From: tj@alpine.b17a.ingr.com (T.J. Higgins)
Subject: The Necromancer
Reply-To: tj@alpine.b17a.ingr.com
Organization: The Ernest P. Worrell Institute for the Study of the Vernal Equinox
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 16:57:46 GMT

A while back there was some talk about "A Farewell to Kings,"
"Beneath, Between, & Behind," and "Bastille Day."  This brought to
mind something about "The Necromancer" that I've thought about for 
quite some time, but have never seen mentioned.

A long time ago in the NMS there was a discussion about the
Necromancer and who each of the characters is and where the story
takes place.  In NMS 215, in response to someone's question, Victor
Kamutzki wrote:

> |] I could never figure it out either.  But it's such a minor thing.  Is it:
> |]
> |] (1) "Fording the river Dawn..."     or
> |] (2) "Fording the river at dawn..."
> 
> Ooof.  You slay me!  But you're not from around here, so I'll forgive you.
> The Don River runs through The City (Toronto, that is [...] ) 
> from north to south, emptying into Lake Ontario slightly east of the downtown
> core.  Therefore, it is "Fording the River Don".

Goode's World Atlas confirms that there is indeed a Don River flowing
south through the heart of Toronto.

And in NMS 265, Ronald L. Chrisley wrote:

> The three travelers from Willowdale are Geddy, Alex, and Neil, of
> course!
> 
> Or perhaps, since Neil didn't grow up with Geddy and Alex, the three
> are Geddy, Alex, and John Rutsey, with Neil being Prince By-tor (or
> the Necromancer, depending on your taste)!

If we accept that the 3 travellers are indeed the members of Rush, and
that the references to Willow Dale and the Dawn/Don River are intended
to indicate the Toronto area, when they ford the river and turn
south, just where are they headed?  To the U.S.A., of course (though 
they have to around Lake Ontario to get there).  That's right, "the
dark and forbidding lands of the Necromancer" are the freakin' U. S.
of A.!!!!

Lots of questions can be inferred at this point:  did Peart 
specifically choose south to imply that the U.S. is the world's 
bogeyman?  Does Peart have latent anti-U.S. feelings?  Or is he
merely reflecting the feelings of the Canadian populace?  Or is he 
reflecting his perceptions of the feelings of the Canadians?  Is this
feeling strictly in regards to U.S. military might (and the
willingness to use it)?  Or does it also refer to Canadian economy and
culture being overwhelmed by U.S. influences?

If you look at the song in that light, it kind of fits in with Gregg 
Jaeger's and Jim Chokey's discussion of an "aristocratic past vs. 
democratic present" in AFTK, BB&B, and BD.  Which only makes sense,
since all of the songs being discussed are from the same general time
period.

All of the other interpretations of "The Necromancer" that I have seen
compare it to "The Lord of the Rings."  The fact that the "dark
lands" might be the USA is a new twist.  Seventeen years and hundreds
of listenings after it was written, Peart never ceases to amaze.

And another thing:  How can silence shroud the forest and the birds 
announce the dawn at the same time?  :-)

-- 
T.J. Higgins | higgins@ingr.com | Intergraph Mapping Sciences | Huntsville, AL
"The more we think we know about
 The greater the unknown" -- Rush