NPPF: C.17: aka Ravus, Ravenstone, and d'Argus

[Jasper Fidget]

"Ravus": suggests Poe's "The Raven", which bird of ill-omen may be read as a
manifestation of the poet's madness generated by his despair over the loss
of his lover.  Gradus might be read as a manifestation of Botkin's madness
generated by his despair over the loss of his homeland.

Cheirogaleus ravus, a species of lemur: the "large iron-grey Dwarf Lemur."
Does this link Gradus to Sybil in the form of a tree-dwelling prosimian
primate?  Yeah, I guess not.

http://www.primate.wisc.edu/pin/factsheets/cheirogaleus_ravus.html

http://www.pbs.org/edens/madagascar/creature2.htm

Also Sistrurus ravus, a species of rattlesnake (the "pigmy" rattlesnake).


"Ravenstone": A village in Buckinghamshire County, UK, a region that once
formed a border area between the Anglo Saxon and Viking kingdoms (again, the
Vikings forming the geographical and historical glue for many of the novel's
references) and site of a castle built to fight off the invading Danes in
the 10th century; birthplace of William Penn (who founded Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, and Bucks County PA) and G. K. Chesterton; also the location
of "Milton's Cottage", where Milton composed _Paradise Lost_, and the
village of Ivinghoe, from which Sir Walter Scott drew inspiration for his
novel _Ivanhoe_.

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/about/history.htm

"The name Ravenstone derives from the persons name of 'Hræfn' or 'Hrafn'
(Old Scandinavian name or possibly Old English) + the old English 'tun', and
means 'Hræfn's, or Hrafn's, farm'.

http://met.open.ac.uk/genuki/big/eng/BKM/Ravenstone/Index.html


Suggests E.G. Ravenstein (1834-1913), an explorer, geographer, naturalist,
and historian.  Author of the _Laws of Migration_ (1885), which Laws
include:

Long distance migrations favor big cities [like Copenhagen, Geneva, Nice]
Most migrants are adults 20-45 years [like Gradus, Kinbote]
Most migration proceeds step-by-step [like Zembla -> Copenhagen -> Geneva]
Each migration flow produces counterflow [...]
Large towns grow more by migration [especially college towns?]

http://www.bemidjistate.edu/geography/migration.htm

http://www.emory.edu/COLLEGE/ECON/faculty/curran/Adobe%20Files/Ravenstein188
9.pdf


"d'Argus": suggests "the arc" as well as "dark", but also Argus was the name
of Odysseus' dog, the only one to recognize him on his return to Ithaca.
Ithaca of course is the name of the town where Cornell University is
located, and Gradus is the only one to explicitly recognize Kinbote's true
identity there.

Also the Argus Butterfly of the family Nymphalidae (in French the Papillon
d'Argus?).

Also there was apparently a camera called Argus Model D manufactured
1939-1940, which evolved into the Argus Model K.  Probably grasping here,
but an interesting coincidence anyway.

http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/7008/argus_d/


-=Jasper Fidget=-