by Gene Wolfe
MATROSSES Artillerists or gunners, particularly civilians employed to operate artillery. Originally, the word meant sailor, the matrosses having learned their gunnery aboard armed merchant ships.
CHAPTER VI
ECHIDNAS Spiny anteaters (Tachyglosus aculeatus).
KRAKENS Giant squid, popularly but falsely supposed to be legendary. Kraken was the name by which the Vikings referred to these creatures.
CORDWAIN A soft, fine-grained leather made of horsehide.
PARADOX A statement that reduces the matter at hand to complete obscurity while clarifying it. “The average book has 237.-8109 pages.” Paradoxes are sensitive and can be routed by sneering.
PHARMACON Medicine, drug, poison.
DRACHM Sixty minims. One dram.
SAFFIAN A leather made from goatskin or sheepskin (goatskin is better) and tanned with sumac. It is often dyed in bright colors.
ASCETIC Uninclined to Urthly pleasures.
PANTOCRATORS Those who have mastered the physical. Also, incarnations of the Pancreator. Those fit for spiritual and philosophical “wrestlings.” Originally, the word designated what we would call all-around athletes; but its figurative meanings have overwhelmed its literal one.
HYPOSTASES The persons whose union constitutes the Increate.
CHATELAINE The mistress of a castle or similar building. Mikey Roessner-Herman is the Chatelaine of The Castle of the Otter.
CHAPTER VII
LEEKS The national food of Wales. They are similar to spring onions, but larger.
LENTILS Brown, bean-like seeds. Excellent with leeks. Lentils boiled with ham bone make great soup, too.
EXARCH An ecclesiastic ranking between patriarch and a metropolitan.
STAROST One whose estate is his for life only and cannot be deeded to his heirs.
FOLIO A very large book. In the earliest days of paper-making, paper was made by the sheet, rather than in an endless strip. These sheets were approximately 15 × 24 in. When folding one of these sheets once produced two leaves of a book, the book was called a folio; the tome with which Dr. Johnson decked Osborne the bookseller was of this size. The term is still in use for volumes with pages approximately 12 × 15 in.
LANSQUENETS Mercenary cavalry. Severian speaks of an exultant, held by the torturers, who had said he would “volunteer to lead a muster of lansquenets in the north.” Presumably he meant that he would pay them from his own pocket and serve as their commander in the field, thus proving his loyalty to the Autarch beyond doubt.
FULGURATOR A holy man capable of drawing omens from flashes of lightning.
KHAIBITS Shadows that are external souls of their casters.
PURSUIVANT An assistant to a herald. A messenger with some limited authority to negotiate.
BAILIFF A minor officer of a court of law, charged with swearing witnesses, serving warrants, transmitting the instructions of the judge, etc.
URTICATE Whip with the branches of a poisonous plant.
SALPINX A kind of trumpet.
BORDEREAU A list of documents.
CHAPTER VIII
HIEROPHANTS The official explainers of sacred mysteries.
AGATHODAEMON A well-intentioned minor spirit. Thecla is engaged in constructing a paradox: she will say that a ghost or an angel has told her that there is no afterlife (and thus no ghosts) and no agathodaemons (and thus no angels).
CABOCHON EMERALDS Emeralds polished without cutting.
FIACRES Small hackney coaches; they are usually drawn by two animals.
PALFRENIERS Grooms.
OMOPHAGISTS Eaters of raw meat. People living in the abandoned districts of the city are afraid to call attention to themselves by lighting fires.
CHAPTER IX
CARYATIDS Pillars carved in the shape of women; statues of women used to support the upper parts of a building. THURIBLE A burner for incense; a censer.
CHAPTER X
ANACREONTIC Erotic. Amatory. It carries a connotation of light love accompanied by singing, drinking, dancing, and so on.
VATIC Prophetic. The Vatican is so called because a college of prophets stood upon Vatican Hill in ancient times.
PELAGIC Pertaining to the deep parts of the sea, as distinguished from relatively shallow coastal waters. Of the high seas.
PECCARY A small but often savagely aggressive wild pig. Peccaries are often found in herds of 20 to 30, and at such times can be dangerous even to hunters with firearms.
PARDINE LIMERS Leopard-spotted hounds hunted on the leash—presumably so they will not overtake the peccaries before the hunters do, and so come to grief.
NIGRESCENT Blackish.
KAFILAS Bodies of travelers who have banded together for mutual protection.
EPOPT An initiate.
CHRISM Holy oil used to mark initiates and others on certain hierophanic occasions.
CHAPTER XI
CAPYBARAS Giant guinea pigs with habits much like muskrats’.
AGOUTIS Short-eared but otherwise rabbit-like animals.
SHEWBREAD Bread displayed upon an altar.
CHAPTER XII
CATAPHRACTS Soldiers who wear armor on all parts of their bodies.
ANAGNOST One designated to read sacred history, prayers, devotional works, and so forth aloud to an assembly.
ARMIGETTE A female armiger; a woman of the petty nobility.
DHOW A kind of lateen-rigged trading boat.
CASTELLAN The governor or warden of a castle or fortress; one who administers the affairs of a stronghold but is not the owner.
TRAVAIL A rough framework to which a load can be tied to facilitate carrying or dragging it.
CHAPTER XIII
ARCHON A chief magistrate. A governor.
UHLANS Light cavalry armed with lances.
CAIQUE A light, lateen-rigged sailboat.
DELTA An island formed at the mouth of a river by deposited silt. It is nearly always triangular, like the Greek letter.
CHAPTER XIV
BALDRIC A wide belt worn over one shoulder to support a sword or bugle.
ELL The distance from a tall man’s left forefinger to his right ear. The length of a war-arrow. The traditional height of an elf, later standardized at 45 in.
ONYX Translucent, polychrome chalcedony.
HYDRARGYRUM Quicksilver.
MOIRA Fate. A drawing of lots. A lottery.
PATERISSA A staff topped by a cross.
THALAMEGII Large, richly decorated barges used for luxurious water travel, ceremonies, floating parties and the like.
SWEEPSMEN Rowers using long oars (sweeps) that require them to stand.
BARTIZANS Turrets or small towers that cling to a wall or other structure and have no foundations of their own.
EXTERNS Foreigners. Used in The Book of the New Sun to designate those born on Urth outside the Commonwealth.
FLAGEOLETS Small flutes similar to recorders.
OPHICLEIDES Large, deep-toned horns.
PELTASTES Light infantrymen armed with spears and shields. LOCHAGE An officer commanding 100 men.
ASCIANS People without shadows. (Some readers of The Book of the New Sun seem to assume this word is some corruption of Asians. It was in use when Asia designated a small part of what is now Turkey. Pronounced a-SHAY-ans, by the way.) The people of the Commonwealth seem to assume that their enemies come from the equatorial zone, where a man’s shadow is beneath the soles of his feet at noon.
CHAPTER XV
LUGGER A boat carrying one or more lug sails.
CARRACKS Big, square-rigged merchant ships.
IRONWOOD A very heavy, hard, tropical wood. Ironwood cast into water will sink. There is a story that some sailors who wished to mark the entrance to a cove tied an ironwood log to a stone and cast both over the side. The log sank and the stone floated. The stone was volcanic pumice.
CHAPTER XVI
LAMBREQUIN A kind of scarf attached to the back of a helmet to shade the wearer’s neck and shoulders.
MOCHA C
offee mixed with chocolate. (Originally, coffee from—that is to say, shipped from—the port of Mocha in Yemen.) THAUMATURGE A wonder-worker.
GLAMOUR A spell affecting appearances but not reality.
SYLPH A beautiful, slender girl. (Originally, a spirit of the air.) PROSCENIUM The wall that separates a theatrical stage from the seating area, including the arch over the stage. The arch is often highly decorated.
BASILICAS Places of worship of unusual importance.
ARTELLOS I suspect that this is a typographical error, and the word should be martellos. If that is incorrect, I do not know what Severian meant.
CONVENTICLES Meeting-houses.
HOSPICES Charitable establishments offering free or very cheap lodging to poor travelers, runaway children, and the like.
LAZARETS Charitable establishments offering live-in care for the sick.
ABATTOIRS Slaughterhouses.
MINARETS Very slender towers, typically with a circular balcony near the top.
LANTERNS An architectural ornament consisting of a small dome lifted on pillars. True lanterns have a hole under the small dome and through the larger dome or roof on which it stands; the hole admits light, and the small dome excludes rain.
PAR-TERRE A flat garden, as opposed to a landscaped one; and particularly a garden (or garden-like area) in which large potted plants, statues, and so forth stand on a floor or pavement.
CITRONS Fruit trees related to orange and lemon trees. (Also their fruit.) Presumably these trees were grown in pots and taken inside during the winter.
POMEGRANATES Trees bearing large, red, seedy berries about the size of an apple (Also their fruit.) CASERN A barracks.
BALMACAANS Short, rough overcoats.
SURTOUTS Long, tight overcoats.
DOLMANS Loose robes with sleeves.
JERKINS Sleeveless jackets.
PADUASOY Corded silk.
MATELASSE Quilted silk.
KHETENS Pole-axes of a certain type.
PAVONINE Peacock-colored.
JELABS Loose, hooded jackets.
CAPOTES Loose, hooded cloaks. Severian’s guild cloak appears to be a form of capote.
CYMARS Plain, loose robes worn by women.
CHAPTER XVII
PSYCHOPOMP One who guides the spirits of the dead through the afterworld.
CHIMERA A fabulous monster, variously described. The ones painted on the breastplates of the Sepentrions seem to consist of winged women with the paws and hindquarters of lions, a fairly common form. (See Luc Olivier Merson’s Pan et la Chimère, for example.) HIPPARCH The commander of a xenagie of cavalry—about 500 mounted soldiers.
MONOMACHY Fighting between two lone individuals. Dueling.
SEPTENTRIONS Northerners. Northern stars.
MUNI A sage.
ORIFLAMME A richly embroidered banner. A rich battle flag.
PALMER Religious pilgrim. Those returning from the Holy Land carried palm branches to show they had actually been there.
CHAPTER XVIII
ONEGARS My erroneous spelling of onagers. I should look these things up.
THYACINE The Tasmanian wolf.
NIDOROUS Having the odor of burnt fat.
MENSAL A place supplying a monthly rent to a religious order or official, particularly if the rent is given in the form of food.
MONACHS Monks.
METAMYNODONS Hornless rhinoceroses.
COMFITS Hard, candied fruits and the like.
BERYLS Elfstones.
PELERINES Narrow capes having long tassels that hang in front of the wearer’s shoulders. The order of monials commonly called Pelerines takes its popular name from this part of its habit.
CHAPTER XIX
DULCIMER A stringed musical instrument.
FIBULA An ornamental safety pin.
EPONYMS Those who have given their names to tribes, towns, etc.
LAMIA A female demon. Lamias drink blood; they are weresnakes, and may appear with a woman’s head and a snake’s body; no doubt this is the form Agia is thinking of.
PYLONS Pyramidal or conical markers.
THOLUS A circular building topped with a dome.
TESSELLATED Of a pattern resembling a chessboard.
ARCHIMAGE Great sorcerer.
LIANAS Tropical vines.
CHAPTER XX
PIETIST One who hopes to achieve direct contact with the Increate.
CARNELIAN Reddish semiprecious stone.
SPECULA Magical or scientific mirrors.
CAMISIAS Tunics. Shirtwaists.
DULCINEA Sweetheart.
NONES Prayers said at noon (which takes its name from them).
SOUBRETTES Servant maids.
COLUMBINES Saucy, fantastically dressed young ladies.
CORYPHEES Ballet dancers who are neither soloists nor members of the corps de ballet. Presumably little Thecla’s set of paper figures included three or four similarly costumed female dancers.
HARLEQUINAS Fantastically dressed actresses representing puckish demons and supposedly invisible to the other characters in the play.
FIGURANTES Female extras in a theatrical production. Women spearcarriers.
SERVITRIX A female personal servant.
LABYRINTHS Mazes consisting of rooms as well as passages, or of rooms exclusively. Mazes of brick or stone. The terminology of these intricate and fascinating structures is unfortunately much confused; but in general the word maze is reserved for bewildering structures created by planting hedges, erecting mirrors, digging ditches, and the like, and labyrinth for buildings. The radical meaning of labyrinth is house of the ax; a double-headed ax was the badge of ancient Crete, and The Labyrinth (as opposed to a labyrinth) was actually the palace of the king. He liked room.
CHAPTER XXI
GOWDALIE A three-pointed fish spear.
HESPERORN A fish-eating ostrich, now extinct. OREODONT A plant-eating animal about the size of a sheep, now extinct.
UAKARIS Short-tailed monkeys. (Cacajao.) MARGAY A kind of wild cat. (Felis tigrina.)
TOKOLOSHE Evil spirits.
ANACRISIS First examination, presumably under torture.
TAMBOUR A small drum.
YELLOWBEARD The fer-de-lance or barba amarilla, which has a yellow spot below the chin. It is also called the jararaca (Bothrops atrox).
CHAPTER XXII
FEN Marsh. Bog. The bodies of men and women contemporaneous with Julius Caesar have been found in the peat bogs of northern Europe.
MANATEES Sea cows, one of the origins of the mermaid legend. Some species are already extinct. (Trichechus.)
CHAPTER XXIII
ROOD A cross.
ALTICAMELUS An extinct camel resembling a giraffe. Used here as the sign of an inn.
CHAPTER XXIV
GONFALON A flag hung from a crosspiece, so that it can be seen even when there is no wind.
MYRRHIC Resembling myrrh, an aromatic resin. Myrrh was formerly used in embalming. (The gold, frankincense, and myrrh brought to Jesus by the magi symbolized his kingship, divinity, and death.)
CHAPTER XXV
EPHORS Judges. In this case, the judges who supervise the combats in the Sanguinary Field. Ephors are judges who have power even over the king (the justices of the Supreme Court are thus ephors) and these are so called because they would have authority even over the Autarch if he chose to enter the lists.
LECHWES Antelopes. (Kobus leche.)
ATROXES Horrors. Presumably Abban means painted or sculptured figures to impress the public with his danger and importance. Note that tormented faces are painted on the metal of the Matachin Tower.
CAMARILLA Cabal. Kitchen cabinet. Secret schemers or unknown advisors. Literally, little room.
PAGNE Loin cloth. Agia is making an off-color joke.
MISERICORDE A dagger with a stiff, diamond-cross-section or three-sided blade; it was used to dispatch a man in armor by stabbing through some chink, usually the armpit. (A great variety of daggers were used in the Middle Ages, and yo
u are liable to find any of them called a misericorde if you look in the wrong book.) The literal meaning of the name is merciful heart; it is usually assumed to be ironic, but it seems more likely that the reference is to killing the badly wounded quickly and with little pain.
CHAPTER XXVI
SENNET The trumpet flourish used to cue an actor.
BACULUS A staff symbolizing authority.
CHAPTER XXVII
XENAGIE A cavalry unit normally consisting of about 500 men; but the soldiers in question are “the Blue Dimarchi” (today we would say something like “the Blue Armored Infantry”) and they appear to be organized along infantry lines and commanded by a chiliarch, so they can be assumed to have a nominal strength of 1000.
GAMBOGE A strong and brilliant yellow, no doubt supplied here by the remaining three quarters of the sun breaking through the clouds.
CERISE The color of ripe cherries—a shade of dark red, and a reminder of the dying of the old sun.
HIERARCHS Priests of high rank. Angels of high rank. Literally, Holy Lords. Here, possibly the commanders of the Hierodules. GRAISLE A trumpet used in signaling.
CARILLON A set of tuned bells.
GENTLE RIGHT In a contest between gentlemen, the right of a man knocked down to rise and rearm before being attacked again.
CHAPTER XXVIII
CYNOCEPHALUS A baboon. Doubtless from the hot lands farther north.
CHILIARCH An officer in charge of 1000 men; roughly, a colonel (the commander of a column).
BRAQUEMAR A sword with a simple guard and a wide, short, double-edged blade.