THE PIECES Archipelago Chapter 1, “In a Southern City,” introduces Finnegan (John A. Solli) and Vincent J. Stranahan during a WWII furlough in Sydney (February 1943). Finnegan's thoughts reveal his sense of fractured identity ("he doubted that he would ever find a place in it") and hint at his archetypal nature ("Adam," "Dionysus"). In Sydney, they encounter key figures: Hans G. Schultz, Marie Monaghan, Loy Larkin, Margaret Murphy, Tom Shire, Freddy Castle, and the strikingly

IX. Later Timelines / Non-Linear Events This section follows events outside the post-World War II chronology of Section V, drawing on Archipelago and the later temporal displacements and voyages in More Than Melchisedech. These include Duffey's early, formative "lost" period; Finnegan's increasingly isolated later travels and possible deaths or returns to life; the Argo journeys, set in a world featuring the revived and skeletal Duffey; and the separate realities found in the

VI. Galveston & Joining the Brunhilde (The Devil Is Dead Opening) This section covers the opening events of The Devil Is Dead, focusing on Finnegan's initial encounter with Saxon Seaworthy and Anastasia Demetriades in Galveston, establishing the core mystery and setting the stage for the Brunhilde voyage. Initial Encounter & Amnesia: The novel opens with Finnegan (amnesiac/hungover) meeting Saxon X. Seaworthy in Galveston, sitting on a sidewalk near a graveyard [D:9–11, D:215

IV. World War II Era & Immediate Aftermath (Approx. 1941 - Early 1946) This section follows the "Dirty Five" through World War II, primarily in the Pacific Theater: their shared and separate experiences, the events that shape their relationships, and their discharge before the post-war reunion. Archipelago is the primary source for this period. A. Military Enlistment Henry Salvatore: Joins the US Army on his 21st birthday, December 8, 1941 [A:122, A:124]. Hans Schultz: Enlist

III. The Past This section catalogues specific historical periods, events, and figures that characters within the Argo Legend claim knowledge of, participate in via non-linear time, or which form the specific historical backdrop distinct from the foundational Mythic Past. These interactions demonstrate the characters' deep entanglement with, and reinterpretation of, established human history, or from within the Legend, the truth of history relative to Prime. A. Ancient Times.

G. The Argo & Argonauts (Primordial Aspects) The Argo and its Argonauts represent a complex system operating across multiple realities and timelines. Central is the Ship Argo, a foundational vessel acting with apparent intention [D:21], known under names and descriptions including Navicula Petri [A:44], Abd-Aliah's flagship [M:404], the Brunhilde [D:21; M:404], Land of Behest [M:404], Flying Serpent, Catherine, and Salle du Roi [M:404–405]. Archipelago adds the possible names

“But who are you really?” Mary Virginia asked. “Who are you in legend? Who are you in myth?” “So far as I know I have never been in either of those things, pretty Mary Virginia,” she said. “Should I have been?” “Of course you should have been,” Hans Schultz explained to her. “Nobody can be in life who has not been in legend and myth first. That is a requirement of being born.” —“Anamnesis,” United Mythologies Press A guide to the Argo Legend in eight parts, with diagrams, boo

II. Character Types and Cosmological Entities ​​​​​A. External Archetypes Lafferty does not treat archetypes as psychological products. They do not arise from inner mental states or from individual subconscious activity. Instead, in his fiction, they appear as external forces—ontologically real, active, and hard to avoid —though characters may shift between roles or embody multiple archetypes. Characters are buffeted by their basic presence and strong influence. The members o

Making sense of the Argo Legend can be hard going. Its unconventional structure, shifting genres, fluid timelines, connections to the Coscuin Chronicles, and metaphysical oddities will confuse first-time readers. It bleeds into everything Lafferty writes. The Legend is like one of its great images: the always simmering crock that Melchisedech Duffey sets up inside the Pelican Press [A:132–134]. Everything goes into it. So, what are these notes for? They are a rough-around-the

Alligator extension improved. Celestial Atlas and Argo Glossary updated. Green Tree resources overhauled.

“I came ashore, swimming and wading through turbulent water. It was early morning. The shore was muddy with engendering mud, and full of promise. It was the year 1923, and I was a young man of no more than a quarter of a century of physical years. I went up that muddy shore and entered into the green and burgeoning years of my life. If I remember to do it, I can come back to that same shore, and to that same year, and have another sixty green and burgeoning years to my life.

Hiroshi Inoue recently completed a Japanese translation of More Than Melchisedech (unpublished) and published this truly excellent commentary in a Japanese fanzine. The English translation below restores Lafferty’s original wording wherever Inoue quotes the novel. I agree with most of his argument, including his account of how the novels relate to the short stories. He lays it out with exceptional clarity.

“Molasses is a little like amber,” Diogenes said. “It flows so slowly that sometimes it seems to be solid. Creatures can be imprisoned in it and apparently be held motionless in it. They must deceive themselves as to their own time scale, for if they do not deceive themselves they will be dead . . . . Things can not have been going on for the orthodox time at the orthodox pace.” — "Out of the Molasses Trap" “There are no duplications in the Pristine World, and there are no no

No, I can’t recommend any good Irish myths or legends in translation. I have a copy of the John Strachan STORIES FROM THE TAIN which I have been meaning to translate for some years now, but it’s too damned difficult. It does have a glossary, but that covers only the unusual words. I have to go to my Dineen’s Irish-English dictionary a dozen times a page and it usually will not have the word, it being of modern Irish and the Tain being old Irish. But I have adapted several of

Today, an Argo Atlas, to be combined with a Coscuin Atlas at some point. As I put it together, I thought it would be fun to mention some connections between Finnegan and Dana Coscuin, too. Readers who come to The Devil Is Dead without having read the Coscuin Chronicles meet a character named Angela Cosquin in chapter seventeen. She is a Basse-Terre barmaid with an odd last name, and the reader learns that her father drew treasure maps for confidence men. Nothing in the novel

Sketch of the exhumed Little Hugh by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm (1791) 684 O yonge Hugh of Lyncoln, slayn also   Oh young Hugh of Lincoln, slain also 685 With cursed Jewes, as it is notable,   By cursed Jews, as it is well known, 686 For it is but a litel while ago,   For it is but a little while ago, 687 Preye eek for us, we synful folk unstable,   Pray also for us, we sinful folk unstable, 688 That of his mercy God so merciable   That of his mercy God so merciful 689 On us his

There is rollicking good-humor all through every Scripture. Samson, the riddle-telling judge and strong man, is full of high spirits even when going down to Gaza and to his death. David is full of fun when he invents the story of his victory over Goliath and sings it to his own harp music. Goliath was not that big, nor David that small; and moreover Goliath was killed by another warrior, Elhanan. But a story-teller can always fictionize accounts. There is a lot of fun in Bala

Jackson Square, New Orleans Refrain: Great day! Great day, the righteous marching; Great day! God’s going to build up Zion’s walls! Great day! Great day, the righteous marching; Great day! God’s going to build up Zion’s walls! 1 Chariot rode on the mountain top, God’s going to build up Zion’s walls! My God spoke and the chariot did stop,* God’s goin’ to build up Zion’s walls! [Refrain] 2 This is the day of jubilee, God’s going to build up Zion’s walls! The Lord has set His