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Post by Leatherhead on Mar 5, 2006 5:23:08 GMT
so, in the chapter "in the storm" the fighting machines go "ALOO", later in the book they make the more commonly mentioned noise "ULLA". Now it occurs to me that ulla is aloo backwards (oola). Why the change later on in the book? WE don't here them making this noise until the end of the book when they are dyeing, so personally i've always thought of Aloo to be the noise you would hear normally, while Ulla was a cry of distress. In the Jeff Wayne musical Ulla was the only noise the Martians made. Why might that be? amyone else feel the same way abou these noises and what they are used for? your thoughts are welcomed.
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Post by EvilNerfherder on Mar 5, 2006 17:24:47 GMT
We've covered this a fair bit before but anyway... As far as I remember, Wells' Martians only cry 'Aloo' once.. and that's within 'In the Storm'. It is 'Ulla' for the rest of the book. I suppose 'Ulla' was chosen for Jeff's album because it sounds better when 'sung'. Also, it is specifically mentioned on the album as an exultant cry at the end of part one... hardly a distress call in this case. I've always wondered if perhaps the 'word' itself used isn't important. Maybe there are pitch differences (that would mean specific things to the Martians) or some other thing that Wells' Narrator didn't pick up. Perhaps the 'Ulla' is purely some sort of a 'carrying signal' and the true message is encoded into it?
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Post by mctoddridesagain on Mar 5, 2006 18:11:12 GMT
I would have thought it's only a very rough approximation of the sounds the Martians make. After all, a cat doesn't actually say 'Miaow', or a dog say 'Woof', but that's how we write the sounds they make. Plus, at one point Wells's Narrator compares the Martian howl to a siren. I don't know about you, but I've never heard a siren say 'Aloo' or 'Ulla'...
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Post by Leatherhead on Mar 6, 2006 22:49:57 GMT
a carrier signal? interesting...that would make sense actually, since the narrator says that their 'ear' is pretty much useless in our atmosphere. i often wondered if they'd really be able to hear it, but if it were simply a carrier signal and they could pick up that frequency in the hood and convert it into brainwaves...that might just work
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Graz
Junior Member
I bring Sutekh's gift of death, to all humanity!
Posts: 43
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Post by Graz on Mar 12, 2006 18:24:27 GMT
Im glad the martians never said, 'Aloo' in the musical. I even laughed when I read it in the book. Sounds far to much like, "Helllooooo!"
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Post by Lensman on Mar 13, 2006 22:53:26 GMT
Book One, Chapter 15 mentions "sirenlike howls". I've assumed the words "aloo" and "ulla" were two attempts to represent the sounds they made. Certainly the "ulla, ulla" cry in "Dead London" seems to be a cry of distress, but who knows how much information their cries or howls carried? We've debated that before. No way of knowing. Could be just the simple "look out, I'm here!" message of a foghorn, or as ENH said it could be a sophisticated audio communication system, presumably using a mechanical means of encoding/decoding the message. Of course today we'd think of using electronic means, but there's no reason they couldn't use a mechanical means of encoding/decoding a sound message... which is essentially what a phonograph does. My guess-- based on the passage "sirenlike howls, running up and down the scale from one note to another"-- is that they are essentially code-words, allowing a limited number of predetermined messages to be sent. Army/cavalry buglers used to do the same; there were different signals for attack, retreat, reveille, taps... the following website lists no less than 43 bugle calls from the American Civil War era! www.75thovi.com/music1.html
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Post by Commandingtripod on Mar 14, 2006 4:01:34 GMT
I see.
I always thought that an 'Aloo' or an 'Ulla' was them sending entire sentences to each other. Something like: 'Advance through Thames and crush all oposition' or something like that.
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Post by Luperis on Mar 15, 2006 22:07:04 GMT
Im glad the martians never said, 'Aloo' in the musical. I even laughed when I read it in the book. Sounds far to much like, "Helllooooo!" Maybe that was what they were saying to the other martians... "Helllloooo! Fancy seeing you here!" ;D Or maybe they just wanted to be friendly before they zapped people with the heat ray: "Hello - I have to kill you now. Have a nice day. "
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Post by deadsword on May 27, 2006 7:05:26 GMT
Im glad the martians never said, 'Aloo' in the musical. I even laughed when I read it in the book. Sounds far to much like, "Helllooooo!" Maybe that was what they were saying to the other martians... "Helllloooo! Fancy seeing you here!" ;D Or maybe they just wanted to be friendly before they zapped people with the heat ray: "Hello - I have to kill you now. Have a nice day. " maybe the same can be said for the tripods in ss version.
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Post by Topaz on May 27, 2006 16:35:41 GMT
Or maybe they just wanted to be friendly before they zapped people with the heat ray: "Hello - I have to kill you now. Have a nice day. " "Dont run, we are your friends" - Mars Attacks ;D On a more serious note, if the Martians communicate telepathically, which Wells asserts later in the book, why do they need an auditory communication system at all? Do their thoughts have limited range? Perhaps they're attenuated by the metal casing of the Fighting Machine? Most of the "aloo" and "ulla" utterances occur when the FMs are relatively close to each other, and Wells seems to use the device as a means of combat communication between the Martian FMs. The first time the Narrator observes the Black Smoke cannisters being fired, the long line of FMs exchange their strange howls up and down the line. This might be an interesting viewport into Wells' mind when writing the book. He gives his Martians telepathic ability when he's thinking of them 'personally' as individual organisms, but when he was thinking of combat operations, he obviously took nineteenth century naval operations as a model. Siren signals were coming into use between ships in combat line at the time, and no doubt Wells knew this from his research.
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Post by Leatherhead on May 31, 2006 5:37:02 GMT
The book also mentions the Martians' "ear" is almost useless in our atmosphere.
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Post by Lensman on Jun 4, 2006 1:52:08 GMT
When in a combat line, the Tripods are said to be roughly a mile-and-a-half apart. Presumably the Martian telepathy works only at a shorter ranger, and loud sirens allow the Tripods to stay in communication at longer distances.
Note, however, that Martian telepathy is only *speculated* to exist. We can't be sure the Martians were telepathic. It's *possible* they were using some other form of communication that wasn't noticed.
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Post by Colonel on Jun 25, 2006 11:45:40 GMT
Maybe the "Aloo"-howl was meant to scare the crap out of any nearby human soldiers, demoralizing the enemy before attacking, and the "Ulla"-howls was a futile attempt to keep any possible human enemies at an arms lenght until they could figure out what was happening to them...
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Post by Ashe Raven on Jun 25, 2006 12:36:48 GMT
Actually the term Ullah comes from ancient hebrew eaning "too me" which is why the Martians howled Ullah in time of distress.
As for Aloo, I think thatwas more of a battle cry, or maybe an order to advance
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Post by Lensman on Jun 26, 2006 1:31:17 GMT
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Post by RustiSwordz on Jun 30, 2006 11:09:00 GMT
DOH! That would be better.
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Post by Commandingtripod on Jul 2, 2006 10:31:04 GMT
Something on the telepathic Martians that I found. Some scientists have theorised, based on reports of Martian behaviour, that this enhanced segment of the brain provides the Martians with the power of telepathy, the ability to project thought into the mind of another, or to read the contents of that mind. This facility for psychic communication is believed to be highly specialised in the vast majority of Martians, being used solely for the purpose of communication between individuals. It is thought to have an effective range of approximately two miles, although perhaps there exist Martians that have been trained in the use of this ability and are able to use it at a greater range than the majority. If this is the case, then it can be theorised that they are also trained in other, similar psychic techniques. There is a certain amount of evidence to support this theory. A member of the Army who was captured by the Martians but later escaped recalls:
"I was brought before a particular Martian which the rest of them seemed to treat with some sort of deference, and forced to kneel down before it. It reached out one of its tentacles, and touched the slimy appendage to my brow, staring at me all the while. As I looked into those dark, saucerlike eyes I realised that I could not move a muscle! It was as if I had been mesmerised, unable to do a single thing. Only with great effort was I able to continue to breathe, for it seemed the Martian had, somehow, paralysed every muscle in my body. It then reached out more tentacles, touching them to my face and head, and I was completely unable to resist that cold, creeping caress. Suddenly, horribly I felt the Martian inside my mind! Words cannot adequately describe the sensations I experienced as it sifted through my thoughts and memories, searching for some item of information that it required; I can only convey it as a cold presence pressing on my perception, its thoughts vast and heartless and unspeakably other, incomprehensible to the human mind. I felt this presence smothering my thought and will like a wet cloth smothers a flame. I believe I must have fallen to the ground insensible at that point, for the next I knew I was back in the cage with the other captives."
If this psychic ability is indeed present in Martians, there is reason to believe that it may also be present in humans, albeit perhaps to a much lesser degree. There have indeed been cases whereby humans have appeared to exhibit extra-sensory perception, and work is being carried out to research this subject, perhaps with a view to using it against the Martians. - www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Galaxy/3773/waroftheworlds/martians/biology.html#skeletonMax range of 2 miles and some with possibly more than that? Then the Aloo and Ulla must have been needed for something else.
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Post by Lensman on Jul 4, 2006 7:54:48 GMT
That's fan writing, or game background, not canonical. There's not the slightest hint in Wells' novel the Martians had any ability to hypnotize, mesmerize or otherwise excercise mental control or influence over humans. Nor is there any indication their telepathy-- if it existed-- operated at such long ranges as a couple of miles. The Tripods' use of sirens is a good indication it did *not* operate at such ranges.
Here is what Wells wrote about the Martians' communication and possible use of telepathy, from chapter II-2:
~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is commonly supposed that they communicated by sounds and tentacular gesticulations; this is asserted, for instance, in the able but hastily compiled pamphlet (written evidently by someone not an eye-witness of Martian actions) to which I have already alluded, and which, so far, has been the chief source of information concerning them. Now no surviving human being saw so much of the Martians in action as I did. I take no credit to myself for an accident, but the fact is so. And I assert that I watched them closely time after time, and that I have seen four, five, and (once) six of them sluggishly performing the most elaborately complicated operations together without either sound or gesture. Their peculiar hooting invariably preceded feeding; it had no modulation, and was, I believe, in no sense a signal, but merely the expiration of air preparatory to the suctional operation. I have a certain claim to at least an elementary knowledge of psychology, and in this matter I am convinced--as firmly as I am convinced of anything--that the Martians interchanged thoughts without any physical intermediation. And I have been convinced of this in spite of strong preconceptions. Before the Martian invasion, as an occasional reader here or there may remember, I had written with some little vehemence against the telepathic theory. ~~~~~~~~~~~~
AFAIK that is the *only* reference in the novel to telepathy. If there is another reference, I hope someone will correct me.
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Post by Commandingtripod on Jul 4, 2006 12:19:15 GMT
Oops your right - I forgot to put in that it was fan fiction.
Wonder how long it took to come up with that though.
Personally I think the 'Aloo' and 'Ulla' sounds are orders, information, etc, being sent between one Martian to another.
If their telepathy doesn't work (If it exsists at all) then they must have some way of coordinating their movements in battle.
To me, to generate the siren noise, this what a Martian must do:
1. Create orders on computer (Through thought maybe - I haven't worked this part out yet) 2. Order broken down and sent via siren that sounds simply like 'Ulla' 3. Order reassmbled in another tripod hood, read by Martian. 4. Martian repeats process.
That's how I imagine it anyway.
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Post by Stuuullaaa on Nov 15, 2006 22:26:53 GMT
In the chapter 'What had happened in Surrey', there is a bit where some hidden soldiers had blown a leg off of one of the Fighting Machines, and it mentions that the Fighting Machine had 'set up a prolonged ULULATION'. An 'Ululation' or to 'Ululate' means to howl or make a howling sound - maybe H.G. had that in mind & thats where 'ULLA' derives from.
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