From: bordenet@wam.umd.edu (Scott Kenneth Bordenet)
Subject: Re: What is "Fountain of Lamneth" about?
Organization: University of Maryland at College Park
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 03:30:52 GMT

>
>	The first Rush album I ever listened to in its entirity was,
>believe it or not, _Caress of Steel_.  

Interestingly, Rush was my first Rock group, and remains my favorite.

>  Can [the second side] be viewed
>as an allegory of life with the first part (which I think is called "In
>the Valley,") representing birth, "Didacts and Narpets" representing
>childhood and education, "Panacea" representing puberty (awareness of
>sexual/romantic love),"Bacchus Plateau" as old age (with its nostalgia for
>the past yet acceptance of coming death). and the closing piece, "The
>Fountain", as being about death.  If so, what does "No-one at the Bridge"
>represent in this schema?
>
>	The whole piece is set up as quest--  from the moment the narrator/
>protagonist is born, he "live[s] to climb that mountain to the fountain of
>Lamneth."  What is so important about his attaining this fountain.  What
>does it represent?  Does the fact that he dies upon reaching the fountain
>mean that life is no longer worth living or is the fountain death itself?

I saw the journey up the mountain as the journey of life itself.
When I was little, all I wanted was to be grown up.  I think that's the 
longing talked about here.  Or maybe just the desire to be free from the 
influence of one's parents.

This is the way I see it: In The Valley, he is born.  He longs to live life
and climb the mountain that the sun sets behind (hmm...).  

The next song on my version (tape) is "I Think I'm Going Bald."  This is so
out of character with the other five songs that I just ignore it.

In "No One At The Bridge," his life is obviously out of control.  He's 
"lashed helpless to the mast" and direction is left to the mercy of the ocean.
I think that an important part to understanding this song is the line 
"Remembering when first I held the wheel in my own hands."  The way I saw that
was as the first time he moved out from under his parents wings, and made some
serious life-long decisions for his self.  When he left home, he went out into 
the world to explore some "distant lands."  Now, however, he's run into some
tough times, and he's left his family behind.  He's alone in the world.

Panacea is a love song.  I don't know what to say about that except that he's
found "a meaning for my life, a shelter from the storm."  (the same storm?)
Note that the song opens with mist clearing from his eyes, just as "No One
At The Bridge" started with mist in his eyes.  Also interesting that he
"must be gone before the light of dawn."  The sun again.  Could the journey
of the sun across the sky be the journey of life also?

Bacchus Plateau is a drinking song.  (The reason I refer to it like this will
be made clear later.)  He is looking back over his life, sees that he is old
and weary, and that his life nears its end... mention of the mountain is made
again.  

Now he reaches The Fountain.  His life nears the end, yet is only the beginning
for though the sun sets, it will rise again.  The mists, which came back in 
Bacchus Plateau, are rising.  I think the part about the dream giving the flame
means that it is our passions and our desires that make life worth living. 
The big gitaur cresendo and then the gentle acoustic gitaur make me think of
death, and the spirit leaving the body to float around a bit before being born
again, or going to the afterworld (the next stage of life)  "Still, I am."

This makes five parts to the song.  Made me think of Lieutenant Kije's Suite
by Prokofiev.  It starts with a birth, next comes romance (the part which 
doesn't exactly fit with "No One At The Bridge," except that both can be seen
as a transition from puberty/young adult to middle age), then the marriage  
(Panacea had a lot to do with stability), then Troika, which was a drinking
song, then the death of Kije.  I don't know if there really is a connection,
but it's always something to think about.
 
As for what Lamneth means, I think a lot of what I said will be proven or 
disproven depending on what it really does mean.  May I suggest that you
post a question to alt.mythology?  There's a chance that it might belong in
some Norse myth or something.

I hope this all makes sense.  I never really thought about it before, it
was just an impression I always had.

--Scott