[thechat] fantasy authors (was RE: Cadfael)

[Martin Burns]

On 3 Jan 2006, at 22:17, Luther, Ron wrote:

>>> He's certainly very *literate*
>
> Agreed!  Anyone naming a primary character "Rincewind" certainly
> must be more than passingly acquainted with Brecht!

No, don't get that one, sorry...

The authorised origin is:
> The story behind Rincewind's name goes back to 1924, when J. B.  
> Morton took over authorship of the column 'By The Way' in the Daily  
> Express, a London newspaper.
>
> He inherited the pseudonym 'Beachcomber' from his predecessors on  
> the job (the column had existed since 1917), but he was to make  
> that name forever his own by virtue of his astonishing output and  
> success: Morton wrote the column for over 50 years, six times a  
> week, until 1965 when the column became a weekly feature, and  
> continued to the last column in November 1975.
>
> Beachcomber/Morton used an eccentric cast of regular characters in  
> his sketches, which frequently caricatured self-important and  
> highbrow public figures. One continual theme was the silliness of  
> the law courts, featuring amongst others Mr Justice Cocklecarrot  
> and the twelve Red-Bearded Dwarves. In one sketch, the names of  
> those dwarfs were given as Sophus Barkayo-Tong, Amaninter Axling,  
> Farjole Merrybody, Guttergorm Guttergormpton, Badly Oronparser,  
> Cleveland Zackhouse, Molonay Tubilderborst, Edeledel Edel, Scorpion  
> de Rooftrouser, Listenis Youghaupt, Frums Gillygottle, and, wait  
> for it: Churm Rincewind. Terry says:
>
> "I read of lot of Beachcomber in second-hand collections when I was  
> around 13. Dave Langford pointed out the origin of Rincewind a few  
> years ago, and I went back through all the books and found the name  
> and thought, oh, blast, that's where it came from. And then I  
> thought, what the hell, anyway."
http://www.co.uk.lspace.org/books/apf/the-colour-of-magic.html

Cheers
Martin

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