falls."

"Hawks and vultures were always at hover in cloudless heaven." (p. 113) (Scroll down)

Other Predators And Scavengers
sabertooths
hyenas
ground apes, sometimes erect

Prey
zebra-striped ponies
primitive rhinoceros
okapi-like ancestors of giraffes
mastodon
"peculiar elephants" (p.114)

Terrain
steep hills
low mountains
canyons
dry country
shrunken streams
burnt grass

Widely Separated Trees And Shrubs
thorn
mimosa
acacia
pine
aloe
palm
fern
orchid

Smells
hay
scorch
baked dung
warm flesh

Sounds
whistling marmots
booming wind
resounding hoofs
clamoring birds
trumpeting beasts
the beginning of a hundred years of thunder

Other Sensations
dust and heat in the face by day
sudden chill at night
many stars in alien constellations
six foot ant hills

We have had two posts about "Gibraltar Falls" but not yet got to the characters.

A Silhouette And Birds Of Prey

"Inconstant Star," Chapter V.

Raptor class warship Swordbeak leaves hyperspace and approaches the Father Sun of Kzin:

"Watchers in space saw laser turrets and missile launchers silhouetted against the Milky Way, sleek as the plumage of its namesake, overwhelmingly deadlier than the talons." (p. 204)

Thus, this ship is named after a bird of prey. The Klingons have a type of warship called Bird-of-Prey. The Merseians have a type of gunboat named after the fangryf, a bird of prey. Star Trek fans know about kzinti because Larry Niven exported that species to the Star Trek universe but they also need to learn about Merseians.

Transition

Three Hearts And Three Lions.

Holger Danske's World War II beach battle with Nazis is described in the introductory "NOTE" on pp. 7-11. Thus, it "really happened"/happened in our world. By contrast, when he wakes up naked in a forest at the beginning of CHAPTER ONE on p. 13, we know that he has been transported/translated to another world - we know what kind of book we are reading, apart from anything else - whereas he has yet to deduce that fact.

Old leaves crackle. Earth, moss and moisture are pungent. A brook tinkles. It is day, not night; afternoon, not morning. The trees are of Medieval wildness. There is a squirrel, a pair of starlings and a hovering hawk which joins our list of birds of prey.

We are going to like the Carolingian universe.

Bird Of Prey On Cain

"The Master Key."

"'Far, far overhead a bird of prey (scroll down) would wheel, then suddenly stoop - in the thick air I could hear the whistle through its wing feathers - and vanish into the treetops down in the valley. Those leaves had a million different shades of color, like an endless autumn.'" (p. 289)

This passage contributes to our Andersonian birds of prey theme. Often, the author or narrator points out that flying organisms on other planets are not really birds. The autumnal leaves present another colorful detail.

Our changeable weather is currently summery so I expect another long walk today.