Saturday 30 July 2011

Gawain Project: Sunrise, Chapter 1: Brothers & Sisters 73-75

I spent the last few days in Edinburgh. I had a wonderful time - and sunny weather! (Well, apart from the last day, which was very rainy, but I needed that to convince me that I was really in Scotland...). Of course Edinburgh is a little bit magical for me in any case because it is the site of the capital of the Gododdin, and the capital of Lothian - it's Lot Country and Gawain was born there! I rolled my eyes a bit at the shameless commercial exploitation of what is after all Highland dress in the capital of the Lowlands; I was bemused by the existence of vegetarian haggis and Scottish/Mexican fusion cooking yielding quesadillas with haggis; I wandered through the expanse of Holyrood Park pretending not to know that Arthur's Seat doesn't really have anything to do with Arthur; and of course I also drooled over the Celtic exhibits in the National Museum. I also learnt that quite a few members of the Scottish ruling class in the Middle Ages were of Flemish descent, which certainly explains some of the more absurd aspects of life in Scotland ;-).

Naturally I brought back a lot of books, one of which  is a collection of Scottish folk tales. I also (finally) got a copy of the Mabinogion, a small booklet about Pictish fortresses, a history of the Pictish people and a copy of The Last of the Celts, Marcus Tanner's exploration of what is left of the Celtic-speaking world. It makes for gloomy reading. Tanner estimates that one generation from now, all Celtic languages will be extinct. Some of them have been killed off by aggressive government policies (Breton in France, Gaelic in the UK), others are just spoken by people who aren't proud of their language and its heritage (Gaelic in Ireland). All of them have been dealt with in a bad way - measures to preserve the languages have either come too late or have had adverse effects. These things make a Celtophile despair :(.

Well, I'm trying to keep Celtic culture alive in my own modest way (ahem). New pages are below; I hope you enjoy them. Concrit is welcome, as always!


What went before
Lot and Morgana have a problem. They each have their own high hopes for Gawain, but none of their plans are going to come to anything if the boy cannot hold his own in a fight. Gawain is small and not particularly strong. To overcome these weaknesses, he will need the help of an expert - preferably of the female variety. Fortunately, Morgana knows just such a person...




Next week: Conchobarre gives her reasons. They reveal something about Lot...

Saturday 23 July 2011

Gawain Project: Sunrise, Chapter 1: Brothers & Sisters 70-72

What went before
Lot is concerned about the fact that he cannot draw the sword from the stone. Does it really mean he is unworthy of the High King's throne? But Morgana points out that the sword in the stone has Merlin written all over it, and that as such it is as subjective a means to appoint a king as any other. Meanwhile, it turns out that Gawain's martial skills are rather sub-par and that something should be done about that...




Sunday 17 July 2011

Gawain Project: Sunrise, Chapter 1: Brothers & Sisters 67-69

What went before
The meeting of the kings has not really been a success. Lot tells Morgana of his worries. There is one in particular...





Next week: We hear something about tiny heroes.

Saturday 9 July 2011

Gawain Project: Sunrise, Chapter 1: Brothers & Sisters 64-66

Haven't got much to say, apart form the fact that I have just finished another Arthurian novel, Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve. It is one of those YA page turners and I finished it in a few hours. I'll try to write an Arthurian Review about it soon.

I hope you enjoy the continuation of the story. As always, concrit is welcome!


What went before
Taliesin has lulled the bellicose kings of Britain to sleep with the magic of his harp music. The meeting has ended and bloodshed has been avoided - but the kings have not made any progress. Queen Morgause despairs, but Taliesin claims that a new High King is approaching...





Next week: we find out what's up with little Gawain.

Monday 4 July 2011

Gawain Project: Sunrise, Chapter 1: Brothers & Sisters 61-63

This is what happens if you post in more place than one: sometimes you forget one of them. Eek. Well, the episode is up now. Sorry about the delay!

What went before
It's clobbering time! The kings of Britain roll across the floor of the royal hall of Lothian. Then Taliesin the bard takes his lyre and starts to play...






Next week: a Lot-and-Morgana moment...