A Heinlein Concordance

created by M. E. Cowan

Robert A Heinlein

Introduction no frames index

From the stories:   A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ
From the real world:   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w xyz

A Heinlein Concordance ©2004 M.E.Cowan

 

Farnham's Freehold

books
In several novels, Heinlein provides detailed lists of books that have a particular literary or practical value. Hugh Farnham stored these books in the family bomb shelter both to provide practical guides to survival and to preserve cultural artifacts.
(also in other stories)

bullock
Unit of currency for the Chosen, also called "corn of the Chosen".

Chosen
Ruling elite of the Noonday Region. They were descended from Africans who survived the all-out war among Northern powers in the 20th century. Few details of their society are given, but descent was reckoned through women although power was held by men (brothers of inheriting females). They kept the surviving whites completely enslaved, and based their religion and aspects of society on a somewhat rewritten Koran.

Curiosity
Memtok's term for dwarves, congenital defectives, etc., kept by the Chosen for their amusement value. He decided it was best to think of Hugh Farnham as a Curiosity, since he didn't fit any other category.

Department of Ancient History
Title created to provide a job and status for Hugh Farnham in Ponse's household.

Doctor-Livingstone-I-Presume
The Farnhams' cat, which survived with them in the bomb shelter. She was usually just called "Doc"; Ponse pronounced her full name "Doklivstnipsoom."

The Dutchman (no other name)
Proprietor of Schmidt's Corner.

Encyclopedia Britannica
Main reference work in the Farnham shelter. Hugh Farnham translated large parts of it for Ponse, particularly the sections on games that could be adapted and sold to the Chosen.

Family
The servants in the Lord Protector's household. The Lord preferred a patriarchal image to that of owner-and-master.
(also in other stories)

Alexander (Duke) Farnham
Hugh Farnham's son, a lawyer, named after his maternal grandfather. His father's assistant translator in Ponse's household, he became addicted to Happiness. He submitted to castration so he could be his mother's companion in Ponse's personal chambers.

Grace Farnham
Hugh Farnham's wife, an alcoholic. She lost touch with reality after the family was hurled forward in time, became Ponse's "bedwarmer", and was mostly unaware of her real circumstances.

Hubert (Hugh) Farnham
His family, and his daughter's guest Barbara Wells, survived a nuclear attack because of the bomb shelter he'd built over the family's protests. They were hurled thousands of years into the future by the blast. He set up a freehold until the group was taken captive by the rulers of the land. He became Chief Translator for his captor, using the books he'd had in the shelter, but he resisted "domestication". After he made an unsuccessful escape attempt with Barbara and their twin sons, they were volunteered as subjects in a time-travel experiment and returned to the time just before the nuclear blast. They took refuge in an abandoned mine outside the blast area, setting it up as a freehold and trading post.
Farnham's Freehold
Trading post established by Hugh Farnham and Barbara Wells when they were sent back in time by Ponse's scientists.

Hugh Farnham [Jr.]
Barbara Wells' older twin son by Hugh Farnham.

Karen Farnham
Hugh Farnham's daughter, a college student. Pregnant before the nuclear attack, she died in the freehold just after giving birth. The baby died a short while after her.

Karl Joseph Farnham
Barbara Wells' younger twin son by Hugh Farnham.

Katherine Josephine Farnham
Karen Farnham's daughter, who lived only a day after her mother died in childbirth.

Jerry Giesler
[mentioned in passing] The Farnhams' lawyer, who lived in Los Angeles.

Gnou
Head cook in the Lord Protector's household.

Happiness
Euphoric drug issued to the servants of the Chosen, intended to keep them docile. It is nontoxic but highly addictive. Its use is voluntary, but almost all the servants indulge.

Havely Lode
A played-out mine that Hugh Farnham owned, where he and Barbara Wells took shelter from the atomic bombardment after being returned to their own time.

Hoyle's Book of Games
Stocked in the Farnham bomb shelter. Hugh translated it for Ponse to produce the games for the Chosen.

Hunter's Horn
Mountain peak near the Farnham home. Duke Farnham's recognition of it established that the bomb shelter had been hurled through time but not space.

"Inspired Games"
Name given to Ponse's business venture based on Hugh Farnham and Joseph's descriptions of ancient games such as bridge.

Joseph (no last name)
The Farnhams' African American houseboy, an accounting student. He survived the nuclear war and was hurled forward in time with them in their bomb shelter. Hugh Farnham made him his second in command. After the group was found by the Chosen, he was taken on as a protégé by Ponse, repudiating his earlier relationship to the Farnhams but doing what he could to make their lot easier.
(also in other stories)

Kitten (no other name)
Name that Hugh Farnham bestowed on the "bedwarmer" assigned him in Ponse's household, after learning that she had never been given a name.

Lord of Nonsense
Leading role in an annual pageant enjoyed by the servants of the Chosen. Hugh Farnham was given the role parodying the Lord Protector, enabling him to steal a wig and makeup for an eventual escape attempt.

Lord Protector
Steward of the Noonday Region, who discovered the Farnham family on his land and "adopted" them as servants. His personal name was Ponse.

Mamaloi
The elder sister of the deity Uncle the Mighty, of the Chosen. She was invoked as Eternal Mamaloi, a personification of the female principle.

MAMMA
Military base near the Farnhams' home, probable target of the atomic bombardment that hurled them into the future.

Memtok (no last name)
Chief Palace Domestic to the Lord Protector of the Noonday Region. He was proud that he was both deprived of his thumbs and neutered, showing that he had served his lord both as stud and as household servant. He was the most powerful servant in the household.

Mount James
Mountain near the Farnhams' home. Duke Farnham's recognition of it while reconnoitering confirmed that the bomb shelter had been blasted through time but not space.

Mountain Exchange Bank
[mentioned in passing] The Farnhams' bank.

Mountain Springs
The Farnhams' hometown.

Mrika (no last name)
A member of the Chosen and Ponse's heir; he shared Ponse's his vices but had none of his good qualities. Ponse ordered him to play bridge with Hugh Farnham as his partner, but Mrika was a poor sport and quit midgame.

Name of Uncle
Oath used by servants of the Chosen. (For Uncle the Mighty, the chief deity of the Chosen.)

Noonday Region
Area of the future Earth in which the Farnhams found themselves after an atomic war. It was roughly located where Colorado was.

North Star Protectorate
Area inhabited by the Chosen, location unspecified.

Pipes (no other name)
Engineer in the Lord Protector's household. He gave Hugh Farnham a tour of the plant and an elaborately drawn map of the Summer Palace, not knowing that Hugh wanted the information for an escape attempt.

Ponse
Family name (i.e., name used within his household) of the Lord Protector.

Schmidt's Corner
Grocery store near Havely Lode where Hugh Farnham and Barbara Wells bought supplies after they returned to the past and before taking refuge from the atomic bombardment.

Supreme Lord Proprietor
Owner of the Noonday Region. His personal name was not given.

time
A massive atomic explosion hurled the Farnham bomb shelter thousands of years into the future. The Chosen scientists discovered a method of sending objects back in time, but when Hugh Farnham and Barbara Wells were sent back, they discovered themselves apparently in an alternate world.
(also in other stories)

Turmoil Ages
The Chosen's name for the time before the Atomic War.

Uncle the Mighty
The Chosen's name for the Supreme Being.

United States of America
An assault by atomic weapons from the Soviet Union resulted in destruction of all northern-hemisphere governments.
(Farnham's Freehold)
(also in other stories)

Barbara Wells
College friend of Karen Farnham, a divorcee. She was visiting Karen when a nuclear attack began, and survived by joining the family in their bomb shelter. She was appointed the group's historian and farmer, and became Hugh Farnham's lover. She gave birth to twin sons after the family's capture by the Chosen. After an unsuccessful escape attempt, she and Hugh were used as subjects in a time-travel experiment, sent back to the time just before the atomic war. They fled to an abandoned mine outside the blast periphery, and eventually set up a freehold and trading post there. The Chosen and their servants pronounced her name "Barba" or "Barbra".

 

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