We Do It

The Broken Sword, XII.

The Dark Lord to the witch:

"'Did you think you ever summoned me and struck a bargain? No, you were led astray; that was another. Mortals never sell me their souls. They give them away.'" (p. 90)

The Sabbat Goat to the black magician:

"WE WILL DO WITHOUT THE ANTICHRIST. HE WAS NEVER NECESSARY. MEN HAVE ALWAYS LED THEMSELVES UNTO ME."

-James Blish, Black Easter IN Blish, After Such Knowledge (London, 1991), pp. 319-425 AT p. 423.

Lucifer Morningstar to Morpheus:

"They talk of me going around and buying souls, like a fishwife come market day, never stopping to ask themselves why.

"I need no souls.

"And how can anyone own a soul?

"No. They belong to themselves...

"...They just hate to have to face up to it."

-Neil Gaiman, The Sandman: Season Of Mists (New York, 1992), p. 82, panel3 5-6.

Well, that is clear enough. We do it.

Academics And Dogs

In Poul Anderson's There Will Be Time, how do Jack Havig and Leonce recruit thousands of time travelers from all over the world and throughout its history? It takes more than ten years of their lifespans but why not the rest of their lives or longer? On Robert Anderson's advice and by his introductions, they take into their confidence a number of twentieth century academics who advise them on anthropology and semantics - and keep quiet. There must be a lot more to it than that but I have scoured the extremely condensed text to find these nuggets. In Anderson's The Boat Of A Million Years, Hanno confides in just one guy who tries to research immortality.

Meanwhile, I have learned that:

"Domesticating the dog had been one of the things that triggered the original human revolt against the Empire of Shadow; they could sense disembodied nightwalkers, too, even when they were impalpable and invisible as far as men were concerned."
-SM Stirling, Shadows Of Falling Night (New York, 2014), CHAPTER THREE, pp. 39-40.

So was history inhabited by time travelers, immortals or Shadowspawn? None of the above. We did it all ourselves. As one of James Blish's demons said of another mythological figure:

"WE WILL DO WITHOUT THE ANTICHRIST. HE WAS NEVER NECESSARY. MEN HAVE ALWAYS LED THEMSELVES UNTO ME."
-James Blish, Black Easter (New York, 1977), XVIII, p. 163.

Demons

"WE WILL DO WITHOUT THE ANTICHRIST. HE WAS NEVER NECESSARY. MEN HAVE ALWAYS LED THEMSELVES UNTO ME...I WILL EDUCATE YOU. ETERNALLY, FOR A BEGINNING."
-James Blish, Black Easter, 17, IN Blish, After Such Knowledge (London, 1991), p. 423.

"'You-are-mine. Eternally. For-a-beginning...We have no need to buy men's souls. You give yourselves to us.'"
-SM Stirling, The Sword Of The Lady (New York, 2009), Chapter Eight, pp. 210-211.

Blish's speaker is a demon. Stirling's seems to think he is. He, or It, is certainly some kind of entity possessing a human being. Both Blish and Stirling use typographic devices and there is also some parallel phraseology.

Blish's premise is that demons are real. Stirling's is that some power has intervened on Earth. It should be regarded as demonic for practical purposes at least until more is learnt. Will an exorcism work? (It doesn't in Black Easter because there the demons are winning Armageddon.)

Addendum -

Blish's demon: "WE ARE ABROAD AND LOOSE, AND WILL NOT BE PUT BACK." (p. 424)

Stirling's entity: "'Soon. We-will-be-abroad-and-loose.'" (p. 215)

James Blish And The Antichrist

Recently we mentioned a reference to Antichrist in Poul and Karen Anderson's historical tetralogy and compared that tetralogy to James Blish's theological trilogy. For completeness, we should also mention the Antichrist in the trilogy which is thematic, not linear, and need not be read in numerical order.

In Volume III, the main protagonist imminently expects the Antichrist.

In Volume I, Roger Bacon sees the Antichrist - in a drug-induced vision.

In Volume IIa, Armageddon happens without the Antichrist. When the black magician complains that this breaks the Law, a major demon retorts:

"WE WILL DO WITHOUT THE ANTICHRIST. HE WAS NEVER NECESSARY. MEN HAVE ALWAYS LED THEMSELVES UNTO ME."
-ASK (London, 1991), p. 423.

In Volume IIb, the white magician thinks that a newly elected demon Pope is the Antichrist whereas instead he is the Vicar of the new God.

Some Christians have put the Antichrist into novels but have failed to make their good side remotely appealing.

Such Things Can Happen

Operation Luna, 29.

Steve Matuchek speculates about how lunar-based demons might mislead mankind:

(i) a strong, modern country might lose a major war, then take out its grudges on the whole world, starting with the Jews;

(ii) an ideology claiming that human nature can be changed might take over a large, backward country with secret police, concentration camps and mass slaughters...

"Such things can happen." (p. 265)

You don't have to tell us. But did we need lunar demons to teach us it?

"WE WILL DO WITHOUT THE ANTICHRIST. HE WAS NEVER NECESSARY. MEN HAVE ALWAYS LED THEMSELVES UNTO ME."
-James Blish, Black Easter IN Blish, After Such Knowledge (London, 1991), pp. 319-425 AT 17, p. 423.

The Ransom Trilogy and After Such Knowledge are helpful companion volumes to Poul Anderson.

Religious Imagination

When finding an appropriate Biblical quote for A Sign In Heaven, I became fascinated by the account in the Book of Daniel of the (Son of) Man appearing before the Ancient of Days. (Vivid religious imagination: there are some Biblical passages with a deity on a throne.) We can appreciate such imagery without necessarily believing that these passages describe literally existent beings. 

Poul Anderson's Aeneans are creative in their religious imaginations:

"'I have heard of one seer who walks there now, who will call back the Old Shen from the stars. Will our dead then rise from the waters?"

-The Day Of Their Return, 12, p. 169.

This character does not propound a doctrine but does ask a question. See also the appropriately named Gabriel Stewart quoted here. Earlier, in A Circus of Hells, Djana had been equally creative. See:

Biblical Language 

All

When they turn from sf to fantasy, imaginative authors can then treat supernatural beings as literally existent. One of the most powerful, in my opinion, is the demon who proclaims that Armageddon has come unexpectedly:

"WE WILL DO WITHOUT THE ANTICHRIST. HE WAS NEVER NECESSARY. MEN HAVE ALWAYS LED THEMSELVES UNTO ME."

-James Blish, Black Easter (New York, 1977), XVII, p. 163.