Ariel And A Nixie

When I googled images of Ariel, I noticed that there was some question as to the gender of this character. We recently attended a performance where two actors, male and female, jointly played the part, alternating the dialogue. There is no direct connection between a reference to Ariel in Poul Anderson's Three Hearts And Three Lions and a duo performance of Ariel in Morecambe. These are two of the many manifestations of a single dramatic character.

If the Three Hearts... Ariel were real, then he would exist in the Carolingian universe while meanwhile I would exist - and would attend the duo performance - in our universe. Indeed, if the Poul Anderson of our universe were properly attuned to the Carolingian universe, then I would read about the Ariel of that universe while thinking that he was fiction. However, if the duo Ariel were real, then s/he would exist in a Shakespearean universe, or maybe just in a Tempest universe, that would not necessarily coexist with any other universe. The mind boggles.

The next threat after the werewolf is a nixie who pulls Holger to the bottom of a lake. He theorizes that the nixie's spell extracts oxygen from the water for him and that a monomolecular film of oxygen covers his face. But this is just speculation. The novel does not comprehensively rationalize magic. In this case, the nixie acknowledges that she is acting for Morgan le Fay. Holger escapes by igniting the magnesium dagger.

A Midsummer Tempest XIV

Prospero's spirit Ariel quotes both another Shakespeare play and Oscar Wilde in Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest (London, 1975):

" 'What's in a name?' Ariel scoffed. 'Well, names can be important. They should have called him Ernest.' " (p. 172)

Thus, Anderson answers a Shakespearean question with a Wildean title. Can Ariel see the future? (I suppose spirits can.) But this is a reference to the title and theme of a play, not to a character from that play as existing in the same world as Prospero, Ariel etc. Thus, Anderson so far stays true to his premise that only the plays of Shakespeare, not any other works of drama or of fiction, are true histories on this parallel Earth.

On the next page, Ariel answers my question above:

" 'Thou know'st our Faerie powers are but slight - illusions, apparitions, some few tricks, forecastings which the stream of time may drown, a whisper of ambiguous advice.' " (p. 173)

"...the stream of time..." evokes all of Anderson's narratives on history, time travel and alternative timelines from The King Of Ys to The Time Patrol.

A Parting Shot And Enter Ariel

A Midsummer Tempest.

Rupert says something to Will as "...a Parthian shot..." (xvi, p. 145) As ever, it is instructive to google the meaning of this remark. It is a parting shot which may be derived from it.

Ariel tells Jennifer:

"'Outside my eyot, I'm a spy, no more.'" (xix, p. 173)

He also refers to the island as his "'...holm...'" (p. 172)

Readers of Poul Anderson's works have had more than their fair share of "Holmgangs."

Ariel parodies his own words from The Tempest:

"'Where the eaves drop, there drop I...'" (p. 173)

• 
  

Ariel sings

Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
In a cowslip's bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer merrily.   
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

-copied from here.

Ariel

Poul Anderson, Three Hearts and Three Lions (London, 1977), Chapter Seventeen.

I have nearly finished blogging for today. However, I must mark the reappearance of an old acquaintance:

Ariel is a character in William Shakespeare's The Tempest;
therefore Ariel also appears in Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest;
and this spirit is also mentioned in Anderson's Three Hearts And Three Lions -

"'I raised the fleet spirits of the air, even called in Ariel as consultant, and they were still able to find where Cortana lies buried.'" (p. 109)

Thus:

Holger will soon complete his Quest - the sword is not far;
here is yet another cross-reference, binding Anderson's fantasies to Shakespeare and to each other.

Holger was found in Elsinore, Hamlet's home town. In A Midsummer Tempest, England, Scotland and Denmark have been friendly since the days of Hamlet.

A Midsummer Tempest XVII

In Poul Anderson's Time Patrol (New York, 2006), Manse Everard quotes A Midsummer Night's Dream:

"The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
"The solemn empires, the great globe itself..." (p. 480)

In Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest, Prince Rupert quotes:

" '...the cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself...' " (p. 185)

I think that "...solemn temples..." sounds righter than "...solemn empires..."?

It is confirmed that Jennifer's education/indoctrination did not include Shakespeare, even though in this timeline he is the great Historian, not a playwright. She had to ask who Caliban was and does not recognise Prospero's words as quoted by Rupert.

There is an ingenious sequel to The Tempest:

Prospero's magic book could not be destroyed by ordinary means so he disposed of it at sea where it sank to the seabed but was unharmed by the water;

he did not sail far because he feared theft en route so the book is close to shore where Rupert retrieves it in a diving bell;

Rupert suffers from the change of pressure when he returns too quickly to the surface but Ariel, a spirit of the air, fixes that;

an incantation from the book raises supernatural forces that help the Cavaliers to win the English Civil War.

Before Rupert descends, Ariel warns:

" '...I've no eye to scan the future...' " (p. 186)

Earlier, I thought he had displayed knowledge of the future when he said:

" '...names can be important. They should have called him Ernest.' " (p. 172)

But this is, on his part, an unintended pun. The only knowledge that there will later be a playwright called Oscar Wilde is the author's. 

While Rupert is below, Will Fairweather comments that he has:

"...naught zave tha bell, that book, an' his life's one candle -' " (p. 188)

Thus, Will lists the bell, book and candle used in exorcisms.

When healing Rupert, Ariel names the play in which he had appeared:

" '...he'll need but a few days' rest to raise the tempest of his health.' " (p. 189)

A Puritan describes Oberon and Titania as "...woodland demons..." (p. 194) The Fair Folk are not demons but a Puritan necessarily sees them as such. That explained (to me) something in Anderson's Three Hearts And Three Lions. There, both Faerie and Hell are with Chaos against Law. I commented earlier that Faerie twilight is not demonic darkness - even if both are distinct from divine light. However, Three Hearts... is set in a timeline where the Carolingian myths are true. It follows that, if those myths share the Puritan confusion of Faerie with darker forces, then that must be how it is in that timeline.

Rupert, Will and Jennifer fly magically back to England in a boat, as shown on one book cover. Rupert recognises the land below from much map-reading but comments that there are no borders. Will remarks:

" 'I'll buss tha swile...' " (p. 202)

Although I am Will's fellow Englishman, this statement was completely opaque to me. However, I am informed that "buss" can mean "kiss." From this and the context, I deduce that Will means that he will kiss the soil. He also comments:

" '...this messin' around in boats just ben't for me. Oh, nothin' liake it, true!' " (p. 202)

Thus, he quotes The Wind In The Willows.

 Our heroes rout five Roundheads but why is one of the five described as "The man of the book..."? (p. 206)

Is the final battle something of an anti-climax? Sure, the Wild Hunter, King Arthur and the knights of Avalon and even a moving forest overwhelm the Roundheads but we know something like that must happen so we read it without much surprise. Near the end, there are more passages of dialogue that are really powerful blank verse.

An Unusual Question

There is a question that arises only in the context of parallel universe fiction. Ariel, a character in a play by William Shakespeare, necessarily exists in Poul Anderson's Shakespearean universe but does he also feature in Carolingian mythology? I assume not although someone might know better. In any case, when Ariel is also mentioned in Anderson's Carolingian universe, it is legitimate to ask: are there two Ariels, one native to each universe, or has a single Ariel originated in one universe and crossed over to the other?

This kind of question has arisen in other fictional multiverses. Thus, when Roy Thomas imagined that all Golden Age DC superheroes coexisted on Earth 2, he decreed that the Freedom Fighters, a superhero team, including Uncle Sam, who had fought the world-conquering Nazis of Earth X had not originated on Earth X but had crossed over from Earth 2.

In Poul Anderson's works, I concluded that there are two Kith Histories, one with a Star Empire, the other without. In James Blish's works, High Earth, the Traitor's Guild and the Green Exarchy are mentioned in a Dirac message but are also said to exist in a galaxy where there is no instantaneous communicator. Conclusion: two High Earth timelines. See here.

A Midsummer Tempest XV

In Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest (London, 1975), Ariel plays with words:

" 'Now from the deeps for thee let whirl a wind, lass!' " (p. 174)

-  whirlwind and windlass.

Jennifer asks, "Who's Caliban?" (p. 176)

Surely she is familiar with the works of the great Historian, as Shakespeare is on this parallel Earth?

The dialogue in this section ends with yet another rhyme that I missed earlier -

Caliban: "Or anything, Miranda. Only tell."
Ariel: "Come...Let us go prepare for her that cell." (p. 178)

Such rhymes, Shakespeare's occasional way of ending a scene, are used quite often, though not consistently, by Anderson in this novel.

Prospero left Ariel and Caliban on his usually invisible island, somewhere between Italy and Spain, which might have been Calypso's or Circe's and might sometimes be sighted, even visited, by sailors who can never find it again. Caliban, of course, has aged:

"The creature's jaw dropped, showing tushes which must once have been fearsome but were now a few yellow snags." (p. 176)

Prospero's daughter, Miranda, is currently, in 1644, Queen Miranda, wife of King Ferdinand of Naples. (Naples had a Viceroy then in our history.) Time has moved on and we are indeed reading a direct sequel to The Tempest. The events of A Midsummer Night's Dream are longer ago and not directly referred to, although Oberon, who was in that play, now wants Rupert to retrieve Prospero's sunken magical equipment...

Thus, Anderson cleverly combines elements of two Shakespearean plays and devises an appropriate account of what happened next.

Flight, Flowers And A Pun

A Midsummer Tempest, xix.

Ariel resembles a young boy less than a foot high with butterfly wings colored like:

"...a tiger in a field of gillyvor." (p. 171)

(The Wikipedia article on "Gilliflower" cites "gillyvors" in Shakespeare's Winter's Tale.)

Readers of Poul Anderson's hard sf about Ythrians and Diomedeans know that butterfly wings would not enable a human body to fly but this is fantasy.

Ariel concludes this chapter not with a rhyming couplet but with a pun:

"'Now from the deeps for thee let whirl a wind, lass!'" (p. 174)

At last, the opening section of Chapter xx is headed THE ISLAND. Jennifer has reached their destination ahead of Rupert.

A Strange Sentence

A Midsummer Tempest, xx.

Sometimes, the meaning of a sentence seems to be completely opaque, e.g.:

"[Ariel] pondered what appeared to be a new thought. 'So ghosts do age and change in mortal wise?'" (p. 177)

A very new thought! - since it does not follow from anything that has just been said and is of questionable validity in any case. If ghosts exist, then why should they change and age like mortals? Although there is much scope for fresh fantasy fiction here, this new thought remains confined to a single sentence.

The narrative continues, describing Jennifer's encounters with Ariel and Caliban on Prospero's island which might be Calypso's or Circe's island. (See Metamorphoses And A Sandwich.) This thought also is not followed up.

Let us remember that, in his Technic History, Anderson quotes Shelley's reference to Odysseus/Ulysses leaving Calypso's island. Yet again, it seems as if everything connects.

Wholeness And Height

A Midsummer Tempest, xxii.

Prince Rupert tells Ariel:

"'...'tis for the Old Way thou hast drawn thy sword: the wholeness of the living world.'" (p. 200)

This issue goes far beyond the bounds of a single fantasy novel. It must be possible for humanity to benefit from the application of scientific knowledge without at the same destroying the wholeness of the living world, to synthesize new technology with old wholeness. See also Skuld.

Meanwhile, when their boat flies magically, Will closes his eyes and hides whereas Jennifer leans out and waves for as long as possible. I am all the way with Will.

We approach the climax of A Midsummer Tempest but at a leisurely pace, noticing as many details as possible along the way.

Subjective Feelings Or Pathetic Fallacy On Roland

Poul Anderson, New America, "The Queen of Air and Darkness."

Sherrinford tells Barbro:

some archetypes are not individuals;
these include the Anima, the Shadow and the Outworld;
the Outworld involves magic, glamour, enchantment, half-human beings like Ariel and Caliban and "'...dwellers in dusk and moonlight...'" (p. 228);
the Rolandic natives knew what sights to show, what illusions to spin and what songs and legends to initiate;
also, men might have re-created the Outworld as they sensed that they were "'...living on the edge of the world...'" (ibid.)

When Sherrinford finishes speaking:

"Shadows stole across the room. It grew cooler and the traffic noises dwindled." (ibid.)

Does Barbro subjectively feel darker, cooler and quieter or does the approach of evening explain the lengthening shadows, the decreasing temperature and the diminishing background noises? If the latter, then this passage expresses a Pathetic Fallacy, objective nature seeming to match subjective feelings.

On The Island

A Midsummer Tempest, xx.

Ariel refers to "'...mushrumps...'" (p. 176)

He continues:

"'Soon hazlenuts and quinces will be ripe, and I could hymn what hymeneal things occur when they are introduced to trout.'" (ibid.)

That diet fertilizes trout?

Jennifer meets Caliban. (See image.)

Rupert tells Will that the Dutch are:

"'...tolerant of religion, if not of whatever might stand in the way of their merchants' profits.'" (p. 179)

That reminded me of Nicholas van Rijn and, sure enough, the following page refers to Rembrandt van Rijn.

Rupert refers to "'...King Charles' Wain...'" (p 183)

Dragon

Three Hearts And Three Lions, CHAPTER TEN.

A dragon attacks:

fifty feet long;
scale-armor;
muscle;
a large snake head;
bat wings;
iron talons.

"Downward the monster slanted, overhauling them with nightmare speed." (p. 64)

Is the word, "nightmare," a giveaway? Will Holger's entire experience of the Carolingian universe turn out to have been a dream?  He has already considered that explanation:

"...unless he was dreaming (and he doubted that more and more; what dream was ever so coherent?)..." (CHAPTER THREE, p. 25)

Meanwhile, we remember Ariel's butterfly wings. An Andersonian hero, at least one who is also a twentieth century engineer, has to ask:

"...what amendment to the square-cube law permitted that hulk to fly?" (ibid.)

Holger also wonders about the metabolism. There is some speculation here. He smells sulfur dioxide.

Mahound

In a divergent timeline, Time Patrolman Keith Denison meets yet another man with a grandiose title:

"'...his Venerability, Albin Archcardinal Fil-John, Grand Duke of the Northern Provinces, graciously consents to see you,' the friar intoned."
-Poul Anderson, The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991), PART SIX, 1980alpha A. D., p. 291.

Denison had already wondered what kind of rank "archcardinal" was. In our timeline, the cardinals are the electoral college for the Papacy but there are no "archcardinals." Again we notice a church-state fusion. This (arch)cardinal is also a Duke and kings, if they still exist, are subordinate.

Denison's approach to Albin is sufficiently impressive. From his cell:

in a closed carriage to a palace on a hill;
sumptuous corridors;
a grand staircase;
a gilt bronze door showing Biblical scenes;
a high white room;
sunlight streaming through stained glass;
an Oriental carpet;
a man on a throne, robed in scarlet and gold;
a chair twenty feet from the throne;
a bellpull by Albin's right hand.

However, what led me back to this scene was something else. There are two disparaging references to the Prophet of Islam. First:

"'...black Mahound...'" (p. 289)

Secondly, Albin tells Denison that some "Avenging Jews," skilled craftsmen and engineers, quite possibly commanding black arts, escaped when Europe was cleansed on their kind and:

"'settled among the worshippers of Mahound...'" (p. 292)

This recalls Chesterton's Lepanto:

Mahound is in his paradise above the evening star,
-copied from here.

(Here is our evening star yet again although this time in neither a pagan nor a Christian context.)

Demons gather:

They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
-copied from (see above).

OK, Chesterton. The Prophet is not called "Mahound" and is not worshiped. However, I appreciate the fantasy narrative in which he summons to his Paradise:

Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.

Giants and the Genii,

Multiplex of wing and eye,

Whose strong obedience broke the sky

When Solomon was king.
-copied from (see above).

THATL, CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Three Hearts And Three Lions, CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

Holger consults a magician who consults Ariel who will reappear in A Midsummer Tempest. The Old Phoenix sequence holds together well.

This chapter describes Sir Carahue's armor:

arabesqued corslet;
spiked helmet;
chainmail earflaps;
greaves;
leather boots -

- and his heraldic shield:

six-pointed star argent;
field azure;
border gules fleury or.

This time, I leave it as an exercise for blog readers to google the terminology.

OK. It is time for some other reading.

Addendum, same day, early afternoon: To complete the story so far about heraldry, Sir Carahue describes his old friend's arms as:

"'...either of an eagle, sable on argent, or of three hearts sanguine and three lions passant or.'"
-CHAPTER SIXTEEN, p. 106.

Shakespeare, Society And Science

In Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest, Shakespeare was not a great dramatist but the Great Historian because Lear, Hamlet, Caesar, Macbeth, Oberon, Ariel etc really existed. (I know that Caesar and Macbeth really existed but I am here referring to the dramatic characters, not to the historical figures!)

In Is There Life On Other Worlds? (New York, 1963), Anderson suggests that Shakespeare might "...have been a great pioneer in the science of man..." (p. 148) except that:

"...the success of physics and chemistry has smothered those 'human' sciences [psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics...], partly by attracting talent from them and partly by imposing false canons on them." (p. 147)

Further:

"...there is no obvious reason why the 'human' sciences...could not be highly developed on a world with a very backward physical science." (ibid.)

And:

"If the methods appropriate to the study of the atom are not well suited to the study of man (which seems plausible), then the physical-science orientation of the modern world has forced 'human' sciences into an unnatural imitative mold, and its disappointing results can be understood." (pp. 147-148)

I quote these passages in detail in order to contrast them with Anderson's Psychotechnic History and Planet Of No Return, in both of which a science of society, modeled on the physical sciences and complete with equations, is made to work so that experts are able to predict and manipulate social developments. As with AI and several other issues, Anderson yet again gives the impression of covering every alternative.

Multiverses

The multiverse is both theoretical and fictional. Frank J. Tipler tells us that the multiverse of quantum theory includes only universes consistent with the laws of physics (see Limits To The Multiverse) whereas a philosopher can contemplate any logically possible universe, even one allowing magic. I have postulated a megamultiverse incorporating, among its multiple dimensions, not only the multiverse of Poul Anderson's Old Phoenix stories but also the mutable timeline of his Time Patrol series and the immutable timelines of his other time travel novels.

Tipler explains that, in the pre-Copernican conception of the universe:

sublunar objects were composed of varying combinations of the Classical "four elements";

heavenly bodies were composed of the "fifth element";

these two realms obeyed different laws;

this is wrong because "...all reality obeys one, and only one, set of laws." (The Physics Of Christianity, II, p. 16)

Since the Old Phoenix multiverse includes magical realms, it should also incorporate worlds where Terrestrial matter is composed of the four elements and extraterrestrial matter of the fifth element. I would expect such worlds to include the Carolingian universe. Holger applies scientific knowledge in that universe. See Ariel And A Nixie. Following Larry Niven's lead, I speculated here that the mutable timeline guarded by the Time Patrol might culminate in a pre-quantum mechanics timeline. This is comparable to the pre-Copernican universes.