Leaping up he strode to his portable phonograph, took a visirecord at random, and placed it on the turntable. At once the far wall of the room lit up...He reflexively adjusted the depth-circuit; the figures began to become three-dimensional. He turned up the sound as well. 'Legolas is right. We may not shoot an old man so, unawares and unchallenged, whatever fear or doubt be on us. Watch and wait!' The bracing words of the old epic restored his perspective; he returned to his desk...Frowning, he studied the coded information, trying to decipher it. In numbers, punch-holes and letters it spelled out his new life, his world to come. '...You speak as one who knows Fangorn well. Is that so?' The visrecord played on, but he no longer heard it; he had begun to get the gist of the encoded message. 'What have you to say that you did not say at our last meeting?' a sharp and powerful voice said. He glanced up and found himself confronted by the gray-clad figure of Gandalf. It was as if Gandalf were speaking to him, Ben Tallchief. Calling him to account. 'Or, perhaps, you have things to unsay?' Gandalf said. Ben rose, went over to the phonograph and shut it off. I do not feel able at this time to answer you, Gandalf, he said to himself. There are things to be done, real things; I can't indulge myself in a mysterious, unreal conversation with a mythological character who probably never existed.
|
from A Note From the Author: The theology in this novel is not an analog of any known religion. It stems from an attempt made by William Sarill and myself to develop an abstract, logical system of religious thought, based on the arbitrary postulate that God exists. I should say, too, that the late Bishop James A. Pike, in discussions with me, brought forth a wealth of theological material for my inspection... In the novel, Maggie Walsh's experiences after death are based on an L.S.D. experience of my own. In exact detail. ...All material concerning Wotan and the death of the gods is based on Richard Wagner's version of Der Ring des Nibelungen, rather than on the original body of myths. Answers put to the tench were derived from the I Ching, the Chinese Book of Changes. 'Tekel Upharsin' is Aramaic for 'He has weighed and now they divide.' Aramaic was the tongue Christ spoke. There should be more like him. -PKD |
|
|
