$crooge's brothers [and a lot about Ludwig]

[Michiel Prior]

Lauri Jaakkola:

> Never write things if you're not perfectly sure...

Why not? I can understand if you feel a little uncertain after popping 
up for the first time, but please don't let that uncertainty prevent you 
from asking questions or trying to figure things out. If everybody on 
this mailinglist would feel perfectly sure about everything, there 
would be no need for discussions, would there? :)

And especially when talking about such *obscure* characters like 
Ludwig von Drake and Gideon McDuck, you shouldn't feel ashamed 
of not being perfectly sure. I don't know about Finland, but in Holland 
these characters either don't show up very often or simply don't exist 
at all.

> Once Finnish U$ -pocket-size magazine had some history of 
> Ludwig. There was a part which said that Matilda and 
> Ludwig had some romances in the past. 

Some history? Was this an article or a comic story? 
A comic story [and a non-Rosa story at that] stating a 
relationship between Ludwig and Matilda would be something 
very special, since this relationship is still not 'official' [until it 
shows up in a comic story, that is]. And I'm afraid Katie's 
'Webbed bliss' doesn't count.

Speaking of Ludwig, his supposed marriage to Matilda and his 
absence from "A Letter from Home": one explanation for his 
absence can be that Ludwig and Matilda just *weren't married 
yet* when "A Letter from Home" took place.

Let's try to figure things out: "A Letter from Home takes" place 
after "The Crown of the Crusader Kings" which takes place 
after "The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone" (1955) AND after 
"Return to Xanadu" which takes place after "The Valley of 
Tralla-La" (1954) AND after "The Lost Crown of Genghis 
Khan" (1956). Thus "A Letter from Home" takes place in or 
after late 1956. [One weak spot in this reasoning is that I 
deliberately choose to ignore the dates of the  trophies in 
Scrooge's trophy room in "Xanadu" en "Crusaders".]

Ludwig's first appearance dates from 1961 and by then he's 
already Donald's uncle. So, let's suppose Ludwig and Matilda 
married between 1956 and 1961 and after "A Letter from 
Home". [I don't know what to make of Ludwig's appearance, 
without Matilda, in "A little something special" which is 
supposed to take place in 1952.]

Further points for speculation:

- Matilda didn't live at Castle McDuck until after "The Old 
Castle's Secret" (1948). After the death of Scottie McTerrier, 
there was no one left to guard it, maybe that's why she moved 
in.

- Don Rosa told us that Sir Quackly's ghost doesn't appear in 
"A Letter from Home". Even *his* absence can be explained. 
What I know about ghosts is that they're supposed to be the 
spirits of people that haven't been buried properly. This was 
true of Sir Quackly, who had managed to seal himself in, and 
his treasure AND his bones hadn't been found until 1948. 

Don't you think $crooge must have given his ancestor's bones a 
proper funeral? [Which is also a proper retribution for the 
support and advice Sir Quackly gave young $crooge.] After his 
burial, sir Quackly wouldn't have much reason to keep 
haunting the Castle.

I think this is enough reasoning for today. Had a lot of fun with 
it, though. I'm pleased to see that, even when every detail 
seems to have been worked out by Don Rosa, there's still 
enough room for speculation.

Greetings,

Michiel Prior.