Sunrise And Morning Star

Travelling south in a coach on the M6 Motorway yesterday, we saw light appear above the horizon beneath the morning star. Then the sun arose. I know that it happens every day although I do not usually see it. Inwardly, I recite a prayer to the sun god, Savitri. (I have just learned that this verse is an important mantra in Hinduism. See here.)

As a Poul Anderson fan, I remember appropriate passages. On further reflection, some of these passages refer to the evening star. However, morning star and evening star are the same planet: Venus in the Solar System; Dido in the Virgilian System.

"...often [Niaerdh] rose early, long before the sun, to watch over her sea. Upon her brow shone the morning star."

-Poul Anderson, "Star of the Sea" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, December 2010), pp. 467-640 AT I, p. 467.

Addressed to Mary, mother of God:

"Pure as yourself, your evenstar shines above the sunset."

-ibid., IV, p. 640.

Thus, this narrative opens with a goddess in the morning and closes with the mother of God in the evening.

"Above them paled Dido, the morning star."

-Poul Anderson, The Day Of their Return IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, February 2010), pp. 74-238 AT 1, p. 76.

There ought to be more but that is all for now.

The Morning Star

Poul Anderson's The Day Of Their Return begins by quoting JOB, iv, 12-16, which ends: "...I heard a voice..." so what does the voice say? See here.

The evening star is also the morning star:

"...the morning star shone there, the planet of the First Chosen."
-Poul Anderson, The Day Of Their Return IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 74-238 AT 1, p. 75.

"He/they went up the mountain to the Arena. Above them paled Dido, the morning star."
- op. cit., p. 76.

In the Virgilian System, the third planet, Dido, has native inhabitants and the fourth planet, Aeneas, has been colonized by human beings. We have read about:

Peter Berg from Aeneas;
Hugh McCormac riding with his sons on Aeneas;
Dominic Flandry and Kathryn McCormac on Dido.

We are about to read an entire novel set on Aeneas where Dido is both morning and evening star.

Morning And Evening Stars

"But often [Niaerdh] rose early, long before the sun, to watch over her sea. Upon her brow shone the morning star."
-"Star of the Sea,", I, p. 467.

Now we know: the morning star appears above the sea because it shines on the brow of a goddess who rises early to watch over her sea. Mythological explanations combine beauty with naivety and, in this passage, Poul Anderson imagines an earlier stage of Northern mythology.

In a prayer addressed to "Mary, mother of God...":

"Pure as yourself, your evenstar shines above the sunset. Guide us by your light."
-IV, pp. 639-640.

In this second passage, the feminine supernatural being is not only described but also addressed. Anderson's "Star of the Sea" begins with a goddess who rises early, displaying the morning star, and ends as night overtakes sailors who, seeing the evening star, invoke the Star of the Sea. Thus, Anderson's narrative transports his readers from early paganism to later Christianity.

Oneness And Morning Star

Poul Anderson, The Day Of Their Return IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, February 2010), pp. 74-238.

The text begins with a quotation: Job iv, 12-16.

Chapter 1, on pp. 75-76, occupies less than one page of text and is scriptural in tone, beginning:

"On the third day he arose, and ascended again to the light." (p. 75)

The viewpoint character, Jaan, reflects:

"To be man is to be radiance." (ibid.)

It is or at least it can be but we are to learn that Jaan's "...resurrection..." (p. 76) is a deception.

The chapter ends:

"Above them paled Dido, the morning star." (p. 76)

This is the first textual indication that the novel is set not only in Poul Anderson's Technic History but also, more specifically, in the Virgilian System in Sector Alpha Crucis. Jaan must be on Aeneas where Dido is the morning star. And, since, according to Jaan, the morning star is:

"...the planet of the First Chosen..." (p. 75)

- those First Chosen are the tripartite Didonians. We know, if we are reading the Technic History consecutively, that the Didonians practise oneness. Now Jaan's inner voice, Caruith, speaks of mankind being:

"...received into Oneness..." (p. 76)

In Chapter 2, beginning on p. 76, an opening reference to Windhome and the introduction of a viewpoint character with the surname, Frederiksen, confirm that the action is on Aeneas.

Morning And Evening Stars

More from "Star of the Sea":

"Upon [Naerdha's] brow a star burned white as the fire's heart." (II, p. 557)

"In the end [Naerdha] found [Wotan's] spear floating beneath the evening star." (II, pp. 560-561)

Poul Anderson imaginatively recreates earlier stages of Northern European mythology and the goddess's name changes appropriately.

The following passage brings together the morning and evening stars and is quoted at greater length because of its beauty:

"Mindful of thanks he owed, [Gutherius] raised an altar to Nehalennia, where after each voyage he made generous offering; and whenever he saw the evening star or the morning star shine forth, he bowed low, for they too are Nehalennia's.

"Hers are the trees, the vine, and the fruits thereof. Hers are the sea and the ships that plow it. Hers are the well-being of mortals and peace among them." (III, p. 628)

And this passage shows why some of us appreciate an imaginative polytheism.

Morning And Evening Star

"Upon her brow shone the morning star."

-"Star of the Sea," I, p. 467.

"Pure as yourself, your evenstar shines above the sunset." (IV, p. 640)

On the first and last pages of this story: two sightings of the planet Venus (as we understand it).

"...her brow..." is the brow of the goddess, Niaerdh.

"...your evenstar..." is the star of:

"Mary, mother of God, mother of sorrows, mother of salvation..." (IV, p. 639)

Poul Anderson has brought us on a long journey through myth, time and history from Germania, 70 AD, to a ship crossing the Atlantic:

"Westward we sail but night overtakes us. Watch over us through the dark and bring us on into day." (p. 640)

One of our earliest childhood memories, passing through the dark and back into day. The story begins with a myth in the morning and ends with a prayer in the evening. And aspects of the goddess have passed into the Mother of God. Our lives are lived when this process is complete.

The Goddess And The Star

The goddess Niaerdh watches over her sea and:

"Upon her brow shone the morning star."
-Poul Anderson, "Star of the Sea" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 467-640 AT I, p. 467.

The goddess Naerdha of the Wanes goes to war against the invading Anses and:

"Upon her brow a star burned white as the fire's heart."
-op. cit., II, p. 557.

Gundicar, a big man with a beer belly, chats to two Time Patrol agents:

"'I think this Nerha goddess of [Veleda's] is of the Wanes, not the Anses...unless it's another name for Mother Fricka. And yet...they say Nerha is as terrible in her rage as Tiw himself....There's something about a star and the sea, but I know nothing of that, we're inlanders here....'"
-op. cit., 10, pp. 551-552.

Gutherius, a sea trader, bows low to the evening and morning stars because:

"...they too are Nehalennia's."
-op. cit.,  III, p. 628.

An Atlantic sailor prays:

"Pure as yourself, your evenstar shines above the sunset...
"Ave Stella Maris!"
-op. cit., IV, p. 640.

Here is a mythological progression:

a goddess of nature;
a goddess of war;
a man relating what he has heard about a new goddess;
a peaceful sea trader worshiping the goddess;
a sailor praying to "Mary, mother of God..." (p. 639)

Ermanaric And Niaerdh

 

Ermanaric's pov (point of view) ends as he hears thunder between cutting his throat and losing consciousness. This is historically possible, even plausible.

Turning the page, we read the pov of a goddess who roams among the sea creatures that she has made and often rises early to watch over her sea with the morning star on her brow. Impossible. Think about it. Earth and Venus are not planets. Instead, an immense female form rises above the horizon of a flat Earth with what appears to the dwellers on the Earth as the morning star on her forehead.

In the case of Ermanaric, Poul Anderson writes historical fiction. In the case of Niaerdh, he imaginatively reproduces an earlier stage of Northern European mythology. Thus, in the overall context of this particular narrative, we are not supposed to accept the goddess as real. And yet, within the context of this opening passage of "Star of the Sea," we can enter into that polytheist world-view and imagine what it would be like for a goddess to survey her sea. The opening passage can be read as a fantasy short story embedded within the historical science fiction of a Time Patrol instalment. Fiction invites us to enter the points of view of its characters even if those characters are impossible according to a scientific world view. So let us imagine the world as seen by Niaerdh.

Zoria

Poul Anderson, A KNight Of Ghosts And Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry (Riverdale, NY, March 2012), pp. 339-606.

Zoria is the sun of the planet Dennitza in Poul Anderson's A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows. I have encountered "Zoria" as a feminine name and am surprised not to find it with that spelling on Wikipedia. It seems to be the same as "Zorya."

In Slavic mythology, Zorya Utrennyaya is the Morning Star and Zorya Vechernyaya is the Evening Star. Thus, "Zoria," if this is the same name, is equivalent to Venus.

The speaker of the italicized opening passage of A Knight... says that Yovan Matavuly:

"...led the Founders the long lightless way to this our Morning Star..." (p. 341)

Googling suggests that "Dennitza" is a feminine personal name. "Gospodar" is defined here. No doubt other Dennizan terms could be tracked down but it would take some digging.

A Star And The Sea

The Corridors Of Time, CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 

Storm:

"...shone, Lockridge thought dizzily, like that sea which was also the Goddess'." (p. 115)

We find parallels with another time travel narrative:

"...often she rose early, long before the sun, to watch over her sea. Upon her brow shone the morning star."

-Poul Anderson, "Star of the Sea" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, December 2010), pp. 467-640 AT I, p. 467.

(Unfortunately, there are no cover images for "Star of the Sea" because it was never published as a single volume.)

"Upon her brow a star burned white as the fire's heart.'" (II, p. 557)

"'There's something about a star and the sea, but I know nothing of that, we're inlanders here...'" (10, p. 552)

"Hers are the sea and the ships that plow it." (III, p. 628)

"Pure as yourself, your evenstar shines above the sunset... Lay your gentleness on the seas...

"Ave Stella Maris!" (IV, p. 640)

Missing Links

I find that I am helpless when the technology doesn't work which is not a good way to be. At least for the time being, I am unable to edit posts. It is thought that the problem is with the site, not with the machine.

I want to link The Morning Star both to The Bible On The Blog and to Sunset And Evening Star but am unable to do so, so I have taken this more roundabout way to make the connections. If, having published this post, I notice any errors in it, then I will be unable to correct them. If, as sometimes happens, the links don't work, then I will be unable to fix them. The struggle continues.

Addendum: OK. I can edit recent posts, as I am editing this one now, via a different route but it is not as easy for older posts.

Addendum II: The post, "The Morning Star," has now been linked to those two earlier posts.

Morning Star On Demeter

Poul Anderson, Harvest Of Stars, 56.

"Hugh Davis woke shortly before sunrise. Dew gemmed the glade between blue-black battlemented walls of forest. A few drowsy chirps tinkled through the hush. Orange-red clouds limned branches and crowns to the east. Above them shone white Aphrodite, inward planet, morning star." (p. 475)

We have encountered morning stars in myths, on Earth and elsewhere.

Ranger Hugh Davis, son of Kyra, is a successor to Anderson's juvenile heroes, especially Jack Birnam who treks across country on Avalon. Hugh, checking whether the forest is ready for the introduction of deer and wolves, is surprised to find high tech settlers and low tech woodsrunners. The presence of human beings means that the bigger game must be introduced differently but not that the human beings must be cleared out. "'Guthrie-Chief...'" (p. 480) has become a real libertarian god.

Download Kyra guides parts of the Demetrian ecology although not yet the forest in central Achaea. Meanwhile, Pilot Kyra is out in space, visiting Perun, exploring Phaethon or doing something else.

From War To Peace

"Star of the Sea," II.

In Poul Anderson's War Of The Gods, the Vanir attack Asgard. In "Star of the Sea," the Wanes attack the Anses when the latter enter the world, darkening the air with their arrows and enraging men with their battle horns. These are two different versions of the first war in the world.

Froh, riding his bull, wields the Living Sword. We saw Frae with his bull and sword in Chapter I. Naerdha sails the wind-scourged sea, steering with the Ax of the Tree, casting eagles against the Anses, a star burning on her brow. We saw Niaerdh sailing on an iceberg, wielding her net and rising with the morning star on her brow in Chapter I.

In both versions, as, of course, in the sources, the gods of necessity make peace. "Star of the Sea" shows the mythological development from the celebration of war to the celebration of peace. Chapters III and IV tell very different stories.

Six Dennitzan Heroes And One Saint

"...the olden heroes, Yovan Matavuly who led the Founders the long lightless way to this our Morning Star, Toman Obilich who slew wild Vladimir on the crown of the Glacier, Gwyth who dared the storms of the Black Ocean, Stefan Miyatovich - great ancestor of Gospodar Bodin - who in the depths of the Night Years cast back the reavers from our very homes."
-Poul Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (New York, 2012), pp. 341-342.

Although they inhabit its surface, the Dennitzans call their colony planet their Morning Star - a new beginning. In Constitution Square, a bronze fountain depicts Toman's fight with Vladimir. A table in the Council Hall of Novi Aferoch is made from timber out of Gwyth's ship. Stefan Miyatovich exactly parallels Brian McCormac, defender of Aeneas during the Troubles and ancestor of Hugh McCormac. Dennitzans call the Troubles "the Night Years," not to be confused with the later Long Night, which we hope Dennitza will survive.

So far, four heroes:

Yovan;
Toman;
Gwyth;
Stefan.

To these, we add:

Andrei Simich, the poet who celebrated the previous four;
Gospodar Bodin Miyatovich, who led "Bodin's raid" (p. 341);
St Kossara, Bodin's niece, who brought peace through his valor.

That peace lasted through his lifetime, a real happy ending. His return from the raid was celebrated by songs, bells and dancing maidens crowning him with flowers.

In Anderson's historical fiction, some characters believe that, e.g., Thor is a real being that can intervene on their behalf. In his historical fantasies, Thor is a real being that can intervene on their behalf. In the hard sf of A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows, pagan ychani believe that Aferdhi, Blyn and Haawan are real beings that can be held afar by a sign and a prayer while Orthochristians believe that St Kossara is a real being who sends them peace through Bodin's valor.

Niaerdh And Frae

Anderson, "Star of the Sea" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 467-640.

Myths that were prescientific explanations of natural phenomena persist as stories. Thor passes overhead in imagination.

"Star of the Sea," section I, is entirely a mythical narrative. Of course we are told that a goddess, Niaerdh, made seals, whales, fish, gulls and spindrift. Her song calls rain or sends light across water. The world has a rim where her daughters dance. She sleeps in the east. Darkness is her blanket. The morning star shines on her forehead when she rises even earlier than the sun. Her daily activity is to roam among her creatures in the sea.

So far, this story is only of the sea and the narrative might still be in the dawn period before the creation of mankind - although that will change in the second paragraph. Frae rides to the shore on the bull Earthshaker so he is a god of land and maybe of agriculture. The bull's bellow wakes dead kings in their barrows. Thus, there are indeed human societies with rulers and burial customs. Niaredh approaches on an iceberg holding her net that catches ships. Again, the narrative is definitely set in a human period.

Frae can cause the sun to fall, boiling Niaerdh's sea, then leaving it to freeze in an endless night. But Niaerdh can drown Frae's earth:

"'Best that we not wreck the world between us.'" (p. 468)

By marrying Frae, Niaerdh will become an earth as well as a sea goddess with sway over sowing, reaping, begetting, birth and age. She will bring rain in spring and together they will bless the land but she will return to the sea each autumn.

"This shall be the year and every year henceforward." (p. 469)

She asks for the bull. Frae can continue to use him except when Niaerdh needs him but he will be hers:

"'...and in the end I will call him to me forever.'" (ibid.)

There are the comforting ideas of completion, an end, but also, after that, reunion forever.

Finally, this narrative explains one more natural phenomenon:

"'I will come to you on the rainbow,' Niaerdh plighted. So it was. So it is." (p. 469)

"Star of the Sea," if published as a separate volume, should have a cover illustration showing the gods, their creatures and the rainbow.

We remember the rainbow in Genesis and in the Eddas but also that myths differ.

Tiw's Beast

First, a real animal exists. Then, it is mythologized. In scriptures and works of fantasy, the myth comes first.

In "Star of the Sea," I, the god Frae rides the bull, Earthshaker, whose bellow makes wells spout and wakes dead kings. Because the bull's might scatters the foe and fructifies the earth, possession of Earthshaker is part of the marriage negotiations between Frae and Niaerdh.

Next, we see a real bull in a historical context but are also told what is believed about it:

"They walked by a paddock where a bull stood, Tiw's beast, his horns mighty beneath the sun."
-7, p. 533.

An incarnation of Earthshaker. He belongs to a different god. Mythology changes. "Star of the Sea" chronicles the changes from Niaerdh, on whose brow shines the morning star, to "Mary, mother of God..." (IV, p. 639), Stella Maris, Star of the Sea. Poul Anderson understands and imaginatively enters each stage of this development.

The Evolving Goddess

Poul Anderson, "Star Of The Sea" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (New York, 2006), pp. 467-640.

I, pp. 467-469. Niaerdh creates sea life, sings rain or light, has the morning star on her forehead, sails an iceberg clad in fog, catches ships in a net, can drown the land with waves or bring her dowry of rain, comes to Frae on the rainbow, returns to her sea in the autumn but to his land in spring:

"'This shall be the year and every year henceforward.'" (p. 469)

Her daughters dance at the rim of the world.

II, pp. 557-561. Over the Wanes fighting the Anses, Naerdha steers her ship with the Ax of the Tree, casting eagles, white star on her brow. With Wotan's spear and Tiwaz's Helm, she pursues and kills Hoadh, the giant who attacked her. She changes his sons into black hounds, raids the Iron Lords, harries evil ghosts and leads the Wild Hunt.

III, pp. 624-628. The story is not of wild gods but of a man rewarded by a gentle goddess. Trees, vine, fruit, sea, ships, "...the well-being of mortals and peace among them" (p. 628) are Nehalennia's.

IV, pp. 639-670. "Mary, mother of God..." Hail, Star of the Sea.

Sunset And Evening Star

"Gibraltar Falls."

When Nomura has rescued Feliz:

"Beside them, the ocean roared onward." (p. 126)

In The Guardians Of Time, a double space separates this single-sentence paragraph from the following paragraph. In Time Patrol, the space is emphasized by the presence of three asterisks.

In either case, the following paragraph reads:

"The sunset to which Nomura had leaped ahead was not on anybody's record either. It turned the land golden. The falls must be afire with it. Their song resounded beneath the evening star." (p. 127)

I have linked to previous sunsets and evening stars. See also Tennyson's (scroll down) "Sunset and Evening Star." (Some of his nautical terms require explanation.) (See also The Morning Star.)

Hers Are The Trees

I have quoted a passage beginning, "Hers are the trees...," three times. See here.

The preceding paragraph reads:

"Mindful of thanks he owed, he raised an altar to Nehalennia, where after each voyage he made generous offering; and whenever he saw the evening star or the morning star shine forth, he bowed low, for they too are Nehalennia's."
-Poul Anderson, "Star of the Sea" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 467-640 AT III, p. 628.

As I said in one of the posts linked above, I value this goddess without believing in her literal existence. Thus, my position is intermediate between that of pagans who believe that the gods literally exist and that of secularists who think that the gods are not only nonexistent but also valueless or even harmful. Maybe the Ysans can help. See Lir II.

Well-Being And Peace

"Star of the Sea."

Veleda negotiates peace. That sounds directly relevant to us now but, I think, only superficially. We have the language of peace.

Meditation and sunlight inspire me to think that we can share this Earth and contemplate its beauty, even that that is what we are here to do - except that I do not believe that anyone has put us here for any purpose. The one being has developed in such a way that it has become conscious of itself through us. What happens next is our responsibility, not anyone else's.

We can contemplate natural beauty either directly or through the shared world-views of those who in the past have personified aspects of nature:

"...whenever he saw the evening star or the morning star shine forth, he bowed low, for they too are Nehalennia's.

"Hers are the trees, the vine, and the fruits thereof. Hers are the sea and the ships that plow it. Hers are the well-being of mortals and peace among them." (III, p. 628)

We imagine Nehalennia and it is we that are responsible for well-being and peace.