From: Brownes3 <Brownes3@aol.com>
Subject: (whorl) Derivation of talus
Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 09:28:59 EDT

I don't recall anyone posting a possible derivation of the term of talus on
this, list,although I remember at one point several posts saying "talus" was
still a mystery.

Here's my try:

I'm re-reading Nightside and came to the passage that describes the painting
of Pas creating the Whorl. The message mentions two taluses of a particularly
lovely shade of butter yellow. Obviously, they are bulldozers, but a certain
kind -- yellow is the brand color of Caterpillar Tractors. So I went looking
for associations with caterpillars or butterliesa and such.

I needn't have been so devious.  According to Webster's, a talus is:

"a slope formed by an accumulation  of rock debris."

So a talus is named after the thing it makes:  the slope the bulldozer blade
leaves in the rubbled after it pulls back.

What do y'all think?

Rich Browne

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/