Hello,

Has anybody read the horror story "Skule Skerry" by John Buchan (1928)? I have asked several native speakers what "folds of tucks in space" mentioned in the story could mean but nobody has been able to answer it. So I have decided to ask here because I am sure the members of this forum have read many weird tales of old literature which is sometimes hard to get and maybe might help to decipher the strange phrase.

The whole passage runs as follows.

"One thing I thought I saw clearly--the meaning of Skule Skerry. By some alchemy of nature, at which I could only guess, it was on the track by which the North exercised its spell, a cableway for the magnetism of that cruel frozen Uttermost, which man might penetrate but could never subdue or understand. Though the latitude was only 61°, there were folds of tucks in space, and this isle was the edge of the world. Birds knew it, and the old Northmen, who were primitive beings like the birds, knew it. That was why an inconsiderable skerry had been given the name of a conquering Jarl. The old Church knew it, and had planted a chapel to exorcise the demons of darkness. I wondered what sights the hermit, whose cell had been on the very spot where I was cowering, had seen in the winter dusks.

I can only speculate, but here goes...

The passage seems to be an example of literary paradox in that it contains mutually exclusive concepts as if they, in this instance, co-exist. This, in itself, is patently impossible in the logical, rational world, and Lovecraft uses this technique when describing R'lyeh, Cthulu's city.

"Though the latitude was only 61°, there were folds of tucks in space, and this isle was the edge of the world."

The author places the locale at a specific latitude--a "rational" location--but then tells us that there's more to it than map coordinates. He uses two terms that mean, basically, the same general thing, folds and tucks, and used in this sense it amplifies the concept--it is doubly removed by an irrational spacial involution from linear space, as we understand it.

And since there is no actual edge to the world, and yet due to the redundant involutions the skerry is there at the edge, this reinforces the idea of the paradoxical, the unattainable.

To me, the passage is why I like reading well written imaginative fiction. It's like trying to look hard are a celtic design, or to unwind the Gordian knot mentally. Quite stimulating and pleasant!

Sawfish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life is a tragedy to those who feel, a comedy to those who think."

Thank you very much for your help.

I strongly suspect that "folds of tucks" should be "folds and tucks".

That could indeed be the case. Hard to say if one suspects the author to be of a poetic flair; e.g., I think that Dunsany *might* use the two terms as indicated, ie., "folds of tucks".

Sawfish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life is a tragedy to those who feel, a comedy to those who think."

This is why I enjoy reading the Eldritch Dark forum. The interest in details and subtleties of weird phenomena in supernatural literature. Rather than just sweeping comments saying a writer is great.

Sawfish described what I had a hunch and feeling of, but couldn't quite put into words.

I have nothing to add, except perhaps try to say differently, that if only "folds" or only "tucks" had been used, then that word had been read literally in its basic materialistic meaning, no reader would have understood, because the weird would not have been implied. But by putting two words that mean essentially the same thing together the author repeats himself, thereby pointing out the difficulty of describing the strange concept in words.

Perhaps I think that more evolved experienced supernatural writers, talents like Lovecraft, C. A. Smith, or Blackwood, are better at doing it than John Buchan, by using more colorful and exact language.

"Folds of tucks" or "folded tucks" sounds like a dressmaker's expression. I think the "tuck" would be the folded out flap of fabric, and the "fold of the tuck" would be the actual crease where it is folded. The outer fold or crease is a spot that might be in one sense in the middle of the dress, but in another sense on the edge it.

Thanks a lot for the ideas.

And thanks to you I now have a new author to consider!

I'd not heard of Buchan before, but now I see that he had a collection (Far Islands, and Other Tales of Fantasy) that, if I can find it, may be an interesting new experience.

Sawfish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life is a tragedy to those who feel, a comedy to those who think."

Some of Buchan´s weird/horror stories are really great, chiefy "Skule Skerry", "The Wind in the Portico", "The Green Wildebeest", "The Grove of Ashtarot" and "The Watcher by the Threshold".

They are available here:

[gutenberg.net.au]

[www.gutenberg.org]

[www.gutenberg.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 9 Nov 18 | 04:20AM by Minicthulhu.

Excellent!

Thanks!

Sawfish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life is a tragedy to those who feel, a comedy to those who think."

John Buchan is the author of The Thirty-Nine Steps, a famous thriller novel about an ordinary man who puts his country's interests before his own safety. Alfred Hitchcock made a movie based on it. It is the only of his books that I have, passed on from my father.

He also wrote No-Man's-Land, a novella about the "little people".

His outer disposition reminds me of H. P. Lovecraft. http://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/f/f9/John_Buchan.jpg

One must not forget Lovecraft mentions Buchan in his "Supernatural Horror in Literature." He writes about him:

"In the novel Witch Wood John Buchan depicts with tremendous force a survival of the evil Sabbat in a lonely district of Scotland. The description of the black forest with the evil stone, and of the terrible cosmic adumbrations when the horror is finally extirpated, will repay one for wading through the very gradual action and plethora of Scottish dialect. Some of Mr. Buchan's short stories are also extremely vivid in their spectral intimations; The Green Wildebeest, a tale of African witchcraft, The Wind in the Portico, with its awakening of dead Britanno-Roman horrors, and Skule Skerry, with its touches of sub-arctic fright, being especially remarkable."

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> John Buchan is the author of The Thirty-Nine
> Steps, a famous thriller novel about an ordinary
> man who puts his country's interests before his
> own safety. Alfred Hitchcock made a movie based on
> it. It is the only of his books that I have,
> passed on from my father.
>
> He also wrote No-Man's-Land, a novella about the
> "little people".
>
> His outer disposition reminds me of H. P.
> Lovecraft.
> [www.isfdb.org].
> jpg

You'll forgive me, I hope, if I prefer this one:

[www.vintagenovels.com]

;^)

Sawfish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life is a tragedy to those who feel, a comedy to those who think."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10 Nov 18 | 08:30PM by Sawfish.

Sawfish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> You'll forgive me, I hope, if I prefer this one:
>
> [www.vintagenovels.com]
> -john-buchan.html
>
> ;^)

Yeah, Witch Wood sounds quite interesting.
John Buchan must have been well traveled; that is an impressive looking plumage. Is it Apache?