Editing 1255: Columbus
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | [[White Hat]] tells two children that Christopher Columbus knew the world was round, but that others believed it to be flat. However, this is a false narrative known as the {{w|Myth of the Flat Earth}}. Educated people in Columbus's time knew the world was round, and knew the approximate radius of the Earth. Columbus claimed that the distance to sail west from Europe to Asia was drastically lower than others believed, but {{w|Christopher Columbus#Geographical_considerations|he was wrong about this}}. If another continent and the "{{w|West Indies}}" had not been fortuitously in the right place, Columbus and his crew probably would have died at sea. | |
− | As White Hat begins his explanation, Megan objects, though not explaining why. White Hat continues, so Megan interrupts, saying that Columbus went in a straight line as the world curved away, ending up in {{w|Valinor}} and the {{w|Undying Lands}}. Megan's story is an allusion to ''{{w|The Silmarillion}}'', by {{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}}, set in the same world as ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' and ''{{w|The Hobbit}}''. The claim that Columbus sailed on a tangent to the surface alludes to how the elves' ships leave the curved sea surface and sail in a straight line to reach Valinor on the same route that they sailed when the world was still flat. The mentions of a silmaril and the morning star are a reference to {{w|Eärendil|Eärendil the Mariner}}, the only mortal sailor to reach the Undying Lands, with one of the {{w|Silmaril}}s | + | As White Hat begins his explanation, Megan objects, though not explaining why. White Hat continues, so Megan interrupts, saying that Columbus went in a straight line as the world curved away, ending up in {{w|Valinor}} and the {{w|Undying Lands}}. Megan's story is an allusion to ''{{w|The Silmarillion}}'', by {{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}}, set in the same world as ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' and ''{{w|The Hobbit}}''. The claim that Columbus sailed on a tangent to the surface alludes to how the elves' ships leave the curved sea surface and sail in a straight line to reach Valinor on the same route that they sailed when the world was still flat. The mentions of a silmaril and the morning star are a reference to {{w|Eärendil|Eärendil the Mariner}}, the only mortal sailor to reach the Undying Lands, with one of the {{w|Silmaril}}s. Megan humorously conflates the two myths, suggesting that they are both equally false. In Megan's telling, Columbus ends up as the morning star, which is actually the planet {{w|Venus}} (the same fate as Eärendil in Tolkien's mythology). |
The joke is that when White Hat tells her to stop making up the story, Megan pointedly replies "You first", indicating that she originally complained about White Hat's retelling of the Columbus story because his account didn't really happen, and so he was also "making things up". Megan's fantasy tale was then delivered to make a point. | The joke is that when White Hat tells her to stop making up the story, Megan pointedly replies "You first", indicating that she originally complained about White Hat's retelling of the Columbus story because his account didn't really happen, and so he was also "making things up". Megan's fantasy tale was then delivered to make a point. | ||
− | The title text refers to the {{w|Smallpox# | + | The title text refers to the {{w|Smallpox#Human_history|transfer of small pox}} to North America by Europeans, which caused the deaths of untold thousands of Native Americans. The introduction of smallpox to the Undying Lands would indeed make their name ironic. |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[White Hat talks to | + | :[White Hat talks to children.] |
:White Hat: Everyone said the world was flat, but Columbus knew it was round. | :White Hat: Everyone said the world was flat, but Columbus knew it was round. | ||
− | :Megan | + | :Megan: *Sigh* No, no, no. |
− | : | + | :White Hat: So he took his ships and sailed west— |
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:Megan: —in a line tangent to the surface. The sea fell away, and he landed in ''Valinor.'' | :Megan: —in a line tangent to the surface. The sea fell away, and he landed in ''Valinor.'' | ||
− | + | :Megan: A silmaril on his brow, he wanders the heavens as the morning star, still believing he reached India. | |
− | :Megan: A | ||
:White Hat: Stop making stuff up. | :White Hat: Stop making stuff up. | ||
:Megan: You first. | :Megan: You first. | ||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]] | [[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]] | ||
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[[Category:LOTR]] | [[Category:LOTR]] |