T'Kelan Self-Identification

"Territory," see here.

"'I am Tola's son Uulobu, Avongo, Rokulela, now a follower of the sky-folk.'" (p. 30)

Tola is a parent, mentioned first;
"Uulobu" is a personal name;
Avongo is a clan;
Rokulela is a Horde;
the sky-folk are Terrestrials, not deities;
deities are "'...the Real Ones...'" (p. 21)

When t'Kelans meet and greet, van Rijn watches intently and asks not only for translation of everything said but also for an explanation of certain overt flourishes and gestures made with weapons. As when he is told about events on Cain in "The Master Key," van Rijn assesses alien psychology and identifies how it differs from human.

The worst blunderer about alien psychology has to be Lord Hauksberg negotiating with Merseians in Ensign Flandry.

Cattlekeepers Or Bison-Chasers

"Territory," see here.

"'The Horde people maintain an economy somewhere between that of ancient Mongol cattlekeepers and Amerind bison-chasers...'" (p. 28)

No longer able to domesticate iziru or bambalo, because the glaciated land can no longer support so many grazers, the Hordes nevertheless continue to:

control herd migrations;
cull the herds;
protect them from predators -

- which is like minimal domestication.

Poul Anderson's hard sf is grounded in history as well as in physics. Readers might research Mongol cattlekeepers or Native American bison hunters. Although I said here that the t'Kelans are not just sfnal versions of Wild West Indians, in this passage Anderson does compare them to Amerindians but also to Mongols.

See also SM Stirling's dramatic scenes with bison:

Bison
Ecology

Interstellar Aid

All life on t'Kela will become extinct but the Esperancians can reverse the ecological decline.

Merseia would be devastated by a nearby supernova but the Polesotechnic League installs force screens.

By participating in Supermetals, Vixen becomes wealthy enough to install weather stations.

Starkad will be destroyed when its sun goes nova but the Terran Empire evacuates some Starkadians to Imhotep in the Patrician system.

The Empire also reverses the glaciation of Ramnu.

Conversation On T'Kela

"Territory," see here.

When he is told that he can't make t'Kelans fight their own race, van Rijn twirls his mustache, grins and responds, "'Can't I just?'" (p. 22) Consecutive readers of the Technic History know that he speaks from experience, particularly on Diomedes.

Joyce Davisson is from the peaceful planet, Esperance, which will recur in The People Of The Wind, as will Ythri and Avalon. She asks:

"'...man started as a carnivorous primate, didn't he?'" (p. 23)

I thought that we were omnivores from the beginning - which would make us more versatile and adaptable.

Joyce says that the t'Kelans are not gregarious enough to form unified nations. Aldous Huxley argued somewhere that human beings are not "social," but only "moderately gregarious." This is nonsense. Social interaction is essential to language, which differentiates humanity from animality.

But imagine an ungregarious rational species. Would a universal ethic - "Love they neighbor"/compassion for all living beings - be unworkable for them?

Same Old Van Rijn

"Territory," see here.

Van Rijn and Joyce are in an enclosed land-roving car with its own air, heat and food and thus are alive despite the hostile t'Kelan environment yet the "...detestable old oaf..." (p. 13) complains because emergency rations include neither beer nor caviar.

We know by now that:

complaining is part of his persona;

he will endure starvation rations if necessary (he did it on Diomedes);

if he had designed a vehicle for hostile extraterrestrial terrain, then it would have had enough storage space for beer and caviar.

They have already had one gun-fight with hostile natives but no one should think that Poul Anderson wrote only space opera. The t'Kelans are much more than just Wild West Indians with fur and tendrils.

The Ever-New Van Rijn

"Territory," see here.

Van Rijn Interviews An Employee On Earth
"Margin of Profit"
"Esau"
"The Master Key"
"The Trouble Twisters"

Van Rijn Leaves Earth
"Margin of Profit"
The Man Who Counts
"Hiding Place"
"Territory"
Satan's World
"Lodestar"
Mirkheim

So far, I have ignored van Rijn's carefully cultivated physical appearance:

greasy, black, ringleted, swirling, shoulder-length hair;
waxed mustache and goatee;
pot belly;
large hooked nose - he can't help the size of his nose but he waves it about;
snuff-stained lace and ruffles;
bawling voice.

Most people would take one look and keep their distance.

A soliloquy serves two purposes. It sketches his personality and summarizes some facts:

he is a poor old fat man who should be home with a cigar and a drink;
his employees will rob him in his absence;
the factors are so incompetent that van Rijn must travel a hundred light years toward Orion to look for new trade;
otherwise his much execrated competitors will destroy his company (we are informed or reminded of its name) "'...and leave him prostitute in his old age...'" (p. 9)

A Mountain Against The Milky Way

"Territory," see here.

"Due north rose the sheer black wall of Kusulonga the Mountain, jagged against the Milky Way. The city carved from its top could be seen only as a glimpse of towers like teeth." (p. 13)

Anderson describes night on t'Kela with unfamiliar constellations, the larger moon and the Milky Way which must be visible from everywhere in the Milky Way. I always look out either for a description of the Milky Way or for some object seen against it, as above.

Anyone who wants to know what happens in "Territory" had better read the story. Although I am rereading it, I am currently posting only about details that catch my attention like van Rijn's hoarse basso or Kusulonga the Mountain. Alternatively, searching the blog either for this title or for the name of the planet, T'Kela, generates a search result of previous posts on the subject. And there have been enough posts for today, I think (ten). Tomorrow, we will walk by the river or canal and attend a moot with food and a ritual. "High is heaven and holy."

Obscure Terms II

See Obscure Terms.

"'...German...'" (p. 187)

"...the Clement Institute of Planetology." (ibid.)

"...the San Jose district." (ibid.)

"...gyrotrain..." (ibid.)

"...the lotus position..." (p. 188)

"...'Om mane padme hum'..." (ibid.) (There might be Buddhists among human Ythrians, of course.)

"An Old Japanese screen..." (p. 189)

"...the Compassionate Buddha." (ibid.) (Again, the Ythrian Faiths are not long on compassion.)

"...pipa music..." (p. 190)

Adzel explains the Chinese dragons.

"...Richard Wagner's Siegfried." (p. 196)

Obscure Terms

See The Polesotechnic League In Its Glory.

"How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson" (see the above link) is set in San Francisco Integrate on Earth in the Solar Commonwealth during the glory days of the Polesotechnic League. However, when this story has been reprinted in The Earth Book Of Stormgate, it is to be read on Avalon in the Domain of Ythri during the period of the early Terran Empire which has succeeded the Commonwealth after the Time of Troubles. Furthermore, the Earth Book editor, Hloch, and many of his readers, are Ythrian, not human, and one of Hloch's co-writers, Arinnian/Christopher Holm, although human, is a member of the Stormgate Choth, therefore bound by choth laws and customs, not by the laws of the Parliament of Man. Different planet, different period, different people. So, given all that, which pieces of Terrestrial terminology might be obscure to the Earth Book's Avalonian readers?

"...blessings..." (p. 177) might be an alien concept to Ythrians of either the Old or the New Faith?

"...the Brotherhood..." (ibid.)

"...Luna..." (p. 178)

"'...San Francisco Integrate...'" (p. 179)

"'...Chinese...'" (p. 181)

"'...Mongoloid...'" (p. 182)

People named Marcantonio wearing togas and Smiths painting themselves blue. (ibid.)

"'...American...'" (ibid.)

"...Chinatown..." (p. 183)

"...Lunar New Year..." (ibid.)

"...ecocenter..." (p. 184)

"...a dandified Lunarian..." (ibid.) (Not to be confused with the Lunarians in a later future history.)

"...the Golden Gate..." (ibid.)

"Her father conducted the San Francisco Opera." (ibid.)

There might be a Part II.

Van Rijn Rolls

"Territory," see here.

"Territory" begins on p. 1 of Volume II of Poul Anderson's The Technic Civilization Saga. On p. 6, "A hoarse basso answered..." through a closed and locked door. This is our first indication that a familiar continuing character is with us again. When the door is unlocked:

"The merchant rolled through." (ibid.)

He does not literally roll - I have seen someone do this - but maybe he gives that impression. I think that I noticed that he was described as rolling in The Man Who Counts and I thought that that was inappropriate at the time because then he was starving. However, I have not re-found the passage when looking for it. But I did find another reason for van Rijn to stand up:

"You've been winning too motherless often for my taste.'
"Van Rijn surged to his feet like a broaching whale.
"'By damn, you take that back or -'"
-The Man Who Counts, p. 426.

We gather that:

van Rijn cheats but cleverly;
he needs money to issue bribes to get things done;
he needs to retain respect by acting tough when challenged;
nothing is spontaneous;
everything is an elaborate act.