Map of the Whorl

Apocalypse of the Long Sun

One of the themes of Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the Long Sun is Revelation chapters 13-18. These are the famous verses having to do the “beast of the sea” and the “whore of Babylon”. Wolfe does not follow these chapters event by event, verse by verse. Sometimes the “bad guy” characters in the Revelation of John are “good guys” in The Long Sun. In threading this theme into the story, Wolfe is interested in the apocalyptic flavor of the last chapters of Exodus of the Long Sun and in positioning Silk’s and Hyacinth’s love affair as a portrait of the Church as the “bride of Christ”. See Thelxepeia’s Mirrors for more information.

The following verse apply:

Revelation 6
² And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. ³ And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. ⁴ And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. ⁵ And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. ⁶ And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. ⁷ And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. ⁶ And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

The four horsemen are represented by Kingcup as one of the head's of the seven-headed beast (see below) and her occupation as a proprietor of a livery represents the four horsemen.

Rev. 17
¹And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto you the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters: ² With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. ³ So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: ⁵ And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. ⁶ And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

¹⁶And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. ¹⁷ For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman which you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.

The harlot of the Long Sun is Viron, typified by Orchid’s brothel. Thus, Viron is the “great whore of many waters” (Lake Limna). She rides on the Ayuntamiento.

Rev. 13
¹And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns,and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. ²And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. ³And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.^A ⁴And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? ⁵And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies…^B ⁶And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. ⁷And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations…

¹¹And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. ^C ¹²And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him, and caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ¹³And he did great wonders, so that he made fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, ¹⁴And deceived them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; ¹⁵ And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. ¹⁶ And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: ¹⁷ And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ^D ¹⁸ Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

The beast with seven heads that came out of the sea is the Ayuntamiento which came out of Lake Limna, and the heads are it’s members: Lemur, Loris, Potto, Tarsier, Galago, Newt, and Kingcup (the last two added at the end of Exodus to replace Lemur and Loris). Potto is the head that was wounded to death and healed. Lemur and Potto express blasphemous for the gods of the Whorl.

All the members of the Ayuntamiento are water dragons. Newt's and Kingcup's names identify them as "water dragons". The Lesser Primate family have shed their skins as snakes do, and as snakes were believed to do by the ancients, they shed them in order to become immortal. With Newt's and Kingcup's addition to the Ayuntamiento, it becomes the seven-headed beast which rises from the sea and draws it’s power from the Dragon.

I have not yet identified the “ten horns” but I anticipate that I will on my next reading. I currently suspect they are the 10 persons at the dinner table in Exodus of the Long Sun. It could be that at on my next reading, I’ll identify the “feet of bear”, “mouth of lion”, and nature of “leopard” in the Ayuntamiento.
The “dragon” is Scylla who founded the Ayuntamiento.
The beast that came out of the earth with two horns is the Trivigaunte which, at the end of Exodus of the Long Sun, was lead by the two Generalissimo Siyufs (one chemical and the other original). Both Siyufs were put in place by the Ayuntamiento to “exercise its power," although the Trivigaunte are also dragons. The Siyufs call down mortars from the airship (“fire from heaven”) on to Viron, and each time Ayuntamiento released them, their purpose was “to deceive”.
The power of the beast over all buying and selling is represented by Newt who controls the purse of Viron's Guard.

Rev. 18
² And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.^E

⁴And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.^F

⁸Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her. ^G

²³ And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in you; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you: ^H

The devil, foul spirit, and unclean, hateful bird are Quetzal, Mucor, and Oreb; all of whom make cameos during the last battle for Viron.
The fall of Bablyon is the fall of Viron, and Silks mantaeon is called “out of her” to escape to Blue.
Verse 8 is the chaotic falling apart of Viron just as the Guard and the Ayuntamiento come up with a plan to ensure peace.
The bridegroom and bride are Silk and Hyacinth who disappeared during the last battle and were seen no more. The candle is Silk, because a "silk" is a serge, a large ceremonial candle used in churches.

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