The FAQ's ma'am

[Edward Hoden]

Oh hooray!  After the umpteenth attempt I have finally managed to get the BOC
FAQ.  I just LOVE this fantastic AOL Web Browser (snort).

Indeed, indeed, it is well worth the space it takes up on my PC.  The hard
drive pirouettes merrily whenever I require it to access the file.

Reading through it (and realizing this has probably been debated a hundred
times but I'm going to bring it up anyway) I decided to put my 2 cents in on
the WoT lyrics interpretation.  Specifically, what is Salamander Drake?  To
begin with, what is the song about?  IMHO it fits in to the Imaginos saga as
the Imaginos struggling against the onrush of modern technology, displacing
myth and magic (this could be as Del Rio or as Baron Frankenstein).  Seen as
this, salamander and drake are seen as part of a mystical formula for the
aquisition of power.

The power that was Undine.  Undine are elemental forces associated with
water.  By that connection, we can assume that Salamander and Drake are also.
 Salamanders (in Medeival alchemy) were spirits of fire.  Drake could refer
to two things, both alchemical in nature.  Drake as in mandrake, a root used
in magic formulae or Drake as in a wingless dragon.  Both of these are
associated with the elements of the Earth.  Thus we have three of the four
elements that compose reality (in ALchemy) present.  Using these forces,
Imaginos claims one of many things.  Saturn could represent Time (as Kronos),
power (as Kronos was the first king of the gods), the BOC (as Kronos' symbol
represents the Cult) or Air (as in the planet representing space) the fourth
elemental force.

Do I have to much time on my hands?  Later Days.
Run Iago