Families And Choths On Avalon II

Ythrians throughout their Domain, including on Avalon, which has a majority human population, self-organize in choths which differ in size and traditions:

"...whether they be roughly analogous to clans, tribes, baronies, religious communes, republics, or whatever, [mainland choths] counted their numbers in the thousands at least. In Oronesia there were single households which bore the name; grown and married, the younger children were expected to found new, independent societies."
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2012), p. 464.

Oronesia, a line of drowned peaks rising above the ocean's surface, is a haven for human or Ythrian eccentrics, each of whom has been able to colonize one or just a few small islands, hence the small choths. But, by contrast, the numerous fisher folk of the Highsky Choth occupy a long stretch of the Oronesian archipelago.

The most basic Ythrian social unit is the family, each requiring fiercely guarded territory for hunting or herding. The family of Lythran and Blawsa occupies a compound on a plateau of Mount Fairview. Senior family members and their children live in an old stone tower whereas the unwed, retainers and their kin live in lower wooden buildings with amberdragon and starbells growing on their sod roofs. The family belongs to Stormgate Choth.

Three centuries earlier, when the colonists had settled Avalonian archipelagos though not yet the Coronan continent, the Weathermaker Choth was described as an "...extended household..." (p. 297) with "...the core families..." housed in a "...tall stone tower..." (p. 297), above wooden buildings. This suggests two different kinds of choths. In Weathermaker, families share a tower. In Stormgate, they do not. But, by the time we read about Stormgate, an entire continent has been settled by the two species.

We are told somewhere, although I can't find it, that some choths are identified with a particular territory but others not. Wyvans (public officials/judges) are elected in each choth and also in each Khruath, a regular, regional fully democratic meeting that can be attended by every free adult in the given territory, regardless of choth. For the Great Khruath of Avalon, a computer-equipped staff filters questions and comments from two million enfranchised adults, including human choth-members, and, after only six hours, 83 percent vote in favor of continued resistance to Imperial Terra.

Wingless

Winged and feathered Ythrians fly but cannot swim. Their understanding of air movements enables them to construct efficient sailboats. (Self-adjusting curved boards replace keel and centerboard to increase speed but I do not understand the technicalities.) However, when one immaturely handled boat is wrecked on a reef and atlantis weed entangles a sailor's wing, a human being must enter the water to free the wing. Then, that young man on his gravbelt and another Ythrian are able to pull their injured companion free.

The moral of the story:

"'I have learned how good it is that strengths be different, so that they can be shared.'
"'Well, yes, sure. Wasn't that the whole idea behind this colony?'"
-Poul Anderson, "Wingless" IN Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), pp. 295-306 AT p. 306.

Nat Falkayn, the rescuer, is seventeen Avalonian, twelve Terran, years old. We have seen four generations of Falkayns:

Athena
David
Nicholas
Nat

Three centuries (fifteen generations?) later, we see Tabitha, who is a direct descendant of David. Thereafter, the action of the History moves away from Avalon but Dominic Flandry, anticipating the Long Night after the Terran Empire, comments:

"'The sophont races will survive. In due course, they'll build fascinating new civilizations. Cultures of mixed species look especially promising. Consider Avalon already.'"
-Poul Anderson, Flandry's Legacy (New York, 2012), p. 75.

So a colony founded in anticipation of the fall of the Solar Commonwealth still offers hope to someone anticipating the fall of the Empire that had replaced the Commonwealth. Is Falkayn's legacy greater than Flandry's?

The Books Of Stormgate

Poul Anderson's twelve page juvenile short story, "Wingless," was originally published as "Wingless on Avalon" in Boy's Life, July 1973, of which this image, apparently, is the cover.

In The Earth Book Of Stormgate, Hloch's Introduction to "Wingless" says:

"As for the creation and history of our choth upon Avalon, that is in The Sky Book Of Stormgate."
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 294.

This reminded me of:

"As for the other events of Zimri's reign...are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?" I Kings 16. 20.

One historian may refer to the works of another, even though that other is no longer extant. I think that it is fully appropriate to compare the Books of Stormgate to the Bible. In these Books, as in the Bible, already existing texts have been collected and edited to tell the history of a people who left one place to colonize another. In both cases, the narratives are of different kinds and lengths.

Hloch writes:

"...these annals...are garnered from different trees, and few of them will seem at once to grow toward the same sun. Yet they do, they all do. This is the tale, told afresh, of how Avalon came to settlement and thus our choth to being."
-Poul Anderson, The Earth Book Of Stormgate (New York, 1979), p. 2.

"...how Avalon came to settlement..." sounds Biblical indeed. Critical readers may or may not accept the editor's claim that his garnered annals grow toward the same sun. Malachi 4.2 tells us that the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings but not all readers of the Hebrew scriptures accept that that Sun rises in the New Testament.

A Hero Of Technic Civilization

(My copy of Multiverse has been dispatched and should arrive on 9 July.)

John Birnam, appearing only in the fourteen page juvenile short story, "Rescue on Avalon," is allergic to Ythrians and resents the granting of his beloved Andromeda Mountains to the Ythrian colonists on Avalon by a joint decision of the two planetary authorities, the Parliament of Man and the Great Khruath. However, despite suffering greatly from his allergy, Jack saves the life of the injured Wyvan of Stormgate Choth.

Consequently, Stormgate will pay for a cure for his allergy. Further, Jack and any guests of his will always be welcome in the Andromedas, called by the Ythrians the Weathermother - a heartwarming story of differences transcended and of enmity overcome, especially since the following story in the History of Technic Civilization is of Gorzuni raiding Earth for slaves, of a ship load of those slaves slaying their captors and of that liberated ship then bombarding Gorzun.

Human beings and Ythrians share Avalon but must later fight the Empire that was founded by the leader of those escaped slaves.

How Rochefort Sees Holm

Poul Anderson clearly approves of the massive Avalonian defense operation masterminded and coordinated by Marchwardens Ferune of Mistwood and Daniel Holm in The People Of The Wind. And, as he is the omnipotent creator of both the Domain of Ythri and the Terran Empire, Anderson is able to ensure that the scale of the Terran attack is vast enough to warrant all that public expenditure on defensive measures.

However, Anderson also knows how to write a novel that expresses the complexities of political conflicts. Not everyone sees the issues the same way. If they did, then there would be no drive towards war in the first place. Philippe Rochefort, a young Terran Imperial officer, is bound to judge Avalonian intransigence from an antagonistic perspective:

"'...old Holm...and a few other old men and Ythrians, who don't care how many young die, as long as they're spared confessing their own stupid, senile willfulness -'"
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 603.

That almost hurts and is all too plausible! We have empathized with Holm and his cohorts so far and have not had too much trouble disagreeing with the dithering Avalonian Parliamentary President Vickery but here is Rochefort, a thoroughly good guy, an officer and a gentleman, starting a relationship with Tabitha Falkayn, wanting to move to Avalon after the war whatever the outcome, and he sees Daniel Holm as stupid and senile! Well, Holm Senior is intelligent, not stupid, but he is older... Might he be set in his ways, stubborn and intransigent?

These are the historical judgments that would have been made if the desperate strategy of luring the Terrans into a trap on the Avalonian surface had not paid off.

Families And Choths On Avalon

The Holms went to Avalon with Falkayn and a Holm later married a Falkayn so what had happened in between? David Falkayn, the Founder of the Avalonian colony, went there with his wife Coya and their son Nicholas who was born on Earth and named after David's employer/Coya's grandfather. Nicholas' son, Nat, was born on Avalon.

Later, one Ivar Holm works at Andromeda (Mountain) Rescue Station when the current Wyvan of the Stormgate Choth, injured in a storm, needs to be rescued. Later again, Daniel Holm is a Marchwarden while his son, Christopher, joins Stormgate Choth and marries Tabitha Falkayn, a direct descendant of David and a member of Highsky Choth.

Tabitha is the third generation of her family in Highsky. When her parents were lost at sea, an Ythrian family adopted her and encouraged her to take a wandertime in accordance with Highsky custom so she has been a huntress, trapper, sailor, prospector and gambler in human country. Living entirely among Ythrians in the Oronesian islands, she runs a commercial fishery in partnership with Draun, an Ythrian of the Old Faith.

Emil Dalmady from Altai was employed, then funded as an entrepreneur, by Nicholas van Rijn. Some of his children moved to Avalon with Falkayn and one of them, Judith Lundgren, wrote historical fiction which was published in the periodical, Morgana (named after the Avalonian moon) and later collected in The Earth Book Of Stormgate.

One of the most progressive Avalonian choths is Mistwood, embracing human technology, therefore large and prosperous. Ferune, Wyvan of Mistwood, is succeeded as First Marchwarden of Avalon by Daniel Holm. Another choth is The Tarns and Liaw of that choth is Wyvan of the High Khruath. And that is as much as I can find about families and choths on Avalon.

Ythrians

Of the twelve works collected in Poul Anderson's The Earth Book Of Stormgate:

the first is set on Ythri, in fact is about First Contact with Ythrians;

the second, also about human-Ythrian interaction, is set on the planet Gray, later renamed Avalon;

the tenth involves Nicholas van Rijn traveling in an Ythrian-crewed spaceship;

the eleventh and twelfth are set on Avalon after it has been jointly colonized by human beings and Ythrians.

Further:

the new introductions and conclusion in the Earth Book are written by an Avalonian Ythrian;

three installments later in the History of Technic Civilization, the novel, The People Of The Wind, is set mostly on Avalon, which, despite its human majority, has become part of the Domain of Ythri and resists annexation by the Terran Empire;

five installments after that, The Day Of Their Return involves an Avalonian Ythrian spying for both Domain and Empire.

Thus, although a linear summary of the History presents a chronological sequence of human institutions, League, Empire etc, Ythrian interaction with humanity is also a major feature of the History, comparable to the role of the Merseians, who also have human beings living within their realm.

The Earth Book Of Stormgate

Poul Anderson's The Earth Book Of Stormgate (1978):

collects twelve previously published works, including one novel, The Man Who Counts (1958);

covers the histories of human-Ythrian relations and of the Polesotechnic League;

connects these histories by adding twelve introductions and one conclusion written as by an Ythrian;

derives the content of these new passages from the novel, The People Of The Wind (1973).

In the eleventh and twelfth Earth Book stories, "Wingless" (1973) and "Rescue on Avalon" (1973), as in The People Of The Wind, human beings and Ythrians have jointly colonized the planet Avalon.

People discloses that:

the Avalonian colony was founded by David Falkayn of the Polesotechnic League, a major player in the ninth and tenth Earth Book stories;
Ythrian social organizations are called "choths";
Avalonian choths include Stormgate;
Stormgate includes the family of Lythran and Blawsa;
choth officers are called Wyvans;
increasing numbers of human beings join choths;
these include Arinnian, whose human name is Christopher Holm;
the Terran Empire waged war on Avalon.

Thus, it makes sense when the opening introduction in the Earth Book informs us that:

Rennhi of the Stormgate Choth wrote The Sky Book Of Stormgate, a history of the choth's ancestors on Ythri, founders on Avalon and subsequent generations to her own time;
helped by her son, Hloch, she gathered material for a companion volume that would recount the human antecedents of the colonization  of Avalon;
Hloch served in space during the Terran War, traded on Imperial planets after the War, then returned to Avalon;
since Rennhi had died, the Wyvan Tariat, son of Lythran and Blawsa, asked Hloch to complete the Earth Book.

In his introduction to the eighth Earth Book story, Hloch informs us that Arinnian had prepared this version of the story for publication. Hloch and Arinnian collaborated on the ninth and tenth stories.

Eyath, daughter of Lythran and Blawsa, and Arinnian are friends and major characters in People whereas Tariat, son of Lythran and Blawsa, and Hloch are created for the new material in the Earth Book. By drawing on the background of The People Of The Wind, Anderson adds considerable depth to the stories collected in the Earth Book.

Other Planets

In Poul Anderson's The People Of The Wind, Tabitha Falkayn of Avalon hopes that, after the war, Philippe Rochefort will show her the Imperial planets that he has described. She mentions seven:

Terra;
Ansa;
Hopewell;
Cynthia;
Woden;
Diomedes;
Vixen.

I think that, of these, Hopewell is the only one that we know nothing about?

Terra is Earth;
the previous installment of the History introduced Ansa;
Cynthians and Wodenites are important characters in the series;
van Rijn is shipwrecked on Diomedes;
Flandry visits both Diomedes and Vixen;
Vixenites later colonize New Vixen.

The People Of The Wind is also an important link in our knowledge of the planet Merseia:

the Grand Survey finds Merseia just starting its scientific and industrial revolutions;
 
in "Day of Burning," the Polesotechnic League protects the by now interplanetary civilization of Merseia from the lethal radiation of a nearby supernova;

in The People Of The Wind, the interstellar Roidhunate of Merseia is small and remote but growing and aggressive;

in the Flandry period, the Roidhunate threatens the Terran Empire;

in the Long Night period, both Empire and Roidhunate have fallen.

Based on this information, a History of Merseia awaits an author.

Ferune Of Mistwood

In a recent post, I remarked that Ferune of Mistwood, an Ythrian, read Terran classics in three languages and that he quoted from both the Bible and the Rubaiyat. I said then that we would like to hear more from Ferune and we do hear a little more. Having returned from the battle in space dying of radiation poisoning, he is to be succeeded as First Marchwarden by his colleague, Daniel Holm, and as Wyvan of Mistwood by a fellow Ythrian.

When Holm blames himself for his friend's death, Ferune gives us another splendid example of "bird talk":

"'Come off that perch, Daniel Holm.'"
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 2011.

- then continues as an uncompromising Ythrian:

"'If I thought you really blame yourself, I would not have left you in office - probably not alive; anyone that stupid would be dangerous. You were executing my plan, and bloody-gut well it worked too, kh'hung?'" (ibid.)

He says that he would have cried Oherran. This is characteristic of him - whereas Holm's response is not in character for the new First Marchwarden:

"Holm knelt and laid his head on [Ferune's] keelbone." (ibid.)

Ferune enfolds and kisses Holm and says:

"'I flew higher because of you...If war allows, honor us by coming to my rite. Fair winds forever.'" (ibid.)

When Ferune is dead, we hear from him one more time because Holm quotes him. The President of the Parliament of Man, favoring accommodation with the Terran Empire, says that "'...the winds of change are blowing.'" (p. 567) Holm replies:

"'I understand that's a mighty old phrase...Ferune had one still older that he liked to quote. How'd it go? "- their finest hour -"'" (ibid.)

So Holm quotes Ferune quoting Churchill - who, by the way, makes it into the Old Phoenix, as does Nicholas van Rijn.

Lastly, we should quote the new Wyvan as he addresses the dead Ferune in the words of the New Faith:

"'High flew your spirit on many winds...'" (p. 559)

(More "bird" language.)

"'...but downward upon you at last came winging God the Hunter. You met Him in pride, you fought Him well, from you He has honor.'" (ibid.)

(For an Ythrian of the New Faith, this is the best possible death, requiring no hereafter to complete or redeem it.)

"'Go hence now, that which the talons left, be water and leaves, arise in the wind; and spirit be always remembered.'" (ibid.)

(What had been Ferune returns to the environment. The spirit which flew high and will be always remembered was the person who is gone, not a separate entity continuing after the death of the body.)

"His sons tilted the litter. The body fell, and after it the torches." (ibid.)

Ferune's widow leads the sky dance.