Eがなかった - Living, Loving, Thinking, Again

作者:J・G・バラード
東京創元社

フィリップ・ジョーダン――川に育てられた子供にして川を統べる最後のエアリアル――は両腕に鳥を抱えて持ち上げると、固まった翼を広げて尖端を水に浸けた。ランサム*2は五年前にフィリップと出会い、彼が十二歳の子供から、背が高く手脚の長い、敏捷に動く目とアボリジニ *3のナーバスな優美さを備えた若者に成長していくのを見つめてきた。（p.36）

「エアリアル」に、訳者の山田和子さんは「シェイクスピアの『テンペスト』*4に登場する空気の精」という割註を施している。さて、「エアリアル」という片仮名から先ず思いつく英語のスペリングは（私の場合）Aerialであり、勿論ケイト・ブッシュのアルバムのタイトルである*5。Aerialはairの形容詞型。空気、空、航空に関する何物かを表し、英国の俗語ではアンテナの意味でも使われる。『テンペスト』に出てくる妖精はAriel。eが抜けている。Arielについて、Wikipediaからちょっとコピーしておく；

The source from which Shakespeare got the idea for Ariel is not known, though there have been many candidates proposed by scholars. Sprites or demons such as Ariel were viewed during the Renaissance from either religious or scientific points of view: religion seeing them as either agents of the devil or agents of God, and science viewing them as neutral subjects which could be brought under the control of the wise. Some scholars compare Ariel to demons of the air described in Renaissance demonology, while others claim that he is an archetype of a more neutral category of sprites. Several of these proposals are outlined below:
The '-el' ending of Shakespeare's name translates in Hebrew as 'God', placing Ariel inline with more benevolent spirits, many of which were listed in sorcery books published in Shakespeare's day with similar suffixes. Jewish demonology, for example, had a figure by the name of Ariel who was described as the spirit of the waters. Another spirit, Uriel, is also comparable. In Isaiah 29, Ariel is mentioned as another name for Jerusalem. In the Geneva Bible, which Shakespeare and others of the time would have known, the entry carries an interesting footnote describing this Ariel as the "Lyon of God." Further descriptions of this Ariel as having the power to confuse and weaken his enemies with sounds and tempests increase the parallel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(The_Tempest)