• Dark Son of Thyone—god of wine (see entry in LS Half).
• Fraus—goddess of treachery (see entry in LS Half).
• Ganymedia—goddess of spring (see entry in LS Half).
• Hephaestus—god of smiths (see entry).
• Kypris—goddess of love (see entry).
• Morphia—goddess of dreams/aspect of Thelxiepeia (see entry).
• The Outsider—god of the realm outside the Whorl (see entry).
• Quadrifons—god of crossroads, an aspect of the Outsider (see entry).
• Silent Silk—god form of Silk (see entry).
• Silver Silk—another title for Silent Silk.
• Thetis—goddess of lost travelers (see entry in LS Half).
• Thyone—goddess of fortune-telling (see entry in LS Half).
There are several minor gods of war in addition to Sphigx (VI, chap. 10, 151).
Gods of the Vanished People
• Forest god, met by the Rajan in the forest between the Nadi and Cugino’s village.
• Goddess of Purity, represented by an altar and statue at beginning of sewers at the City of Inhumi (VI, chap. 4, 64). Horn’s magic light seems to be a gift from this goddess (64), but he says it was “no doubt” from the Neighbor who led him there (VI, chap. 5, 91).
• The Mother, a sea goddess similar to Great Scylla of Urth. She gives Seawrack to Horn (or Horn to Seawrack), and then shows herself to him.
• The Outsider. The hilltop altar Oreb finds is a wide rectangle of white glass-like material supported by twelve bronze-like pillars (VI, chap. 19, 283).
good woman Incanto writes, “I tore it [my robe] in two places going through the forest, but that good woman mended it for me” (VI, chap. 1, 23). This is probably an old woman in Cugino’s village, since the location is near the forest separating the village from the Nadi river. This may be the same person whom Incanto tries to match to the old woman in the farmhouse north of Blanko (who is actually Jahlee in disguise).
Gorak “a mercenary sergeant” (VI, list; VI, chap. 11, 180). He tells the other mercenaries at the saddle that the current engagement is his fifth war, the previous being Han versus Gaon (182).
Serbian: bitter.
grabber a creature of Green (VI, chap. 9, 130), called “colorcat” by Horn and his group (131).
Grandecitta “a skyland city of the Long Sun Whorl” (VI, list). Colonists from Grandecitta founded Blanko, Novella Citta, Olmo, and Soldo on Blue.
Italian: big city.
Green “the worst of the habitable planets of the Short Sun System” (V, list).
Its closest approach to Blue is 35,000 leagues (105,000 miles) at conjunction, every six years (VI, chap. 15, 228). Later, many months after conjunction, it is said to be 80,000 leagues (240,000 miles) away (228). (By coincidence, 240,000 miles is the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.) See SHORT SUN SYSTEM for orbital diagrams.
Observations of Green from Blue:
Regarding the Size of Green
• The formula for determining the size of a body in the sky is S = 57.3 x D/R, where S is the size (in degrees), D is the diameter of the object, and R is the distance between viewer and object. As seen from the Earth, the Sun and the Moon have angular diameters of .52 degrees.
• At what seems to be one year from conjunction, the Rajan notes, “Green was bigger than a man’s thumb last night” (V, chap. 4, 106). Since a finger-width is a field measure taken as being from 1 to 1.5 degrees, this suggests an angular diameter of greater than 1.5 degrees. Plugging 1.5 into the formula, along with a Diameter of an Earth-like 7,900 miles, gives a distance R of 301,780 miles (100,593 leagues). Setting the distance for the conjunction (a separation of 105,000 miles) shows that this version of Green at its largest in the sky of Blue would be 4.3 degrees. Finally, such a Green at 80,000 leagues/240,000 miles (that point seen many months after conjunction) would be 1.89 degrees.
• Contradicting this later in the text, Lune viewed from Urth is “bigger and brighter than we ever see it [Green] on Blue” (VII, chap. 17, 356). The angular diameter of Lune is estimated to be .82 degrees (Lexicon Urthus, Second Edition, 219), and seems to put an upper limit on the size of Green in the sky. Solving for this, where S = .8 at conjunction (105,000 miles) gives a planetary diameter of 1466 miles, considerably smaller than that of the Moon (2160 miles). (See “Size of Lune” in the appendix on resolving this paradox.)
Regarding the Orbit of Green, General
• The Whorl orbits the Short Sun further from Blue and Green than the planets are from each other (V, chap. 7, 182).
Horn’s time on Green was “half a year or so” (VII, chap. 2, 34). The gravity seems to be Earth-like.
Cloud cover seems constant on Green but there are breaks at times (VII, chap. 3, 60). The atmosphere is dense or very dense. In the slender red tower above the clouds, Jahlee complains the air is thin. Silkhorn takes a deep breath and declares, “It certainly seems better to me than the sopping air down there” (61). The tablelands on Green were the last redoubts of the Neighbors (61).
Green seems to have moons, “two luminous bodies in the night sky that were too large for stars” (VI, chap. 1, 21). This two-moon detail makes Green seem “Martian,” but it might be a side-effect of traveling with the Neighbor since the moons are not brought up again in the text.
Fauna of Green (in order of appearance)
• The three-horned beast Horn was riding when he was mortally wounded (V, chap. 3, 93; 94).
• Maggot-like corpse viper (VI, chap. 4, 63).
• Great hairless beasts, on two legs and four, and six, came down to the river (VI, chap. 6, 102).
• Enormous snake, head as big as a coffin, swimming upriver (VI, chap. 6, 102).
• Great green spiders that collect fruits and nuts (VI, chap. 8, 122).
• The green grabber, called “color cat” by the humans (VI, chap. 9, 130).
• A moth with wings the size of dinner plates (VI, chap. 9, 145). A moth with wings wider than the sheets of paper, and marked with a pattern of cross and circle (VI, chap. 24, 356–57).
• An idiot-faced, long-legged thing in the trees. It only leaves its tree searching for a mate, and then it falls out onto the ground. Having wrinkled hairless hide of brownish pink, its blunt tail probes the ground like a questing worm. It eats leaves, is helpless and harmless, and is not good to eat (VI, chap. 9, 145–46).
• Firesnake, a scarlet and yellow flying worm that stings (VI, chap. 16, 237).
• A great man-killer, green and quiet, two-legged, with fangs longer and thicker than a strong man’s arm (VI, chap. 22, 330), each stride being twenty cubits or 30 feet (VI, chap. 24, 356).
• Red leapers (VII, chap. 8, 161).
Flora of Green
• Numbing fruit, a fruit that soothes the firesnake sting when applied topically (VI, chap. 16, 237).
Grig, Patera appearing at the Green warpage, he is probably the augur Incanto was reminded of by Sfido’s “oily, almost feminine way of speaking that reminded me of one of the augurs at our schola” (VI, chap. 13, 203).
Zoology: a cricket or grasshopper; any small eel; the broad-nosed eel.
Grotestad the city on the Long Sun Whorl that the Dorp founding colonists came from (VII, chap. 11, 235).
Dutch: great city.
Gulo, Patera “the Coadjutor of Viron” (VII, list; chap. 2, 40). His visit to Hound’s room at Ermine’s (VII, chap. 12, 255) is a surprise to Silkhorn, later explained: Gulo had come on his own, and His Cognizance claimed to have sent him. Both owe their positions to Silk and would like him to go away (VII, chap. 18, 381). (See entry in LS Half.)
Zoology: wolverine.
Gyrfalcon “a New Vironese merchant” (V, list); “a magnate of New Viron” (VII, list).
Gunsmith of New Viron (V, chap. 3, 70), he is the captain/owner of the ship visiting Horn at the start (V, chap. 1, 21). One of the five faction leaders meeting with Horn (the others being Blazingstar, Eschar, Marrow, and
Remora). Gyrfalcon makes reference to the Sun Street Quarter, which implies he was not a “sleeper” (VI, chap. 1, 23).
When Silkhorn returns to New Viron, Marrow has died and Gyrfalcon has declared himself caldé (VII, chap. 13, 260). Capsicum believes he killed her lover Marrow. Speaking of his reputation, Gyrfalcon says, “I poison people. That’s what they say in town” (VII, chap. 17, 342). At the massed attack of inhumi on the wedding of Hide and Vadsig, Capsicum kills Gyrfalcon with a dagger.
Zoology: largest of all falcon species.
H
Hamer, Judge “one of the five judges who rule Dorp” (VII, list). Cousin of Nat (VII, chap. 5, 101), he is met in his sellaria (VII, chap. 7, 146). See TRIAL IN DORP.
Dutch: hammer.
Hammerstone, Corporal “a soldier in the army of Viron” (V, list). Marble’s husband. She asks Horn to tell him where she is and say “how deeply I regret tricking him into marriage as I did” (V, chap. 4, 101). Later she asks, “Do you think that my husband—that Hammerstone might try to come here and kill me?” (101). He does not appear directly in the text, although his daughter Olivine talks of him. (See entry in LS Half.)
Onomastics: a prehistoric stone used as a hammer.
Han “a populous town south of Gaon” (V, list). Located above the Greater Cataract, it is ruled by the Man of Han. One detail about the war is rather confusing—Silkhorn writes “everything north along the Nadi is gone, all those rich farms” (V, chap. 12, 291), where one would expect it to be south (between Gaon and Han) rather than north (beyond Gaon). It is possible that Hanese raiders circled around Gaon to strike at the farms and thus reduce the city’s ability to resist.
Hanese culture seems to be Chinese, so the conflict between Han and Gaon is the familiar friction between China and India.
Chinese: Han is the name of the dominant ethnic group of China.
Han-Gaon War, The a conflict between two riverine cultures of the continental interior, outlined as follows:
1. Han invades Gaon territory shortly after conjunction.
2. The war
• The Gaonese are pushed back.
• The Gaonese gain ground.
• The Gaonese are pushed back again, nearly to Gaon (287). The front is only one hour away (291).
• Brief truce.
• Strong attack by the Hanese. The Gaonese retreat, leading the Hanese into a set trap of explosive mines.
• The Gaonese gain ground (293).
• The rainy season starts (303).
3. The war ends with victory for Gaon.
Hare “a criminal originally of Viron” (VII, list), “he joined General Mint after Blood died” (VII, chap. 1, 18). Source of information on Musk’s kite project. (See entry in LS Half.)
Zoology: a rabbit-like animal.
Hari Mau “the citizen who brought the Rajan to Gaon” (V, list); and later, “the new Rajan of Gaon” (VII, list). The leader of the turbaned men searching Endroad (VII, chap. 4, 89) and Ermine’s (VII, chap. 12, 257; chap. 14, 295) for Silk to take him to Blue. Finally they meet Silkhorn at Grand Manteion in Viron (VII, chap. 16, 328). Bahar is in his group.
He suggests that his quest for Silk came to him from Echidna in a dream (VII, chap. 16, 329). This was after he had read Horn’s book (330).
He is tall, half a head taller than Silk (329).
Hindi: hari can mean “green” or “lost;” mau can mean “currency.” Hari mau can mean “Chief Hari” or “green issues.”
He-bring-skin “a citizen of Pajarocu” (V, list). He tells Sinew that people are never bitten by inhumi at Pajarocu (V, chap. 14, 353).
Onomastics: the name sounds like an occupational name for a merchant of leather.
He-hold-fire “the captain of Pajarocu’s lander” (V, list). Author of the letter calling people of Blue to the lander (V, prologue, 13). He rides the lander as a guard, along with He-sing-spell and He-take-bow (V, chap. 15, 373).
He-pen-sheep “a hunter” (V, list). He lives on the continent of Shadelow. In the past a shearbear spoke to him and they became blood brothers (V, chap. 11, 261). Horn’s ring, the one given by Seawrack, identifies him as a Neighbor-man to the couple (262), meaning he is blood-brother to the Neighbors (263).
Onomastics: this looks like another occupational name, this time for a person who keeps a pen (thus akin to English surnames like Penny and Steward).
Commentary: this is an unusual name for a hunter who appears to have neither pen nor sheep. As such, it seems more like a hereditary name rather than a personally acquired name.
He-sing-spell “one of He-hold-fire’s subordinates” (V, list). A guard on the lander in flight (V, chap. 15, 373).
He-take-bow “one of He-hold-fire’s subordinates” (V, list). A guard on the lander in flight (V, chap. 15, 373).
Onomastics: seems like a primitivist form of “Bowman.”
Healing Beds, The a gardening book written by a physician, with an emphasis on herbs, published in the Long Sun Whorl more than 100 years before (V, chap. 5, 129). Given by a visitor as a gift to the Rajan of Gaon.
Heleno a city that Blanko fought ten years before (VI, chap. 2, 45).
Onomastics: (Esperanto) form of name “Helen.”
Hephaestus “a minor god of the Long Sun Whorl” (V, list; V, chap. 5, 144).
Myth: (Greek) god of craftsmanship and metal work. He is lame and his faithless wife is Aphrodite, goddess of love.
Hide “one of Horn’s twin sons” (V, list). Sixteen years old at beginning of Return to the Whorl (VII, chap. 1, 14). Technically he is “rising sixteen,” meaning nearly 16, and this is said perhaps 2.5 years after Horn left. He marries Vadsig. Ultimately he is part of the editorial/publishing team of Daisy, Hide, Hoof, and Vadsig (V, chap. 5, 129).
Hide’s dream about Mora, Fava, their dolls, all in a hide and seek game in a house of the Neighbors (VII, chap. 1, 20), is in part a play on his name “Hide” and the seeking (for Horn) he has been engaged in. It also has echoes of Fava’s Bricco story, “The Washed Child.” It is as though Hide is Bricco, younger than Hide really is.
When Incanto says to Hide, “Didn’t you realize when you saw me there in the Red Sun Whorl that your search had succeeded?” (VI, chap. 22, 329), this is a breakthrough moment. It also foreshadows the fact that Horn’s quest to find Silk, which he thought a failure, was a success.
Hierax “a major god of the Long Sun Whorl, the god of death” (V, list). Pig says, “Hierax is dead” (VII, chap. 10, 203), suggesting he was wiped out of Mainframe as a rebel. (See entry in LS Half.)
Greek: hawk.
Honeysuckle “a servant in the palace of Viron’s caldé” (VII, list; VII, chap. 14, 284).
Botany: the genus Lonicera, of arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae.
Hoof “one of Horn’s twin sons” (V, list). The twins resemble Nettle’s mother with their large eyes and too-regular features (V, chap. 1, 42). When the twins set out to find Horn, Hoof goes north. On his way back south he meets up with Horn and Hide in Dorp (VII, chap. 7, 155). After returning to New Viron, Hoof marries Daisy. He writes two chapters (17 and 18) of Return to the Whorl by himself.
Zoology: the feet of cattle.
Hoop “one of the Rajan’s scribes” (V, list; V, chap. 2, 49).
Hop, Aunt “one of Nettle’s sisters” (V, list). Sinew says Nettle can go live with Aunt Hop (V, chap. 1, 36).
Botany: small genus of flowering plants native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The female flowers are hops, used in the brewing of beer.
Horn “a New Vironese paper-maker, the protagonist” (V, list). He is the eldest of his siblings, who include Calf, Cowslip, Oxlip, Tallow, and Tongue. His father is Smoothbone and his mother’s name is not given, but her name or family line seems to impart the “cow” aspect to the names of her children. Horn’s wife is Nettle, and their children are Sinew, Hide, and Hoof. (See entry in LS Half.)
Early on in the text, the Rajan writes that he has been gone a
year (V, chap. 1, 46), meaning conjunction in one more year. Regarding Nettle, he writes, “She will have found another husband by this time, I hope” (V, chap. 1, 42; chap. 7, 185). “If she should die before me, I would not marry again” (V, chap. 2, 65).
He was 15 years old when Silk became caldé, and 35 when he set out from Lizard Island to find Silk (V, chap. 2, 65). Horn’s adult height was three cubits and two hands, “a good deal less than it is now” (V, chap. 9, 196). (3 x 18 inches) + (2 x 4 inches) = 62 inches = 5’ 2”. This is in contrast to the image given of young Horn in The Book of the Long Sun, where he was depicted as the tallest boy at the palaestra, such that tall Silk noticed that “Horn’s clear, dark eyes were nearly level with his” (I, chap. 1, 15). So it appears that the character Horn was given a more heroic stature in The Book of the Long Sun.
Tansy asks Horn about the cuts on Silkhorn’s arms. He says, “I cut myself somehow. I want to say reaching into some brambles, because they are injuries of that sort; but I don’t remember exactly how it happened” (VII, chap. 4, 87). This seems related to Silk’s dream of chopping nettles with Hyacinth (V, chap. 16, 379), itself a confusion of wives and the question of who died (that is Hyacinth is the one who died, and Horn did, too).
Gate of Horn, Book of Silk Page 21
