"John Norman - Telnarian Histories 01 - The Chieftain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

Notes pertaining to manuscript 122B Valens:

1. The Chronicler:

We do not know, at this time, at any rate, the identity of the chronicler, or historian, responsible
for this particular version of the Telnarian histories. This, however, is common with the various
manuscripts. It is interesting to speculate on this. Perhaps, when they sang, or wrote, they knew
well who they were, and it did not occur to them that their names might be lost, blown away in
the winds of time. Perhaps they thought their names would stand forever. Indeed, how many
founders of cities and nations, occupants of thrones, commanders of armies, wielders of scepters,
discoverers and claimers of worlds, have not subscribed to a similar delusion. In most cases, we
do not even know who named the planets in our own system. How many immortals have died,
how many imperishable gods, and peoples, have perished! But one suspects that the reasons lay
elsewhere, that the investment of the time, and toil, the pain and love, was not to procure the
glory of their own names, but to make a thing of meaning, of beauty and significance. These are
not the men to whom "I made this" is all-important; rather they are the men to whom "This has
been made" is all that matters. It is not even clear whether the chronicler, or historian, here is a
single person, or more than one person, nor whether the manuscript was written rather at the
same time, or has been added to, and glossed, at different times. Clearly the chronicler, or
chroniclers, had at their disposal various manuscripts, and documents, which, as far as we know,
are no longer extant. Some scholars, and commentators, from various details, have speculated
that the narrator's relationship to the story may be more intimate than appears upon the surface.
This seems to me unlikely, but much is obscure.

2. The manuscripts:

We have known of the existence of the Telnarian histories for several hundred years, but,
initially, only in virtue of some references, which seemed quite clear, and several seeming
allusions, less clear, more disputable, in certain classical authors, notably Asclepiodorus, Singer
of Olrion; Chi Tung, to whom is attributed the founding of the imperial academy at Hinan;
Umake, counselor of Kreon, lord of Corathon; Philip, count of the Taurine Marches, who
apparently composed his works in exile; Regius, tutor of Urik, tyrant, and third elector, of Kash;
Leland, courtier of Lemanthine; and Heiband, the Benellian, who once served as secretary to
Loren, prince of the Rosterdam Gates.

The first actual Telnarian histories, or fragments thereof, came to light four hundred years ago,
when a cache containing them was accidentally opened by workmen engaged in the construction
of the Andirian Canal. As sometimes happens, once the existence of such things is indisputably
established, and authenticated, a serious search was undertaken in numerous archives, libraries
and treasuries. To the embarrassment of scholarship more than forty versions of the histories, or
fragments thereof, were found cataloged, and apparently forgotten, in almost as many locations.
The manuscripts, of course, were derivative, being copies of copies, and so on. One of the
puzzles concerning many of these manuscripts is why their existence was not more clearly
established, and understood, earlier. The various versions are clearly of different ages, and
different hands. It is not as though they were written at the same time, or copied at the same time,
or even cataloged, at the same time. Perhaps original documents, suggested by the classical
references, were forged, but, if so, why were these "forgeries" not brought to light, that their
perpetrators might then attempt to reap what profits they might? Some of these fragments tend to
reciprocally authenticate one another, and yet others seem utterly independent. It is almost as if
these various manuscripts were placed, in one century or another, in one location or another.