Flandry On Scotha: General Nartheof

Dominic Flandry advises General Nartheof, Chief of Scothan Intelligence. Flandry's first job is to convince the General that Scotha will not be ready to attack the Terran Empire for another ten or twenty years:

the Imperial Naval Intelligence Corps is better than Scotha's;

if the war is prolonged, then Intelligence will become of prime importance;

even if a Scothan victory is quick, an Imperial remnant will wage a covert struggle;

Merseia might help Scotha but will then turn against it and Ythri might intervene so Nartheof needs intelligence on both those domains as well as on Terra;

when Scothan Intelligence is reorganized, noble birth should not count in promotions and commoners who did well in the ranks might not make the best officers (the first point is made by Nartheof; the second by Flandry; both should cause dissension).

Flandry also advises on the reorganization of fellow services. According to Nartheof, Nornagast the Quartermaster is inflexible but is the king's cousin and saved his life so the king "'...cannot dismiss him without betraying honor.'" -Poul Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2010), p. 260.

Flandry's advice: Nornagast must have enemies who might include an excellent swordsman who would kill him in a duel, having made a prior arrangement with Nartheof who could immediately advise the king on Nornagast's successor while protecting the swordsman from the king's wrath. This vile suggestion from a low, dishonest, treacherous Terran is indignantly dismissed but it is enough that the suggestion has been voiced.

Acknowledging that (he has been told that) Terrans are low etc, Flandry adds that they conquered widely once and expands on the theme of the pitchfork. Warriors do not handle muck but pitchforks do and he who orders the use of a pitchfork need not think about how it is used. Having again given offense with such an indelicate comparison, Flandry offers amends by disclosing the location of a secret but unguarded Imperial arsenal. Of course, Nartheof need not tell Prince Cerdic about the arsenal but can advance his own power and glory by himself dispatching the expedition, explaining afterwards that there was no time to lose...

So far, Flandry has managed to:

delay the attack;
cause dissension in Intelligence;
initiate a plot against Nornagast;
incite Nartheof to act independently of, thus against, Cerdic;
strengthen Nartheof and gain his protection.

This process continues in subsequent conversations until Scotha is rent by civil war when the Terran Fleet arrives.

Flandry On Scotha: Chaos And Order

Asdagaar's assassins kill King Penda.
However, Asdagaar's clansfolk, having learned what kind of male he is, do not fight well.
Nartheof's fleet breaks Asdagaar's.
Asdagaar dies.
Nartheof seizes the throne.
Chaos increases.
Nornagast's vengeful kin kill Nartheof.
Earl Morgaar smashes Torric's force.
Fragments of Torric's force harry the remnants of Penda's troops fleeing from the advancing Ilirian Liberation Army.
Royalists are:
scattered through space;
driven from subject planets;
hunted by former allies;
annihilated by advancing Terrans.
Scothan lords fight each other or surrender to Terra.

Flandry will advise an Imperial commission that will probably make Scotha an Ilirian-dominated international confederation with its Queen Gunli advised by a Terran resident. Later in his career, Flandry commands a troop that includes a Scothan armed with a wrecking bar.

Why does anyone fight when they can travel through space and see galaxies? (See image.)

Arrival On Scotha

"Tiger By The Tail."

On pp. 241-255,  Dominic Flandry is taken as a prisoner to the planet, Scotha. On p. 255, they arrive. See Scotha and The Scothani Empire.

Sf writers do different things with fictional planets. Early in an adventure story about planetary exploration, the author might graphically describe the viewpoint character's sensory experiences immediately after arrival on the surface of Mars, Ythri or wherever it is. See At First Sight. However, in this story, Anderson is primarily interested in Scotha not as a newly discovered planet but as a setting for Flandry's Machiavellian manipulations of his gullible enemies. See:

Flandry On Scotha  

Flandry On Scotha: General Nartheof 

Flandry On Scotha: Sviffash Of Sithafar 

Flandry On Scotha: Queen Gunli

Flandry On Scotha: Prince Torric

Flandry On Scotha: Earl Morgaar 

Flandry On Scotha: Duke Asdagaar And Prince Cerdic

 

CS Lewis and Brian Aldiss criticized sf that merely exported Terrestrial issues into space. See Aldiss, Amis, Anderson, Asimov, Lewis. However, in the first place, Anderson exported exceptionally well and, in the second place, he did a lot more than merely export! Genesis transcends.

Scothanian Nods And Shrugs

"Tiger By The Tail."

 A biped encountered by Dominic Flandry shakes her head in disbelief… (I believe that the significance of head shaking varies even within Europe. In "A Tragedy of Errors," about human miscommunication, Anderson recognises that head shaking can mean yes, no or maybe.)
-copied from here.

(That biped encountered by Flandry is on the planet Talwin.)

"Cerdic gave the curious circular nod of his kind." (p. 250)

"Penda stroked his horns." (p. 258)

"Flandry gave as good an imitation of the Scothanian nod as his cervical vertebrae allowed." (p. 260)

"Nartheof shook his head." (p. 262)

"Torric wove his head about. He was no political sophisticate." (p. 263)

"Flandry raised forefingers to brows. He had developed the gesture as his version of the Scothanian touching of horns, to express surprise." (p. 264)

"He rubbed his horns." (p. 265)

"She tossed her head, her equivalent of a shrug." (p. 267)

I will scour the story to check whether I have missed any of these Scothanian gestures.

(Today was busy with an afternoon party stretching into the evening. One guy will fly back to Singapore tomorrow morning.)

Flandry On Scotha

Having learned Frithian, the principle language of Scotha, en route, Flandry begins his subversion as soon as he is presented to King Penda. Based on Imperial experience, he advises the king to respect his subjects, for example by installing radiant heating for the benefit of visiting nobles of non-Scothan species. Glancing around the hall, he sees "...dissatisfaction on many faces..." - and also catches the eye of the queen.
-Poul Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2010), p. 258.

This is followed by carefully manipulative conversations with:

General Nartheof;
Prince Torric;
Earl Morgaar;
Queen Gunli;
Sviffash of Sithafar;
Duke Asdagar -

- and a concluding sword fight with Prince Cerdic as the Terran Navy easily overpowers the space fleets of a disintegrating realm. It will be instructive to analyze these conversations. However, my present destination is the realm of the Lord Morpheus.

Schotanian Names

"Tiger By The Tail."

People
Cerdic
Penda
Gunli
Nartheof
Nornagast (See Nornagest, also here)
Torric
Morgaar
Jomana
Asdagaar
Markagrav
Kelry

Places
Scotha (See Scotia)
Frithia
Ilria

Flandry's Subversion

"Tiger By The Tail."

Flandry begins subverting the Scothani from the moment he is a prisoner in their spaceship:

he pretends to be slow in learning Frithian so that his captors will continue to speak openly in front of him;

he wins money and clothes by cheating with cards and dice;

in his audience with King Penda, he senses and encourages dissatisfaction among subject species, sets Penda and his son, Cerdic, against each other and initiates what will become an intrigue with Queen Gunli;

he misleads -

General Nartheof

Prince Torric

Earl Morgaar

Sviffash of Sithafar

Duke Asdagaar

They could not have known it in advance but the Scothani would have done better to have left Flandry on Llynathawr.

Names In History And Future History

"Tiger By The Tail."

"Cerdic...was not quite the prince's name, but near enough to catch Flandry's fancy; he was a bit of a history buff." (p. 249)

"...Cerdic and his father Penda (another word-play by Flandry) were no ordinary barbarian chiefs..." (ibid.)

Writing about sword-wielding, idol-worshiping, interstellar barbarians, Poul Anderson provides them with historically appropriate but nevertheless sufficiently exotic names. More familiar names like "William" or "Godfrey" would not have fitted as well in this context.

Flandry's knowledge of history is demonstrated when he reflects:

"The historical pattern was time-worn; Terra herself had been through it, over and over, long before her children departed for the stars." (p. 245)

We did not think of ourselves as "Terra," one planet among many, back then. All Terrans do not depart for the stars but much sf gives this wrong impression.

General Nartheof says that Terran fighting units:

"'...are staffed by venial cowards.'" (p. 259)

Does he mean "venal"?

Cerdic says that Terran science has declined into dogma: a damning accusation. How could a civilization moving through the galaxy let this happen?

Flandry On Scotha: Earl Morgaar

Flandry advises Earl Morgaar, the avaricious feudal lord of the conquered planet, Zanthudia:

farm out tax-collecting - which more than doubles revenues;

when the natives respond to this by murdering tax collectors, hiding goods and making an insurrection, crush them;

when it is pointed out that this is both costly and counterproductive, then set up puppet committees, blame scapegoats and favor selected underdogs (measures which work well only when administered skilfully);

when it is pointed out that Flandry's advice enriches some Scothani but at the expense of others, then reflect that, since the prospect of gain always stirs up strife and since wealth is even now corrupting the court, it may be necessary to forestall a coup against the too-trustful King Penda...

...but approach Prince Kortan, not the ambitious Torric.

Flandry now has:

Nartheof seeking glory for himself at the expense of Cerdic and, incidentally, disposing of Nornagast;
Torric plotting to overthrow the heir, Cerdic;
Morgaar and Kortan working against Torric.

It won't be long now. But I am not happy about all that suffering and strife that Flandry instigates on Zanthudia.