Chapter 66: 633-645
Page 633
Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau (October 10, 1684 – July 18, 1721) was a French painter whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement (in the tradition of Correggio and Rubens), and revitalized the waning Baroque idiom, which eventually became known as Rococo. He is credited with inventing the genre of fêtes galantes: scenes of bucolic and idyllic charm, suffused with an air of theatricality. Some of his best known subjects were drawn from the world of Italian comedy and ballet... Watteau's influence on the arts (not only painting, but the decorative arts, costume, film, poetry, music) was more extensive than that of almost any other 18th-century artist. According to the 1911 Britannica, "in his treatment of the landscape background and of the atmospheric surroundings of the figures can be found the germs of Impressionism". The Watteau dress, a long, sacklike dress with loose pleats hanging from the shoulder at the back, similar to those worn by many of the women in his paintings, is named after him. From WIKI
"To Thorfinn Karlsefni's settlement at Hop... None but Gudrid ever saw the woman"
The excerpt comes almost word by word from Grœnlendinga saga or The saga of the Greenlanders (Wikipedia entry), which, along with the Saga of Erik the Red, are the two main literary sources of information for the Norse exploration of North America.
Vineland
Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norseman, about the year 1000 CE. From WIKI- Also, see page 322 of Vineland.
Skrællings
Skræling (plural skrælingar) is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the Thule people whom they encountered in Greenland. When they traveled to present-day Newfoundland ("Vinland"), the Norse used the same term for the inhabitants (possibly the ancestors of the later Beothuk) of North America. From WIKI
Gudrid... Snorri
She stayed on ther home island but moved to Brattahlíð, where she married a merchant named Thorfinn Karlsefni (Þorfinnr Karlsefni Þórðarson). She and her new husband had a son named Snorri Þorfinnsson, who was the first child born in North America of European descent. Shortly after Snorri was born the small family traveled back to Greenland. After a while her husband died and his farm was inherited by Snorri. From WIKI
Page 634
this first Act of American murder, and the collapse of Vineland the Good
Cf. Vineland, of course. Especially echoes the scene on page 322, where Zoyd is planning to "harbor in Vineland, Vineland the Good".
Vineland was the name given to North America by the Vikings. It was named so because of the wild grapes they found there... With the abandonment of Greenland, needed supplies no longer made their way to the way station point in North America (Vineland). Major climate change has happened since. They had 'conflicts' with the Native Americans who lived there, perhaps the first acts of American murder? The conflict was probably short-lived while the commerce went on for 500 years. Adapted from 'Vineland' [[1]]
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Dogs run free
Possible allusion to Bob Dylan's 1970 song "If Dogs Run Free"?
Page 645
an unopen'd Goober Pea-Shell, exhibiting it to both Astronomers before cracking it open to reveael two red Pea-Nuts within...
Mason and Dixon, two peas in a pod, maybe?
