Wednesday 29 June 2016

A Transcosmic Demon

Poul Anderson, The Broken Sword (London, 1977).

The lord of evil addresses the witch as he addresses Steve Matuchek in Operation Chaos. See also here and here. He boasts to Matuchek that he is "...the end of every hope and every faith..." (see the third link above) and tells the witch that he is:

"'...the lord of evil, which is futility.'" (p. 90)

Thus, he is not obliged to hep her fulfill her purpose, in fact the opposite. She thought that she had summoned him and that they had made a bargain but "'...that was another...'" (Odin).

"'Mortals never sell me their souls. They give them away.'" (ibid.)

In James Blish's Black Easter/The Day After Judgment, only lesser demons are summoned and men lead themselves astray without needing the Antichrist. Mike Carey's Lucifer Morningstar denies that he misleads human beings (again, see the third link above). However, that is a different version of the character, Nietzschean but not actively malicious.

The Adversary who addresses Matuchek seems to be the same being that addresses the witch, operating between universes.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Quite true! Bargains with Satan or those claiming to be him are, ultimately, treacherous and doubled edged. And, "Adversary" is another title or name for Satan, who rebelled against God.

Sean