Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0014433, Tue, 19 Dec 2006 09:33:34 -0500

Subject
Query: Knackle and brocken in PF
From
Date
Body
Brocken (570.7) is glossed by Brian Boyd in the LoA edition as "a name
of a
German mountain where witches assembled on Walpurgis Night ." p.897
Knackle (648.17) "as a verb to cause to crack or break sharply, as a
nut."
p. 902
The letter from Vera to Reuben Abel is mentioned in BB's gloss on
"skoramis"
(549.2) p.896

Given Kinbote's goetic imagery and the parheliacal aspect of PF, I would
like to add the following definition of "brocken" and a fascinating
image
thereof:

The Brocken Spectre appears when a low sun is behind a climber who is
looking downwards into mist from a ridge or peak. The "spectre" is the
shadowy figure - the glow and rings are of course a glory centered
directly
opposite the sun at the antisolar point. But how is the ghostly figure
produced? It is no more than the shadow of the climber projected forward
through the mist. All shadows converge towards the antisolar point where
the
glory also shines. The sometimes odd triangular shape is a perspective
effect. The Brocken Spectre is a similar effect to anti-crepuscular rays
and
cloud shadows.

Please see link: http://atoptics.co.uk/droplets/globrock.htm
For more pictures, click on right top arrow.

A. Bouazza.

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