Aria the Natural #22: That Mysterious World…/That Guardian Of Aqua…

The adventure continues in “Through the Looking Glass” and what President Aria found there.

This is the other side of playing make-believe. Sure, things could be better. But there are a lot of ways they could be worse. A healthy dose of fantasy can make you appreciate the world as it is.

There’s no place like home.

The differences between the girl and boy sides of Neo-Venezia are subtle. Just cutting their hair and putting on pants isn’t enough to change Akari or Alice. In Aika’s case, she gets to grow her hair back, but that’s all. And Akira, well she’s virtually a man anyway. Maybe in the parallel world he’s actually more feminine.

Shut up, Minmay.

The most stunning change is given to Akatsuki. We haven’t been properly introduced to him (he was Akari’s first customer, in fact) but the story of his childhood tells us all we need to know. As he … err, she says in the song, (s)he works on the floating island to control the weather of Aqua. The gnomes, such as Al, live underground where they generate artificial gravity. Then there is Woody the sylph, who delivers messages and cargo, and the undines. These four classes of workers are named after elemental spirits.

The salamander, gnome, sylph, and undine spirits correspond to fire, earth, air, and water. The concept was written about by the 11th century monk Michæl Psellus. In a dialogue on pagan demons, he describes six classes: those four plus the first higher than air and the last lower than earth. The name “undine” is a recent addition, first appearing in 1818 (Undine: a fairy romance by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué). It quickly replaced the older “nymph” so that it was used by Bayard Taylor in his 1872 translation of Faust.

What is probably the earliest use in English is Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. He mentions having learned of the spirits from a French book, Comte de Gabalis. But his portrayal of elemental spirits as invisible guardians of the Earth is likely the inspiration for later authors.

Some in the Fields of purest Æther play,
And bask and whiten in the Blaze of Day.
Some guide the Course of wand’ring Orbs on high,
Or roll the Planets thro’ the boundless Sky.
Some less refin’d, beneath the Moon’s pale Light
Hover, and catch the shooting Stars by Night.
Or suck the Mists in grosser Air below,
Or dip their Pinions in the painted Bow,
Or brew fierce Tempests on the wintry Main,
Or o’er the Globe distill the kindly Rain.

This image certainly sounds like Aqua. But for centuries, spirits were not viewed so brightly. The world at once provided nourishment and warmth to mankind, but simultaneously was cold and savage. The spirits of nature were often not welcome then, as when Pope mentions fierce tempests. (Although this is certainly also an allusion to the play.)

The 20th century saw a change in our relationship with the Earth. Advanced technology achieved feats that were once considered magical. The invisible world of nature that was once feared became the a place of hope and wonder. When Tolkien wrote his elves he emphasized their nobility. (Though he could not completely avoid the sinister characteristics in The Hobbit.) That’s been the dominant viewpoint since then. Along with Walt Disney’s cheerfully honest dwarves and pixies.

One does not care to acknowledge the mistakes of one’s youth.

So on Aqua, the elemental spirits are no longer invisible and mysterious tricksters. They are scientists, engineers, and technicians. The world of Aria is what happens when imagination becomes reality.

That said, I find it odd that gnomes and salamanders are doing the difficult work of terraforming. But the undines just laze about in gondolas giving sightseeing tours. Shouldn’t they be minding the vast ocean that covers Aqua? Doing biological and chemical analysis and stuff? Even the sylphs have a useful role. Not that tourism isn’t an important part of the economy. Perhaps there are true nymphs to take care of the scientific tasks.

This post was made possible by Google Books. Next week, Aria the Natural #5: The Wonder Of That Rainy Day…/The Discoveries On That Spring Day… (How fitting for the first full week of spring.)