The Shakespearean Timeline

Our Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the central character of Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest (London, 1975), is a grandson of James I. Did I realize that before? His grandmother was Danish which gives Rupert occasion to remark that England and Denmark have been friendly since Hamlet's day. Indeed, Shakespeare's Hamlet visited England. But, "'Hamlet?'" (p. 99) asks Holger.

Holger is not from our timeline and neither, if he regards Hamlet as a historical figure, is this Rupert. Valeria, from yet another timeline but accustomed to inter-historical travel, asks questions and deduces that Rupert's timeline is differentiated by the fact that in it Shakespeare was the Great Historian, not the Great Dramatist. Thus:

fairies exist;
magic works;
Caesar had clocks;
technology started earlier;
Cavaliers have steam trains and balloons;
with Oberon's help, they can win the English Civil War.

When I first bought A Midsummer Tempest, it took me a while to get into reading it. It is different and denser but worth the effort.

Associative Processes

Blogging processes are allusive and associative, not logical or linear. Thus, discussion of SM Stirling's alternative histories generated speculation as to whether any of Stirling's characters might find their way into Poul Anderson's inter-cosmic inn, the Old Phoenix, but this in turn led to discussion of the historical figures that Anderson does show us in the Phoenix and that discussion proved to be far more fruitful than I had expected, despite my relative familiarity with these texts.

"Losers' Night," if read hastily, merely presents disjointed snatches of diverse conversations. I had enjoyed it even on that level. However, when reread carefully, line by line, it turns out to be a summation of the Old Phoenix sequence because it refers to Holger, Valeria, Rupert and Abelard and also reflects on the roles of several individuals in history. They made their marks so were they really "losers"?

This means that I must finish rereading the Old Phoenix passages of A Midsummer Tempest and will then be free to return to Stirling's Conquistador. But first I hope that there will be a family visit to the Wolfhouse Gallery this afternoon and a historical talk this evening.

Some Details In The Old Phoenix

I described the interior of the Old Phoenix here but there are always more details:

of the two globes on the desk, one is celestial, the other terrestrial showing places like Atlantis and Huy Braseal;

the bookshelves have Sokolnikoff's Introduction to Paratemporal Mathematics and the Handbook of Alchemy and Metaphysics;

Valeria, who has her own copy of the Handbook, knows theorems that enable her to travel to a particular continuum or one like it;

she even found the Old Phoenix by deducing that there had to be an interuniversal nexus;

by contrast, Holger travels randomly, using a medieval grimoire;

Valeria can teach Holger some of what she knows but he will be unable to use the knowledge unless he can prove and understand the theorems;

meanwhile, one of their fellow guests is a regular called Clodia Pulcher.

In The Taproom Of The Old Phoenix

Entering the Old Phoenix from one version of seventeenth century England, Will Fairweather closes the door against the storm.

"Windows likewise were tightly shuttered."
-Poul Anderson, A Midsummer Tempest (London, 1975), Chapter xi, "THE TAPROOM OF THE OLD PHOENIX," p. 90.

Will and his companion, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, must think that the windows are shuttered against the storm that they have just evaded whereas, in fact, the next time the door is opened, it may not be onto that storm or even onto that scenery while the windows, if opened, would show the void between the universes or maybe a cross-section of multi-dimensional space.

Their host addresses them in what looks like prose but can be rearranged as verse:

"What may your wishes be? Nay, let me guess.
"Ye've fared through rain, in striving and distress.
"A bath, dry garb, hot food, a cup of cheer,
"A bed, then breakfast , ere ye go from here." (p. 91)

Another guest, Holger, claims that giants existed in his timeline but his example is the seven-foot Harald Hardrada so, on that evidence, his timeline could be ours! His companion, a young woman, remarks that his and her worlds were similar or identical till about 1900 and that Abraham Lincoln might visit the inn. This is the first hint to the reader that time travel or something like it is involved. We are used to the idea by now but it is always worthwhile to check how an author first presented such notions.

Open To Everything

"...keep yourself open to everything, and perhaps, just perhaps, you will have the great luck of joining us in that tavern called the Old Phoenix."
-Poul Anderson, "House Rule" IN Anderson, Fantasy (New York, 1981), pp. 9-20 AT p. 9.

That is good advice: "...keep yourself open to everything..." We do join them in the Old Phoenix by reading these stories. I suspect that this is the only way to join them but - keep yourself open to everything. I recently attended a Spiritualist Church where the medium got my mother's name right and some other details. After the service, her partner asked me whether I was still making up my mind. I replied that I was open. I did not add: philosophically critical and skeptical but open to evidence and experience. (My mother was an Irish Catholic who loathed Spiritualism.)

The food, like the drink, in the Phoenix "...is unearthly superb..." (p. 11) but unfortunately is not described.

In this story, the guests are:

the narrator;
Leonardo da Vinci;
Erik the Red;
Sancho Panza;
Nicholas van Rijn;
shadowy beings full of sparkling lights;
Heloise;
Peter Abelard;
Albert Einstein;
Mrs Hauksbee.

The narrator interprets between da Vinci and Einstein. Taverner must act as the local equivalent of the Time Patrol, interrupting their conversation so that neither da Vinci nor Einstein learns more than he should. But da Vinci shouts that Abelard and Heloise, who have gone upstairs together, "'...will have had their night!'" (p. 20) Limits to scientific knowledge are accepted but human life is affirmed.

Anonymous Historical Characters IV

See here.

The Winston Churchill whom we see in the Old Phoenix refers to "'...the Great War...'" (All One Universe, p. 119), thus confirming my suspicion that this Churchill has entered the inn from some time in the period between the Wars. When we contemplate a meeting in the Old Phoenix, it does not matter if one of the participants is known to be dead because he can have entered the inn either from a time before he died or from a timeline in which he died later. On the other hand, if we imagine an encounter as occurring not in an inter-cosmic inn but in one of the hereafters, then all the participants must be dead - unless they can emulate Orpheus.

Who is next?

"...the cadaverous Spaniard who had patched together a ridiculous armor..." (ibid.)
Don Quixote?;

"...the stunningly beautiful, imperially garbed Chinese lady..." (ibid.);

a white couple "...dressed like subjects of the Ottoman Empire..." (ibid.);

a Tudor woman clutching a crucifix;

Jack Wilson.

Villon asks in song:

"'Since naught can remain for posterity
"'But a name all honor and none abuse,
"'Who was the victor, Grant of Lee?
"'Even the dead have much to lose.'" (p. 121)

The fate of the dead is a manifest theme even if the clientele of the inn are still living when they enter the Old Phoenix.

The Taverners must observe restrictions or lose their license - which is not from God.

Villon addresses Christ as "'...Prince of losers...'" (p. 123) and mentions the mass murder of Jews. Our twentieth century narrator thinks that Villon is referring to the Middle Ages until he remembers the world to which Churchill returns - between the Wars.

I have not read this story properly before.

Anonymous Historical Characters III

See here.

Despite the general anonymity, the narrator names Francois Villon (see image). However, most of the others remain a guessing game. A rugged Edwardian Englishman's dreams will end in ice and hunger. Shackleton? The rugged Englishman converses with a "...dark man in a form-fitting glittery coverall..." (All One Universe, p. 111), whom I take to be fictional.

Kit Marlowe is mentioned although not present on this occasion.

Another man has "...bony head, craggy nose, ruddy beard..." (p. 112) - and both ears. Shouldn't he have had? The narrator quotes, as if relevant:

"The light, the coals, like the sun." (ibid.) - and then quotes the bony-headed man himself as saying, in Dutch:

"'White, Theo. All colors go up together in the white heat." (ibid.)

Van Gogh? (Later we learn that Bony Head painted self-portraits.)

A French-speaking European in early nineteenth century garb with failing sight sips wine while conversing with an Arabic-speaking North African Muslim who drinks fruit juice. The Muslim remarks that nomads revitalize civilization but later in turn become corrupt and feeble. The European compares extinctions in other species with human degeneracy.

Villon sings of Harald Hardrada dying at Stamford Bridge and mentions Simon Bolivar whom the Time Patrol helped.

The John Bullish Englishman who enters next is named at the end of the story - Winston Churchill.

There are more. We can discuss which characters could profitably visit the Old Phoenix but we should mainly appreciate how well Anderson blends together those that he does send there.

In The Old Phoenix

All One Universe, p.111.

These guys have been there:

Theseus (and here)
Scheherazade
Falstaff
Holger Danske (and here)
Huck Finn
Irene Adler (see image)
Red Hanrahan
blind Rhysling
a Zenobia who won free of Rome
an Abelard who remained whole (and here)
a Prince Rupert who defeated Cromwell (and here)
a Tecumtha who preserved his nation

These alternative versions of Abelard and Prince Rupert are in Poul Anderson's canon whereas the alternative Zenobia and Tecumtha are not.

And, if you can find the time to research all these characters in the detail that they deserve, then you are a better man than I am.

Anonymous Historical Characters II

See here.

In the Old Phoenix:

"[The landlady's] shelves are small, but somehow she can produce anything you ask for."
-Poul Anderson, "Losers' Night" IN Anderson, All One Universe (New York, 1997), pp. 105-123 AT p. 109.

An easy feat in multi-dimensional space. The Doctor's TARDIS is notoriously bigger outside than in.

The next speaker is clearly Charles Stewart Parnell but who is the Spartan with whom he discusses the restoration of justice against timocracy?

Before listening to any more men, the first person narrator lists several interesting women:

Hatshepsut;
Jingo Kogo;
Gunnhild;
Britomart;
Sacajawea;
Moll Flanders;
Sojourner Truth;
Valeria Matuchek.

Gunnhild and Valeria are parts of the Anderson canon. And that is enough from me at this time of night.

Anonymous Historical Characters

Can we identify the unnamed historical figures who meet in the Old Phoenix in Poul Anderson's "Losers' Night"?

The first who speaks:

must be a loser - or he would not be here on this occasion;
is lean, dark and somber;
speaks classical Latin;
wears a toga;
expects to fight a battle soon, probably at Philippi;
aims, after the battle, to restore the Republic.

That Republic will not be restored. Instead, an Empire will be built. This must be Brutus?

His companion:

answers the same physical description;
speaks Canadian French;
wears a plaid shirt and faded blue work trousers;
realizes who the other man must be;
claims to be a simple, unlearned metis;
is advised to return to his country because his people need him;
replies that they cry to him for justice...

Is this Louis Riel?

Clearly, I have not read this story closely enough before.