Triad Weyrs Canon

How does the club view the DLG?

The DLG - formally known as The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern - was last published in 1989. It is well known for its errata (Sariel's site[1] has a section devoted to it) that contradict the books, especially those written later than it. Information from it is used only when the books provide no other indication of a subject, and book canon _always_ overrides DLG errata. Its main use is for those crafts that never get a lot of mention in the books, as well as the nitpicky details that don't make it into the books about daily life on Pern. Additionally, the section written by Todd McCaffrey (Chapter VI) on dragonrider training is considered canon and is the basis for how our Weyrleaders operate in the club.

How Small is Pern?

According to the DLG (p. 3), Pern has a diameter of approx. 6500 miles. Earth's diameter is 7900 miles, telling me that Pern is 17.73% smaller than Earth. In applying this formula, I've come up with Perns approx. circumference and diameter at both the equator and at the poles, as well as the number of miles per degree in both latitude and longitude. The numbers are as follows:

EARTH:

Diameter-

• equator = 7,927 miles
• poles = 7,900 miles

Circumference-

• equator = 24,902 miles
• poles = 24, 860 miles

Giving Earth approx. 69.05 miles per degree of latitude & 69.17 miles per degree of longitude at the equator.

PERN:

Diameter-

• equator = 6,522 miles
• poles = 6,500 miles

Circumference-

• equator = 20,487 miles
• poles = 20,452 miles

Giving Pern approx. 56.81 miles per degree of latitude & 56.90 miles per degree of longitude at the equator.

The only argument with this fact from the books is the Atlas, which has mileage scales on its maps that translate to approx. 8 miles per degree. Personally, I think that is absurd since that scale would give Pern a circumference of only 2,880 miles (meaning the trip from New York to Los Angeles would be greater than a round-trip of Pern). So I based my numbers off the DLG - the best source I've found for such numbers. My Earth numbers came from various sources, one being an online textbook.