tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78025094035394937842024-03-18T15:30:39.522-07:00Tales After TolkienTravels in Genre and MedievalismTales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.comBlogger521125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-32756748675311394432024-03-18T10:00:00.000-07:002024-03-18T10:00:00.142-07:00Guest Post Series: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: M. Wendy Hennequin and Fan Fiction"<p><i>The ninth in the series of guest-posts from Dennis Wilson Wise, of which the most recent is <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/03/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, continues looking at individual poets working in alliterative verse. As before, editorial intrusion is minimal (mostly inserting links). <br /><br />
Check back for the next post in the series soon! <br /><br />
Too, please let us know if you've got ideas for guest-posts or series of your own; we'd love to hear from you! </i></p>
<hr />
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>ℑ</b></span></span></span>n my introduction to <i>Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival</i>, my first section is called “The Story of the Modern Revival.” Every story needs a hero, though, and our story’s unsung hero is undeniably contemporary fandom. Many years ago, I once read an essay by Harlan Ellison praising SF for having so many big-name authors emerge from the ranks of SF fandom. He considered this situation distinct from mainstream, non-genre literature, and while I won’t agree with Ellison completely – as one of my students once told me, she has an older brother named Geoffrey because of how much their mother loves <i>The Canterbury Tales</i> – but still, genre fandom seems special.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>uch fandom has been a guiding light for the Modern Revival, too. We’ve already touched upon several revivalists with impeccable fan roots: Fletcher Pratt, <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_0366596874.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Poul Anderson</a>, <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/02/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_01025392534.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Rothfuss, Paul Edwin Zimmer</a>. Nonetheless, most people tend to think of fandom as a modern 20th-century thing, strongly linked in its earliest days to conventions and printed fanzines, but some aspects of fandom go a long, <i>long</i> way back – and, here, I’m thinking specifically of “fan fiction.” </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>ake, for instance, <i>Paradise Lost</i>. If contemporary “fanfic” is essentially what happens when someone takes material from a favorite franchise and produces their own creative, non-official artwork, well then…John Milton is basically writing Biblical fan fiction. And this is precisely how I explain <i>Paradise Lost</i> to my students, too. In fact, most medieval literature can be considered fanfic under this broad conception. Arthurian literature is the ultimate example, since it’s nothing <i>but</i> a history of authors borrowing, modifying, and expanding the same core set of content – the lack of copyright laws during the Middle Ages was a wonderful thing. </p>
<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUeDWG_Jv8olo-UWS17kGj1vjdNAwQZ4T_5MMrQOzdJ80lkrAo4XvoWz20jFWcZJU9IGHS_brlp5ODHJxb0hJ8bZsRdO0gZHYFjA_v5sFL7McaQhACMMNZH4TvTvb9iddMx0hrD65SlSjY6C0LbFt2P5CdN1RJUwWd3YCDu6mlPODrgGJLjxvuNnCwC1be/s265/8%20-%20a%20(M.%20Wendy%20Hennequin).jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="250" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUeDWG_Jv8olo-UWS17kGj1vjdNAwQZ4T_5MMrQOzdJ80lkrAo4XvoWz20jFWcZJU9IGHS_brlp5ODHJxb0hJ8bZsRdO0gZHYFjA_v5sFL7McaQhACMMNZH4TvTvb9iddMx0hrD65SlSjY6C0LbFt2P5CdN1RJUwWd3YCDu6mlPODrgGJLjxvuNnCwC1be/s1600/8%20-%20a%20(M.%20Wendy%20Hennequin).jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The poet herself<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>N</b></span></span>ext to Arthurian literature, though, the most popular medieval “franchise” was the Trojan War, and reviving this old tradition for the Modern Revival is a contemporary fan writer and professional medievalist: M. Wendy Hennequin.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>s a young author, Hennequin cut her teeth working on Star Wars and Star Trek fanfic before, in college, graduating to the Dargon Project – a shared-universe setting inspired by Robert Aspirin’s <i>Thieves’ World</i> anthology series. Now she’s a professor at Tennessee State University where she’s been teaching for several years. Even as a medievalist, though, her fandom has continued. One of the Society for Creative Anachronism’s most delightful mini-traditions involves tales from the “Boreal Master,” a fictional medieval Icelandic poet whose compositions are all terrible. Hennequin wrote one such “Boreal” poem herself, complete with a pseudo-scholarly gloss, and presented both at <a href="https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the major conference for medievalists held annually in Kalamazoo, Michigan</a>; the poem also appears in my anthology. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or today, however, I’m after juicier fruit than faux tales by the Boreal Master – in fact, Hennequin’s unexpectedly powerful revivalist text: “Guðrinc’s Lament.” </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>W</b></span></span>ithin Old English poetry, elegies are a common genre. The most relevant example is probably “The Wife’s Lament,” an anonymous poem preserved in the Exeter Book, and this is the tradition followed by “Guðrinc’s Lament.” For Hennequin, her eponymous speaker is actually Andromache, the wife of the Trojan hero Hector. In contrast to revivalists with a less-than-firm grasp of medieval history or poetics (as recounted in my last few posts), Hennequin distinguishes herself by her strong sense of historicity. In one sense, “Guðrinc’s Lament” is a literary forgery, a text presented <i>as if</i> it were composed by an Old English <i>scop</i>, yet one that nevertheless skillfully reflects the style, epithets, misunderstandings, and assumptions that might have marked a genuine Old English poet writing about ancient Greek history. </p>
<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiO6dk3i1PNWHpM58Vi5I0-XbLATxY7Y04wpFIyvexQk_l7pWILc0T5jxX0S458QXOGSaN6xEdogBH6paChGaRWQIaFyTNuRM94BajO1tlqptlCtrA4nKt0Zr6expmZTImTThuOiAiWqDxO2QsefQa06sg_Rl3qSgZ2e6TaBNm6SNR30btmWrMgW3-MVl/s440/8%20-%20b%20(Andromache%20and%20Astyanax).jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="440" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiO6dk3i1PNWHpM58Vi5I0-XbLATxY7Y04wpFIyvexQk_l7pWILc0T5jxX0S458QXOGSaN6xEdogBH6paChGaRWQIaFyTNuRM94BajO1tlqptlCtrA4nKt0Zr6expmZTImTThuOiAiWqDxO2QsefQa06sg_Rl3qSgZ2e6TaBNm6SNR30btmWrMgW3-MVl/s320/8%20-%20b%20(Andromache%20and%20Astyanax).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andromache and Astyanax<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or instance, the wife of Hector in <i>The Iliad</i> is no warrior woman…yet, in Greek, <i>Andromache</i> literally means “fighter of men.” This etymology evidently misleads (or inspires) the Old English author of “Guðrinc’s Lament” to transform his female speaker – whose name “Guðrinc” means “fighter of men” in Old English as well – into a battle-hardened warrior queen. In addition, medieval poets usually lacked a strong historical sense, so they’re prone to anachronism, often projecting their contemporary social institutions and practices onto the distant past. Accordingly, in Hennequin’s text, King Priam of Troy is framed as a “ring-giver,” an epithet more appropriate to <i>Beowulf</i> than to Homeric Greece, and Guðrinc describes the Greeks as “the heathen foe” (l.74), a phrase that obviously meant nothing twelve-hundred years before the birth of Christ. Moreover, Guðrinc laments Troy’s destruction by saying</p>
<p></p><blockquote><i>Gone is the mead-hall</i>, gleaming with gold,<br />
Where the high-lord sat, longing for war,<br />
The noble youths yearning for battle.<blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>M</b></span></span>ead-halls, of course, are famously Germanic a type of building…and the Greeks, in any event, would have drunk wine. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>ll these little details create an impressive historically authentic aura for “Guðrinc’s Lament.” What’s even more impressive, too, is how Hennequin shapes her narrative events according to early medieval (mis)understandings of the Trojan War. In most classical accounts, the son of Andromache and Hector, Astyanax, is thrown to his death off Troy’s walls, and many Trojan women – Queen Hecuba, Cassandra, and Andromache herself – are all enslaved. In “Guðrinc’s Lament,” however, Astyanax survives, and Hennequin has her Trojan women survive as exiles, not slaves. What gives? </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>echnically, we’re not completely sure if medieval poets had direct access to Homer’s <i>Iliad</i>, but one text that <i>did</i> circulate widely among the early English people was <i>De excidio Troiae historia</i> (<i>The History of the Destruction of Troy</i>) by Dares Phrygius. This “history” is one of the most famous forgeries of the entire Middle Ages, and its multiple layers of attributed authorship would make any postmodernist proud. It is allegedly an eye-witness account to the Trojan War by a Trojan priest, Dares Phyrgius, whom Homer briefly mentions in <i>The Iliad</i>’s fifth book. Yet such an eye-witness account would obviously have been written in Greek, not Latin. Accordingly, the introductory epistle declares its translator to be Cornelius Nepos, a famous Roman biographer contemporary with Cicero. However, although it’s theoretically <i>possible</i> that whoever wrote Dare’s short book in Latin was working from some kind of Greek original, Cornelius Nepos was definitely not that person. Instead, scholars agree that <i>De excidio Troiae historia</i> was probably written in the 5th century AD…but medieval authors didn’t know that. Instead, although they sometimes questioned the alleged role of Nepos due to the manuscript’s simplistic Latin, the original authorship of Dares continued to be taken at face value. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or anyone interested in the fascinating story of this famous medieval forgery, I’d highly recommend Frederick Clark’s book, <i>The First Pagan Historian</i> (2020). Whoever the real author may have been, however, “Dares” enjoyed wide circulation during the Middle Ages partly because of how he directly challenged two ancient authorities: <b>Homer</b> himself, who did not witness the events at Troy himself, and the great <b>Virgil</b>, who praised the piety of Aeneas, Rome’s founder. In contrast, Dares claims that Aeneas only survived the destruction of Troy because he betrayed his city to the Greeks. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>N</b></span></span>either of these unique challenges to ancient authority appears in Hennequin’s poem, but she does borrow several incidents directly from <i>De excidio Troiae historia</i> – or, rather, the purported Old English author of her text does. This is why Hecuba, Cassandra, and Andromache all survive the war as exiles, not slaves, and although Dares does not specify the fate of Astyanax specifically, we can reasonably infer his survival from Andromache’s own. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>O</b></span></span>f course, Dares cannot have been the sole “source” for the Old English poet who purportedly composes “Guðrinc’s Lament.” Dares never mentions the defilement of Hector’s body, for instance, and he famously rationalizes the Trojan War to exclude any reference to gods or the Trojan horse ruse – in contrast, Hennequin has Guðrinc say, “The city-dwellers, seeing no harm, / Opened the gates” (l.84). Still, medieval authors often had multiple sources themselves, so that checks out. Ultimately, the combination of Old English meter – a slow and solemn measure that tends naturally toward elegy – and one of Homer’s most tragic tales is quite powerful, and “Guðrinc’s Lament” works as a revivalist text on several levels. As my last few posts have indicated, revivalists need not necessarily <i>be</i> medievalists in order to produce work meaningful to the Modern Alliterative Revival…but when they are, like Hennequin, good things can happen. </p>
<p></p><p></p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-61700119307390312392024-03-04T10:00:00.000-08:002024-03-05T05:58:13.546-08:00Guest Post Series: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: Three Impressionists (Part II)"<p><i>The eighth in the series of guest-posts from Dennis Wilson Wise, of which the most recent is <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/02/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_01025392534.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, continues looking at individual poets working in alliterative verse. As before, editorial intrusion is minimal. <br /><br />
Check back for the next post in the series soon! <br /><br />
Too, please let us know if you've got ideas for guest-posts or series of your own; we'd love to hear from you! </i></p>
<hr />
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔏</b></span></span></span>ast week, I promised to discuss three impressionists who created important revivalist texts despite knowing comparatively little about medieval poetry in itself. In this week, I reveal who my final – and best – example is. And the answer is…</p>
<h3>JOSHUA GAGE</h3>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>M</b></span></span>y final example is also maybe the most perfect: Joshua Gage and “Demetrius Yardley, Fire Nurse.” Gage’s greater personal interest lies in short-form speculative verse, scifaiku and horrorku in particular, and he holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University and its Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics…a school I know <i>sounds</i> fictional, but it is entirely real and fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission; Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman founded their MFA program back in 1974. </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmIFEXp08SKyviQoazS7JPDHIt-p_jZwbBhQw3YoJlkzSe3Bl0mgegDPNDNzPVnamq-EKJVCfyxVA90dPb_JoY55KwUBLdrdJOdx-chN4qGcxMCUdz-yAWwg9eMorswVmKuQJ2Bn22IqM9a3Kq31W8H8e94pXd1bYfEUbQKNKEGjCGvl9fddMwyi67vFR/s1181/7b%20steampunk.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="1181" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmIFEXp08SKyviQoazS7JPDHIt-p_jZwbBhQw3YoJlkzSe3Bl0mgegDPNDNzPVnamq-EKJVCfyxVA90dPb_JoY55KwUBLdrdJOdx-chN4qGcxMCUdz-yAWwg9eMorswVmKuQJ2Bn22IqM9a3Kq31W8H8e94pXd1bYfEUbQKNKEGjCGvl9fddMwyi67vFR/s320/7b%20steampunk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something like this?<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>nyway, Gage’s text – an alliterative steampunk poem – is our primary example of how someone without even a smidgeon of contact with real medieval literature can create an exciting revivalist text nonetheless. At least for Rothfuss and Zimmer, we can safely assume they had <i>some</i> encounters with authentic medieval poetry in translation, even if the finer metrical details escaped their notice. This definitely isn’t the route taken by Gage, though. <i>His</i> guide to the meter was neither <i>Beowulf</i> nor <i>Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</i>, even in translation, but a teaching anthology for poets, <i>The Practice of Poetry</i> (1992). Only one “chapter” in the book – a mere two pages – discusses Old English meter. The description it provides is accurate, if unsophisticated, but notably, the chapter’s author provides only <i>three</i> total lines of alliterative verse as an example…and unless Richard Wilbur is fibbing on his birth certificate, “The Lilacs” – a text of about average metrical fidelity, probably a “4” or “5” on <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/02/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_02113099649.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">my scale</a> – is about as far from authentic medieval poetry as they come.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>W</b></span></span>ith this source text and book chapter in mind, I’d probably rank Gage’s metrics in “Demetrius Yardley, Fire Nurse” as an overall nine on my scale. He has caesuras and sporadic attempts at alliteration in each line, but the greater intricacies of Old English poetics are simply missing. Gage just had no way of knowing what they are. Sure, he’s in the right ballpark, but it’s not exactly a homerun – or even a bunt single – of historical faithfulness to the meter.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>f we get hung up on <i>that</i>, however, we’d be missing the bigger picture. In my introduction to <i><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781683933298/Speculative-Poetry-and-the-Modern-Alliterative-Revival-A-Critical-Anthology" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival</a></i>, I described Gage’s text as a “kind of metrical retro-futurism.” What I meant is that, if you think about it, steampunk aesthetics are a strangely appropriate vehicle to pair with an archaic medieval meter. As a SF subgenre, steampunk blends futuristic settings with a Victorian level of technology that nowadays seem decidedly antique. Nobody today thinks that steam locomotives are the cutting-edge of human achievement; they lack the “gosh-wow” factor that once made H. G. Wells’s fiction seem so impressively cutting-edge. And this old-fashioned steampunk aesthetic thoroughly inundates “Demetrius Yardley.” Its eponymous hero belongs to a toiling underclass, shoveling coal into the furnaces that maintain the magnificent floating city of Potetopolis. As Demetrius explains,</p>
<blockquote>
…We dwell<br />
in lands caliginous,<br />
looking after<br />
gas hoses, altimeters,<br />
and the holocaust that holds<br />
this city aloft<br />
and its boulevards illuminated.</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>W</b></span></span>hat steampunk hopes to accomplish on the genre level, Old English meter accomplishes on the metrical level. Alliterative poetics are the steam locomotives of a post-nuclear age: archaic and antique in themselves but presentable as new, exciting, and “futuristic” in a poetic world now dominated by free verse and formal rhyming poetry. If readers wish to experience the heady rush of the future <i>and</i> the past together, what better way than a text written in a newly rediscovered archaic meter but welded simultaneously onto a retro-futuristic steampunk setting?</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>G</b></span></span>age’s poem thus resonates for me, as a critic, in ways I’m sure he doesn’t even realize. As mentioned, his choice of meter is about as random as any such choice can be. Yet, thematically, his conjunction of genre and meter works in a surprisingly effective fashion, and it opens the way of pregnant possibility for future revivalists.</p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-9061772767608050722024-02-26T10:00:00.000-08:002024-02-26T10:00:00.153-08:00Guest Post Series: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: Three Impressionists (Part I)"<p><i>The seventh in the series of guest-posts from Dennis Wilson Wise, of which the most recent is <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/02/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_02113099649.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, returns to looking at individual poets working in alliterative verse. As before, editorial intrusion is minimal. <br /><br />
Check back for the next post in the series soon! <br /><br />
Too, please let us know if you've got ideas for guest-posts or series of your own; we'd love to hear from you! </i></p>
<hr />
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔖</b></span></span></span>o, last week, I described my purist-impressionist scale as a 1–10 spectrum of historical metrical fidelity. Yet I know some people will naturally (and automatically) discount certain impressionists solely on the suspicion that they don’t know much, if anything, about genuine medieval alliterative poetics. And, granted, some revivalists do not, but even if true, I suggested this doesn’t necessarily impact a text’s literary merit one way or another.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>P</b></span></span>roof is always in the pudding, though, so let’s prepare to be slathered in pudding. We’ll be turning to three exciting revivalists whose deviations from the historical meters are, bluntly, less than fully intentional, yet their texts are both fascinating and critically interesting. Without further ado, our first poet is…</p>
<h3>PATRICK ROTHFUSS</h3>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>C</b></span></span>all me biased (and I probably am), but the honor of most metrically bonkers revivalist goes to Patrick Rothfuss. He included two poems in <i>The Wise Man’s Fear</i> (2011), and from a purist’s perspective it would be hard for anyone to flout the traditional restrictions of Old English prosody any more egregiously. Given issues of copyright, I’ll quote just one line, but that’ll be plenty: </p>
<p></p><blockquote>Hot comes the huntress Fela, flushed with finding</blockquote><p></p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqv4ob59m2rY0KgYX1-C-aFlOmoYU-YhShd99od-Db2i1AT7QRUQtK8Lkyw54o3ps5q8aalrBJ3Yy__C7G_XmldK4QmEeZllPVBUngY1MK3SNRihz_KbpMQS5qvvhLJDx_p8Rjfvr98wI1mgJFOLWTQzCgXKK-HQlQQ9q67GTwK2_ez12GITsbW2u9DjBf/s522/7a%20--%20a%20(Rothfuss's%20book).jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqv4ob59m2rY0KgYX1-C-aFlOmoYU-YhShd99od-Db2i1AT7QRUQtK8Lkyw54o3ps5q8aalrBJ3Yy__C7G_XmldK4QmEeZllPVBUngY1MK3SNRihz_KbpMQS5qvvhLJDx_p8Rjfvr98wI1mgJFOLWTQzCgXKK-HQlQQ9q67GTwK2_ez12GITsbW2u9DjBf/s320/7a%20--%20a%20(Rothfuss's%20book).jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A source.<br />Image provided by Wise.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>B</b></span></span>y itself, maybe this line doesn’t <i>seem</i> all that bonkers. The first half-line, at least, can be read as Sievers type A, but that’s likely a pure accident. Tellingly, the character who recites this poem – a young student-scholar by name of Simmon – specifically disavows any claim to knowledge about the meter. This random remark, though, which Rothfuss didn’t <i>have</i> to include for character or plot reasons, reads to me like an authorial insert. Rothfuss <i>knows</i> he isn’t a medievalist. He probably suspects his metrics stink, but if any pedants or college professors out there don’t like what he’s doing, well, there’s several places where they can stick those complaints…and none will be particularly well-lighted. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>n fact, Rothfuss breaks quite a few metrical restrictions in an impressively brief span of time. His second half-line has <i>three</i> lifts, all of which alliterate, including the last, and this half-line accordingly turns up its nose up to every Sievers type to known to man. Likewise, Rothfuss’s line apparently considers verse-linking alliteration optional. So the only thing known for certain about Rothfuss’s grasp of Old English meter is that it includes</p>
<ol><li>caesuras; </li><li>compounded words like “fast-found” (found in a later line); and</li><li>alliteration…lots and lots of alliteration.</li></ol>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>N</b></span></span>or is there anything wrong with that. As the writer of a fantasy novel, Rothfuss has a specific rhetorical purpose in mind: to suggest an archaic medieval meter for the non-academic readers reading his book, who maybe need hitting over the head with the meter’s most blatantly obvious features. Rothfuss’s metrical excess does exactly what he needs it to do – and who cares, anyway, he seems to suggest, about the <i>real</i> Old English rules? </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>(B</b></span></span> y the way, for a slightly different take on Rothfuss’s two poems, check out <a href="https://alliteration.net/reviews/how-rothfuss-writes-in-our-rigid-form/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lancelot Schaubert’s brief review on <i>Forgotten Ground Regained</i></a>.) </p>
<h3>PAUL EDWIN ZIMMER</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieogVgfUgPltMrO8R4hyphenhyphenwkJS2OOH_4QdFsg2mczftRlAQ946ulyjxB7mC_bN7cKGguv04owuH7Bk2vdvg9maH_i-Lfl0plA3W_pJKp3rtOwyTuASbB3Pq-HZ33ar17Suf9N5hU-1o12818XqlI88TcBMtLEyWub3S7cfKlLY55c3fv4BDV-B5W-F3UO0vc/s240/7a%20--%20b%20(Paul%20Edwin%20Zimmer).jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="210" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieogVgfUgPltMrO8R4hyphenhyphenwkJS2OOH_4QdFsg2mczftRlAQ946ulyjxB7mC_bN7cKGguv04owuH7Bk2vdvg9maH_i-Lfl0plA3W_pJKp3rtOwyTuASbB3Pq-HZ33ar17Suf9N5hU-1o12818XqlI88TcBMtLEyWub3S7cfKlLY55c3fv4BDV-B5W-F3UO0vc/s1600/7a%20--%20b%20(Paul%20Edwin%20Zimmer).jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somehow looking the part...<br />Image provided by Wise.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>s this series continues, I’ll talk more about Zimmer, a deeply underappreciated author of heroic fantasy whose impact on the Modern Revival runs wide. Like <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_01395898132.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">C. S. Lewis</a>, he began as a poet, but <i>unlike</i> that Oxford Inkling, Zimmer was neither Christian nor a scholar. In fact, he never even attended college. He learned about medieval poetic forms largely on his own as part of his antiquarian leanings and Neo-Pagan spirituality, but one result is that what Zimmer knows about the Middle Ages bears several noticeable gaps. For instance, let’s sneak a peek at one of the Modern Revival’s more intriguing texts, his twelve-line poem, “The Son of Harold’s Hoarfrost.” </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or some context, back in the late 1970s, a university professor of Scandinavian and German Studies, Jere Fleck, began publishing several long alliterative poems in the Society of Creative Anachronism’s official magazine, <i>Tournaments Illuminated</i>. Most of these long poems, called <i>drápur</i> (sing. <i>drápa</i>), use an exceedingly complex skaldic meter, and I personally consider them the most exciting amateur productions of the Modern Alliterative Revival. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Y</b></span></span>et, thanks to their difficulty, I wouldn’t necessarily <i>recommend</i> Fleck’s <i>drápur</i> to first-timers. Zimmer evidently had similar objections. In 1976, he penned a playful poetic response whose title, “The Son of Harold’s Hoarfrost,” alludes to the name of Fleck’s medieval persona, Geirr Bassi Haraldsson. We can glean the general gist of Zimmer’s grumbles from the following: </p>
<p></p><blockquote>The runes he [Fleck] writes, with rime all a-glitter,<br />
Are Icelandic to excess, and over-ornate:<br />
Poor Kvasir is cold in such Celtic adornment (l. 3-5) </blockquote><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>M</b></span></span>etrically, this text leans well onto the impressionist side: a seven or eight on my 1–10 scale. We can forego the specifics, but several factors lead to me to suspect Zimmer’s deviations from the historical Old English meter are less than fully self-aware. One major hint is that none of Zimmer’s other alliterative poems demonstrate a purist sensibility. That’s always a major clue. Another major clue is that “The Son of Harold’s Hoarfrost” is <i>filled</i> with niggling historical inaccuracies sure to raise the eyebrows of any trained medievalist. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>nd raise Fleck’s eyebrows they surely did. In a friendly open letter published a few months afterward, Fleck defends himself against Zimmer’s “wrathful ribbing” (as he calls it) by observing that, if the two men differ in their poetic tastes, it’s probably because their respective SCA persons hail from different historical periods. As “Geirr Bassi Haraldsson,” Fleck hails from 10th-century Iceland, and he guesses that Zimmer’s persona, “Master Edwin Bersark,” belongs to the pre-Christian Saxon era. As evidence, he cites Zimmer’s usage of “Harold” (the English spelling of Fleck’s patronymic) and “Woden” in line 6. A Norseman would have said <i>Óðinn</i>, and a Christian Saxon would not have mentioned this Germanic god at all. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>M</b></span></span>oreover, any 10th-century Saxon would have clearly recognized Fleck’s long poems as <i>skaldic</i>. At that time, northern England was dominated by Scandinavian York and the Danelaw, and the skalds enjoyed a wide renown. As Fleck remarks, there is nothing “excessive” about their poetry. <i>Drápur</i> are an historically appropriate way to praise kings. Any simpler meter would cause offense, so skaldic poetry is exactly as “ornate” as it needs to be. Nonetheless, if Zimmer’s medieval persona belongs to the <i>early</i> Saxon period, the 6th or 7th century, Fleck magnanimously concedes that there’s no reason for him to know such things…even if Fleck still can’t explain why any early Saxon bard would mention “Kvasir” (a Norse name) or describe Norse poetry as “Celtic.” </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>O</b></span></span>f course, the real reason for such discrepancies is that Zimmer – an amateur enthusiast, not a Professor of Scandinavian and Germanic Studies – just got his medieval details mixed up. But Fleck is too polite to say so, and, anyway, nobody in the SCA wants to break the customary ludic framework that surrounds their discourse. Despite the historical confusions behind “The Son of Harold’s Hoarfrost,” however, which also explain Zimmer’s loose impressionist metrics, what makes this text so useful for the Modern Revival? Mainly this: although Zimmer’s poem isn’t the <i>first</i> modern alliterative poem written in direct response to another revivalist text – that mystery I’ll save for later – “The Son of Harold’s Hoarfrost” offers a rare glimpse at revivalist reception history: how a reader contemporary with Fleck viewed his scholarly <i>drápur</i>. In other words, Zimmer provides a direct and pointed response from one self-aware, ambitious revivalist to another. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>his concludes my discussion of Zimmer. To find out who my third impressionist is, the “most perfect” example of my argument, tune in next week…</p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-1976537633771641152024-02-19T10:00:00.000-08:002024-02-19T10:00:00.136-08:00Guest Post Series: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: Purists vs. Impressionists"<p><i>The sixth in the series of guest-posts from Dennis Wilson Wise, of which the most recent is <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/02/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, lays out some of the critical underpinnings of the overall project. As before, editorial intrusion is minimal. <br /><br />
Check back for the next post in the series soon! <br /><br />
Too, please let us know if you've got ideas for guest-posts or series of your own; we'd love to hear from you! </i></p>
<hr />
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔒</b></span></span></span>ne oddity about the Modern Revival is that, historically, critics don’t normally categorize literary movements according to poetic form alone. For instance, we don’t talk about the “Rhyming Octosyllabic Revolution” of Anglo-Norman England, or the “Blank Verse-ism” of the Elizabethan stage. This oddity has been one reason (out of several) some medievalists have challenged the notion of an “alliterative revival” in the mid-14<sup>th</sup> century at all. After all, no medieval source ever mentions such a movement. The whole idea is a hypothesis put forth by modern scholars. Although <i>my</i> Brit Lit I survey course in college confidently taught the mid-14<sup>th</sup> century revival as accepted fact, quite a few recent scholars have argued that just because various late medieval poems share a certain set of metrical similarities, they needn’t constitute an actual community of poets with similar attitudes or aims. The whole notion of metrical revivalism in the later Middle Ages is, therefore, a shot in the dark that misses – badly. Or so the argument goes.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg71jC1Fg7gJPawF36Ds3cAODOVxxjgUBCH552VodCcFUzDh3mGmO7uq9_-HUYCW7VK-gdG2ODKLkqqaWUpgw6lnGAWzGJx1kn0kBOpYNgnAmSlrY6qQLV3rZDzJeVSvI37vUTNhcPf2-QWYY8HYpstF3ovlWRBi4OIF3_1UGZh_HnNmgx6ybQnttNrAbAe/s300/6%20--%20a%20(OE%20scop).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg71jC1Fg7gJPawF36Ds3cAODOVxxjgUBCH552VodCcFUzDh3mGmO7uq9_-HUYCW7VK-gdG2ODKLkqqaWUpgw6lnGAWzGJx1kn0kBOpYNgnAmSlrY6qQLV3rZDzJeVSvI37vUTNhcPf2-QWYY8HYpstF3ovlWRBi4OIF3_1UGZh_HnNmgx6ybQnttNrAbAe/s1600/6%20--%20a%20(OE%20scop).jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a hot time...<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>L</b></span></span>uckily, with everyone’s favorite <i>modern</i> revival, we stand on surer ground. Even if William Langland, say, didn’t necessarily rub elbows with the <i>Gawain</i>-poet, many contemporary revivalists believe he did…and most have no trouble imagining their own revivalism in parallel terms with the alleged 14th-century movement. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>hat raises an interesting question, though. Despite the alliterative <i>meter</i> fading out of common usage by the 16<sup>th</sup> century, alliteration <i>itself</i> has remained a tried-and-true device for English-language poets. What, then, separates a genuine revivalist poet from one who merely adds a little ornamental alliteration to their lines – i.e., an extra flourish of “rum ram ruf” for special effect? </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>J</b></span></span>ust my last two blog entries alone show how tricky this question can be. In “<a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_0938037265.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dear Tolkien Estate</a>,” Schaubert’s metrics would have made any Old English poet proud. <i>No</i> medieval poet, however, would recognize <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/02/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Majmudar’s “The Grail Quest”</a> as a valid alliterative text. Yet it clearly is a 21<sup>st</sup>-century revivalist poem. The problem isn’t only that the alliterative meter requires more than just alliteration (although some medievalists such Eric Weiskott, in fact, have argued against alliteration serving any real metrical function in the co-called “alliterative” meter). The problem is that individual revivalists can vary widely – and inconveniently, at least for critics who want to study this stuff – on exactly <i>which</i> features of the medieval alliterative meter they wish to revive. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>O</b></span></span>ne way to tackle this conundrum is by imagining an informal metrical scale that ranges 1 through 10, from arch-purists to extreme impressionists. Generally speaking, the latter group has little interest in faithfully reproducing the historical meter. For the purists, though, such fidelity <i>does</i> matter because they necessarily consider metrical fidelity a part of their overall literary goal. The key distinction lies in how many features from a particular tradition a poet chooses to replicate, and to what extent. The main traditions are Old English, Old Norse, or Middle English. Purist poets reproduce more features than not…and more strictly. Impressionist poets reproduce fewer features and less strictly. If a poem contains <i>no</i> recognizable metrical features from a particular tradition, though…well then, maybe it can file a membership claim for the Rhyming Octosyllabic Revolution or Blank Verse-ism, but the Modern Alliterative Revival will have to pass. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>M</b></span></span>y qualifier about a <i>metrical</i> feature, though, is an important one. Poems that merely borrow content from medieval history or (more commonly) adopt phrasing or diction often associated with alliterative verse, such as kennings, don’t qualify <i>as</i> revivalist, at least for me, unless some concrete metrical feature is present. Features may include Sievers types, structural alliteration, a bipartite line structure, an accentual contour, or more. To my eye, most of Seamus Heaney’s medieval-flavored poetry falls into the non-revivalist category. Although he often uses Old English phrases such as “bone-house” (OE: <i>bānhūs</i>), it’s hard to see him applying medieval alliterative poetics in any consistent, discernible fashion. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>U</b></span></span>nder my scale, then, I’d rank “Dear Tolkien Estate” as a purist-leaning poem, a 2 or a 3 (for reference, <i>The Fall of Arthur</i> by Tolkien would be 1.5), and “The Grail Quest” as 6 or 7. There’s nothing especially scientific about these numbers; they’re only meant to jumpstart the conversation. And poets can easily move along the scale at will, up or down. Going back to <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_0366596874.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Poul Anderson</a>, I’d rank “J.R.R.T” a two and “Route Song of the Winged Folk” a nine. Although this latter text clearly shares kinship with the <i>ljoðaháttr</i> form, it’s a long, long way from its Norse roots. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>N</b></span></span>o matter where a poem falls on my revivalist-impressionist scale, though, let me stress that its ranking has <i>nothing</i> to do with literary merit. As mentioned before, “J.R.R.T” seems rather bland to me but “Route Song” quite impressive. About the only undeniably true thing we can say about purist-leaning texts is that their authors, one way or another, consider authenticity important. As Boromir might say, one does not simply walk into Mordor. The alliterative meter takes effort, <i>hard</i> effort, and simply understanding the metrics <i>behind</i> the historical meter takes research and pain-staking application. If a poet goes to all that effort, they darn well have a reason…and that reason often (but not always) involves subject. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or instance, Anderson normally prefers Old Norse meters, but “J.R.R.T” appears in Old English meter because he is honoring an author, Tolkien, who himself prefers the Old English tradition. Ironically, given what I said earlier about the importance of concrete metrical features, subject matter is often a <i>better</i> indicator than metrics of the alliterative tradition being revived. This obviously holds true for impressionists, who rarely care much about historical metrical exactness, but context clues can even help with purists. For instance, metrically, there isn’t much to distinguish Old English meter from Old Norse <i>fornyrðislag</i>, so without an extra-metrical hint such as subject matter, it’s incredibly difficult to make that important interpretative distinction. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>o that’s my revivalist-impressionist scale. At this point, I can imagine one potentially loud objection, not against the scale itself, maybe, but against my claim that metrical fidelity has little to do with literary merit. Here goes: what if an impressionist is deviating from the historical metrics, <i>not</i> in deference to some special literary or linguistic reason, but because they don’t have the foggiest notion what the historical metrics <i>are</i>? Any poet, after all, can start off a poem with “bibbidi-bobbidi-boo,” but such nonsense does not an alliterative poem make. </p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjy9Nkyng_qJq-padcwKIZokooxBpfIV-4Ra0xl4MELRz8PeeRKzuIU6oLCg5h5q4RmukSyQP6sDPN02UAp3CLgTVpOSpVzCLafTAvGzWPmh_5_FYQeGlVIpMmvb_yiin_7fMxKHm32AD8LjYXY2KiJrsNw5Jg236OYlW5r6FOkmGf7gf0FET_qo8Z_m3/s1280/6%20--%20b%20(random%20thing%20from%20Piers%20Plowman).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="830" data-original-width="1280" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjy9Nkyng_qJq-padcwKIZokooxBpfIV-4Ra0xl4MELRz8PeeRKzuIU6oLCg5h5q4RmukSyQP6sDPN02UAp3CLgTVpOSpVzCLafTAvGzWPmh_5_FYQeGlVIpMmvb_yiin_7fMxKHm32AD8LjYXY2KiJrsNw5Jg236OYlW5r6FOkmGf7gf0FET_qo8Z_m3/s320/6%20--%20b%20(random%20thing%20from%20Piers%20Plowman).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...as opposed to the pizza.<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>o which I respond…yeah. Sure. This <i>could</i> be true of an impressionist. Not every revivalist is a medievalist, and some revivalists know virtually nothing about the historical meters. No less an authority than W. H. Auden in <i>The Age of Anxiety</i> had to contend with accusations that he didn’t properly understand Old English prosody, and even though he in fact <i>did</i>, the Modern Revival contains scores of poets who don’t. For such folks, <i>The Wanderer</i> might as well be skaldic verse, and <i>Piers Plowman</i> is virtually identical with Peter Piper with his peck of pickled peppers. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Y</b></span></span>et that doesn’t usually matter. For a fun experiment, I want to tackle three different alliterative poems that fall quite heavily on the impressionist side of the scale…and <i>all</i> by poets who, let us say, have a questionable grasp on their chosen alliterative tradition. To find out who I mean, though, tune in <b>next week</b> for the exciting reveal.</p>
Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-72957690596096671852024-02-06T04:20:00.000-08:002024-02-06T04:42:33.522-08:00Planning for #Kzoo2024<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔗</b></span></span></span>o follow up on <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2023/07/still-another-step-towards-kzoo2024.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">an earlier post</a>, registration for the 2024 International Congress on Medieval Studies is open. Registration is <a href="https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/registration" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, and it's a sliding scale.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he Society has a few things on offer for the Congress this time around, all virtual, and all in US Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4):</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Business Meeting- Thursday, 9 May 2024, 8:30pm</li><li>Alternative Medievalisms against the Tolkienian Tradition- Friday, 10 May 2024, 1:30pm</li><li>Tolkien and Twenty-First Century Challenges: A Roundtable- Saturday, 11 May 2024, 3:30pm<br /></li></ul>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>tems on the agenda for the business meeting, which will serve as the AGM called for by §5.1 of <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/p/constitution.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Society Constitution</a>, remain</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Determination of the Society offerings for the 2025 Congress;</li><li>Election of the Society President, 2024-2027, per §4.2.2 of the Society Constitution and <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/p/constitution.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the 2021 AGM</a>; and<br /></li><li>Other business as the Society decides to treat and as time permits.<br /></li></ul>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>ncumbent Society President Geoffrey B. Elliott notes that he is not willing to stand for reelection, having already served in the capacity for six years.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>P</b></span></span>lease send Congress offering ideas and nominations for President to talesaftertolkien@gmail.com, and we'll see you at the 'zoo!</p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-22653212864931844532024-02-05T10:00:00.000-08:002024-02-05T10:26:28.314-08:00Guest Post Series: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: Amit Majmudar, 'The Grail Quest'"<p><i>The fifth in the series of guest-posts from Dennis Wilson Wise, of
which the most recent is <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_0938037265.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, discusses an interesting iteration of anachronistic medievalism. As before, editorial
intrusion is minimal.<br /><br />
Check back for the next post in the series soon!<br /><br />
Too, please let us know if you've got ideas for guest-posts or series of your own; we'd love to hear from you!</i></p>
<hr />
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔄</b></span></span></span>fter my last blog post on the nearly perfect Old English metrics of “Dear Tolkien Estate,” I can’t resist tackling another new (to me) poet with more experimental tendencies: Amit Majmudar.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvq-3fohy6_B-ASRR9hHsA2yTDq_B8-gbTb2zUIgyEeOb67AY5ZHo73fFEdoWTFL7NBRqm6I2opN3-kFJvdFsLx_z08KcQJ5bWhInjWBBWm84Gfwrcxdsyjh7kngid6r9S8laxhIVdJmc83uYmV1x5Z-cHEsBfPnHdvjbCe_y8_fTde4MOTf0XUpXTra2/s278/5%20-%20Amit%20-%20first%20image.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="278" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvq-3fohy6_B-ASRR9hHsA2yTDq_B8-gbTb2zUIgyEeOb67AY5ZHo73fFEdoWTFL7NBRqm6I2opN3-kFJvdFsLx_z08KcQJ5bWhInjWBBWm84Gfwrcxdsyjh7kngid6r9S8laxhIVdJmc83uYmV1x5Z-cHEsBfPnHdvjbCe_y8_fTde4MOTf0XUpXTra2/s1600/5%20-%20Amit%20-%20first%20image.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The laureate<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>s Ohio’s first poet laureate and the author of a verse translation of the <i>Bhagavad Gita</i> (named <i>Godsong</i>, 2011), Majmudar – a diagnostic radiologist in his spare time – is someone whom I’m kicking myself for having missed during my first hunt for revivalists. And he’s good. Although “The Grail Quest” isn’t technically a speculative poem, it shows exactly what someone can accomplish merely by <i>hinting</i> at the old alliterative prosody – that is, by practicing a meter unconcerned with strict Sievers types or full-scale structural alliteration. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>s its title indicates, “The Grail Quest” is another Arthurian poem, and Majmudar refers initially to both Chrétien de Troyes, the French romancer who created the Grail legend, and Sir Perceval, its original quester. (Later Arthurian tradition would eventually replace Perceval as central quester with the pure-in-heart Sir Galahad.) You can read the <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2023/12/14/holy-grail-galahad-246724" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">full text of “The Grail Quest” here</a>; <i>America Magazine</i> published it just last December. For your convenience, the first five lines are an excellent gateway into Majmudar’s metrical abracadabra: </p>
<p></p><blockquote>Perceval almost pierced the veil,<br />
never uttered a Christ-laced curse.<br />
Purity of heart is to will one thing,<br />
wrote Kierkegaard before the churchyards<br />
turned charnel houses in excruciated Europe. (lines 1-5)</blockquote><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he tell-tale caesuras are readily apparent to anyone, but they’re about the only aspect of Old English poetics Majmudar reproduces. Although his first line creates something like an “establishing shot” for good structural alliteration (that is, “<u><i>Per</i></u>ceval” and “<u><i>pierced</i></u>” link his <i>a</i>-verse to his <i>b</i>-verse), the next two lines break that patterning decisively. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>n lines 2 and 3, the <i>b</i>-verses only alliterate internally – an unhistorical practice that Majmudar frequently repeats. He likewise shows little interest in following standard Sieversian rhythms. Although some half-lines display a valid pattern, for instance “Perceval almost” (type A), “pierced the veil” fails the Sievers test by having only three syllables, and “Purity of heart” deploys the SxxS pattern that Old English poets considered improper. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span> could go on. For example, besides intra-verse alliterations, Majmudar deploys other quasi-historical deviations such as delayed alliteration, interlinear alliteration, and crossed alliteration. Yet, at this point, part of me almost wishes to apologize for all this detailed talk of prosody … yet the metrics behind Majmudar’s poem truly <i>are</i> different from those found in “Dear Tolkien Estate,” and I can’t help but mention them: they create <i>such</i> a radically different style of revivalist text. By way of comparison, imagine the difference between jaguars and tigers. Both animals, clearly, belong to the big cat family, but each is fundamentally its own beast. In a similar way, Majmudar’s metrics make his poem unique, and this uniqueness has a profound effect on what meanings we can (or should) take away from his poem. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>n one sense, “The Grail Quest” is a text that meditates on poetic form itself. To that end, Majmudar joins a host of other revivalists who reflect upon the core weirdness of resurrecting an archaic medieval meter for modern times. In particular I’m thinking of Richard Wilbur (“Junk”) and Edwin Morgan (“Spacepoem 3: Off Course”). All three of their poems diverge strongly from strict Old English meter, but for the way <i>I</i> read “The Grail Quest,” Majmudar’s thematic justification for his unhistorical poetics is particularly fascinating. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>L</b></span></span>ook at Majmudar’s first stanza. There, his speaker questions the status of the Holy Grail as literal physical object – perhaps it is merely a lure, he says, an imaginary MacGuffin in pursuit of which Galahad will “attempt and test / truth by joust” (l.17-18). However, in the second stanza, the Grail Quest transforms into a <i>personal</i> quest for the speaker. For a poet especially, this private quest leads not to an “impossible castle” (l.19) but to the perfect <i>poem</i>: a text shaped by its ideal form, faultlessly conveying what its intrepid speaker – who wonders hesitantly “whether ⸱ my words were worthy” (l.25) wishes to express. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>n poetry, needless to say, metrics are welded to form, and one ideal way to convey Arthurian content so heavily associated with the Middle Ages is through a specifically medieval meter: the alliterative. The <i>Alliterative Morte Arthure</i> comes readily to mind; so does <i>Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</i>. Hence Majmudar’s poem. But there’s a problem. For poets writing in the 21st century, a totally faithful historical restoration of the medieval alliterative meter is coming about six centuries too late. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Q</b></span></span>uite early in Majmudar’s poem, history enters the text through a subtle reference to the First World War, i.e., “the churchyards / turned charnel houses” of an excruciated Europe. This war has often been viewed as a cultural diremption between late modernity and the earlier Edwardian and Victorian eras, and thus, under my reading of “The Grail Quest,” the Great War also implies a nearly unbridgeable chasm between modernity and the Middle Ages. Simply too much has come to pass in the last 600 years; nobody today can revive a literary form established by a long-dead era without irony. This realization is partly what drove Ezra Pound’s famous revolution against traditional poetics, and although Pound also drew inspiration from Old English poetry, he lengthened and loosened the Old English poetic line in radically new, modernist ways. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>n this context, I thus cannot help but see Majmudar’s reference to lapis lazuli in line 7 as a deft allusion to Yeats, whose poem by that name provides one more modernist meditation on life and art. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>B</b></span></span>ecause new worlds require new poetics, however (or so the argument goes; C. S. Lewis wouldn’t agree), what I find enthralling about “The Grail Quest” is how Majmudar seems to suggest a historical and <i>cultural</i> justification for his “impressionistic” revival of the alliterative meter. According to most medievalists, linguistic changes are to blame for why alliterative poetry disappeared after the 16th century, and I’ve elsewhere claimed that one of the stronger arguments for impressionism in the Modern Revival is how Modern English differs from its earlier cognate languages. There’s still a good basis for this claim, I believe, but let’s also consider one strong parallel within the history of Arthurian literature. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8mj7jdovX_AwSvNXTiJW3D_M-6LJhMg2eWBoBmVlyzhf4iqtqFlTqB-wTVEDj3S06mBuV8sEkyQt9IBG5e9S1e0IvqOZ1w33itT56fQ5hDraI38fS9IzLIK6ncQ4f-yqvH1SjWLJHtpnuJJFcu-ComsZvadZseSRpA1jvJmYAYPJzo0giSOtl-s6b0R5/s321/5%20-%20Amit%20%E2%80%93%20second%20image.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="157" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8mj7jdovX_AwSvNXTiJW3D_M-6LJhMg2eWBoBmVlyzhf4iqtqFlTqB-wTVEDj3S06mBuV8sEkyQt9IBG5e9S1e0IvqOZ1w33itT56fQ5hDraI38fS9IzLIK6ncQ4f-yqvH1SjWLJHtpnuJJFcu-ComsZvadZseSRpA1jvJmYAYPJzo0giSOtl-s6b0R5/s320/5%20-%20Amit%20%E2%80%93%20second%20image.jpg" width="157" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's so dreamy...<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>his parallel even seems to be suggested by “The Grail Quest.” Notably, when speaking of Arthurian legend, it’s often helpful to remember that Arthuriana is the original “fan fiction.” New authors <i>constantly</i> re-write characters, invent them, or modify their core qualities. Chrétien de Troyes is a case in point. As mentioned before, he created Sir Perceval as the original Grail knight. But Majmudar does not trust any “poet ⸱ pimping a tale” (l. 11), as he says, and neither, apparently, did several late medieval authors. Once the Grail transformed into the <i>Holy</i> Grail, the tradition quickly needed someone who better exemplified Christian virtue. Thus the Vulgate Cycle (13th-century) was born, and it soon replaced Sir Perceval as principal quester with the supremely virtuous (and markedly virginal) Sir Galahad. His companions became Bors and Perceval; poor Sir Perceval had quested himself into a demotion. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>n other words, the times they were a-changin’. No longer did the original Grail knight from de Troyes’s romances – never exactly the sharpest tool in the shed – suffice. Perceval had lost his “it” factor, so the tradition required a revision. All this seems implied by “The Grail Quest.” In Majmudar’s first stanza, his speaker begins explicitly with de Troyes’s version of Perceval before quickly pivoting to Sir Galahad, his literary replacement. And just as Arthurian tradition has rewritten Sir Perceval, Majmudar is rewriting the Holy Grail, transforming this Christian symbol from a cup filled with Christ’s blood to a poem fitted perfectly by its form.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>ll this helps explain Majmudar’s revisions on the traditional poetics of the alliterative meter; the old poetics no longer suffice. One can agree or disagree with this assessment as you please. After all, the Modern Revival will always have its purist poets, those folks supremely interested in historical authenticity: Rahul Gupta, Jere Fleck, Math Jones, Adam Bolivar, the Inklings. But Majmudar isn’t one of them…and “The Grail Quest” partly explains why.</p>
Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-90715987716443523712024-01-31T14:52:00.000-08:002024-01-31T14:52:49.763-08:00Author Interview - Bethany Atazadeh<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with YA fantasy author, Bethany Atazadeh!</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dCj0GX_YOYfq40KXo6_0yvKskrZjCM5MiKJJUy719VVltVYCnmEF0rJRysX8bj2XcrHh3CtaTYrB_FXYMRBQk4La06MqfJH1g2pkl-v3Q_3LGWq7qmAF5jhPBCpfC3lmXexkPc7yAq0iBNukFnc9w-syUltuJgat8IXyRoQl2iLKLi6EN8K1Ni8dIQs/s1440/image0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dCj0GX_YOYfq40KXo6_0yvKskrZjCM5MiKJJUy719VVltVYCnmEF0rJRysX8bj2XcrHh3CtaTYrB_FXYMRBQk4La06MqfJH1g2pkl-v3Q_3LGWq7qmAF5jhPBCpfC3lmXexkPc7yAq0iBNukFnc9w-syUltuJgat8IXyRoQl2iLKLi6EN8K1Ni8dIQs/s320/image0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></span></h3><p>Back in 2016 I was laid off from a corporate job with a whole team, and I took the opportunity to pursue writing and self-publishing on a whim. Here I am seven years later, thankful I did! At this point in my career, I have written 10 novels (published 9), as well as published a children's book, five nonfiction books on marketing with a co-author (two of which I personally wrote), and a writing planner. While I've loved every single book-shaped project, my absolute favorite is young adult fantasy books, especially if they have a touch of fairytale retelling elements to them.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Your favorite thing you've written or published?</h3><p>Honestly, I almost always say my most recent book—and because I love The Secret Curse (book 3 in The Queen's Rise series) so much, I have to say that's true this time as well.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p>So many... Every book that I read influences me (whether good or bad!) by impacting my writing and my understanding of good story. I wish I could point to a specific person, but it's really every author I know or enjoy reading!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Do you feel like your writing has been impacted/influenced by Tolkien? If so, in what way(s)?</h3><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbo5jGXD-9mgw3_42on7JcixQTmdSe6AmP6eU1Z0THCbfDp1vblCvfyU1l_g5DNX308FpiP85gQTQAIivKtYXrkghx53J0cWtvRUdwZaxgncz_0JWqwFJ6EjltmmBe6FN_Y9j0r6MCqJhcEDwe5LIA4d-k1rNhRJ0PsTc17jRV8Dg4PtS_CE_isUQeW80/s2400/197477475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbo5jGXD-9mgw3_42on7JcixQTmdSe6AmP6eU1Z0THCbfDp1vblCvfyU1l_g5DNX308FpiP85gQTQAIivKtYXrkghx53J0cWtvRUdwZaxgncz_0JWqwFJ6EjltmmBe6FN_Y9j0r6MCqJhcEDwe5LIA4d-k1rNhRJ0PsTc17jRV8Dg4PtS_CE_isUQeW80/s320/197477475.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Hmm, while I have to admit I didn't read in full and watched the movies instead (don't hate!) I can still say he has an incredible ability to create believable characters and worlds that every author should aspire to. I have no idea how he does it, but at least one element might be that he's not afraid to give them flaws (and big ones sometimes!) amidst all the good.<p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p>I guess maybe in a backwards way? A lot of fantasy has middle ages vibes, and I specifically wanted to do something different so I tried to intentionally create a fantasy world in The Stolen Kingdom series (and now The Queen's Rise series) that was based in a very different time/culture (or multiple cultures at this point). </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p>There are two big innovations currently that I see: romantasy (aka fantasy books that are mainly about the romance) and having "spice" in books (aka sexual scenes to some extent). Personally I love the romantasy vibes and have really enjoyed adding more romance to my fantasy books to embrace that trend. But I strongly dislike the way that the "spice" trend is affecting young adult age books in particular, because that content doesn't belong in young adult books.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p>I love unique fantasy worlds that branch out from the typical King Arthur and the round table / middle ages style worlds. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p>I already got on my soapbox a little, but I believe young adult books should be more innocent for the age group, and that there's too much adult content in them these days, specifically spicy scenes. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtoIshIcie2yDV4hLGJr2uOX7eY2QSzuEHWw0w7VB0KDQ2Cttn5juqpn86qdJ7E7UOvFo0EoV5To75uQb1F5PcSxowksZEzD5F9zoWSm0z6GdH6bC-rbcjRGVXGIhx1zJyrH0D-k_0KdzubBTlK7Gzp3EUxfQrE-2fGGouy8X-_zTXJa1ko56DYqc9fO8/s565/60916605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="353" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtoIshIcie2yDV4hLGJr2uOX7eY2QSzuEHWw0w7VB0KDQ2Cttn5juqpn86qdJ7E7UOvFo0EoV5To75uQb1F5PcSxowksZEzD5F9zoWSm0z6GdH6bC-rbcjRGVXGIhx1zJyrH0D-k_0KdzubBTlK7Gzp3EUxfQrE-2fGGouy8X-_zTXJa1ko56DYqc9fO8/s320/60916605.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What are your favorite themes to work with or write?</h3><p>Hope. Overcoming. Loving yourself the way you are. Faith.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p>Website: https://www.bethanyatazadeh.com</p><p>Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorbethanyatazadeh</p><p>YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/bethanyatazadeh </p><p>My books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B077FRKJGW/allbooks</p><p>My books on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/bethanyatazadeh</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bethany, thank you so much for the interview and sharing your fun and insightful answers with us!</span></p>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-80138238322299676102024-01-29T10:00:00.000-08:002024-01-29T11:11:03.988-08:00Guest Post Series: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: Lancelot Schaubert, 'Dear Tolkien Estate'"<p><i>The fourth in the series of guest-posts from Dennis Wilson Wise, of which the most recent is <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_01395898132.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, treats a response to Tolkien and is therefore eminently suited to presentation here. As before, editorial intrusion is minimal.<br /><br />
Check back for the next post in the series soon!<br /><br />
Too, please let us know if you've got ideas for guest-posts or series of your own; we'd love to hear from you!</i></p>
<hr />
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔒</b></span></span></span>f all the new alliterative poems I’ve recently seen, Lancelot Schaubert’s “<b>Dear Tolkien Estate</b>” is one of the more delightful. To give this one some context, if you’re a regular reader of <i>Tales After Tolkien</i>, you <i>might</i> have already heard of a little-known fantasy author by the name of J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, back in May 2013, the executor of Tolkien’s estate (his son Christopher) posthumously published one of his father’s longest original works in strict Old English meter, <i>The Fall of Arthur</i>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>f you’ve not read it before, it’s a remarkable achievement, but alas…as holds true for most of Tolkien’s major projects, he never completed it. Only four cantos plus portions of a fifth are finished. Nevertheless, in 1934, he shared a draft of <i>The Fall of Arthur</i> with his trusted friend and colleague, the medievalist R. W. Chambers (1874-1942), who praised the poem highly. Yet this encouragement was apparently insufficient to entice Tolkien towards completion, and despite hinting a few decades later that he wished to return to his “long poem,” Tolkien never did. When discussing another incomplete story by his father, “Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin,” Christopher Tolkien laments, “For me it is perhaps the most grievous of his many abandonments.” To that mix I would also add <i>The Fall of Arthur</i>.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDr8xXZa1aqqnJ8FJADhx834RhMl9VG3Lv_HnbQltvtLOaJmHq6XaRjoTIUcKRPwGiLyf6EFCJTgzMHRLbIUdKuE2EVlrzS2xEepSIhlFTQYKVPNkfx8ofPFEYSn1EBbkFCqX3Bm-1jMm9hGb_o92FepayZZJvh6zFuicMy_mj3WR5Whyphenhyphen9J9lTrqfwQKac/s275/4%20-%20Lance%20-%20first%20image.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDr8xXZa1aqqnJ8FJADhx834RhMl9VG3Lv_HnbQltvtLOaJmHq6XaRjoTIUcKRPwGiLyf6EFCJTgzMHRLbIUdKuE2EVlrzS2xEepSIhlFTQYKVPNkfx8ofPFEYSn1EBbkFCqX3Bm-1jMm9hGb_o92FepayZZJvh6zFuicMy_mj3WR5Whyphenhyphen9J9lTrqfwQKac/s1600/4%20-%20Lance%20-%20first%20image.jpg" width="183" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The poet in question<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>C</b></span></span>ue Mr. Schaubert. For anyone unfamiliar with him, Schaubert has – despite his youth – an impressive publication record in the alliterative meter to his credit. His first book of verse, <i>Inconveniences Rightly Considered</i> (2017), has several poems in the meter, but it’s with <i>The Greenwood Poet</i> (2022) that he plunges head-first into alliterative poetics, which he often buttresses with half-rhyme and inter-verse assonance. Naturally enough, Schaubert deeply admires the Inklings, and in “Dear Tolkien Estate” he makes the ultimately quixotic offer to complete <i>The Fall of Arthur</i> himself.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>O</b></span></span>f course, if you know anything about the Tolkien Estate, their refusal is about as unsurprising as hobbits living in the Shire. Still, if anybody has the chops to finish an Old English alliterative poem with a Christian undertone, Schaubert seems like a strong candidate. For one thing, “Dear Tolkien Estate” demonstrates an admirable restraint, although one I could never hope to emulate: never <i>once</i> does the text hint about how appropriate it would be for someone named “Lancelot” to finish an Arthurian poem. (See, even in this blog post I can’t restrain myself.) </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>M</b></span></span>ore seriously, Schaubert’s meter in “Dear Tolkien Estate” is a master-class in alliterative control. His language is entirely natural – a key component of Old English verse – but he also weaves in and out of different Sievers types at will. The alliteration holds structurally true while never becoming intrusive. His penultimate line is particularly well-done: two half-lines that scan as B-types with long dips, but which also double as four consecutive anapests. This produces an arresting regularity of rhythm distinctive because it’s so unusual within the famously irregular Old English meter.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>G</b></span></span>ranted, Schaubert’s metrics don’t quite match Tolkien’s own. He has some unusual stresses (e.g., the first syllable of <i>alliteration</i> in line 7; we have documentary evidence that the British Tolkien stressed the second), and, thanks to some fine research by T. S. Sudell and Nelson Goering, we know that Tolkien practiced a strict compression in <i>The Fall of Arthur</i>. Historically, Old English poets, although occasionally willing to expand their verses, generally preferred shorter ones of 4 or 5 syllables. This is a precedent followed by Tolkien. In contrast, the verses in Schaubert’s poem tend to run slightly longer, but this (I would suggest) only contributes to their feeling of naturalness. Modern English simply <i>isn’t</i> as compressed a language as Old English. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>s a final note, Schaubert’s reference to “reforged swords” in his third stanza – an intimation of Aragorn’s reforged blade Andúril – is one of several delicately handled references to the lore. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>O</b></span></span>verall, “Dear Tolkien Estate” is a wonderful revivalist text for anyone to peruse. Enjoy: it’s printed for the first time here with the author’s permission. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZ2A96EL45OnK__dOV3x1co0D4aJjwZDqffV_R8g3I9cmUm1vnOMKYcVHtOVhM3lJa7yv4pgbQ8Fc18qARAavK1ySoi1FcKxs3cbGeBscNTeP5gAcIhbYmhnmvAu_khXL1K_rKbRpI3nA_-E1BTGqcRJA3eJszv-uHwh60AE7clekWmP01tqIqkmxQnHb/s500/4-%20Lance-%20second%20image.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZ2A96EL45OnK__dOV3x1co0D4aJjwZDqffV_R8g3I9cmUm1vnOMKYcVHtOVhM3lJa7yv4pgbQ8Fc18qARAavK1ySoi1FcKxs3cbGeBscNTeP5gAcIhbYmhnmvAu_khXL1K_rKbRpI3nA_-E1BTGqcRJA3eJszv-uHwh60AE7clekWmP01tqIqkmxQnHb/s320/4-%20Lance-%20second%20image.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The call prompting the response<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<h3>Dear Tolkien Estate</h3>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>ℑ</b></span></span>t would take talent for Tolkien’s dirge<br />
Of Arthur and all the old knights<br />
Of Camelot to receive the called-for response<br />
Its original pages rightly deserve —<br />
The ending of ages, the altar of metre<br />
Receiving a sacred sacrifice of devotion<br />
Like Old English, alliterate and paced.<br /><br />
It would take the team of the Tolkien estate<br />
Agreeing together that greater things<br />
Could arise rightly from a ready pupil, <br />
A published poet and pawn of the realm<br />
Of the great and varied graves of scholars<br />
Who studied the song, who savored Gondor, <br />
Who shun Shelob and shake with anger<br />
At the mighty men molten Balrogs<br />
Laid asunder in the lofty heights<br />
Of the lowest dungeons and the lakes of ice. <br /><br />
It would take tomes of Tolkien’s notes<br />
And a steady hand, studying long, <br />
And ready to write a rendered ending<br />
Deserved by the start, daring to finish<br />
What many missed, what most wanted, <br />
Yet still has never starred on the list<br />
Of finished tales, of reforged swords, <br />
That the master half-made before making a way<br />
To the pearly gates and the price of life. <br /><br />
I would take the chance if you take me in. <br />
I would write the end of the ruined saga. <br />
I could give you the gold of the grave of the crown: <br />
Pendragon’s poem I dare to complete.</p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-86006353872455718122024-01-22T10:00:00.000-08:002024-01-22T10:00:00.350-08:00Guest Post Series: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: C. S. Lewis, The Nameless Isle"<p></p><p><i>Dennis Wilson Wise's guest-post series (beginning <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> and continued <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise_0366596874.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>) moves on with a discussion of CS Lewis. As before, editorial intervention is kept to a minimum.</i></p><p><i>Check back soon for the next post in the series!</i> </p>
<hr />
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>ℌ</b></span></span></span>aving already discussed Poul Anderson, the Modern Revival’s most noteworthy early pulp poet, it only makes sense to now turn our sights on the Inklings, the two best-known “university” poets. And because most readers interested in such matters already know about Tolkien, let’s take the opportunity to give equal time to his friend and fellow Inkling, C. S. Lewis. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0oD_MhaYqJTV_KOociQeF-nALEBqaaGSRQ4V_QhLap1CvkcIb8zcR-PasFPUWe-rh19ITM3rbX4GCSRUG64Mlo4hTWMJKc14mSM_EeCNEoxmW7GRkFlQ4D4D-SH4IMVoFWbFucZJa2I0QMphiTc3fTKq7j9XyY1s_evKSAzFvGwJjNNm4uX6cbFoY7DO/s266/3%20-%20CSL%20-%20first%20image.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="266" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0oD_MhaYqJTV_KOociQeF-nALEBqaaGSRQ4V_QhLap1CvkcIb8zcR-PasFPUWe-rh19ITM3rbX4GCSRUG64Mlo4hTWMJKc14mSM_EeCNEoxmW7GRkFlQ4D4D-SH4IMVoFWbFucZJa2I0QMphiTc3fTKq7j9XyY1s_evKSAzFvGwJjNNm4uX6cbFoY7DO/s1600/3%20-%20CSL%20-%20first%20image.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The man. The myth. The legend.<br />Image provided by Wise.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>N</b></span></span>ow, full disclosure: I’ve published <i>a lot</i> about Lewis’s alliterative verse, so there’s quite a few paths this blog post could take. Issues of national identity and English nationalism, for instance, or Lewis’s infamous disdain for modernist poetics. Or we might mention his preference for formalist poetry, his Christian apologetics, or the religious aspects of his fantasy. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>B</b></span></span>ut if people “know” one thing about Lewis’s poetry, they know that it’s…well…not very good. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>N</b></span></span>ow, that’s not <i>my</i> view, mind you, but even fans and scholars of Lewis tend to accept this assessment as the default consensus. Unfortunately, Lewis is probably himself responsible for the poor state of his poetic reputation. As some readers of <i>Tales After Tolkien</i> may already know, Lewis started his literary career as a poet. His first book, <i>Spirits in Bondage</i> (1919), did okay – it probably earned a boost from the “sympathetic young war veteran” factor – but the true work of his heart, <i>Dymer</i>, a book-length long poem in rime royal, met with a crushingly lukewarm reception upon its publication in 1926…and I do mean “crushingly.” Critical and popular apathy absolutely shattered Lewis’s artistic ego. Rather than picking up the pieces and trying again, though, he decided – merely 27 years old – to vehemently denounce his own youthful ambition to become a great poet. Over the next four decades he would compose the occasional poem, but after the <i>Dymer</i> fiasco, Lewis virtually ceased trying to publish his verse. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>M</b></span></span>any scholars see this renunciation of poetic fame as one of Lewis’s first truly adult decisions, his mature self-awareness about the limits of his own talent, and, to be fair, Lewis as poet does have several odd tics. Individual psychology barely matters to him, and his narrative verse – <i>Dymer</i> most especially – often betrays a ham-handed style of plotting. Likewise, it’s hard for contemporary readers to see his penchant for traditional forms and diction – including the use of apostrophes for elided syllables – as anything other than achingly old-fashioned. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>till, I’m reminded of an excellent book by Meredith Martin, <i>The Rise and Fall of Meter</i> (2012). Partly thanks to Ezra Pound’s polemics, says Martin, literary modernism effectively managed to fix in our heads an image of “meter” as something stable, permanent, and ahistorical. However, the fact of the matter is that prosodists from 1860 through 1930 had a voracious appetite for debating metrical theory, so rather than envisioning meter as a set of shackles or a straightjacket from which a new poetics (as the modernists would claim) must set us free, Victorian and Edwardian prosodists were <i>continually</i> revising and challenging their core ideas on meter – and, thus, all the time subjecting their formal poetry to metrical innovation. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or now, I’ll resist the urge to wax eloquent on what Lewis thought of his modernist contemporaries. (Hint: his views are more nuanced than common descriptions like “reactionary” would have one believe). Yet he truly <i>did</i> love traditional forms and meters, and Martin’s argument helps us understand why so many current scholars view Lewis’s resolutely formal verse as backward-looking and old-fashioned: we’ve been collectively conditioned to view it through modernist goggles. Nonetheless, these goggles prevent most readers and scholars from seeing the sheer metrically inventiveness that Lewis can display from poem to poem, and nowhere are these blinders more obvious than in <i>The Nameless Isle</i>. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b></b></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgozvIu44vPxYVPDRxKwKoDVLIrbXbPeHApOJ-i_PN4us4cIAFlupdHVQ2m7FpjCXRkxjKBFvrvJ1fEFbd2JzlX31RHdfS5m9YWscZ-DOXTOfiOV3WaaMLR8TDwLHrzPb3sJSeceAa6-52Q29c9YJNe_iFgYa5iwllQ-LKvF_Ez5urEKfGowfoqmecvkw8v/s522/3%20-%20CSL%20-%20second%20image.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="346" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgozvIu44vPxYVPDRxKwKoDVLIrbXbPeHApOJ-i_PN4us4cIAFlupdHVQ2m7FpjCXRkxjKBFvrvJ1fEFbd2JzlX31RHdfS5m9YWscZ-DOXTOfiOV3WaaMLR8TDwLHrzPb3sJSeceAa6-52Q29c9YJNe_iFgYa5iwllQ-LKvF_Ez5urEKfGowfoqmecvkw8v/s320/3%20-%20CSL%20-%20second%20image.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it here.<br />Image provided by Wise.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>f you’ve not had the pleasure, <i>The Nameless Isle</i> (1930) is a 742-line alliterative fantasy romance about a mariner who shipwrecks onto an enchanted island; once there, he helps reconcile a married yet estranged sorceress and wizard. In the process he also encounters a mysterious dwarf, a beautiful damsel, and a magical flute. All in all, <i>The Nameless Isle</i> is a light-hearted, skillfully wrought long poem with serious themes, and although it has flown under the radar of most critics, it’s a masterful lesson on Lewis’s skills with metrical innovation. <p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or now, we’ll gloss over the basic experimentalism implied by Lewis’s decision to resurrect an archaic medieval verse form – remember, by 1930, good models of alliterative poetry in Modern English didn’t yet really exist. You only <i>found</i> good models by studying Old English poetry in its original language, but even here Lewis doesn’t follow his medieval predecessors slavishly; he adds his own twists. Many are too technical to describe in detail (I’ve written about them elsewhere), but, as a quick summary, three notable areas concern (1) Lewis’s strong penchant for double alliteration; (2) his greater willingness to use long dips; and (3) his elimination of a metrical license known as <i>anacrusis</i> that Old English poets deemed highly useful.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>W</b></span></span>hat <i>I</i> want to discuss, though, is a metrical innovation more accessible for general discussion, i.e., the part of <i>The Nameless Isle</i> I call “<b>The Song of <i>Hic</i> and <i>Illa</i></b>.” </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or some context, this song occurs immediately upon the wizard and sorceress’s marital reconciliation, and it’s meant as a love duet between them demonstrating the balance they’ve discovered between their respective magical purviews. The song owes its core theme to a book Lewis discovered just a year earlier, Coventry Patmore’s <i>The Angel in the Household</i> (1854). Today, this long poem enjoys something of a double-edged reputation, especially among feminist critics, since <i>The Angel in the Household</i> helped solidify the Victorian ideology of separate spheres – i.e., women belong in the home, men in the workplace – but for Lewis, at least, who had newly converted to theism, Patmore’s poem was eye-opening. To him it revealed that a spiritual dimension <i>could</i> exist legitimately within marriage, one founded on mutual partnership between a husband and wife, and for a then-confirmed bachelor like Lewis, whose opinions on women were generally dismissive, <i>The Angel in the Household</i> represented a small step in the right direction.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>nyway, Lewis conveys his new opinion on marital equality through his innovations on Old English meter. Check out the following sample. <i>Hic</i> is Lewis’s name for his wizard (who allegorically represents the world of pure spirit), and <i>Illa</i> is the name for his sorceress, who allegorically represents the material world. </p>
<p></p><blockquote>HIC: ‘My love’s laughter is light falling<br />
Through broad branches in brown woodland,<br />
On a cold fountain, in a cave <u>darkling</u>,<br />
A mild <u>sparkling</u> <i>in mossy <b>gloom</b></i>.’<br />
ILLA: ‘But my lord’s wisdom is light <u>breaking</u>,<br />
And sound shaking, <i>a sundered <b>tomb</b></i>.’ (lines 646–651, caesuras added)</blockquote><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>s far as Old English metrics goes, nothing in “The Song” is outright unmetrical … but nowhere in Old English literature does Lewis’s particular style find an equivalent. In my selected passage, which is representative, there are 12 verses across six lines, and his Sievers types break down as follows:
</p><p></p><blockquote>A-types (SxSx): 0 / 12 (0%)<br />
B-types (xSxS): 2 / 12 (16.7%)<br />
C-types (xSSx): 10 / 12 (83.3%)</blockquote><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>hat’s a <i>very</i> unusual distribution pattern. In fact, it occurs nowhere in Old English poetry. Why does Lewis chose to go with such a predominance? Well, I can come up with a few guesses, but the key, I think, is <i>balance</i>. The clashing stresses of types C create a see-saw rhythm that denotes equality. When one foot rises, the other foot falls – and rinse, and repeat. Previously, the reason why the wizard and sorceress’s marriage had failed was because each had believed their own magical purview superior. Each had wanted to rule the island by granting dominion to either “spirit” or “matter.” No equal partnership, however, can persist when one party retains a belief in dominance and hierarchy. Balance is therefore key, and of Sievers’s five metrical types, type C is the most “balanced.” </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Y</b></span></span>et Lewis goes even further. In most Old English poetry, rhyme doesn’t appear as a structural device. Here, though, Lewis clearly <i>does</i> employ rhyme in a structural way. So let’s now turn to his two outlier B-types. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>n my example, I’ve bolded Lewis’s masculine rhymes and underlined his feminine ones. In the former case, masculine rhymes require a matching set of final <i>stressed</i> syllables. That rules out type C, which ends on a trochaic constituent, so the only option left is the iambic-seeming type B. Conversely, feminine rhymes require a trochaic ending, and this is entirely appropriate for C-types. As a result, Lewis explicitly genders Old English poetics in a surprisingly but thematically significant way. Notably, he doesn’t limit masculine rhymes to his wizard or feminine rhymes to his sorceress. <i>Both</i> magical figures utilize both types of rhyme, just as each speaks with the same Sieversian patterns. Thus metrics reinforce the passage’s symbolic union between wizard and sorceress, wife and husband, matter and spirit. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>lthough “The Song of Hic and Illa” isn’t necessarily my favorite passage from <i>The Nameless Isle</i> – many of its more traditional alliterative passages are, in my view, far lovelier – I nevertheless find myself increasingly impressed with Lewis’s skill as a poet: his metrical boldness, his willingness to innovate.</p>
<p></p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-6852620246397776052024-01-19T10:00:00.000-08:002024-01-19T10:00:00.128-08:00Author Interview - Jayne Castel<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxYkNPuIm5rYqiPvSZxgZBkog_lYsVULnqw5ePEzNqg7eduWCQ3-vKJrnvDfC8hD-UfUzFcrqhuQkb3c1oqBW871JKf1aR_IztzXFoL9inzJBYAisSvwFRXn40cev_msZk8ayG8bszFq3o_ZVUjbck7hp7MP6TkrS3XYgeliMz5m38mrNrYshIyOalew/s756/JayneCastel2023.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="756" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxYkNPuIm5rYqiPvSZxgZBkog_lYsVULnqw5ePEzNqg7eduWCQ3-vKJrnvDfC8hD-UfUzFcrqhuQkb3c1oqBW871JKf1aR_IztzXFoL9inzJBYAisSvwFRXn40cev_msZk8ayG8bszFq3o_ZVUjbck7hp7MP6TkrS3XYgeliMz5m38mrNrYshIyOalew/s320/JayneCastel2023.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with historical romance and fantasy author Jayne Castel!</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.</h3><p>I’ve always written! For years I started lots of stories but always gave up at the midpoint. I finally finished my first novel in 2012 … a Historical Romance set in 7th Century Anglo-Saxon England (DARK UNDER THE COVER OF NIGHT), discovered self-publishing, and never looked back! For a while writing was a hobby that paid, and then it was a part-time income. And then, in 2019, my first Medieval Romance series took off (THE BRIDES OF SKYE), and I’ve been a full-time author since then. 😊</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Your favorite thing you've written or published?</h3><p>This is such a hard question as each work-in-progress is my favorite work! However, that said, I do have a few books that stole my heart. MAXIMUS (Book One: The Immortal Highland Centurions) and TAMING THE EAGLE (Book One of the Empire’s Edge Duology) are among them. MAXIMUS has a touch of fantasy blended into Historical Romance (it’s about immortals, after all!), and TAMING THE EAGLE is a sweeping romance between a Roman general and a Pict warrior woman set in 2nd Century Caledonia.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p>I love the classics! Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Somerset Maugham, and, of course, J.R.R Tolkien are all favorites. More modern influences are Diana Gabaldon, Bernard Cornwell, Juliet Marillier, and Sarah J. Maas. I enjoy reading authors who blend history and fantasy!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Do you feel like your writing has been impacted/influenced by Tolkien? If so, in what way(s)?</h3><p>Of course! I love his world-building and try to inject as much of the same richness in my own. I also loved the way he created such an epic feel while also giving his work intimacy. The friendship between Frodo and Sam is iconic.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKC64zkT50gMsEIxeTRFUb18poARUucDlsoar1p0FO-oVzIDRfS04dByk5AKzn8VOs97ZSCZJpM52FQSNnmlqiwoJ1cphmd4wu2z_tRFGEhwQc93veWly6u2HWrX3TdnbnSclHNGjx5-IC_km6oH-6ThfHCBZCO3hqWMvmHVU2TNeUASHJ2Vom_Owr4M/s640/Highlander%20Fated_COVER_SMALL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKC64zkT50gMsEIxeTRFUb18poARUucDlsoar1p0FO-oVzIDRfS04dByk5AKzn8VOs97ZSCZJpM52FQSNnmlqiwoJ1cphmd4wu2z_tRFGEhwQc93veWly6u2HWrX3TdnbnSclHNGjx5-IC_km6oH-6ThfHCBZCO3hqWMvmHVU2TNeUASHJ2Vom_Owr4M/s320/Highlander%20Fated_COVER_SMALL.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p>I like to tie my books as closely to history as I can, and so all my work – from my Dark Ages novels to those set in the 15th Century Scotland – hinge on actual historical events. I’ve also incorporated a lot of real historical figures in my books … and occasionally they’ve been the main characters!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p>Historical Romance, especially Scottish Highlander Romance tends to remain fairly ‘traditional’. There are the tried-and-true characters and tropes that readers love, and just can’t get enough of. Books about brave warriors, noble lairds, and feisty Scottish lasses set against the stunning backdrop of Medieval Scotland have a lasting appeal. That said, I find readers are increasingly wanting to see more of the male viewpoint in stories (although they prefer third person POV). Fast-moving, character-driven books that are perhaps a little shorter than the traditional 80,000 words for Historical Romance are showing up more these days too.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p>I’d like to see more fantasy blended with history – Historical Fantasy is a favorite genre of mine, and it goes so well with romance. Why isn’t Historical Fantasy Romance an actual genre? I’m not talking time-travel romance here (although that’s fun), but Celtic inspired romantic fantasy or alternate history. Bring it on!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p>The ‘Disney’ approach to history where characters go around saying mayhap or ‘twas, and cliches abound. I’d like to see a little bit more authenticity and grit in Scottish Historical Romance, which pays Scottish history and culture the respect it deserves.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What are your favorite themes to work with or write?</h3><p>So many! I love stories about homecoming, redemption, fresh starts, challenging fate, and overcoming impossible odds … I could go on! In many ways tropes are what drive romance (and twisting them and layering them to create an original story is essential), but a strong theme is what really makes a story sing.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioof2lTHYkUcaEzsgdgzAsX1E7OhYlMXxi7-dV84MASle4lA64arq0cthRB7f6N5gHB-Un1tEHlD1JJGr1irIA0wkalqgunbkqFadJ_jem11SAtrKVUTPwAnA621toZoeGlxdZ4-9RM3cKHW2evHrXEJf1BO0wuXIwmuiiLo2dZxv06sbcmFlYrtUQZ48/s2048/RULED%20BY%20SHADOWS_COVER2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioof2lTHYkUcaEzsgdgzAsX1E7OhYlMXxi7-dV84MASle4lA64arq0cthRB7f6N5gHB-Un1tEHlD1JJGr1irIA0wkalqgunbkqFadJ_jem11SAtrKVUTPwAnA621toZoeGlxdZ4-9RM3cKHW2evHrXEJf1BO0wuXIwmuiiLo2dZxv06sbcmFlYrtUQZ48/s320/RULED%20BY%20SHADOWS_COVER2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>www.jaynecastel.com<p></p><p>Here are all the other places you can find me:</p><p>Connect on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JayneCastelRomance/">Facebook</a>.</p><p>Follow on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jaynecastelauthor/">Instagram</a>.</p><p>Follow me on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jaynecastelauthor?lang=en">TikTok</a></p><p>Follow me on <a href="https://www.pinterest.ca/jaynecastel/pins/">Pinterest</a></p><p>Visit my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKdTtSAKvH6_fD1IBg7Pxwg">YouTube </a>channel</p><p>Visit my <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jayne-Castel/author/B009Y9C7SG?qid=1391455576&sr=8-3&ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true">Amazon Author</a> page</p><p>Visit my <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6544303.Jayne_Castel">Goodreads </a>page</p><p>Follow me on <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jayne-castel">BookBub</a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jayne, thank you so much for the interview and sharing your fun and insightful answers with us!</span></p>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-60877439231996936572024-01-15T10:00:00.000-08:002024-01-17T03:52:30.440-08:00Guest Post Series: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: Poul Anderson"<p><i>Wise’s guest-post series, beginning <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2024/01/guest-post-series-dennis-wilson-wise.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, continues this week with a look at Poul Anderson. As previously, editorial intervention is limited; there has been a slight update, per the author and with acknowledgment to his interlocutors.</i></p><p><i>Check back soon for the next entry in the series! </i></p>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔏</b></span></span></span>ast week, I mentioned Poul Anderson as the Modern Revival’s “most prolific and wide-ranging pulp poet.” Similarly, in my introduction to the anthology, I call him the leading figure of the Revival’s demotic branch, meaning that he didn’t learn his medievalism primarily from school or offer his work to venues traditionally designated for mainstream (non-genre) literature. Instead, Poul Anderson had fandom in his bones. Well, I promise not to turn this blog into a simple chronological survey of revivalist poets, but given the overall importance of Anderson, he’s simply too obscure to most medievalists for me to let such a golden opportunity slide by.
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5N-wxlZrHFJ9r6qQGSPeYHWCqprCeTeIOycK-TqKVPqzSr5I0O9XZnAQmpTrRQGErHkpz7FIRS73zHFcZK3Hnx2ISbM8D0CWiIG0DLNAkZHOq4bLxkCxrj0BW7TZf6jo51VixdujUu4xzukAsUjVoR7saVaNbOOgf_tqfy-SwrnTFKh7hWdLf1kFDP2t/s554/2%20-%20Poul%20-%20first%20image.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="554" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5N-wxlZrHFJ9r6qQGSPeYHWCqprCeTeIOycK-TqKVPqzSr5I0O9XZnAQmpTrRQGErHkpz7FIRS73zHFcZK3Hnx2ISbM8D0CWiIG0DLNAkZHOq4bLxkCxrj0BW7TZf6jo51VixdujUu4xzukAsUjVoR7saVaNbOOgf_tqfy-SwrnTFKh7hWdLf1kFDP2t/s320/2%20-%20Poul%20-%20first%20image.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The man of the hour.<br />Image provided by Wise.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>L</b></span></span>uckily, for a quick cheat-sheet on Anderson’s style as poet, we have a few easy generalizations on hand. For one thing, although Anderson enjoyed writing verse, he did so merely as a hobby. His main job was prose fiction. He also generally prefers Norse meters to English ones, and his metrical fidelity ranges from modestly faithful to heavily impressionistic. In addition, Anderson frequently revised his poetry despite previous publications elsewhere, but these revisions rarely add much in the way of improvement. In fact, I cannot detect <i>any</i> consistent principle to how Anderson revises. Here’s an example. In his 1972 version of <i>The Broken Sword</i>, his revised poems are actually <i>less</i> historically faithful to medieval metrics than the original poems from his 1954 version. And neither does Anderson much care about experimenting or innovating on the alliterative meter. Mainly, his poetry aims to support his novels by adding some historical authenticity or medieval flavoring. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>W</b></span></span>ith all this in mind, let’s take a gander at two Andersonian poems in particular. The first – a short alliterative tribute called “<b>J.R.R.T.</b>” in honor of Tolkien’s 100th birthday – never actually made it into <i>Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival</i>. Instead, it can be found alongside other tributes in <a href="https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol18/iss3/4/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Summer 1992 issue of <i>Mythlore</i></a>. Since it’s only four lines, I’ll repost it here: </p>
<p></p><blockquote>Just in his judgment but of gentle heart, <br />
Readily ranging through realms unbounded, <br />
Ruler of runecraft, he wrought for us <br />
Tower-strong tales and the tenderest songs. </blockquote><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>o – a few quick notes. Unusually for Anderson, “J.R.R.T” is in classic Old English style, a clear attempt to honor his subject’s greater affinity for that tradition. Also unusually for Anderson, each verse scans more or less perfectly as a Sievers type, and the acrostic is a nice touch. As tributes go, then, it’s quite decent. As <i>poetry</i>, however…well, here’s the problem. Thanks to fan groups such as the Society for Creative Anachronism (of which Anderson was co-founder), the Modern Revival tends to have a <i>lot</i> of praise poetry, and most such verses tend to recycle the same old cliches and basic sentiments. Granted, the intended audiences for these verses don’t likely see these cliches as cliches. They’re generally recited orally on special occasions for friends and acquaintances, so these fan audiences have rarely had the chance, as I have, to read dozens and dozens of such praise poems in succession. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>till, the sentiments expressed by Anderson in “J.R.R.T” are thoroughly run of the mill. If we remove the title and overlook the acrostic, nobody would know <i>who</i> this poem was praising. It could apply literally to anyone. William Morris, maybe, or even Fletcher Pratt. So, beyond Anderson’s bare decision to dash off a quick poem in praise of Tolkien in particular, there’s not much here for readers to sink their teeth into. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>B</b></span></span>ut if you sense a “but” coming, hang on, because that brings us to our second poem. Remember how I said Anderson almost never chooses to innovate on the alliterative meter? Well, our next selection is one of the very few, and for my money it’s one of his absolute best. Generally speaking, Anderson writes traditional formal verse quite well – I personally think quite highly of “Ballade of an Artificial Satellite” – but his alliterative poetry tends, like “J.R.R.T.,” to be rather humdrum. “<b>Route Song of the Winged Folk</b>,” however, is a breath-taking exception. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizecBes9jnVA7TqX78VV4eLFNIqT1NIls30Rrb3a2z8enB5k1trUpTifhOgIuIN_Ls-lJxVBJflxrT5wCo5vJ3RZUUeePZ_zDWb_75MECG70VAeYKCZMaxBD206l1vVCLSbMY-ZLSykSvySjxFF1olezeqOl_pRT96uyVoOb83pzWR3csR6Cx_5ObgKrdG/s1000/2-%20Poul%20-%20second%20image.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizecBes9jnVA7TqX78VV4eLFNIqT1NIls30Rrb3a2z8enB5k1trUpTifhOgIuIN_Ls-lJxVBJflxrT5wCo5vJ3RZUUeePZ_zDWb_75MECG70VAeYKCZMaxBD206l1vVCLSbMY-ZLSykSvySjxFF1olezeqOl_pRT96uyVoOb83pzWR3csR6Cx_5ObgKrdG/s320/2-%20Poul%20-%20second%20image.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doesn't seem flighty...<br />Image provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or some background, this four-stanza poem appears in Anderson’s Hugo- and Nebula-nominated SF novel, <i>The People of the Wind</i> (1973), a “clash of cultures” type of story. One culture traces its ancestry back to Earth; the other is indigenous to the planet Avalon. These latter folks call themselves the Ythrians, and if the title for “Route Song of the <i>Winged</i> Folk” hasn’t given things away already, these Ythrians are a sentient avian species who have evolved self-powered flight. Well, Anderson presents “Route Song” as a traditional Ythrian carol, and since the Ythrians are an honor-driven tribal (read: medieval) society as well as a far-future alien species (read: SF), Anderson decides to change the core rules of his alliterative poetics. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>or an example, take this first stanza: </p>
<p></p><blockquote>Light that leaps from a sun still sunken<br />
hails the hunter at hover, <br />
washes his wings in molten morning, <br />
startles the stars to cover. <br />
Blue is the bell of hollow heaven, <br />
rung by a risen blowing. <br />
Wide lie woodlands and mountain meadows, <br />
great and green with their growing. <br /><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">But—look, oh, look!— <br />a red ray struck<br />through tattered mist. <br />A broadhorn buck<br />stands traitor-kissed. <br />The talons crook.</div></blockquote><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>n simple narrative terms, the only thing happening here is that a bird of prey has spotted a rabbit outside its hole. Metrically, though, Anderson is pretty dazzling. There’s no Sievers types here, no clear caesuras, no verse-linking alliterations – nothing that suggests him as using an Old Norse, Old English, or Middle English meter. Instead, something entirely new arises. Ignoring the “wheel” for a moment (a term I’m deliberately taking from <i>Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</i>), a clear alliterative pattern emerges in “Route Song.” In odd-numbered lines, Anderson uses an <i>aa/bb</i> alliterative pattern: <i>light/leaps</i> and <i>sun/sunken</i> (l.1). In even-numbered lines, Anderson uses either <i>aaa</i> or <i>aax</i>. These patterns are maintained throughout all four stanzas, qualifying “Route Song” as an alliterative poem despite its deviations from any historical medieval meter. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>ctually, “Route Song” does come somewhat close to at least <i>one</i> historical meter: <i>ljoðaháttr</i>. In this Old Norse form, odd lines utilize the standard two-verse structure separated by a caesura. Even lines, however, bear a single hypermetric verse with three heavy beats. Although “Route Song” avoids caesuras, strict Sievers types, and verse-linking alliteration, Anderson’s stanzas nevertheless follow <i>ljoðaháttr</i>’s full-line and hypermetric-verse format zealously. At the same time, he adds rhyme as one of several unhistorical innovations, and Anderson’s “wheels,” of course, don’t hail from Old Norse tradition at all – they most strongly resemble the bob-and-wheel technique from <i>Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</i>, a long poem from the Middle English alliterative tradition.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>o there you have it: a strange metrical junction between multiple alliterative styles, plus several new techniques imported from the accentual-syllabic tradition, all of which Anderson has adapted to suit a far-future, highly advanced, avian culture. The end result is one of the most metrically skillful texts from Anderson’s revivalist <i>oeuvre</i>.</p>
Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-59461571821189312532024-01-08T10:00:00.000-08:002024-01-09T16:43:50.353-08:00Guest Post Series: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: Introduction"<p><i>Another answer to the Society's standing call for contributions, this post and those following in its series are a while in the making. It emerges from the work of <a href="https://denniswilsonwise.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dennis Wilson Wise</a>, a Society member and acclaimed scholar at the <a href="https://english.arizona.edu/person/dennis-wise" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Arizona</a>. In this post, Dr. Wise introduces his own work; accordingly, editorial intrusion is minimal.</i></p><p><i>Look for the next entry in the series soon! <br /></i></p>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔒</b></span></span></span>ver the last few years, my major project has involved studying the Modern Alliterative Revival in speculative poetry, a little-known movement that takes the medieval alliterative meter as its guiding light. Given that most readers for <i>Tales after Tolkien</i> are medievalists, I’m sure many of us can name at least a few modern alliterative poets without thinking too hard about it. Ezra Pound rapidly comes to mind, plus Auden and, of course, Tolkien. Other suggestions might include C. S. Lewis, Richard Wilbur, and John Myers Myers. Still, as I started diving into the archives and so forth, I began to realize that modern alliterative verse was more widespread than just these usual suspects – in fact, for certain poets interested in science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the Weird, an affinity for alliterative poetics has become especially noticeable.
<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNc7JI2PRFnMLX5_vXTLnt5HBRz172XSIOOtuu3CcPoPNfxmvOUO4zO8xHmwSPBDaHXteb2nrGWnB5fn0rrr-Ljh8ZBSGajzXEFhZkteI-ZErdsSHJv7K1UIGIdNGLI9rz7DvNdpvZx7OAJgX-cYEBfEBG18aSeMFxyTJkKtikYx6139ORtYWhlyfDNsZ/s506/1%20-%20Intro%20--%20First%20image.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNc7JI2PRFnMLX5_vXTLnt5HBRz172XSIOOtuu3CcPoPNfxmvOUO4zO8xHmwSPBDaHXteb2nrGWnB5fn0rrr-Ljh8ZBSGajzXEFhZkteI-ZErdsSHJv7K1UIGIdNGLI9rz7DvNdpvZx7OAJgX-cYEBfEBG18aSeMFxyTJkKtikYx6139ORtYWhlyfDNsZ/s320/1%20-%20Intro%20--%20First%20image.jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The book, cover image<br />provided by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>o naturally I did what any academic would do after stumbling upon an “underground” literary movement – I assembled a book: <i>Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival: A Critical Anthology</i> (Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2024).<p></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he anthology is called “critical” because, besides collecting together 55 alliterative poets (many never formally published), I also provide a full academic argument that explains the shape and contours of the Modern Alliterative Revival. The curious can check out the anthology itself, but for this blog series, I thought it would be fun to simply take a step back and chat about the revival’s fascinating array of poems and poets. After all, the Modern Revival is heavily eclectic. Some poets are academics; others never went to university. The traditions covered span Old English, Middle English, Old Norse, and more, and whereas some poets care deeply about historical authenticity, others merely want some medieval flavoring. And how many anthologies can boast a translation from Old High German by the libertarian economist who first formulated a theory of anarcho-capitalism (hint: David Friedman), or a dual-language <i>original</i> poem from a woman who decided spur-of-the-moment – while in her 40s – to learn Old English on her own? (Answer: Mary K. Savelli.) Not many anthologies, folks; not many.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he Modern Revival is <i>filled</i> with such tales, and now that the anthology has seen the light of day, I’m quickly discovering even more. So I’d like to dedicate this blog series to the new writers of “Rum Ram Ruf,” as Chaucer once called it – the poets of the Modern Alliterative Revival.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>O</b></span></span>ne caution. Although I won’t get super technical, I do upon occasion like to geek out about metrics, especially if a poem does something cool … so metrics are fair game. I’m hoping a few casual references to Sievers types or whatnot won’t send anyone screaming for the doors, but if you’d like a refresher, let me recommend Paul Douglas Deane’s guide on <a href="https://alliteration.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Forgotten Ground Regained</i></a>, the absolute <i>best</i> website now dedicated to modern alliterative verse.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>hat said, for my inaugural discussion, who’s ready to see the first genre poem ever published in an alliterative meter? Everyone? Good!</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>F</b></span></span>air warning, though: it’s fairly flimsy.</p>
<p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Roaring Trumpet” (Unknown Fantasy Fiction, May 1940)</h3><p></p><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b></b></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtEH2RZw47OARdmULnG3Z50kRvilfqJb47ueUhR5ExSwFDTGHZ8IANlxw7VUkKfA_LI7znuKc-NKIrHt4b3Eaqu7CrMEpKDtsS27WOnwuI29_WtkOKoqf8inMRLbShYM-tSMVEphyphenhyphenFjKb9pRa-05-aChBPKMMnlFWjFqdp2XLhIkeup8Vugj5qHtirtVsz/s573/1%20-%20Intro%20--%20Second%20image.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="410" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtEH2RZw47OARdmULnG3Z50kRvilfqJb47ueUhR5ExSwFDTGHZ8IANlxw7VUkKfA_LI7znuKc-NKIrHt4b3Eaqu7CrMEpKDtsS27WOnwuI29_WtkOKoqf8inMRLbShYM-tSMVEphyphenhyphenFjKb9pRa-05-aChBPKMMnlFWjFqdp2XLhIkeup8Vugj5qHtirtVsz/s320/1%20-%20Intro%20--%20Second%20image.JPG" width="229" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The source; image provided<br />by Wise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>o, surprisingly, the honor of the first published alliterative speculative poem belongs to...<i>not Tolkien</i>. Maybe. Honestly the matter’s somewhat ambiguous. Although Tolkien started writing alliterative verse in the 1920s, his most recognizable alliterative texts from his legendarium – for instance, <i>The Lay of the Children of Húrin</i> – never saw print during his lifetime. So that just leaves early published work like “Obituary for Henry Bradley” (1923) and “Doworst” (1933), neither of which are remotely fantastic. There are also two more texts of unclear genre, “Iúmonna Gold Galdre Bewunden” (1923) and “The Nameless Land” (1927). The former is a metrical hybrid, later revised as “The Hoard,” whose title derives from a line in <i>Beowulf</i>, and the latter – despite its reference to the hidden Elvish city of “Gondobar,” i.e., Gondolin – actually classifies as an Old Irish <i>immran</i>; it even names Tir-nan-Og. Neither text codes clearly as fantasy, though, except under a significantly broader definition of the term than I’m wont to use.<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>hat leaves the honor of first published speculative poem in the Modern Revival to <b>Fletcher Pratt</b> and <b>L. Sprague de Camp</b>, who added several such poems to their comic novella, “The Roaring Trumpet” (May 1940).</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span> promised flimsiness, however, and flimsiness you shall have. While Pratt no doubt had a flair for languages, I highly doubt Old Icelandic was one of them, despite a later posthumous claim by his younger co-author. The reason? For many of Pratt’s verses in “The Roaring Trumpet,” I’ve tracked down striking similarities to previous translations by Henry Adams Bellows (<i>Elder Edda</i>, 1923) and Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (<i>Prose Edda</i>, 1916). Granted, Pratt modifies his borrowings slightly, but only slightly, and often just to update archaisms. For instance, Bellows has “care eats the heart if <i><u>thou canst not</u></i> speak” (<i>Havámal</i>, verse 121), but Pratt has “care eats the heart if <i><u>you cannot</u></i> speak.” So, yeah.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>B</b></span></span>ut wait...there are, in fact, some original alliterative lines in “The Roaring Trumpet.” Take the following example. The first two lines hail from Bellows’s <i>Lokasenna</i> (verse 64), but the final two lines, which are thoroughly in character for the Norse God Loki, are pure Pratt:</p>
<blockquote><p>I say to the gods and the sons of gods<br />
The things that whet my thoughts;<br />
<i>By the wells of the world there is none with the might<br />
To make me do his will.</i></p></blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>o there you have it. Not a terribly <i>good</i> or original alliterative poem, mind you, but an alliterative poem nonetheless. Examples such as this one, notably, would later inspire the young Poul Anderson, the most prolific and wide-ranging pulp poet of the Modern Revival.</p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-7224160588674221332023-11-14T12:52:00.000-08:002023-11-14T12:52:07.965-08:00Author Interview - Jason Dorough<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjih8tkRDjYtaWFMwKuZbhkTfUKoWmstceLofZg4pbLHzPCXFKdcvfB_6a60sqI0f2SSqytSm-5zDejygmExEwG5dapSjyDSH2K0M63-Li5Z24Jmg7smpteij31ZdPfFmxrdT0fni7MhqLhkjbVkoieqLDjoWtj-0M9lUivnSntJn6SDWZR31XVGL2W2aA/s468/JasonDorough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjih8tkRDjYtaWFMwKuZbhkTfUKoWmstceLofZg4pbLHzPCXFKdcvfB_6a60sqI0f2SSqytSm-5zDejygmExEwG5dapSjyDSH2K0M63-Li5Z24Jmg7smpteij31ZdPfFmxrdT0fni7MhqLhkjbVkoieqLDjoWtj-0M9lUivnSntJn6SDWZR31XVGL2W2aA/s320/JasonDorough.jpg" width="228" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with fantasy author Jason Dorough!</span><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.<br /></h3><p>I'm Jason Dorough, and I am a fantasy author and voiceover artist. I also create content on BookTok and am an advocate for indie publishing. I'm originally from Georgia but now live in the Orlando, Florida, area. I primarily write epic fantasy and am in the process of writing a 9-book series called Teshovar. It's set in a realm where magic exists but is outlawed. The first full novel is Akithar's Greatest Trick, and that's preceded by a prequel novella called The Gem of Tagath.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p>Lloyd Alexander is the author who first got me interested in fantasy, but my own writing is usually compared more closely to Brandon Sanderson and Leigh Bardugo. I grew up reading Agatha Christie, and I feel like some of her influence can be seen in the mysteries and twists that are woven into my stories.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p>I feel like that period of history has impacted nearly all western-written fantasy by making a lot of tropes in fantasy settings pretty common. Having second-world fantasy stories set in worlds that resemble medieval Europe is almost a default for many authors. My own world of Teshovar has a complicated history that has been manipulated by an ancient sorcerer who has influenced the pace and direction of progress across technology, science, and society. While some aspects of Teshovar do still resemble Europe's Middle Ages through architecture, martial focus, and some weaponry and traditions, other aspects of the world have progressed to a level similar to what was seen in the Victorian era in our world.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Do you feel like your writing has been impacted/influenced by Tolkien? If so, in what way(s)?</h3><p>I firmly believe Tolkien has influenced everyone currently writing fantasy, whether directly or indirectly. My fantasy stories do not focus on quests, and I don't write about non-human races, but I'm still very aware that aspects of Tolkien's approach to worldbuilding probably inspired some of my own approach. I haven't detailed the history and lineages of Teshovar as extensively as Tolkien did for Middle-Earth, but I still made sure to know the broad strokes of what happened thousands of years ago and how those events informed and affected the current events of the narrative.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieu7nFZbcENY5KFXNqZ-hX1gl6fTwo9lajp3SSw0-X1XS8M9arbORm9fNdFMlvjyU30-TOIle7XZWnWRMssW4yknUlWR8Ky2DwwoSVBs4lha1nzflQz-SCz5m9jPU_JQRPG5fAzt55eJ8k4KR6Khg_tfG8673RY2anq_0RdYlyZuvynAC3EFi7dAJJZMQ/s360/akithar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieu7nFZbcENY5KFXNqZ-hX1gl6fTwo9lajp3SSw0-X1XS8M9arbORm9fNdFMlvjyU30-TOIle7XZWnWRMssW4yknUlWR8Ky2DwwoSVBs4lha1nzflQz-SCz5m9jPU_JQRPG5fAzt55eJ8k4KR6Khg_tfG8673RY2anq_0RdYlyZuvynAC3EFi7dAJJZMQ/s320/akithar.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p>Cozy fantasy and romantic fantasy are very big in the fantasy genre right now, but neither of those are in the area where I'm writing. I do think that, even though big series are still the norm for epic fantasy, there is more opportunity for standalone books now than there has been in the past.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p>I'd like to see more cross-genre experimentation. I view fantasy as being more a setting than a genre, even though it's convenient to discuss fantasy as a genre. When I write, I think of my books as belonging to genres that are specific to the stories they tell. For example, The Gem of Tagath is a heist story set in a fantasy world, and Akithar's Greatest Trick is a cat-and-mouse thriller set in a fantasy world. Many other authors are playing with tropes and genres in this way, and I'd love to see that trend growing and continuing.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p>I believe there's an audience for every book, and just because I'm not in the audience for a particular type of story or trope, that doesn't mean someone else won't love it. Because of that, I don't think there's anything that's big in fantasy right now that I'd like to see less of. I do feel like we never need harmful fiction that reinforces negative stereotypes or does injury to real-world people or groups, especially those that are already marginalized or oppressed. Those are things I'm happy to see less of, but they fortunately are not predominant in most widely-read fantasy at this point.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is there anything else related I didn't ask a question about that you'd like to add?</h3><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1OdFBzLUC2GkFZ8mtB53cpEObb9rdjGYAwz9Js8OojTATXKKbuZnqzS6W9oTdKRPHZTMgcFtvlM68EOSeWHTtDMpEuUC2hYuEm7yfwgIORHmcEzsaqNPNpJmelhhyphenhyphenrm_Do8G1KL794UWQGZ0vHe-sTxFT7QqPiKuwD_lLo9uOmcLpOo8x2-x6t5kBaU/s360/tagath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1OdFBzLUC2GkFZ8mtB53cpEObb9rdjGYAwz9Js8OojTATXKKbuZnqzS6W9oTdKRPHZTMgcFtvlM68EOSeWHTtDMpEuUC2hYuEm7yfwgIORHmcEzsaqNPNpJmelhhyphenhyphenrm_Do8G1KL794UWQGZ0vHe-sTxFT7QqPiKuwD_lLo9uOmcLpOo8x2-x6t5kBaU/s320/tagath.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>As background for my own knowledge of and exposure to Tolkien, I first read The Hobbit when I was in elementary school, and I read Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in high school, but I didn't get around to reading anything else from him until much later. I saw the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies when they released in theaters and then read the books shortly after that. I am still daunted by The Silmarillion and haven't ventured into reading that, but I hope to work up the courage one day!<p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p>My website is JasonDorough.com, and all my books and social accounts are linked at https://linktr.ee/jasondorough . I am most active on TikTok and try to post at least a couple of new videos there every day.</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jason, thank you so much for the interview and sharing your interesting answers with us!</span></p>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-56143832833266169592023-10-02T11:45:00.000-07:002023-10-02T11:45:20.958-07:00Author Interview - Graham McNeill<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiaDWKoPmJx1R-VRnaw6fOCEh8EhuVKgYm4QYtxDLivRdnrXcSfoVmTi6MsIpVSZ4iFaSOuwC8TwCGPy-3Nbhwog5zBM05u_bRJTBa6MuK3KbOd8VD3X64TZIm_n5df-VeJPpgFOLlqZ-N6xmXqe0A8E4cR4oxWgr-Edrhy17lAobGdG-r1Pp1SBJIMzc/s400/graham%20ncmeill%20pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiaDWKoPmJx1R-VRnaw6fOCEh8EhuVKgYm4QYtxDLivRdnrXcSfoVmTi6MsIpVSZ4iFaSOuwC8TwCGPy-3Nbhwog5zBM05u_bRJTBa6MuK3KbOd8VD3X64TZIm_n5df-VeJPpgFOLlqZ-N6xmXqe0A8E4cR4oxWgr-Edrhy17lAobGdG-r1Pp1SBJIMzc/s320/graham%20ncmeill%20pic.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with Graham McNeill, fantasy/sci-fi author and video game writer!</b></span><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.</h3><p>My name’s Graham McNeill, and I’ve been a published writer for just over twenty years now. I started out writing adventures for our games of D&D that rapidly expanded in scope to encompass large-scale battles with the fate of the world at stake, etc. and RPG rules aren’t really set up to handle mass-battles, so I turned to Warhammer, then in its Third Edition. I really got into the tabletop wargaming side of things, to the extent that it kind of took over. I wrote fiction for each of the armies I collected, as well as stories that added a narrative element to our battles; who was fighting and why, what the outcome meant for the ongoing campaign and suchlike. That led me to doing actual stories and eventually a novel, which, for all it’s many flaws, has a lot of the seeds, themes, and archetypes that still permeate my fiction. </p><p>I was fortunate enough to land a job at Games Workshop, back in the year 2000 and worked there for the next six and a half years, first as a staff writer, doing background articles, hobby reports, etc., until I did some work for Gav Thorpe’s new game, Inquisitor. And from then on, I was working on Codexes for Warhammer 40k, Army Books for Warhammer, and Supplement Books for Lord of the Rings strategy battle game. While I was at Games Workshop, I’d done a few short stories for Black Library’s story magazine, Inferno! and they’d gone down well, so they asked me if I’d like to write some novels for them, which was a no-brainer for me. So, along with my day job in the Design Studio, I wrote a slew of novels for Black Library, starting with Nightbringer in 2002. More followed until I left Workshop late in 2006 and plunged into the choppy waters of freelance writing, which was often stressful, but always great fun.</p><p>Over the next ten years, I continued to write more novels, short stories, comics, etc. until eventually I left the UK to join Riot Games in the US, where I’ve been happily ensconced in Los Angeles for the last eight years.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Your favourite thing you've written or published?</h3><p>That’s an impossible question to answer. Over the years, I’ve written around forty novels and over a hundred short stories, so picking a favourite is like picking a favourite child. Having said that…the story I’ve just written always seems to be my favourite, at least until the next one. But in an attempt to give you a proper answer, I think you start every story with a ton of things you want to accomplish with it, beats you want to hit, themes you want to explore, character moments you want to see realised as you imagined them in your head. Most often, you get some of that, but it’s rare you ever hit all the marks you aimed at when you set out on the journey of the novel. But of all the books I’ve written, the one I feel I managed to hit the most of those marks was probably, A Thousand Sons, though Heldenhammer, the first book of the Sigmar trilogy was where I got to unleash my inner Robert E. Howard, and Nightbringer will always have a special place in my heart, as it was my debut novel. I don’t often go back to reread my stuff, beyond fact-checking, and reestablishing a tone if I’m doing a sequel, but the only novel I’ve written I’ve ever gone back to and read again, cover to cover, was The Ambassador Chronicles. As for short stories, The Last Church has probably been the one I was most proud of in how it challenged me, the readers, and Black Library, as it’s basically two guys talking, without any shooting or getting into combat – in an IP where those things are pretty much de rigueur. So, yeah, you see, it’s a hard question to answer, because there’s already a bunch of other stories crowding into my head, saying, ‘What about me!?’</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2u_NZ4VLPp2RhhbywsicxUWlCmRNK_SS_2uF8iX6MbzTmPtgSAZzevw3NTqHNlWtueO5ihukZ-vlRqzavGVEkBkuzgUWUn4zLxxxuofj1-wY35mY67m8ZKc2ILlnHPMDBAgiUaGs_rnKjAfnqmg5GZJcPWwYAMdnmb7AmWVSYLkEeEI8Q8xwJ_aPNzI/s1500/fury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="938" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2u_NZ4VLPp2RhhbywsicxUWlCmRNK_SS_2uF8iX6MbzTmPtgSAZzevw3NTqHNlWtueO5ihukZ-vlRqzavGVEkBkuzgUWUn4zLxxxuofj1-wY35mY67m8ZKc2ILlnHPMDBAgiUaGs_rnKjAfnqmg5GZJcPWwYAMdnmb7AmWVSYLkEeEI8Q8xwJ_aPNzI/s320/fury.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Well, it would be remiss of me not to mention Tolkien, as he stands so tall over the fantasy genre, and I certainly remember loving The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as a young reader, but the first fantasy book I remember reading was Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. All of those books, together with the works of Robert E. Howard, Raymond E. Feist, Lovecraft, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Hill, and David Eddings, et al cemented my love of fantasy, but as to the biggest influences on my writing, I’d have to say that David Gemmell and Clive Barker have exerted the greatest narrative centre of gravity. I love Gemmell’s earthy heroes and the grit he brought to the genre, and Clive Barker’s ability to craft beauty from the grotesque really appealed to me.<p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Do you feel like your writing has been impacted/influenced by Tolkien? If so, in what way(s)?</h3><p>I think all of us who write in the fantasy space have to say we’ve been influenced to a degree by Tolkien’s writing, either seeking to emulate it, be inspired by it, or to actively subvert it. Like it or not, so many of the fantasy tropes we take for granted come from his work, and I like to see myself as a tiny part of the continuum that stretches out from his work. Given a lot of my work has been for Warhammer, it’s impossible not to have felt his influence and work in a genre and IP that takes a lot of its inspiration from the worlds of Middle Earth. Though Warhammer has its own quirky, dark, 80s vibe, the threads of Tolkien’s work are evident in the warp and weft of its fabric. The thing I take most from the works of Tolkien is the world-building, the way he was able to make a fantastical land feel real and lived in, with its own history and culture that felt worn in and believable. I’m a big believer in making my worlds feel like, no matter the fantasy trappings of magic, dragons, etc., they feel authentic beyond that first impossible thing, that all other things naturally flow from the notion that such things are real in this world.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p>Building off the last point, I try to make my works feel as believable as possible and I love to incorporate real aspects of history and ancient warfare to make them feel authentic (though in many cases, real history is far more outlandish than fiction!). I feel that if you can ground your world and characters in something that feels real and tactile – without choking the reader with your research – it makes the fantastical elements really sing and gives an air of realism to events and narratives that might otherwise feel over the top. There’s too many to mention, but I want to single out the work of writers like Michael Livingstone and Kelly DeVries (Medieval Warfare, Never Greater Slaughter) whose books have been tremendously useful, alongside James Romm (Ghost on the Throne), Christopher Duffy (Fire and Stone), and E. Viollet Le-Duc (Annals of a Fortress), all of whom have greatly illuminated me on ancient histories and the science of fortress warfare.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p>I’m not sure about current innovations, but one thing fantastical fiction is exceptionally good at is holding up a mirror to the world and using genre stories to offer critiques on modern society by taking contemporary trends and taking to their wildest extremes as cautionary tales. SF tales in particular (but also fantasy, more and more) are great vehicles for addressing a current situation by stealth as it were, and showing what might happen tomorrow if we don’t take action today. And, though I don’t think it should count as an innovation (and has been far too long in coming) the fact that we’re seeing new voices and new stories emerge from an increasingly diverse pool of writers, is only to the benefit of the genre and readers as a whole.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p>Stories that break new ground, either in the kinds of characters we see represented or doing something new with the types of plots and structures we often get retold to death. Stories that subvert traditional narratives and challenge a reader to hold on as the writer trusts them to handle ambiguity and/or make leaps of faith and know that all will be well by the end.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p>I’m a big believer in trusting that the reader is clever and doesn’t need the handholding some stories believe they do. If you give the reader enough of the story that they can fill in the blanks, then you don’t need to spoon-feed them the plot and have the, “As you know, Susan…” exposition conversation. Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t have all the things in there you need or miss things out deliberately, just to be intentionally vague, but if you’ve done your job right, the reader can figure it out and feel like they’ve been part of the story as well, that you’re not talking down to them and explaining things they’ve already figured out.</p><h3>What are your favourite themes to work with or write?</h3><p>I love a good underdog story, so a mission against impossible odds is always a favourite, as is the story being told at an inflexion point where a small number of plucky heroes can make a difference. One of the features of Warhammer writing, especially in its 40k setting, is the grimdarkness of it all, where there are no heroes and (almost) no happy endings. To me, that can get a bit bleak and nihilistic, so, much like in Pandora’s Box, I think there always needs to be a sliver of light against the darkness to make the struggles of the characters feel worthwhile. I mean, if there’s nothing to strive for, then what’s the point? I want my readers to empathise with the characters and their plight, but if you know they’re 100% doomed from the outset, then I feel a reader creates a kind of distance from them, which is the last thing I want. An emotional connection to the characters and their plight is key to hooking a reader, and making them feel something – for good or ill – is what makes a good story great.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is there anything else related I didn't ask a question about that you'd like to add?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgE78O2uv51Gc0f1gBLacK_o2_1F8lC-ULKAR3NBQI20wAdOxR25QFWMRO8j7bsEeBUXWS3aq_OMkfXk2E9edIA_o_ZXeARrXhFUc3SeY8k3PltR8Gp8kgSZPsJgVUlQnQoOwviGWrZycPlT_aYTiiNjOoChXoGSRYIyPR14_vakgcNZe_DPpZLFPwcPg/s508/false%20gods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgE78O2uv51Gc0f1gBLacK_o2_1F8lC-ULKAR3NBQI20wAdOxR25QFWMRO8j7bsEeBUXWS3aq_OMkfXk2E9edIA_o_ZXeARrXhFUc3SeY8k3PltR8Gp8kgSZPsJgVUlQnQoOwviGWrZycPlT_aYTiiNjOoChXoGSRYIyPR14_vakgcNZe_DPpZLFPwcPg/s320/false%20gods.jpg" width="198" /></a></div></h3><p>Hmmm...not sure. I suspect the only thing I’d like to add is a thank you to all the readers who’ve come with me this far, and a genial hello to those that might like to begin with one of my books. So, if you like gothic space adventure, then I’d heartily recommend my Forges of Mars trilogy, that starts with Priests of Mars. But if fantasy is more your thing, then you can’t go wrong with the Sigmar trilogy, which starts with Heldenhammer. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p>Most of my work is available at https://www.blacklibrary.com/ and you can see me and my work at www.graham-mcneill.com which has a Contact page, where you can drop me a line if you feel so inclined. And, for now at least, I’m on Twitter at @GrahamMcNeill</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Graham, thank you so much for the interview and sharing your thoughtful answers with us!</b></span></p>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-56927748075743639382023-09-05T17:00:00.001-07:002023-09-05T17:00:00.142-07:00About the Carolina Crown 2023 Show<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔊</b></span></span></span>rowing up, I was surrounded by musicians. My great uncle had been a touring performer in decades past and was still playing local gigs while I was in elementary school. When I was in middle school and had signed up for band, myself, he and my father both played in a local big band--and this in the mid- to late-1990s, when swing music was experiencing a resurgence in popularity. My dad had himself been in marching bands in his younger years, and I remember him telling stories of taking part in drum-and-bugle corps contests in the American Midwest--as well as taking me to similar contests when they would come through central Texas. Band was a large part of my growing up, and it remained so after I moved back to the Texas Hill Country from years living elsewhere.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo0TnJb4zzwXWdW0zA5r6ALRDfyXmnc0pzn-3KxOiAI8wQI07a-oH-y0yvCFkJF5OEo-A6yO65tNPXJiiYky0KosbsJb3ChQ0MsLRJlwm-PGeSZBJhIGTh9j-xMCUZdHKHqqBzE6YjdGuJ_lnYu57uJQItAJiwf1JbkXbh6jhuD0s4XpHIpiPlTRGuhQ" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo0TnJb4zzwXWdW0zA5r6ALRDfyXmnc0pzn-3KxOiAI8wQI07a-oH-y0yvCFkJF5OEo-A6yO65tNPXJiiYky0KosbsJb3ChQ0MsLRJlwm-PGeSZBJhIGTh9j-xMCUZdHKHqqBzE6YjdGuJ_lnYu57uJQItAJiwf1JbkXbh6jhuD0s4XpHIpiPlTRGuhQ=w400-h266" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The show banner<br />Image from the Carolina Crown website, used for commentary</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>W</b></span></span>hen, then, I saw that <a href="https://www.dci.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DCI</a>'s <a href="https://www.carolinacrown.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carolina Crown</a> would be marching a show titled <a href="https://www.carolinacrown.org/news/92-the-round-table-echoes-of-camelot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"The Round Table: Echoes of Camelot,"</a> I was <i>very</i> interested (even if circumstances conspired to keep me from attending performances or addressing the show until now). I'm a medievalist (specifically a Malorian, per <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/ac9472dc5c40c99d86b856de1ec5cdaf/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">my dissertation</a>) and an old band-nerd; how could I not be interested? After watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJkVqvfhxQY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a recording of the show (by ObiWannaBrick31)</a>, I note that, although the show is excellent (and it <i>is</i> excellent; not for nothing did it take second place at the 2023 World Championship), it falls into common traps of medievalist <i>based-ons</i> and <i>modern retellings</i>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>here are a couple of caveats to note, of course. For one, the performance is only some thirteen and a half minutes, and it is put on by (talented, skilled, and dedicated) children and young adults (DCI performers range in age from 13 to 22). There's only so much that can be fit into so short a time, so some things will necessarily be left out. Too, there's only so much time to learn things that someone no older than 22 can have, and most of what the performers have clearly learned pertains to the show--how to play their instruments (again, exceptionally well; I do not want to be misconstrued as denigrating the performers' efforts) and to move their bodies in singularly demanding ways, and in concert with one another. The people putting on the show are not experts in late medieval literature, and certainly not in Malory's work upon which the show is avowedly based; they are doing the best they can (which, again, is quite good work as a musical performance).</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>t <i>is</i> the case that there are things the show gets <i>right</i>. Given the age-range of the performers, the featured King Arthur--clearly delineated by the royal purple--is necessarily young and presumably impetuous. In the show, the colorguardsman who performs the character shows enthusiasm that bespeaks vital adolescence, very much the kind of thing to be associated with the sometimes rash king. (Let us not forget that Malory's Arthur orders mass infanticide, surely an ill-considered act, and is rebuked by Merlin for not thinking through things presented to him.) The Round Table featured prominently in the show--center-field at the 50-yard line--borrows with only little amendment from <a href="https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/greathall/whattosee" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Round Table in Winchester's Great Hall</a>. Further, the instrumentalists adopt a pose at several points in the performance that brings to mind the exaggerated postures associated with instrumental musicians in medieval illuminations such as that at the foot of <a href="https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/ae9f6cca-ae5c-4149-8fe4-95e6eca1f73c/surfaces/7c73fd68-e562-443a-abc9-02a4c406f9f4/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">fol. 97v of Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 264</a>. Finally, as I watched the show again, I saw in its ending at least echoes of the <i>hic jacet Arturus, rex quondam rexque futurus</i> with which Arthur's part in Malory ends. There are several other such touches to be found in the show, and it is consequently clear that those who worked to put it together did so with at least some idea of their source materials--which is better than many other medievalist works that might be found.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIH85DiFUMeS-s1f95GLC-9HyIQn6GVIFDR8DfHs92VOj1f6VHeyJdISdJdhF2lXVKuxxEiv6NPCOP1mwORQUvdpVCeg_KSvZPjN7Ey-h_PvTsmrDQKlKDyb_pcObxMy884LzLmq9IpFkrH9WWDr2OJoImZIHnhiusGDvyFP8x1GDVxzuKc8havu9-oQ/s1123/Screenshot%202023-09-04%20144855.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="1123" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIH85DiFUMeS-s1f95GLC-9HyIQn6GVIFDR8DfHs92VOj1f6VHeyJdISdJdhF2lXVKuxxEiv6NPCOP1mwORQUvdpVCeg_KSvZPjN7Ey-h_PvTsmrDQKlKDyb_pcObxMy884LzLmq9IpFkrH9WWDr2OJoImZIHnhiusGDvyFP8x1GDVxzuKc8havu9-oQ/w400-h181/Screenshot%202023-09-04%20144855.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The show's King Arthur and his Round Table<br />Image taken from ObiWannaBrick31's recording,<br />posted to <i>YouTube</i> and used here for commentary</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXT6LZf9tfve2iujaQlpT1pRGXd-ppbcoLyWXCSQJwOqed0zewUgLzPBzOkLlM92J1SzUb3R1MAwfhMgdGP72wZIqGmyFnbDPVhxceYqn5-jewoj85eOdeEfgoWPy3UI3CkuE64kiVvWmp3mF8YD_F40_bU_jbiRhaBZPOBjWzGiC8F1MkRRYQuMVnpg/s287/Screenshot%202023-09-04%20144855.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="238" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXT6LZf9tfve2iujaQlpT1pRGXd-ppbcoLyWXCSQJwOqed0zewUgLzPBzOkLlM92J1SzUb3R1MAwfhMgdGP72wZIqGmyFnbDPVhxceYqn5-jewoj85eOdeEfgoWPy3UI3CkuE64kiVvWmp3mF8YD_F40_bU_jbiRhaBZPOBjWzGiC8F1MkRRYQuMVnpg/w332-h400/Screenshot%202023-09-04%20144855.png" width="332" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A stricken pose<br />Image taken from ObiWannaBrick31's recording,<br />posted to <i>YouTube</i> and used here for commentary<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>o much said, however, and as aforementioned, "The Round Table: Echoes of Camelot" suffers the same kinds of problems many medievalist works do. Among them is the intense compression of time imposed upon the premodern, something I've discussed <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2015/09/about-oklahoma-scotfest.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">before</a>. Examples begin with the opening of the program and the performers' uniforms. Those of the drum majors and instrumentalists are shaped and textured to evoke chain mail supplemented by selected inclusions of plate, somewhat bringing to mind the 1995 <i>First Knight</i>--a distinctly medieval<i>ist</i> move to make. But the tabard- or surcoat-like portions of those uniforms feature artwork reflecting distinctly post-medieval techniques and sensibilities on the front and what very much appears to be <i>Old</i> English writing on the back--medieval, yes, but centuries earlier than Malory. This is not helped by the selection of music for the show, as advertised, which includes <i>no</i> medieval music; the earliest composer represented is Mozart, while several contemporary composers are on display.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzMraGC9s0d6B_7cnx-1eyfDgYYbmMBN4wq_UtvMgoyJUpT4ebx2g-MVUcXBl29cpHWFPmrb1EenYjJH6nuaCbQKnw_ootXfDo3bI2UWnIToUOCRO8WbtROYoJQHQa6TrtYq-Ds01-5vvY_hEy7iqeImYwtNNJ49WGuTsPzRKpfQHcKL9PU0b50j4aEQ" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="417" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzMraGC9s0d6B_7cnx-1eyfDgYYbmMBN4wq_UtvMgoyJUpT4ebx2g-MVUcXBl29cpHWFPmrb1EenYjJH6nuaCbQKnw_ootXfDo3bI2UWnIToUOCRO8WbtROYoJQHQa6TrtYq-Ds01-5vvY_hEy7iqeImYwtNNJ49WGuTsPzRKpfQHcKL9PU0b50j4aEQ=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drum major, obverse<br />Image taken from ObiWannaBrick31's recording,<br />posted to <i>YouTube</i> and used here for commentary</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4Q8vAxowkWpAyXyQcJNIb_B6cUt3JhzhC1Rp1fL5yOQkzPvxEZnRXsLSi_nl2XFt1gj_RUcpoaKGZXFExJdxSI8en3clfLbDC1LpOFplzbQ1JoXEacv7UoKF7G4RLwu-6vBXimnTq1uNHEJbr1D7IRT-azc7QCOwprZisHA5ZPRaYQwE53zgL7WwARQ" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="579" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4Q8vAxowkWpAyXyQcJNIb_B6cUt3JhzhC1Rp1fL5yOQkzPvxEZnRXsLSi_nl2XFt1gj_RUcpoaKGZXFExJdxSI8en3clfLbDC1LpOFplzbQ1JoXEacv7UoKF7G4RLwu-6vBXimnTq1uNHEJbr1D7IRT-azc7QCOwprZisHA5ZPRaYQwE53zgL7WwARQ=w358-h400" width="358" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drum major, reverse<br />Image taken from ObiWannaBrick31's recording,<br />posted to <i>YouTube</i> and used here for commentary</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he selectiveness of the presentation, although both understandable and necessary given the constraints on available performance time, also strikes me as somewhat...strange. Yes, the Lancelot / Guinevere relationship factors heavily into <i>Le Morte d'Arthur</i>, and, yes, it is as a result of that that Arthur's Logres is undone. But it is not the only narrative thread to be found in the work, and it can be argued that it is not the most important of them. (The Grail narrative is one contender, as is the Roman Imperial narrative. Readerly perspective will do much to determine what counts as "most important.") For one thing, in Malory, the attraction between Lancelot and Guinevere is not a one-sided thing; for the show, "A flawed hero, the gallant Sir Lancelot, surrenders to the beauty of Queen Guinevere." The implication is one of seduction, seeming to lay the fault at the feet of Guinevere, and, while Malory does not hold her blameless (remember that she enters a convent after Arthur's death, penitent), he certainly does not ascribe to her such wiles, nor yet does he excuse Lancelot.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he show <i>does</i> highlight the strife between Arthur and Lancelot after the revelation of the former's cuckoldry by the latter, but it conflates that strife--which, remember, would have been pacified by Papal decree in Malory but for the insistence by Gawain (notably absent from the show) on his right of vengeance for his slain brothers, Arthur's nephews--with that of the Dolorous Day, in which Arthur's own nephew-son, Mordred, kills Arthur. Notably, it does not do much, if anything, to reinforce the idea that Lancelot was "<a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:20.5?rgn=div2;view=fulltext" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the man of moost worship in the world</a>"--that is, the greatest in martial might. Notably, too, the show ends with Arthur rather than with how Malory's work ends--with Lancelot pining to death for Guinevere, who had herself died while in a convent repenting of her deed, Constantyn son of Cador assuming rule, and several of the elder Knights of the Round Table establishing realms in the Middle East. (Admittedly, it would be hard to represent as much in a marching show.)</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-2hl9ShYWtvG4cMPtlhAsYtBF2CEyPVr1_TsdMLXzRxAxKf8tMvvzS3PkUdUruzXul2mcn1GS7X8gKK-fYzOz-0L9IvQgU0xFp21lr5aBbeMx36u8U2TpHF9lNkXnBvtx8C3Jpzs-RxXmBSdGYUbEvBy_v_l18xPRKLTO48Cp1SGFOOngWz_z3ne6w/s626/Screenshot%202023-09-04%20144855.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="626" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-2hl9ShYWtvG4cMPtlhAsYtBF2CEyPVr1_TsdMLXzRxAxKf8tMvvzS3PkUdUruzXul2mcn1GS7X8gKK-fYzOz-0L9IvQgU0xFp21lr5aBbeMx36u8U2TpHF9lNkXnBvtx8C3Jpzs-RxXmBSdGYUbEvBy_v_l18xPRKLTO48Cp1SGFOOngWz_z3ne6w/w400-h294/Screenshot%202023-09-04%20144855.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If that's Mordred, it's not been emphasized previously.<br />It doesn't look like the show's Lancelot, either.<br />Image taken from ObiWannaBrick31's recording,<br />posted to <i>YouTube</i> and used here for commentary</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>t root, then, for all that the music is excellent and the marching and choreography equally so (and, again, they are), "The Round Table: Echoes of Camelot" works from what seems a relatively shallow understanding of its ostensible source materials. That it gets right what it does get right suggests that the people who composed the show--who selected the music, who scripted the choreography, who built and purchased the props--had solid access to the best scholarly understandings of those materials. (I doubt it's hard to access, truly; my experience with scholars is that they are eager to share what they know, even if often only because they want to feel intelligent, and being solicited for their understandings does much to make such a feeling. Nor do I exempt myself from it, though whether I still count as a scholar--or ever did--can certainly be argued.)</p><p>Some of it, as noted above, is an artifact of the time available in a marching show; there is, again, only so much that thirteen and a half minutes can show. Some of it, though, speaks to prevailing popular unconcern for more than the basics of such stories. The details of Arthurian myths, whether in Malory's pivotal-in-English collection of them or in other sources, are not important to most. The specific story presented, focusing on the tension between love and marriage (maugre Sinatra) among Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, could just as easily take other names; there is hardly a shortage of love triangles to be found. (Indeed, one is alluded to in the selection of songs for the show: Tristan and Isolde [and Mark].)</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>W</b></span></span>hat effect, then, has reliance upon Arthurian myth if many of its details are elided?</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>P</b></span></span>erhaps it is that the commonality of Arthurian myth makes the show more accessible to more audiences and offers a ready-made set of associations around which to build a show. Most of the audience of a DCI show can be assumed to be broadly familiar with such figures as Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, as well as with the broad strokes of the legend and major figures and events in it: the swords (in the stone and Excalibur, often conflated), the Round Table, the Day of Destiny. Most of the audience of a DCI show can be assumed to have ideas about what knights look like, about what the world in which knights are commonly believed to live look like. And much of the audience of a DCI show in 2023 could be expected to have grown up with or be familiar with any number of medievalist productions, whether <a href="http://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2016/05/game-of-thrones-rewatch-i-winter-is.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">television</a> series <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-new-rewatch-series-galavant.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">showing</a> on <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2021/05/new-rewatch-series-once-upon-time.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">major networks</a> and <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2020/09/new-rewatch-series-dragon-prince.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">streaming services</a>, <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2023/02/author-interview-paul-jameson.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">books by a variety of authors</a>, <a href="https://publicmedievalist.com/medieval-robots-mega-man/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">video games</a>, or <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2023/06/playing-with-medievalist-religion-in.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">other media</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>t certainly didn't hurt the Carolina Crown to make such use of the materials, and that corps is to be commended for its performance. I have to wonder, though, if it could have done as well on the field and done better on its homework--just as I wonder if I could do better on my own.</p>Geoffrey B. Elliotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01475539352104446216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-39338527240536227692023-08-20T18:22:00.000-07:002023-08-20T18:22:14.115-07:00A Requested Clarification for #Kzoo2024...and More Questions to Be Addressed<div class="separator"><div style="text-align: right;"></div><p style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> <br /></p></div><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔄</b></span></span></span> member of the Society raised the question, in reference to <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2023/07/still-another-step-towards-kzoo2024.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Society's offerings for the 2024 International Congress on Medieval Studies</a>, of what is meant by "the Tolkienian tradition." It's a good question, and one worth considering in this space (and possibly as a conference paper). While all such terms are nebulous in meaning--<a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2014/06/more-about-short-form-medievalist.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this very webspace acknowledges ambiguity in the terms upon which it relies early on in its existence</a>--and will necessarily invite discussions along the margins, having some semblance of a solid sense of the term should be of some help. After all, one cannot move against a thing without knowing, at least in some way, what that thing is.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he answer returned to the member, with the acknowledgement that it was a first-pass answer, was (with some edits against late-night email typos)<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Tolkien in the 1920s" class="mw-mmv-final-image jpg mw-mmv-dialog-is-open" crossorigin="anonymous" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/J._R._R._Tolkien%2C_ca._1925.jpg/800px-J._R._R._Tolkien%2C_ca._1925.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The man, himself;<br />image <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien#/media/File:J._R._R._Tolkien,_ca._1925.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, asserted as public domain<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><blockquote>[The] Tolkienian tradition of fantasy literature can be taken broadly as that emerging from the 1950s and later, published originally in English and working in a milieu predominantly derived from attested histories of what are now Germany, France, the Nordic countries, and the British Isles from roughly 450 to 1300 CE (so Tolkien, likely Katharine Kerr, arguably Robert Jordan and George RR Martin), or borrowing substantially and with little criticism or deviation from earlier-published works following that rubric (Feist's Riftwar novels, Brooks's Shannara works, Paolini's books). Reliance on simplified European feudalistic structures and the overt inclusion of magic deriving from inhered traits are typical features, but not sufficient in themselves to signal inclusion in the tradition. More or less satirical works may or may not be included.</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>dmittedly, there is some humor in calling a 128-word answer cursory, some joke about verbose academic text to be made. But it <i>is</i> a cursory answer, even if it gives some specifics and some few examples. (And those examples can, themselves, be questioned, severally. For instance, to what extent can Tolkien be considered to be part of a tradition that ostensibly derives from him? Also, considering the demographic breakdown of the authors listed, questions of inclusion and representation emerge, although it should be noted that the list of examples does not claim to be comprehensive--and, again, it's an initial answer that admits of a need for expansion.) More specifics and more examples will be helpful, and more detailed data would certainly be an asset.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>ome of the initial answer seems apt to remain in place. It stands to reason that works in the Tolkienian tradition would necessarily need to follow the publication of the Legendarium (although Douglas A. Anderson's excellent work in identifying at least some of the underpinnings and precursors of Tolkien's works should be acknowledged). The initial publication of <i>The Hobbit</i> in 1937 might be taken as a start-date, although the publication of the <i>Lord of the Rings</i>, beginning in 1954, is probably more useful, as it is the latter that marked Tolkien off as <i>the</i> fantasy writer.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>G</b></span></span>eneral subject matter would also seem to be something that would be like to remain in place. The focus on geographical and temporal sourcing appears as a commonplace, as has been identified even in the Society's own publications. It might be argued that some geographical expansion might be in order. (How much? Why to a given region and not to another?) Temporal expansion is probably less workable; the relative lack of current centralized authority against a history of having had it comes across as a typifying feature of Tolkienian tradition works (Does this make Asimov's Foundation novels part of the tradition?), as does the absence of gunpowder (yes, both Gandalf and Saruman might well make use of it, though their supernatural status means it might well not be gunpowder they are using, despite Jackson).</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he employment of simplified European feudal structures deserves attention. It appears in Tolkien, both in the forms of competing and sometimes-subordinate kingships (there is a High King of the Eldar, for example, although there are many other kings among them) and in "more normal" hierarchical declensions (Gondor's Prince of Dol Amroth comes to mind). Kings, dukes, earls, and barons abound, yes, as do "lords" of indeterminate rank, but the overlapping of titles and remarkable fracturing of polities are rarely addressed--likely for good reason. (Is something part of the Tolkienian tradition that moves beyond three or four layers of titular nobility? That employs but one, or none?)</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>(R</b></span></span>elated, though not mentioned in the initial response, is the extent to which the narrative must center on those so ennobled to be considered part of the Tolkienian tradition. This does, however, seem to be fraught even in Tolkien; the Bagginses would seem to be gentry, rather than nobility, and Sam is neither until after the events of the War of the Ring, though Merry and Pippin come off as members of the landed aristocracy, for ill and for good. Most of the rest of the focal characters, however, are pretty clearly royals, nobles, or heirs thereof.)</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>imilarly, the involvement of the supernatural merits attention. While it is clear that access to some power that cannot necessarily be explained by readers'-world physics more or less has to be at play in works in the Tolkienian tradition, the nature of that power is less clear. Does its exercise require that the one so doing have an innate nature that transcends physical boundaries? (There's a case for this, given how often a magic-user has to have "a gift" to be able to use magic.) Is it an issue of study? Are both possibilities? To what extent? Can a work, in fact, be part of the Tolkienian tradition if it does not involve magic of some kind or another?</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span> useful next step would be to develop what can be taken as a usefully representative set of examples of Tolkienian tradition works, and hopefully a more inclusive one than given in the initial answer. From such a set, more detailed information can be extracted, not only such concerns as are noted above, but also patterns of language use (corpus linguists, take note!). That more detailed data would allow for more exacting answers, clearer definitions, and, it is to be hoped, richer and fuller analyses. But for that, more will be needed than one person's musings; comments from members of the Society and other interested parties will be welcomed. Please, feel free to contribute below!</p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-87238399675838768622023-08-10T14:34:00.000-07:002023-08-10T14:34:58.605-07:00Author Interview - Kate Schumacher<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip89Sqduoorb_JbOM1Tgn1MJ9waU990AZ17ajFiG_7FHMyc2taeXW07k0m6IB4qHstuv3q657UdYvOhc_sArlEIrRIlvEvM5e-EBWCiQi5gEhfqNPVYU1vU4fxGPLX3kbg5zoNWIu-kh9sdmXLrJK106XtTV_FLJpEPXDwY0O4tv6vvP_Urqcs93cm3vc/s1672/kate%20author%20pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1672" data-original-width="1254" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip89Sqduoorb_JbOM1Tgn1MJ9waU990AZ17ajFiG_7FHMyc2taeXW07k0m6IB4qHstuv3q657UdYvOhc_sArlEIrRIlvEvM5e-EBWCiQi5gEhfqNPVYU1vU4fxGPLX3kbg5zoNWIu-kh9sdmXLrJK106XtTV_FLJpEPXDwY0O4tv6vvP_Urqcs93cm3vc/s320/kate%20author%20pic.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with fantasy author, Kate Schumacher!</span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.<br /></h3><p>Hi and thanks for having me. I’m an indie author from Australia, and I’ve been writing my whole life. I’ve just published my third novel, the first in a new fantasy series. My three published books are all fantasy/epic fantasy and while I’ve written contemporary fiction as well, there is something about the fantasy genre that speaks to me – perhaps it’s the freedom to create a world and everything in it, and to use that world and the characters to explore real-world issues like power, and the corrupting influence of power.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p>There are a few that make it onto this list, but once I sat down to think about it, not as many as I thought. I’ll start with the women, because as a female author, I’m greatly influenced by women who write within the same genre. One of the first fantasy series I ever read as a teenager was the Obernewtyn Chronicles by Australia author Isobelle Carmody. I had the absolute privilege of meeting Isobelle when I was fourteen, and even though it was during a school workshop, listening to her talk about her author journey and about writing really made little me think, yeah, I can do this. The next are two other Australian authors, Kate Forsyth and Cecilia Dart-Thornton, who both write beautiful poetic prose, grand sweeping sagas filled with faeries from Celtic myth. I still return to their books when I’m stuck – when I need a little writing inspiration, because the way both of these authors use language really resonates with me. I tend to write poetically, and I think it’s due to their influence and also my own love of playing with language, of being able to twist and manipulate it into what I want the reader to see. Beyond fantasy, Mary Shelley and the Bronte sisters are an inspiration, again for their skill with language. Tolkien has, of course, been a huge influence, not so much for the writing style but for the mastery of world building. I mean, who else has done what he did on such a scale? It's difficult not to be impressed and not to be influenced by that.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p>How long do we have? I love history but I will try and be brief. I’m a History, English and Geography teacher and when I’m conceptualising a new world for a new story, I start with history. But onto the Middle Ages. There’s ten centuries of history to play with there, and it was such an interesting period. When you break it up into the Early, High and Late medieval periods, there is such a wealth of events and their impacts to draw on, from the fall of the Roman Empire in 476AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, which moved then into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The chain of events and the impacts from those events is huge. If we look at the Early period probably the biggest thing was the collapse of a central authority when Rome left England so we had a period of ‘darkness’ combined with invasions, migration of the Germanic peoples, the lingering power and presence of the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world, and a pattern of conquest and colonisation, from the Vikings to the Magyars and the Saracens. Then the High Middle Ages period, from 1000AD, we have increased population, agricultural and technological advancements, manorialism and feudalism, knights, royalty, courtly intrigue and drama, power and the spread of Christianity and the idea of nation states. Move into the relatively short Late Middle Ages we have the plague, feminine, war, population decline, heresy, peasant revolts and rebellion and a slow shift in power. What’s not to be influenced and inspired by? I think a lot of fantasy tends to have that Middle Ages vibe because it was still a period of what if? What if Rome was never sacked by the Vandals, for instance? But I think we are still mostly intrigued by the world of knights and princesses, of castle and royalty and a world that doesn’t exist anymore except for in literature, film and TV and, of course, fairy tales. I also believe that this period in time is an easier one for us to suspend our disbelief and imagine that magic and dragons and faeries are real. For instance, I’m not a fan or Urban fantasy for that reason – for me, the inclusion of modern tech alongside magic just doesn’t work. But that is me personally. So, to answer the original question, I will often ask myself the What If? of the Middle Ages and let my imagination go and see where we end up. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PFupcN79MwUlCn5KYGphT1LcslZGSntMqrahYcK3swspAAwjXCHXShlMspEi4MVm9C8ST2NjEwLWUiDfQ48zC4G8qrUCIYfC-ua2kELEH9YcgoLugDoUKNjxZkrUwdDj54Wvsb2dYVEjOQKFVx-Y10Pbr2nbqAiKKGuyDO123P1x2Q1p2tOgZXesNjk/s1920/shadow%20of%20fire.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PFupcN79MwUlCn5KYGphT1LcslZGSntMqrahYcK3swspAAwjXCHXShlMspEi4MVm9C8ST2NjEwLWUiDfQ48zC4G8qrUCIYfC-ua2kELEH9YcgoLugDoUKNjxZkrUwdDj54Wvsb2dYVEjOQKFVx-Y10Pbr2nbqAiKKGuyDO123P1x2Q1p2tOgZXesNjk/s320/shadow%20of%20fire.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Do you feel like your writing has been impacted/influenced by Tolkien? If so, in what way(s)?</h3><p>The biggest influence Tolkien has had on my writing is within the world building aspect. When I first read his work, I was completely blown away by the level of detail included. His was a world with its own history, and not just recent history, but thousands of years of history. It has its own creation myths! The depth of Middle Earth is just staggering and I remember sitting there, putting the book aside, and it was a mind-blown moment. It still amazes me, that this world, so rich and vibrant and there, came from a man’s mind. Yes we can say he was influenced by certain things and certain folkloric elements but the way it all comes together is uniquely his I think. And that’s inspiring. Possibly too much! I’m onto my second series now and a second world, and with this one and the first, I never set out to make them as broad and complex as they are, but honestly, real life and the real world is complex and fiction is a reflection of reality. My worlds are political. I have folklore and mythology, drawn from Celtic myths and legends. As I was creating these worlds, I needed them to have a rich history, and then came the geographic elements, because people and cultures and societies are heavily influenced by geography. I draw maps of my worlds (so I don’t get lost as well as the reader) but it was important to me that everything just worked, and that is a Tolkien influence, because love or hate it, Middle Earth works. It’s immersive and amazing.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p>I am really liking the shift towards female characters as lead characters. Women who don’t need a man to save them, who are powerful in their own right, however that might look. As a kid, most fantasy stories that I encountered, whether it be books or film and TV, focused on male characters and the hero’s journey archetype, and I think that was primarily due to the setting and the influence of medieval history and social structure on the fantasy genre. Women’s roles were very restricted. We see that in classic fairy tales, which is not a criticism, but an acknowledgment of social constructs and norms on storytelling in that time period. In the modern world, and in modern storytelling, we are moving away from that – female characters have changed as society has changed, particularly in the Young Adult category, which is fabulous, because like I mentioned, most of the stories I had access to as a child were male-centric ones. We are also seeing a shift in representation – there are so many novels now that feature diversity representation within the main character/s. Queer characters, characters of colour, characters with a disability, characters who are battling mental health issues – and this is fabulous, because if we have more hero’s with anxiety, or more queer hero’s, it’s a step towards normalising and another way readers can see something of themselves and make those deeper connections with their literary hero’s. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p>This is a difficult one because reading as a process is completely subjective. What I might want will not be what others want, but I can tell you why I put a book down. World building, or lack thereof. I want to know everything. I want to know the history, the political structure, the geographic regions, how society works, government, who holds power, who takes power, the influence of that and how difference cultures interact and come into contact with one another because these are the things that will underpin a character’s motivations. If we start a book with a war, I need to know things about this war and who is in control. I’ve put a lot of books aside recently because I haven’t felt that connection with the worlds, and therefore, the characters. A Tolkien hangover? Maybe! </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuR-cGINQme1Yr6Nd19xuevquHmPNDyWdRoOJbiE921hbI6igWa81d-hxwVxCveZYG7rYJ9CJaWYR2fiUV124rNe3dcXHxdo8YJSjgiRmOVExkFyaHBuBBRYEeZHVs0Ay3Pm-THBebQUqQvkNpIyO-c_83W5OyVqPhTyvN3doWZdXCZVaYuX26mUlVj-s/s1570/the%20call%20of%20the%20sea.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1570" data-original-width="981" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuR-cGINQme1Yr6Nd19xuevquHmPNDyWdRoOJbiE921hbI6igWa81d-hxwVxCveZYG7rYJ9CJaWYR2fiUV124rNe3dcXHxdo8YJSjgiRmOVExkFyaHBuBBRYEeZHVs0Ay3Pm-THBebQUqQvkNpIyO-c_83W5OyVqPhTyvN3doWZdXCZVaYuX26mUlVj-s/s320/the%20call%20of%20the%20sea.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>I don’t think there is anything I’d like to see less of really – what one person enjoys in regards to storytelling and character archetypes does not have to be what everyone else enjoys or looks for. Readers will take what they wish from each story they read – they will apply their own personal context in order to make meaning – so I think it’s not up to anyone to gatekeep what others read and enjoy. If I pick up a book with tropes I don’t like, or writing that doesn’t sit with me, I simply put it down and move on. I think the fantasy genre has the space for everything really – all tastes and interests can be accommodated.<p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p>You can find me on social media, Instagram and TikTok @kateschumacherwriter and my website at www.kateschumacherauthor.com. I have an author facebook page as well. You can find my books on Goodreads, Bookbub and Storygraph. As far as where to buy my books – ebooks are Amazon only, plus they are in Kindle Unlimited. Paperbacks are pretty much anywhere in online book stores, places like Waterstones, Barnes and Noble, World of Books. If in Australia I stock them at some small indie bookstores so please check out the linktree on my social media if you wanted to support these wonderful people. </p><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Kate, thank you so much for the interview and sharing your thoughtful answers with us!</span></div>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-22798422716458219322023-07-16T16:53:00.000-07:002023-07-16T16:53:22.723-07:00Still Another Step towards #Kzoo2024<p></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>ℌ</b></span></span></span>ello again, all!</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>I</b></span></span>n a bit of an update, the official call for papers for the 2024 International Congress on Medieval Studies is up: <a href="https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/call" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/call</a>. The Society has two sessions and a business meeting this coming year. The sessions, per <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2023/06/another-step-towards-kzoo2024.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2023/06/another-step-towards-kzoo2024.html</a>, are</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Alternative Medievalisms against the Tolkienian Tradition–A Paper Session</b>: While it is the case that Tolkien’s works are a primary lens through which contemporary popular culture views the medieval, it is far from the only such lens, and the English and European medieval from which Tolkien’s works borrow so extensively are not the only medievals to be found. This paper session seeks to examine how contemporary works employ medievalisms other than those commonly associated with the Tolkienian tradition, how that employment contrasts with that tradition, and how that contrast can better illuminate how current popular cultures understand, and *can* understand, the medieval in its multitudes.</li><li><b>Tolkien and Twenty-First Century Challenges–A Roundtable</b>: That the works of Tolkien continue to be read and adapted decades after their publication bespeaks ongoing interest in those works and the continuing dialogue with the present in which those works engage. The proposed session seeks to examine how Tolkien’s works can be read against the backdrops of late-stage capitalism and hyper-concentration of wealth; resurgent authoritarianism, religious intolerance, and ethnocentrism; increasing precarity in many areas of endeavor, including but not limited to the academic; climate change; building tension between great-powers realignment and regional autonomy and independence; terrorism, state-sponsored and otherwise; and other issues of concern that occupy current attention.</li></ul>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he business meeting will, as has been common practice, serve as the AGM called for in §5.1 of <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/p/constitution.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Society Constitution</a>. The AGM will treat the following items:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Determination of offerings for the 2025 ICMS</li><li>Determination of the Society President for 2024-2027, following §4.2.2 of the Society Constitution and <a href="http://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2021/05/kzoo2021-report.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the 2021 AGM</a></li><li>Other business brought before the membership, as time permits <br /></li></ul>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>ll submissions are due no later than 15 September 2023 to the Confex portal, <a href="https://icms.confex.com/icms/2024/cfp.cgi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://icms.confex.com/icms/2024/cfp.cgi</a>. Please provide abstracts of no more than 300 words, as well as contact and introductory information (including how to pronounce your name and how you want presiders to refer to you).</p><p><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span>he office of Society President may, per §3 of the Society Constitution, be any member of the Society in good standing who does not currently hold two offices on the Committee. Nominations, including self-nominations, may be emailed to <a href="mailto:talesaftertolkien@gmail.com">talesaftertolkien@gmail.com</a>.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>M</b></span></span>embers, please distribute widely and across channels.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>hank you all, and we'll see you (virtually) at the 'zoo!<br /></p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-81202573551043714132023-07-13T11:00:00.029-07:002023-07-13T11:00:00.139-07:00Author Interview - Ignatz Dovidāns<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqSU1hSKjZH95AOJJRI9KrX8YwIF5oVAH1JQkNxAes8ZsM9LO3gR14-DVX8znBRuYBnN-MmSED_oVnf3hQJ9saFiP9xYzE5N6NT81znMHN3k7SkUlavRg6Apq_vlNkMCT0pCUfMZY6VokEytpn6Q593vU7aq85OE1xolHuVpyhieMVeHNrePPa8TybnE/s616/ignatz.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="616" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqSU1hSKjZH95AOJJRI9KrX8YwIF5oVAH1JQkNxAes8ZsM9LO3gR14-DVX8znBRuYBnN-MmSED_oVnf3hQJ9saFiP9xYzE5N6NT81znMHN3k7SkUlavRg6Apq_vlNkMCT0pCUfMZY6VokEytpn6Q593vU7aq85OE1xolHuVpyhieMVeHNrePPa8TybnE/s320/ignatz.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with fantasy author, Ignatz Dovidāns!</span><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.<br /></h3><p>Firstly, thanks so much for having me on! My name is Ignatz Dovidāns, author of Moonrise: A serialized low-fantasy novella series featuring globe-trotting action and adventure. These little snack-size fantasy stories are inspired by the format of comic books and prestige TV, and they feature original illustrations by yours-truly. The scope of Moonrise is an epic 45-installment series so it's currently my sole focus as an author.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p>For fantasy specifically, I draw influence from all over the place. Martin can certainly be felt in my love of throne-room politicking and multiple POVs. I've also taken quite a bit of influence from Sanderson's ability to break out of the fantasy mold, something I really admire about his writing. But first and foremost, as cliché as it is, I'm always looking to Tolkien as my figurative north star. More on that later!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p>In a lot of ways, the true history of the various periods of the middle ages has been co-opted by the modern imagination. I think part of the reason the middle ages have such a hold on fantasy is that it, in many ways, represents the fantasy of the modern reader. We work day jobs and desk jobs and service jobs like serfs for our lords who sleep on big piles of gold. But, unlike now, the medieval period was a time, at least in the popular imagination, where one could plausibly break free from their masters and embark on a grand adventure. Moonrise was never meant to be a historical fantasy by any means, and my fantasy world draws from various periods of history from the Bronze Age all the way to the early 1700s. But this aspect of the middle ages, this dynamic between the small ruling class and the mighty working class, is very much present in Moonrise and that is very much on purpose. To me, fantasy is all about entering a magical safe space to explore the traumas, anxieties, hopes, dreams, and fears we take with us from the real world. As a literary device, the public imagination of the middle ages then becomes an incredible place to explore real-world issues plaguing society while also creating an adventure the reader will want to get lost in.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Do you feel like your writing has been impacted/influenced by Tolkien? If so, in what way(s)?</h3><p>As I said before, Tolkien is perhaps my most important literary influence. When you look at the series' that were directly inspired by the Lord of the Rings (e.g. Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time), there are undoubtedly aspects of Tolkien's writing that were left behind. Things that, in my mind, are what made Tolkien's story of brotherhood, adventure, and deep, deep personal trauma so important and resonant. Like most people my age, my indoctrination into Tolkien's works was sealed by Peter Jackson's adaptation. And, while meaningful and important to me in its own right, it wasn't until revisiting the books as an adult that Tolkien's writing really jumped off the page and came to mean something different to me than any adaptation or homage ever did. For starters, his prose flows like poetry, often meandering to take stock of the grass or trees when the true stakes of the story are elsewhere. You can't write a book like that anymore. Well, I suppose you could, but any hope of commercial success would be dubious. It's an aspect of the series many modern readers find tedious but, for me, is a major draw of the work. Tolkien is a master of immersing us in feelings that are, by and large, lost to us in the 21st century. Our minds are so busy with the endless stream of terrible headlines, or the ceaseless parade of notifications on our phones, that we've lost the ability to just be still and quiet and present. Tolkien reminds us, to this very day, what it feels like to sit by a river just to appreciate the sound. To ponder the sonority of the trees or the smell of the wind. Modern fantasy tends to be endlessly complex, with convoluted lore and enough fake-history to fill a real-world history textbook. I've seen people come up with dozens of languages and scripts and draft faux documents all in the effort to build a world the way Tolkien did. But Tolkien didn't need to create Elvish to make his world so palpable. The secret was all in the way he crafted his story and put words to paper. When I say Tolkien is my north star, this is what I mean. If I've done my job well, Moonrise is an epic fantasy series full of whimsy, introspection, and quiet moments. A soft, safe place where readers might be inspired to sit by a river just to appreciate the sound.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhiMmICeZeIBmm1jn3yZZFFjkVTIcZP16oVfoXadLROGHJg1ttkuFCMxFIEqtDsLrKmOBQyH5ncLA4UzHCEDHT7o8KbVi_vFPzw4cFTUNxFABQJRYyPQkeT6Bdol8RsZtp8GkWKR99C84sobDPSI74VQj2AXRnDNaiO8dKuOU12kLkXT-Jox5D5y6uJ8/s1500/wolfsong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="984" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhiMmICeZeIBmm1jn3yZZFFjkVTIcZP16oVfoXadLROGHJg1ttkuFCMxFIEqtDsLrKmOBQyH5ncLA4UzHCEDHT7o8KbVi_vFPzw4cFTUNxFABQJRYyPQkeT6Bdol8RsZtp8GkWKR99C84sobDPSI74VQj2AXRnDNaiO8dKuOU12kLkXT-Jox5D5y6uJ8/s320/wolfsong.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p>Truthfully, I hate to call this an innovation because it's more of a revolution. But we're seeing more and more previously marginalized people telling their stories. I am a white straight-passing man and, for decades, fantasy stories have been written by people like me about the oppressed, outcast, and ostracized. Often times when those stories aren't necessarily ours to tell. The breadth of voices that have been entering the space in the past few years has been incredibly refreshing and exciting. The new ideas, worldviews, and norms that these previously silenced authors bring into the space is a good thing for storytelling as a whole.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p>This goes hand-in-hand with what I said above, but a diversity of stories. We've seen lots of Chosen Ones and FMC's with colored hair and secret powers. Fantasy is a genre with unlimited possibilities, but we rarely see a story that breaks outside the mold. I think Travis Baldree's Legends and Lattes is a great example of what I'd like to see more of, where the entire format is unlike anything in the fantasy space so far. Now that's not to say I don't want to keep reading epics about Chosen Ones and bow-wielding FMCs. I just think we, as an audience of fantasy, are eager for so much more. This, of course, has been part of my goal in writing Moonrise. The first book plays like a classic fantasy tale, but each consecutive book has a new premise and a new problem that pushes the conventions of the genre. Book 2 is a Fourth Wing-esque military academy drama. Book 3 is a globe-trotting PG-13 Game of Thrones. Book 4, set for release October 2023, is a Halloween-inspired supernatural mystery centering around a masked ball. I'm currently writing the early drafts of Moonrise 17, which is set to be a pirate story, so there's lots in store for the future!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p>This is going to be a controversial one, but I'm wary of the rise of hard magic systems. Now, look, I like hard magic systems a lot. Moonrise's system is what I'd call a 'firm' magic system because, at the end of the day, I'm a geek and love puzzles. Hard magic systems are fun. I love reading a series and slowly figuring out how the magic works. It's also a great way to establish stakes from a storytelling perspective! But here's the thing. Is that fantasy? I'm not saying it's not, but a lot of these Sanderson-inspired stories are more about the puzzle than the characters or themes, which in my mind are the core of what makes fantasy fantasy. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4leiNsJlZxp9tsYtyM9xjGwNkxanX_rmoY4ad1C8KP6_KxGU1kvJF1ArrL23615qVHfB2GiTPHSjFVyYPQQmD_tdH6wG0J90WcQYGBEZG2gKBSldXtIbuLB2W_4EphGf6CRYE5A4uFxYGmJM4sZPEeFaTWucl0Zant84ElBzou3ae977R17dE3Wm29hM/s1207/moonrise.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1207" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4leiNsJlZxp9tsYtyM9xjGwNkxanX_rmoY4ad1C8KP6_KxGU1kvJF1ArrL23615qVHfB2GiTPHSjFVyYPQQmD_tdH6wG0J90WcQYGBEZG2gKBSldXtIbuLB2W_4EphGf6CRYE5A4uFxYGmJM4sZPEeFaTWucl0Zant84ElBzou3ae977R17dE3Wm29hM/s320/moonrise.png" width="320" /></a></div>Is there anything else related I didn't ask a question about that you'd like to add?</h3><p>I don't think so! Just wanted to wish you all the very best! This blog has a new fan :)</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p>The first three books of Moonrise: Wolfsong, Legion, and A New Awakening, are available on Amazon in Kindle e-book and paperback. Book 4, Spectre in the Night is coming October 2023! You can mostly find me on TikTok @moonrisebooks where I'll be making a fool of myself for the algorithm gods.</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ignatz, thank you so much for the interview and sharing your thoughtful answers with us!</span></p>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-91674278224792050162023-07-06T11:00:00.001-07:002023-07-06T11:00:00.135-07:00Author Interview - Austin Valenzuela<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKMyuQ3jDUmkM7vMzQYAPF-EjMdEJUJ8P_xA-rLxmFTWHl10KqHU0nj709b6P9yMRPNtWjuk-bwOwegs2NK-LKfvyfzjcSCbUIeiCihwZ34TrqZT6jS9FUYS9bNzPMgTEMop_lBk9mNKRH6Aw1uGuiROdpimceFYD5NrG3MzdWZNrNCTfd-UVH02698Dk/s1170/austin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1162" data-original-width="1170" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKMyuQ3jDUmkM7vMzQYAPF-EjMdEJUJ8P_xA-rLxmFTWHl10KqHU0nj709b6P9yMRPNtWjuk-bwOwegs2NK-LKfvyfzjcSCbUIeiCihwZ34TrqZT6jS9FUYS9bNzPMgTEMop_lBk9mNKRH6Aw1uGuiROdpimceFYD5NrG3MzdWZNrNCTfd-UVH02698Dk/s320/austin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with Sci-Fi & Fantasy author, Austin Valenzuela</span><span style="font-size: large;">!<br /></span><p></p><div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.</h3><p style="text-align: left;">My name is Austin Valenzuela and I write science-fiction and fantasy stories. I first started my creative writing journey after reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower series and diving into psychological interpretations of my favorite childhood stories like Pinocchio and the Lion King.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I work as a content developer in my day job while attending online classes at Grand Canyon University, where I’m earning my master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Stephen King was one of the first authors that inspired me to sit down and start writing. I’ve always enjoyed his stories, as well as the short introductions and explanations for his stories that he includes, referring to his fans as “constant readers.” </p><p style="text-align: left;">I also like the classics—Russian authors like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, who are perhaps the best to ever do it when it comes to representing philosophical stances and ideologies in their stories through the opinions and behavior of their characters. I see fantasy stories as a way to explore those themes in our current day and age, along with science-fiction stories—see the work of Ted Chiang.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">I feel as if aspects of the middle ages have become a language of the fantasy genre. Taverns have a certain look in readers imaginations that almost doesn’t need to be described, and when certain books are picked up, there are expectations of tropes directly inspired by the middle ages, from the look of the swords to seiges upon castles and particular representations of faery creatures. People think of the middle ages as overdone in fantasy, but there is a distinct difference between overdone and a lack of originality.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9FwKHbf5qCLGxZUQtV0qdpiMURaOOuLrqhPY_W3wT2qobaUF4ZfkJipAGkwZWFdj4g-VBb0Icuk9MTmS3_YuxXZB674urWlnVfFuwoayNRABfp3gtgJgIGrrOsFYnCesFIIoz3USvYUWwUCxhvUkzK7YKeqe8oIkGtOsCOwu2xXVXfNOr137cyxBZvg/s2560/dragonspeak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9FwKHbf5qCLGxZUQtV0qdpiMURaOOuLrqhPY_W3wT2qobaUF4ZfkJipAGkwZWFdj4g-VBb0Icuk9MTmS3_YuxXZB674urWlnVfFuwoayNRABfp3gtgJgIGrrOsFYnCesFIIoz3USvYUWwUCxhvUkzK7YKeqe8oIkGtOsCOwu2xXVXfNOr137cyxBZvg/s320/dragonspeak.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Do you feel like your writing has been impacted/influenced by Tolkien? If so, in what way(s)?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">My writing has been impacted by Tolkien consciously and unconsciously. I grew up playing the Lord of the Rings video games, steeped in nerd culture, and I can see those influences in my storytelling, especially in first drafts. I am always learning from Tolkien’s lush imagination and precision with prose.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="white-space: normal;">To expand on the idea of originality, there is much to be explored in the realm of various folklore that differs from the typical Norse/Scottish myths that are often incorporated into fantasy. I believe that Chinese, South American, Korean, and other myths and folktales provide rich storytelling roots that can be given a voice in the fantasy and science-fiction genres. One might revive old and used myths by re-telling them in a framework that portrays the current struggles of our day.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">I’d love to see more fantasy inspired by different cultures like those mentioned above. There is an endless amount of meaning behind an old fable. A great storyteller can dig up that meaning and make it shiny again.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">I’d definitely like to see less of the carbon-copy faery stories. If artificial intelligence isn’t capable of creating one of those mass printed stories already, it will be soon. Charles Bukowski’s poem, So You Want to be a Writer?, said it best, in that you shouldn’t necessarily write something if it doesn’t burst forth out of your soul, desperate to be told. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is there anything else related I didn't ask a question about that you'd like to add?</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="white-space: normal;">My personal stories are influenced by Mesopotamian myths, Christianity, and Latin culture. I grew up with a father who spoke Spanish as his first language and a grandmother who lived all around the world, and their stories greatly influenced my young and impressionable mind. </span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="white-space: normal;">Readers can follow me on TikTok: @valenzuela.au and Instagram: @valenzuela.austin for updates on my latest work and funny book-related memes. You can also visit the following link to purchase my debut fantasy novel, Dragonspeak: Isaac’s Blessing. <br /></span>https://www.amazon.com/Dragonspeak-Isaacs-Blessing-Austin-Valenzuela-ebook/dp/B09JW3TC87/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= </p></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Austin, thank you so much for the interview and sharing your thoughtful answers with us!</span></p>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-57170116314569789282023-06-30T04:01:00.001-07:002023-06-30T06:33:09.131-07:00Another Step towards #Kzoo2024<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔚</b></span></span></span>e have an update about next year's Society offerings at the <a href="https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">International Congress on Medieval Studies</a>! Of the four panels <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2023/05/moving-further-toward-kzoo2024.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">proposed</a>, two were accepted; they are</p>
<h3>Alternative Medievalisms against the Tolkienian Tradition–A Paper Session</h3>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>W</b></span></span>hile it is the case that Tolkien’s works are a primary lens through which contemporary popular culture views the medieval, it is far from the only such lens, and the English and European medieval from which Tolkien’s works borrow so extensively are not the only medievals to be found. This paper session seeks to examine how contemporary works employ medievalisms other than those commonly associated with the Tolkienian tradition, how that employment contrasts with that tradition, and how that contrast can better illuminate how current popular cultures understand, and *can* understand, the medieval in its multitudes.</p>
<h3>Tolkien and Twenty-First Century Challenges–A Roundtable</h3>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>hat the works of Tolkien continue to be read and adapted decades after their publication bespeaks ongoing interest in those works and the continuing dialogue with the present in which those works engage. The proposed session seeks to examine how Tolkien’s works can be read against the backdrops of late-stage capitalism and hyper-concentration of wealth; resurgent authoritarianism, religious intolerance, and ethnocentrism; increasing precarity in many areas of endeavor, including but not limited to the academic; climate change; building tension between great-powers realignment and regional autonomy and independence; terrorism, state-sponsored and otherwise; and other issues of concern that occupy current attention.</p>
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<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>N</b></span></span>ews about what the mode of delivery will be--hybrid, online, or on-site--is yet forthcoming; as soon as we know, we'll let you know. Until then, get your abstracts (up to 300 words) ready; the formal CFP is set to open in mid-July, but we're always happy to look at things at <a href="mailto:talesaftertolkien@gmail.com?subject=#Kzoo2024 Abstract">talesaftertolkien@gmail.com</a>. Send away!</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>S</b></span></span>ociety members, please distribute widely!</p>Tales After Tolkien Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775324068756058722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-70290561124677593492023-06-29T11:00:00.001-07:002023-06-29T11:00:00.148-07:00Author Interview - Jessie Vallee<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7A19Q868qk6fqAmmGqMKO24ckplVHJO_SkU8t5M4lUK9BLKKERKrQLV2ck02zliNWIIkvoGqTPUJYx7e-CGHuteCDCuquhGLrVWq27-xAqEdDntGlgsAQ5vdtQ06e6kzZyatOaxJBh-bKn6JzhmUjFqr1r4WF_SpG4AfM8xrAJGqsYG5k20r6u7se58/s1024/Jessie%20Vallee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="1024" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7A19Q868qk6fqAmmGqMKO24ckplVHJO_SkU8t5M4lUK9BLKKERKrQLV2ck02zliNWIIkvoGqTPUJYx7e-CGHuteCDCuquhGLrVWq27-xAqEdDntGlgsAQ5vdtQ06e6kzZyatOaxJBh-bKn6JzhmUjFqr1r4WF_SpG4AfM8xrAJGqsYG5k20r6u7se58/s320/Jessie%20Vallee.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with YA fantasy author, Jessie Vallee!</span><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.</h3><p>I am someone who grew up craving every second outdoors, marveling at the different birds flying by and amazed at howevery wild animal lives its life. At school I was dubbed a 'readaholic' by my peers for always having my nose in a book - even while walking from place to place. I studied Environmental & Wildlife Management in college and when I got a contract job sampling cervids for a neurological disease, I found that I had many extra hours of time on my hands while waiting for new specimens to arrive. I started writing during this time as a feel-good hobby for myself. I combined my love for fantastical stories with my love for wildlife. And I never looked back. </p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p>I've never had one great big influence. Every story where the young female heroine defies the impossible to follow her morals and defeat the enemy is my inspiration. Every story where the beautifully poetic writing transports me to another realm in hypnotic detail is my sanctum. And every ounce of unique world building I discover feeds my creativity. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p>Learning about the middle ages gave me an entirely new appreciation for various weaponry, armor, combat styles, and ways of life that don't rely on modern technology. But more than that, it was the honour that every man and woman held that has impacted my writing the most. Knowing about a time when everything was life and death, yet still, people fought tooth and nail for what they believed in, despite all the challenged they faced. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Do you feel like your writing has been impacted/influenced by Tolkien? If so, in what way(s)?</h3><p>Tolkien is one of the authors that I grew up on, and his writing always transports me to another realm like no other. In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I was introduced to world building like no other, with a complex system of characters and races whose way of life each grossly differs from our own which reflects in the writing. Every paragraph was intricately written from the perspective of a very peculiar species that does not exist in this world - the Hobbit. It challenged me at my young age while drawing me in. </p><p>His book, The Hobbit, on the other hand was based in the same world, but read as a children's fairytale despite its complexity. The words drifted off the page with ease - such a stark contrast to its successor books, in my personal opinion. And I fell in love with it. It made me want to take my time with the story and read it all aloud in a hushed dimly lit room. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3z3M2SidP3sDHEPA5xEV2rkx5NvIewi6sHyt34w_2GD9qGSDvcMqQfrapaRUFMKsocplGAIrZNI5-CX0fmiko0OCQxm8t7VvAKKI4fsYmIza7cmhKm8jH7S_Ojm-u8iBdfyFajUZgCOTFH_Yv3m-UjwHx72TZoyXftntNIfBzPwlzf2cWFahzVbehXY/s1920/frost%20and%20shadows.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1242" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3z3M2SidP3sDHEPA5xEV2rkx5NvIewi6sHyt34w_2GD9qGSDvcMqQfrapaRUFMKsocplGAIrZNI5-CX0fmiko0OCQxm8t7VvAKKI4fsYmIza7cmhKm8jH7S_Ojm-u8iBdfyFajUZgCOTFH_Yv3m-UjwHx72TZoyXftntNIfBzPwlzf2cWFahzVbehXY/s320/frost%20and%20shadows.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div>In these senses, Tolkien was both the first author to challenge me as a reader, and who made me rethink the concept of writing for your target audience (as The Hobbit was indeed written as a bedtime story for children). As a writer, this translated into learning how to dive into the perspective of the world you create, while still remaining true to your audience. <p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p>I am a writer of Young-Adult Fantasy in magical realism. I believe one of the great innovations of today is merging the world of magic and mischief with the contemporary. Many teenagers can hardly imagine a world without phones, computers, and cars. And so, to transport them more fluidly into a fictional setting, or even a non-fictional setting with magical aspects or rules, is both a challenge and a great gift. We get to discover how to demonstrate a world that seems impossible in their eyes, and learn how to make it both understandable and relatable. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p>I would love to see more of the extraordinary. I've always loved that word when broken down: extra-ordinary. I want to get lost in new and unique worlds, learn about new and unheard-of species of beasts, discover new realms that are nothing like what we've already read about, be amazed by new magic that we're not used to seeing. </p><p>I personally have so many ideas of my own to touch on this in the future, but I feel as if many of the fantasy tales of today are recycled - which is okay! In fact, I absolutely love retellings, and I've always agreed with the saying 'don't fix what ain't broke'. And while I will never tire of trolls, dwarves, elves, witches, Fae, elemental powers, vampires, werewolves, etc... The list goes on. These are all elements I love. </p><p>But I want to discover something new. Because that's the joy of fantasy. There is no limit to the imagination. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p>Far too many fantasies portrait the women in the book as a damsel in distress. Even in a heroine position, their only true strength is often in relation to the 'helpless chosen one'. As one example, this can look like their blood being the key to gain the treasure or defeat the enemy, but their skills being inadequate to ever advance on their own, or even begin to fight back if faced with trouble. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">A girl that is needed, but completely dependent and in need of protecting. </h3><p>I want to see less damsels in distress and more women that don't need rescuing, and who are their own saviours. While yes, learning how to depend on others because the fate of the world should never fall on any one person's shoulders and our youth need to see that it's okay to lean on others. But that isn't to say that the girls are helpless on their own.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is there anything else related I didn't ask a question about that you'd like to add?</h3><p>I think you covered it 🙂</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p>Readers can find me at www.jessievallee.ca, or at @jvalleeauthor on all social medias.</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jessie, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your thoughtful answers!</span></p>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-37841552938329621562023-06-22T13:27:00.001-07:002023-06-22T13:27:57.775-07:00Author Interview - Ben Galley<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaLcb-kPZfPRJgpyLo2ubuBg-By9UkOYFEtz4K7EPkTt79IJkHGkja24ZnNJ8lOI4l49RD-nWhOwxhM8KB5VBKPcXvKJibQ5A0TYg0ldVVynJtt_AoCmhFQ1q7E9HUBNy9JLhr0AB2Dshryqohg5VAF4GcPSKj-wKu07dstwKPkXxVycsJfmvLCiCCQg/s799/ben.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaLcb-kPZfPRJgpyLo2ubuBg-By9UkOYFEtz4K7EPkTt79IJkHGkja24ZnNJ8lOI4l49RD-nWhOwxhM8KB5VBKPcXvKJibQ5A0TYg0ldVVynJtt_AoCmhFQ1q7E9HUBNy9JLhr0AB2Dshryqohg5VAF4GcPSKj-wKu07dstwKPkXxVycsJfmvLCiCCQg/s320/ben.jpg" width="280" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with fantasy author, Ben Galley!</span><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.<br /></h3><p>Hello and thanks for having me! I’m Ben Galley, an epic and dark fantasy author originally from the UK and now lurking on the west coast of Canada. I’ve been writing since I was old enough to spell and my biggest dream was to become an author. In 2010, I published my debut novel, a Nordic fantasy called The Written, and I haven’t looked back since. As of 2015, I’m thrilled to say I’m a full-time author, and I currently have almost 20 books under my belt, ranging from Norse fantasy to grimdark, weird west, steampunk, and recently progression fantasy. My aim whenever I’m putting fingers to keys is to create the deepest worlds I can, and fill them with 3D, compelling characters that live in the reader’s head rent-free. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p>Prepare yourself for a cliche. My original dream to be a professional author was born when I was but a knee-high waif living in Scotland. The first proper book my parents gave me to read? The Hobbit, closely followed by Lord of The Rings a few years later. The sheer depth of the world and breadth of the lore was the source of that dream, as it has been for many authors. So I have to blame old JRR and Middle Earth for first influencing me. Along with Tolkien, I also blame Brian Jacques and Redwall, CS Lewis, Sir Pratchett, Anne McCaffrey, and of course, Robin Hobb.</p><p>Since then, I’ve been heavily influenced by the balance of humour and darkness found in Joe Abercrombie’s and Mark Lawrence’s incredible books. The world-building of Philip Pullman, Philip Reeve, China Miéville showed me how deep and compelling worlds could be. Neil Gaiman has also been a huge influence, and taught me about balancing the real world with the weird and magical.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p>For many of my books, the short answer is: hugely. My nordic Emaneska Series and Scalussen Chronicles are both European-inspired fantasy, Most of my books, even if they’re non-western, which five other books are, they are set in roughly the same era of technology. As such, I’ve done a huge amount of research into middle ages art, architecture, tech, culture across all facets of history, all around the world. Even aspects of Middle Age writing and storytelling have given me plenty of ideas for plots and stories. It was a time of discovery, invention, exploration, and upheaval, and that gives plenty of good inspiration for stories.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6Zmxsj_sXbI3ya1YZzDoO5PYH6YqZ0HRDy-C_tH1CXugOvMEaBVzDc6z_jQ1ZK6di-9aO7czulvOEGPKIKcVzKtkLboJGHCb_gPNDzg44dGkfsC71hw2-2ahHV2cD0m_Jgfl9m3e0DxhkRRLXtYoifydjBHzPKMHtJX3K-htei1ch3aS3CqmaypgCEc/s1200/heavy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6Zmxsj_sXbI3ya1YZzDoO5PYH6YqZ0HRDy-C_tH1CXugOvMEaBVzDc6z_jQ1ZK6di-9aO7czulvOEGPKIKcVzKtkLboJGHCb_gPNDzg44dGkfsC71hw2-2ahHV2cD0m_Jgfl9m3e0DxhkRRLXtYoifydjBHzPKMHtJX3K-htei1ch3aS3CqmaypgCEc/s320/heavy.png" width="320" /></a></div>What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p>There is a huge amount of innovation in fantasy at the moment. A lot of non-western settings are being explored, and most importantly, we have a rising number of BIPOC and LGBT authors bringing fresh voices and telling stories that aren’t the usual, codified medieval fantasy that I think there is more than a swathe of. Don’t get me wrong, you can still tell new stories in common settings, and there are a lot of people pushing the envelope with classic fantasy, but representation and expansion are very important. There are also a lot of authors mixing new and old in really interesting ways, such as exploring mixing genres together. Sci-fi fantasy, for example, and the stratospheric rise of game-lit and LitRPG. Or the rise of cozy fantasy, and a move away from dark and gruesome worlds. Authors are also launching their books in new ways via web novels and serials, which I find really interesting.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p>I personally want to see (or keep seeing) more deep secondary world fantasy settings that are original and non-western, as well as more exploration into different story styles or characters. Instead of the stable boy and the prophecy, what about more villain origin stories? Or husband and wife characters? Exploring more family dynamics or cultural tales?</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p>To be honest, there is a lot of darkness in the fantasy genre, and what I believe is a step over the line is to be violent for violence’s sake and be shocking. Sometimes fantasy does bleed into horror, and a lot of fantasy is dark and violent, but I feel to be dark doesn’t mean to be unnecessarily dark just for a shock factor. I’d like to see less of that.</p><p>Otherwise, while I have no problem with romance whatsoever, there is a subset of people who think fantasy is synonymous with romance, or vice versa. This is a categorisation issue primarily, and causes a decent issue on Amazon and other stores.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is there anything else related I didn't ask a question about that you'd like to add?</h3><p>Maybe 'What’s the most fun aspect of your genre?'</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgVLhwhAjxE4pUolMZ3fkKNpsAkaXGtd_THLWxFE0XaTnDglR5ynLLXXkK1qNi7UBdJgPyepXefcK-3skQNmBr5hQCy7lUIlYa5g5Uy395LG3gaR2xf6Zg7DhfQax6QTL8MWQvC1NfbEFyeQIXRNgrf0T9lG9SUbldOLqx2qAP_TVvqeAG42d7LjigMg/s570/demon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgVLhwhAjxE4pUolMZ3fkKNpsAkaXGtd_THLWxFE0XaTnDglR5ynLLXXkK1qNi7UBdJgPyepXefcK-3skQNmBr5hQCy7lUIlYa5g5Uy395LG3gaR2xf6Zg7DhfQax6QTL8MWQvC1NfbEFyeQIXRNgrf0T9lG9SUbldOLqx2qAP_TVvqeAG42d7LjigMg/s320/demon.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>Call me biased, as I’m not only a fantasy writer but a passionate fantasy fan, but it’s the ability to dream big. While it’s not a negative for other genres or for me as a reader, sometimes other fiction is constrained to the real world or a historical time period. Fantasy has almost zero constraints on imagination, and we fantasy authors can build the most ridiculous worlds if we want to. And, if we get into a plot hole, what better way to solve it than with magic? :D<p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p>All my links are at linktr.ee/bengalley, which will take you to my ebooks, physical books, audiobooks, and more, as well as my socials, Discord and Patreon. Otherwise, all my books are order-able via your local stores!</p><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Ben, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your thoughtful answers!</span></div>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-67534465452750194262023-06-17T11:00:00.002-07:002023-06-17T11:26:21.359-07:00Playing with Medieval(ist?) Religion in Forum-Based Play-by-Post Roleplaying Games: A Case Study<i>What appears below is the text of a paper delivered in <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2023/05/kzoo2023-report-and-eye-toward-kzoo2024.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Society's session at the 2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies</a>. Minimal editing, other than that needed to suit online presentation and the insertion of illustrative images, has been applied to the text of the paper as given. Owing to some of the limitations of this webspace, notes in the paper are presented as unlinked endnotes, with apologies.</i>
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<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06;"><b>𝔒</b></span></span></span>ne of the means through which people begin to engage with the medieval most directly is roleplaying games. Described as collaborative extemporaneous rules-assisted storytelling,<sup>1</sup> the roleplaying game (RPG) can be viewed as a formalization of childhood games of pretend. The most popularly known such game is Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), which Lawrence Schick notes emerged in the mid-1970s from a combination of drunkenness, historical miniatures wargaming, and “rules for monsters and nonhuman races drawn mainly from Tolkien,”<sup>2</sup> so that it looks to interpretations of the medieval for its materials, just as other RPGs look to D&D. Given such origins, interpretations of the medieval can be expected to appear even in game-narrative genres that would normally be expected to foreclose such things. Many RPGs, however, overtly and explicitly engage in presenting the medieval--or visions and interpretations thereof. One such is Pendragon, which normally takes place within an amorphously Arthurian milieu, but which can be repurposed to treat more general ideas of what has often been called high medieval Europe.<br /><br />
An iteration of the Pendragon RPG which moved toward a more "historical" medieval appeared as a play-by-post forum-based (PBP) event hosted on the FallenAsh servers. A long-standing online gaming community, FallenAsh permits new and established players to participate in asynchronous collaborative rules-assisted storytelling in a variety of milieux and genres, primarily via PBPs. As of the beginning of February 2023, there were between 130 and 140 members of the community.<sup>3</sup> An informal survey of the community conducted in January 2023<sup>4</sup> noted that a majority of respondents were based in the United States, with some in Brazil, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom; community members have also noted living in Canada, as well as in Nordic and Eastern European countries, although they were not among respondents. English is the primary language of the games and their players, although speakers of many different languages and people of divergent backgrounds and positions in life are present and active in the community. Many have extensive experience playing RPGs in tabletop and online venues--decades of it, in no few cases--with some having been involved in developing and playtesting such games. They also tend to be among the more highly-educated. Their treatment of religion in the game can therefore be examined as a useful example of how gaming might understand and make use of religious ideas prevalent in the better-known parts of the European Middle Ages.
</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">About the Pendragon RPG</h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>A</b></span></span>s I had the privilege to note in previous work, from which the current project derives,<sup>5</sup> the fifth edition of Greg Stafford’s Pendragon RPG was published in 2005 by Arthaus, a subsidiary of White Wolf Games<sup>6</sup>--a publisher most notable for Vampire: The Masquerade and the related World of Darkness games.<sup>7</sup> While RPGs are generally neomedievalist (that is, looking back to post-medieval interpretations of the medieval), Pendragon is more avowedly directly <i>medievalist</i>, purporting to look back to “Facts (or at least what are widely considered facts) drawn from [chronicles such as Geoffrey of Monmouth’s]” and “parts from all literary versions” of Arthuriana<sup>8</sup>--or, at least English / Malorian, French, Welsh, and more modern and radical takes, notably eschewing German, Spenserian, and other visions of Arthur.<br /><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijN4q1itvhiIQv7BwsSifVve8LDwvyXZGAPkUsgRQr8docJZXuyAXY5hDNbGOxjigxWBvkaJRl7WJQkbBI47SSnulv8VEbFrwKKLP5nHW4P3xxIczv99xX7zZMSg0XJAGIY96XDeWfZytT8P_b_I8c-vyRjDU9IrnUJ4lx0yi1ZgthPBt3SG4hxZw" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="707" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijN4q1itvhiIQv7BwsSifVve8LDwvyXZGAPkUsgRQr8docJZXuyAXY5hDNbGOxjigxWBvkaJRl7WJQkbBI47SSnulv8VEbFrwKKLP5nHW4P3xxIczv99xX7zZMSg0XJAGIY96XDeWfZytT8P_b_I8c-vyRjDU9IrnUJ4lx0yi1ZgthPBt3SG4hxZw" width="186" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cover of the<br />game-book</td></tr></tbody></table>Even in that grounding, though, the game begins to run into commonplaces of treatments of the premodern: a focus on upper social strata and time-compression.<sup>9</sup> The game flatly announces itself as focusing on knights, describing them as the chosen elite.<sup>10</sup> While it makes some sense to do so--as I’ve noted elsewhere, “Peasant life is unattractive, particularly to those whom depictions of it might point up their <i>own</i> equivalent status,”<sup>11</sup> and many others have attested far more eloquently to the same--to set as of little importance the deeds and doings of a majority of people is no boon to understanding or getting things right. For a game that purports to encapsulate “brutal reality,”<sup>12</sup> it is hardly a commendation. Nor yet is the collapsing of the Middle Ages into a short span--“fifteen years of game time approximate a hundred years of real-world medieval history,” so that the noted game-span of 485-565 CE subsumes the late fifth through late fifteenth centuries,<sup>13</sup> roughly Gildas to Malory.<br /><br />
Many or most of the sources upon which the game as a whole relies make much of religion, mostly Catholicism, as a prevailing backdrop against which the events of the narratives stand in sharp relief. Prevailing Arthuriana--exemplified in English by Malory--features the knights routinely hearing Mass, recoursing to hermits, and involving the Pope in their familial strifes, and the literary tradition of which Malory is the linchpin extends back to its beginnings through the writings of churchmen such as Geoffrey of Monmouth, Nennius, and Gildas.<sup>14</sup> It follows, then, that Pendragon, for all its compressions and simplifications, would do the same--as is the case.<br /><br />
The game as a whole remarks at great length about religion in its primary setting; comments laying out the treatment of religion in the game take up almost as much of the text as explanations of the combats that typify both Pendragon and the RPG in general.<sup>15</sup> Publication constraints suggest that space is only given to what is considered important for play. Many RPGs, including D&D, focus heavily on combat, in large part because the rules for combat occupy large parts, if not the majority, of the overall rules-sets. For Pendragon thus to accord religion nearly as much space to religion as to combat bespeaks the relative importance of religion to the game.<br /><br />
As might be expected and as is mentioned above, the focus of Pendragon’s religious discussion is on the shape of Catholic Christianity in Britain during the decades and centuries covered by the game, offering a gloss of history and chronicle, presenting some information on schisms, heterodoxies, and heresies at work, and providing what amount to character blurbs regarding historical religious figures such as the aforementioned Gildas. It must be noted, though, that the game treats a putative paganism still lingering from pre-Christian Britain in its rules. It must also be noted that the discussion of religion in the main game betrays some cynicism: “judgment is consistent--whatever most benefits the Church is upheld by its court.”<sup>16</sup> And it further must be noted that, despite the attention given to religion in the main game rules--to the extent that “Knights who follow a strict religious way of life get an advantage in game”<sup>17</sup>--play-groups are advised against engaging overly much with religious conflict in the game.<sup>18</sup><br /><br />
What becomes clear with Pendragon, generally, is that the game simultaneously acknowledges two things: the importance of religion to its venue and, at least obliquely, to the cultures in which its expected player-base exists; and the tensions that necessarily arise when treating such matters in what is an ostensibly fun activity.<div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">About Lionheart</h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>L</b></span></span>ionheart is the title of a specific game of Pendragon played by post on the FallenAsh servers in September and October 2021.<sup>19</sup> That is, the game was played asynchronously, with players posting in threads gathered into layered forums instead of in real time. Participants were encouraged to secure copies of the Pendragon rules for themselves, and the game, throughout, made ample use of the basic rules-set Stafford had laid out. Rather than taking the standard compressed Arthurian setting assumed by Pendragon, however, Lionheart focused on the coronation of Richard I of England, the eponymous Lionheart, and the short time thereafter that he remained in England before heading off to the Crusades--namely 3 through 12 September 1189.<sup>20</sup><br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirQevUdF4vq4PVQ2eHODq4ZNQVCqnZqdVPtM3Ai9HCVwD-kd3XlC-Tzp7c62211ZdNhVh3hZBL5oH-rehi0x-8a5s7rri8umg9aFOHaVbHpVv0Ym965T5qd1RRrW8TfWzNzOVE5kEL1uhFcFMjPr7XmPziQLoH0eLIUQzTtXWRhwXWK7vxPnLayNk" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1920" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirQevUdF4vq4PVQ2eHODq4ZNQVCqnZqdVPtM3Ai9HCVwD-kd3XlC-Tzp7c62211ZdNhVh3hZBL5oH-rehi0x-8a5s7rri8umg9aFOHaVbHpVv0Ym965T5qd1RRrW8TfWzNzOVE5kEL1uhFcFMjPr7XmPziQLoH0eLIUQzTtXWRhwXWK7vxPnLayNk" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The landing page of the game, in all its glory.</td></tr></tbody></table>While the game swiftly departed from attested history, with players’ characters--PCs--emerging from the players’ imaginations to take up great offices of state, for example, the game made a point of grounding itself in reported events and people. For one example, an option for character creation was to take historical personages as characters; players could have as their characters Henry of Brunswick or Marie de France,<sup>21</sup> for instance, and Margaret de Beaumont and William de Warenne <i>were</i> PCs.<sup>22</sup> For other examples, discussions of expected conduct were digested from known sources such as the <i>Urbanus Magnus</i>,<sup>23</sup> and framing of relative social powers drew from such sources as the Domesday Book.<sup>24</sup> Further, much was done to offer broad socio-historical context to the players, with a number of threads laying out general histories from 1066 forward and concerns known to have been current to the coronation.<sup>25</sup> As such, Lionheart made a commendable, sustained effort to work within the confines of attested history.<br /><br />
I have to note that, while respondents from the FallenAsh community skew toward the highly educated and tend slightly towards humanistic and literary study, they are not, by and large, specialists in medieval European or medieval English history, broadly defined. Given that and the expected compression and elision of any simulation, any errors in interpretation and representation cannot be said to be made in bad faith. Rather the reverse is true; participants in the game worked to be as close as possible, given constraints of the gaming context, to the best possible understandings of the medieval available to them and to the most sensitive approaches to them circumstances would permit. None of what is noted in this paper should be taken as a condemnation; instead, the majority of participants in the game should be lauded for the effort to get things right.<sup>26</sup><br /><br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What Lionheart Gets Right about Medieval Religion</h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>P</b></span>articipants’ efforts did lead to a number of things coming off as accurate or authentic. For one thing, the relative centrality of organized religion is emphasized in the design of the game itself. As a PBP game, Lionheart required an informational setting in which to exist; for PBPs on FallenAsh, this is almost always in the form of location-based higher-level fora. That is, before play begins, the game’s administrator--the GM, Cearnacht--sets up overarching places for discussion. Some will be for out-of-character talk, but most will be locations in the game where PCs can act and interact. Lionheart featured four general areas--Westminster Abbey, Westminster Palace, Westminster, and London--divided into a total of 19 sub-locations. Westminster Abbey, the first of the general areas, had eight of them, as many as any two of the others. It is a minor thing, perhaps, something that might well be called paratext, but still one that accurately underscores the importance of religion in the life of medieval England.<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0NoK2lHe6DBra6zG7Pf9SB7vh7MXqOR-OMtySdSYKpMrkiNimUhOO6c9fdI8PchYNgrvdm7ch9vSatxb9acyznuloRgLAvZb541JBTdvWywJMJ3BfcTixB2zOkdfm9RXtlEsPD18PJrlURL76pSGWGDpZkNTgqic_0mzD8crqSDkUZYkXEt2W5FA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1920" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0NoK2lHe6DBra6zG7Pf9SB7vh7MXqOR-OMtySdSYKpMrkiNimUhOO6c9fdI8PchYNgrvdm7ch9vSatxb9acyznuloRgLAvZb541JBTdvWywJMJ3BfcTixB2zOkdfm9RXtlEsPD18PJrlURL76pSGWGDpZkNTgqic_0mzD8crqSDkUZYkXEt2W5FA" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As noted.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Further, Lionheart openly acknowledged and faced both the presence of Others--and the postcolonial capitalization is apt--in England and the poor treatment of the same by official structures. One of the earliest topics developed by the GM is, in fact, “A Word about Otherness in the Middle Ages,” and it does not shy away from acknowledging that minority populations--including religious minority populations--existed in the England of the time and that they were mistreated by the majority and those in power.<sup>27</sup> That alone marks the game off as distinct from many others, which often shy away from such topics by way of romanticizing them, if not flatly ignoring them.<sup>28</sup> That is, RPGs, both in their basic settings and in their specific iterations, will frequently gloss over the social problems found in their settings’ sources. Lionheart did not, but very nearly opened with a direct engagement with the known challenges presented by the selected setting.<br /><br />
Lionheart also gets right another key point in its discussion of religion, namely “the Church’s role in adjudicating the acceptability of marriages.”<sup>29</sup> Sandra Masters expounds upon that role and its development at some length,<sup>30</sup> as do Ryan Patrick Crisp<sup>31</sup> and Richard J. Warren.<sup>32</sup> It must be noted, too, that the ultimate undoing of Arthur’s kingship lies in his (admittedly unwitting, in Malory) incestuous union with his sister.<sup>33</sup> Clearly, incest is a problem, and consanguinity is a concern. Clearly, too, both are involved in concerns of religion in the “real” medieval, both its attested history and its “popular” culture. That the game makes note of such--especially given how infrequently other RPGs do the same--is a particular bit of accuracy.<br /><br />
Lionheart also makes explicit that religion is not a monolithic, all-or-nothing thing, adopting a nuanced view of the rules-set’s presentation of “good” and “bad” visions of the church. Preliminary materials for the game remark that “Most of the things described in the ‘good church’ section are true, or are at least aspired to by this very human institution. Many of the things described in the ‘bad church’ section are also true, at least of some church leaders.”<sup>34</sup> The binary view espoused by the rules-set is fairly typical of RPGs. One common plot is for a pious character to become disillusioned by the corruption of an organized religion, and another is for a similarly pious character to be led into that corruption from a belief in the infallibility of such an organization; both require that the church, whatever church it is, be one or the other. In adopting a more nuanced view, Lionheart accords more fully with attested regard for organized religion in medieval Europe, specifically in England; Chaucer’s <i>Canterbury Tales</i> offers perhaps the best-known English example thereof, but traces of the same can be found even in Malory, where the Archbishop of Canterbury is complicit in Merlin’s maneuverings.<sup>35</sup> More, it accords with the recognition by a number of scholars--Eleanor Janega<sup>36</sup> and Elijah King’ore<sup>37</sup> are accessible examples, but not the only ones--of the centralized church acting in ways both helpful and harmful. So Lionheart gets a fair bit about medieval religion right.<br /><br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What Lionheart Gets Wrong about Medieval Religion</h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>P</b></span>articipants’ efforts did not prevent all inaccuracies, however. Some of them are openly acknowledged. The GM noted, for instance, that the Commandments in the game are but one rendering among many,<sup>38</sup> and some historical events of no small significance are outright elided.<sup>39</sup><br /><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgslIL77LMXBSulQa3Fu3roOWZdUWUdSZ7usvR8ShpWGPNkB2fDAe8CLTaO_G7KV4yRjNj4cf9sEpYsgpf3SvN_4cVxRhEKfM8C39IQStVDeqrWvnlhKP1InrQ7v_OdA4SeIRmmXIakcjRPxC1y9rz0yAQYmzagpmrITgvk8STsTb3mX2UadCvdK24" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1920" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgslIL77LMXBSulQa3Fu3roOWZdUWUdSZ7usvR8ShpWGPNkB2fDAe8CLTaO_G7KV4yRjNj4cf9sEpYsgpf3SvN_4cVxRhEKfM8C39IQStVDeqrWvnlhKP1InrQ7v_OdA4SeIRmmXIakcjRPxC1y9rz0yAQYmzagpmrITgvk8STsTb3mX2UadCvdK24" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Most Rev. and the Rt Hon.<br />the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, himself</td></tr></tbody></table>Not all of the errors are as overtly addressed, however. For one, despite structural indications of the importance of religion in medieval England, only two of the seventeen major non-player characters are noted as clergy.<sup>40</sup> While one of them is the Archbishop of Canterbury--whose description does offer some of the kind of nuance noted favorably above--that the local priesthood (including the Abbot of Westminster) is not presented in detail seems at odds with that importance. So, too, is the lack of clerical PCs; only one PC is overtly in holy orders, while one other could be assumed to be so.<sup>41</sup><br /><br />
Additionally, there are divergences in the services that are presented in the game. To be fair, the services, especially the depiction of Mass,<sup>42</sup> hold true to current formal practice. The problem is that that practice, while centuries old, far postdates the times covered in the game. What the game shows is the Tridentine Mass, a standardization promulgated in direct response to the rise of Protestantism and revised repeatedly since, most notably in 1962.<sup>43</sup> The form of Mass depicted, therefore, was not current in the 1189 Lionheart purports to reflect. While it may well be the case that the differences to be found are minor, as some older sources hold,<sup>44</sup> it is also the case that those differences would have been regarded as of importance at the time, with the game itself remarking upon the problems occasioned by similar questions of doctrine.<sup>45</sup> For the game to have missed the more likely Sarum Rite, information about which is accessible,<sup>46</sup> seems an unfortunate oversight.<br /><br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Why It Matters and What Can We Do</h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span>here is always, when discussing games, the opportunity for comment against looking too closely into things. A variation on Belisario’s Maxim<sup>47</sup>--in this case, “It’s <i>just</i> a game”--is usually trotted out, and the case can be made easily that “doing homework” gets in the way of “having fun.” It is true that more information than was deployed in Lionheart is readily accessible, but parsing that information for good and useful material is time-consuming, and serving as a GM is not often compensated labor.<br /><br />
Too, it is to be expected that RPGs like Pendragon, as simulations, will necessarily reduce and compress their sources in the interests of treating them conveniently and in allowing players, most often not specialists in the source materials despite prevailingly high levels of formal education,<sup>48</sup> entry into the interactive narrative milieux in which RPGs operate. Making a game accessible, and therefore playable and more likely to be fun, usually means going with what players can find if they do decide to look. While there is substantial overlap between RPG players and people with institutional access (and the time to enjoy it!), the two groups are far from congruent. Many players, perhaps even most, cannot get into the deeper details of setting that breed more accuracy and richness. In effect, they have to take what they can get. What they can get, then, becomes all the more important to prevailing understandings, as such scholars as Sturtevant and Young assert.<sup>49</sup><br /><br />
Regarding religion specifically, there may be an additional factor playing into such inaccuracies as are present. RPGs generally have difficulty with real-world religion, owing to several factors, including borderline persecution by organized religious groups.<sup>50</sup> Pendragon directly speaks to additional concerns, noting that “Constant argument and bigotry [arising from theological disagreement] is almost sure to destroy a game, and players and Gamemasters alike are advised to use religious conflict in a campaign only with great care,”<sup>51</sup> if they treat it at all. Concerns of access to the game may well prompt some elision of religious matters even in contexts where their presence is eminently sensible--such as a coronation of a sacral king in a major hub of worship in advance of that king’s pursuing holy war. Again, access to the game is cited explicitly in the framing of Otherness in Lionheart, with the GM noting explicitly that some deviation from attested history is in place while noting the fraught nature of making such a change and emphasizing that “We’re a community; let’s keep it a good one.”<sup>52</sup> <br /><br />
Perhaps that is the most relevant thing. RPGs often tend towards the creation of communities, bringing people together for sometimes intensive, sometimes extended, and sometimes extended and intensive, periods of time to make something together. They are formative, and because they are so, it becomes important to ensure that the information from which they work is as accurate as it can be--while at the same time creating an atmosphere in which community can form. An unfortunate truth is that no few gaming communities form in such ways as permit and encourage hate and any number of execrable behaviors, both through emphasis of certain “facts” and elision of others; what FallenAsh shows, in Lionheart and elsewhere, is that the juxtaposition of getting things right and getting them wrong--unavoidably and with intent--can conduce to better community formation. In effect, Lionheart is an example of things being done right; FallenAsh is a series of examples of things being done right.<br /><br />
As the printer puts it, “al is wryton for our doctryne, and for to beware that we falle not to vyce ne synne, but t’exersyse and folowe vertu, by whyche we may come and atteyne to good fame and renommé in thys lyf.”<sup>53</sup> Let us read well, and deeply, and often.<br /><br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Appendix: Survey and Results</h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>T</b></span></span>he informal survey conducted of the FallenAsh community in January 2023 consisted of a Google Form posted to the #general discussion thread on the community’s Discord. Participants were asked to answer a series of short-answer questions, with the explicit and repeated notes that their participation would be voluntary, anonymous, and uncompensated (save with my kind and polite thanks, which were tendered publicly and generally in the discussion thread). The questions asked after assorted demographic data that had at various times been subjects of discussion in the thread and in other associated venues. They were<ol><li>In what country do you live?</li><li>In what timezone do you live?</li><li>What is your primary language?</li><li>What is your age?</li><li>With what race and/or ethnicity do you identify?</li><li>With what gender do you identify?</li><li>How would you describe your sexual orientation?</li><li>How would you describe your religious outlook / background?</li><li>Which of the following best describes your socio-economic status?.</li><li>What is the highest level of formal education you have attained?</li><li>What was your major / primary field of study, or what is your trained trade?</li><li>For how many years have you played tabletop roleplaying games?</li><li>What tabletop roleplaying game do you most commonly play?</li></ol>
The survey received 19 responses, between 13.57% and 14.62% of the FallenAsh community. A larger sample size would, of course, be desirable, but for an informal survey, results should give some impression of the community as a whole. (I will note, however, that I am happy to be corrected in later work, if I am wrong in this.)<br /><br />
A large majority of respondents (13) reported living in the United States or one of its territories. Other respondents noted living in Brazil and Germany (2 each), as well as in Japan and in the United Kingdom (1 each).<br /><br />
Respondents were spread across time zones, with a plurality (5) living in US Pacific Time (UTC - 8). Several others live in each of US Central and US Eastern Time, as well as in UTC + 1 (3 each; UTC - 6, - 5, and +1, respectively). Two live in UTC - 4, and one each live in UTC - 9 and UTC + 9. Consequently, respondents live across 18 hours of the day--which does make for some challenges in coordinating player action in games where they all participate.<br /><br />
English is by far the most common primary language among respondents, with 14 of the 19 reporting it. Two respondents identify each of German and Portuguese as their primary language, and one Spanish; of interest, one German-primary respondent made a point of noting English proficiency, and one Portuguese-primary respondent noted working as a translator.<br /><br />
Ages of respondents ranged from 20 to 47. Mean and median age were both 37. Interestingly, no clear mode emerged; two respondents each reported being ages 36, 37, 40, and 46.<br /><br />
The question of race and ethnicity prompted interesting responses. Fifteen of the respondents replied with “White” or some variation thereof, with one reporting “Asian,” one reporting “African American,” and two others making reports not easily classified to someone perhaps overly accustomed to US Census Bureau rubrics. Two respondents identified as Hispanic, as well, with several others reporting national / regional identities not tracked by US Census data. One respondent offered an extended discussion (for a short-answer response) of ethnicity in their country.<br /><br />
The question of gender identification received a more unified response, with 15 respondents identifying as “male,” or a qualification or variation thereof (e.g., “trans,” “most of the time”). Two respondents reported identifying as female, and one as non-binary.<br /><br />
A large majority of respondents (12) identified as heterosexual or some variation thereof (e.g., “straight,” “for all intents and purposes”). Three identified as bisexual or a variation thereof (“bi-curious,” “homoflexible”), two as homosexual, one as asexual, and one as gynesexual.<br /><br />
A plurality of respondents explicitly identified as agnostic, with some addenda amid the responses (e.g., “appreciate many things in Buddhism”). Seven responded with some variation of Christian (three Catholic, two Protestant, and two without other description), and three explicitly identified as atheist. Three other responses were recorded, as well: “spiritual but not religious,” “Satanist,” and “nothing.”<br /><br />
In terms of socioeconomic status, reports from respondents were largely consistent. Sixteen of the 19 reported being among the middle class, with one in the upper and eight in the lower reaches of that group (one of whom noted precarity in that position); the remaining seven added no description. The other three respondents reported being in lower socioeconomic classes.<br /><br />
Respondents appear to be relatively highly educated; all but two reported having some higher education. Ten report having completed degrees, seven of them graduate degrees or the equivalent.<br /><br />
Respondents’ fields of study and training show some bias towards English and literary study, with four respondents indicating as much. Three also comment explicitly on work as teachers. No other clear curricular pattern emerges.<br /><br />
Reported length of experience playing tabletop roleplaying games among respondents ran high, ranging from five to 40 years. On average, respondents report having played for just over 21 years, with a median of 22 years and a mode of 25.<br /><br />
Regarding preferred games, respondents returned multiple answers; most gave more than one response. As might be expected from a long-standing gaming community, a majority of respondents (10) expressed a preference for playing Dungeons & Dragons. Owing to the origins of the community as an extension of a Legend of the Five Rings online game, it was similarly expected that a majority (10) expressed a preference for that game. Pathfinder, something of a spin-off of Dungeons & Dragons, was noted as a preferred game by four respondents, and a smattering of other gaming systems received mention.<br /><br />
As noted above, how representative the respondents are of the overall FallenAsh community is an open question. How representative they are of the overall gaming community is even more open. The responses, however, do seem to offer some indication of where at least a portion of the community falls, some idea what a gamer might actually look like, which is certain to be of some help.<br /><br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Notes</h2>
<ol><li> Daniel Mackay, <i>The Fantasy Role-playing Game: A New Performing Art</i> (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2001), 4-5.</li><li>Lawrence Schick, <i>Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-playing Games</i> (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus, 1991), 18-19.</li><li>A quick check of the number of participants on the FallenAsh Discord returned 131 people, and a handful of members do not participate on Discord.</li><li>See Appendix: Survey and Results.</li><li>The work in question was originally a short talk given as part of a summative event at a National Endowment for the Humanities institute on law and culture in medieval England hosted by Western Michigan University in 2021. It was subsequently developed into <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2022/05/kzoo2022-report-and-eye-toward-kzoo2023.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the roundtable presentation “Laying Down the Law in the Pendragon RPG,” given at the 2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies</a>. The present project both shifts and narrows focus from the earlier work, although it makes free use of the earlier materials without much comment.</li><li>“Arthaus Publishing, Inc.” White Wolf Wiki, accessed 15 July 2021, <a href="https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Arthaus_Publishing,_Inc">https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Arthaus_Publishing,_Inc</a>.</li><li>“World of Darkness,” Paradox Interactive, accessed 15 July 2021, <a href="https://www.worldofdarkness.com/">https://www.worldofdarkness.com/</a>.</li><li>Greg Stafford, <i>King Arthur Pendragon</i>, 5th ed. (Arthaus, 2005), 6.</li><li>Geoffrey B. Elliott, “Some Notes about the Kerrville Renaissance Festival,” Travels in Genre and Medievalism, Tales after Tolkien Society, 4 February 2019, <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2019/02/some-notes-about-kerrville-renaissance.html">https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2019/02/some-notes-about-kerrville-renaissance.html</a>.</li><li>Stafford 15.</li><li>Geoffrey B. Elliott, “About Oklahoma ScotFest,” Travels in Genre and Medievalism, Tales after Tolkien Society, 23 September 2015, <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2015/09/about-oklahoma-scotfest.html">https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2015/09/about-oklahoma-scotfest.html</a>.</li><li>Stafford 4.</li><li>Stafford 5-6.</li><li>Geoffrey B. Elliott, “The Establishment of Malory’s <i>Le Morte d’Arthur</i> as the Standard Text of English-Language Arthurian Legend” (doctoral dissertation, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2012), 1-6.</li><li>Chapter 6: Combat spans pages 112 to 131, 19 pages in total. Chapter 7: Ambition and Faith spans 132 to 155; explicit discussion of religion begins on page 138 and ends on page 153, taking up some 15 pages.</li><li>Stafford 149.</li><li>Stafford 69.</li><li>Stafford 138.</li><li>It is of interest that the game took place just after the aforementioned National Endowment for the Humanities institute. Character development occurred while that institute was in progress, a happy coincidence that influenced at least some aspects of play.</li><li>“Lionheart,” FallenAsh, accessed 6 April 2023, <a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com">https://pendragon.fallenash.com</a>; please note that following references to the site and its pages will be by URL rather than more formal citation.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=83.">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=83.</a></li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=150">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=150</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=122">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=122</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=33">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=33</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4</a>, <a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5</a>, <a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6</a>, <a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7</a>, <a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8</a>, <a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16</a>.</li><li>“Majority” because I was a participant in the game, and if others were not specialists and trained as medievalists, I (ostensibly) am; I worked to do better, but I am not certain I succeeded.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2</a>.</li><li>Helen Young, “Racist Discourses in Fantasy Fiction,” Diverse Fictions, 28 May 2013, <a href="http://diversefictions.blogspot.com/2013/05/racist-discourses-in-fantasy-fandom.html">http://diversefictions.blogspot.com/2013/05/racist-discourses-in-fantasy-fandom.html</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3</a>.</li><li>Sandra Masters, “<i>Consanguinitas Et Ius Sanguinis</i>: Kinship Calculation and Medieval Marriage” (master’s thesis, Western Michigan University, 1994), <a href="https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3956">https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3956</a>.</li><li>Ryan Patrick Crisp, “Genealogy, Consanguinity, and the Counts of Anjou in the Eleventh Century” (master’s thesis, The Ohio State University, 1999), <a href="https://tinyurl.com/2p82jf3z">https://tinyurl.com/2p82jf3z</a>.</li><li>Richard J. Warren, "Consanguinity Protocols, Kinship and Incest in Literature of the Anglo-Saxon through Early Renaissance Periods" (master’s thesis, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, 2016), <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/9112206">http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/9112206</a>.</li><li>Thomas Malory, <i>Malory: Complete Works</i>, ed. Eugène Vinaver, 2nd ed. (Oxford UP, 1971), 27-28.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3</a>.</li><li>Malory 7-10.</li><li>Eleanor Janega, “JFC, Calm down about the Medieval Church,” Going Medieval, 7 August 2020, <a href="https://going-medieval.com/2019/11/05/jfc-calm-down-about-the-medieval-church/">https://going-medieval.com/2019/11/05/jfc-calm-down-about-the-medieval-church/</a>.</li><li>Elijah Nderitu King’ori, “Fight against Corruption: A Christian Medieval Historical Period Approach,” <i>European Journal of Philosophy, Culture and Religion</i> 5, no. 1 (2021): 38–57, <a href="https://doi.org/10.47672/ejpcr.800">https://doi.org/10.47672/ejpcr.800</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=122">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=122</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=150">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=150</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=304">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=304</a>.</li><li>Paul Halsall, “Medieval Sourcebook: Mass of the Roman Rite,” Fordham University, May 2023, <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/latinmass.asp">https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/latinmass.asp</a>.</li><li>Adrian Fortescue, "Liturgy," <i>The Catholic Encyclopedia</i> (New York: Robert Appleton, 1910), vol. 9, accessed 10 May 2023, <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09306a.htm">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09306a.htm</a>.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7</a>.</li><li>Frederick Thomas Bergh, “Sarum Rite,” <i>The Catholic Encyclopedia</i> (New York: Robert Appleton, 1912), vol. 13, accessed 10 May 2023, <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13479a.htm">https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13479a.htm</a>; William Renwick, “About,” The Sarum Rite, accessed 10 May 2023, <a href="https://hmcwordpress.humanities.mcmaster.ca/renwick/about/">https://hmcwordpress.humanities.mcmaster.ca/renwick/about/</a>.</li><li>“Bellisario’s Maxim,” TV Tropes, accessed 11 April 2023, <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BellisariosMaxim">https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BellisariosMaxim</a>.</li><li>Note, however, that there are no few people who get into their areas of study in part because they started studying to be able to play their RPGs better.</li><li>Paul B. Sturtevant, <i>The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination: Memory, Film, and Medievalism</i> (IB Tauris, 2018); Helen Young, “Who Cares if Game of Thrones Is Authentically Medieval?” Travels in Genre and Medievalism, Tales after Tolkien Society, 12 June 2014, <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2014/06/who-cares-if-game-of-thrones-is_12.html">https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2014/06/who-cares-if-game-of-thrones-is_12.html</a>; Helen Young, “Who Cares About Historical Authenticity? I Do,” Travels in Genre and Medievalism, Tales after Tolkien Society, 16 June 2014, <a href="https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2014/06/who-cares-about-historical-authenticity.html">https://talesaftertolkien.blogspot.com/2014/06/who-cares-about-historical-authenticity.html</a>.</li><li>Geoffrey B. Elliott, “Unchurched: On the Relative Lack of Religion in Tolkienian-Tradition Fantasy Literature” (presentation, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, May 2014); Mackay 4.</li><li>Stafford 138.</li><li><a href="https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2">https://pendragon.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2</a>.</li><li>William Caxton, preface to <i>Malory: Complete Works</i>, ed. Eugène Vinaver, 2nd ed. (Oxford UP, 1971), xv.</li></ol></div>Geoffrey B. Elliotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01475539352104446216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802509403539493784.post-90371299233516613812023-06-15T11:00:00.001-07:002023-06-15T11:00:00.134-07:00Author Interview - Jessica A. McMinn!<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjer7LA7L4QKcok07xlDFQOQZRtHRC05jy8HtNMN_6Ixa088tj8EE9Uh3-mPEapEeC92h1nb8Yjg0FSHqyi6wt8vi3wjYTNyr81nwvGsUhTOLfM5Jam6fjTyi3EH-uBk9JUSEPHR1SL3lss2GP4tmJ4qwxyskx6bETYwtRhJDhFT8HFPaMqg3_qxU4n/s1999/jessica.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1999" data-original-width="1414" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjer7LA7L4QKcok07xlDFQOQZRtHRC05jy8HtNMN_6Ixa088tj8EE9Uh3-mPEapEeC92h1nb8Yjg0FSHqyi6wt8vi3wjYTNyr81nwvGsUhTOLfM5Jam6fjTyi3EH-uBk9JUSEPHR1SL3lss2GP4tmJ4qwxyskx6bETYwtRhJDhFT8HFPaMqg3_qxU4n/s320/jessica.png" width="226" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello and welcome to our latest author interview with grimdark fantasy author, Jessica A. McMinn!<br /></span><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Oh, gosh, would it be cliched to say, 'I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember'? It sounds bloody corny but it actually is the truth; aside from a moment of insanity when I declared I wanted to be gymnast (or a vet, or a jockey...) being a writer is one of my earliest aspirations. I wrote my first 'epic' story when I was seven, in one of my primary school exercise books I clearly was not using for homework (it was eleven pages, I felt like a wordsmitthing beast), and continured to write shockingly melodramatic misadventures featuring female protagonists all through primary school and into highschool, before going on to major in Creative Arts/Creative Writing at University. Eventhough I took a different career path (I was always afraid to 'work' as a writer because I didn't want to burn myself out creatively), I stuck with my passion project and now, after two decades, it's finally out in the world!</p><p style="text-align: left;">My debut novel, The Ruptured Sky, is a character-driven epic grimdark fantasy, set in a world where the gods are dead, the sky is torn, and the land wasted by magic. Led by one kickarse female main character, the plot follows an ensemble cast of morally grey characters who become involved in a madman's plot to revive the dead goddess and prevent the rise of a dark and dangerous power -- but it may destroy the world in the process...</p><p style="text-align: left;">It is the first installment of the Gardens of War & Wasteland quartet, and Book II (The Blood Curse) is slated for a late 2023/early 2024 release!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who would you say your biggest literary influences are?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">I'm actually quite a naughty writer in that a lot of my influences haven't actually come from literary sources... I've been working on Gardens of War & Wasteland for just on two decades now and the 'foundation stage' of building this world took place when I was in highschool (ages 15-18) and at that time I was really heavily into videogames and Japanese manga/anime. Story based RPGs such as Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem and the 'Tales of' series have been hugely inspirational, and more recently, 'darker' franchises such as The Witcher, Bloodborne, Dark Souls and Elden Ring really helped put the finishing touches on everything. In fact, Bloodborne was what inspired me to really commit to the dark and twisty, which is how I ended up being a grimdark author as opposed to the fantasy adventure quest it started out as. </p><p style="text-align: left;">To speak specifically on literature, I do have to credit David Eddings's The Belgariad as being the first real high fantasy series I read and it introduced me to practically all of the most popular tropes of the genre. And, I don't think I could be a writer of modern fantasy without being influenced by George R.R Martin. I actually started reading A Song of Ice & Fire around the time I was doing some pretty heavy, structural rewrites of Gardens of War and Wasteland, and that's how I came to tell the story through multiple POVs. It wasn't something I had considered before--I always thought there needed to be just ONE hero whose story we'd follow, and so originally, I was just writing from Amika's headspace. After reading Ice & Fire, I started to realise that the perspectives of the supporting characters can be equally, or perhaps even more important at times, and that was when I started weaving in Kio, Kriah and Rei's experiences. </p><p style="text-align: left;">While I certainly don't plan on expanding the cast to GRRM levels, a new perspective will be added in later books. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpznARXoprxCmkkEtihqvCzo1lcCjdQC-RDUyVYCEBzMkf7ErGy3Jc-5oZfQWqxq0MzGW9bd1tk2bxNTcp-vpb5ghDK-0ZXPQN05r6swBlbXe-kxtzm00FvxlMWq1wMx_s1XttcoeMJorlmRofyL9zHkU8i0rDGRoB4lBNpYBjgU1-_oFCc6Kazcwl/s2551/war.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2551" data-original-width="1651" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpznARXoprxCmkkEtihqvCzo1lcCjdQC-RDUyVYCEBzMkf7ErGy3Jc-5oZfQWqxq0MzGW9bd1tk2bxNTcp-vpb5ghDK-0ZXPQN05r6swBlbXe-kxtzm00FvxlMWq1wMx_s1XttcoeMJorlmRofyL9zHkU8i0rDGRoB4lBNpYBjgU1-_oFCc6Kazcwl/s320/war.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How has the history of the middle ages impacted/influenced your work?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Yes, actually, I've been doing a lot of research into the Black Death and what the pandemic response was back in that time ... So that's been fun!</p><p style="text-align: left;">At its core, my fantasy world (Whyt'hallen) is built upon the foundations of British/European middle ages. I wouldn't say it's as strongly influenced as say, A Song of Ice & Fire, but the flavour is definitely there.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Do you feel like your writing has been impacted/influenced by Tolkien? If so, in what way(s)?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Not my writing so much, buy my imagination, most definitely. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I never wrote (or even read) hard fantasy until I saw Lord of the Rings -- prior to that I'd been more paranormal/supernatural with aliens, spirits, fairies and what have you. But once I saw LotR was I was absolutely obsessed. The depth of world building, the characters, grand battles and epic quests... It was truly eye-opening -- and inspiring. </p><p style="text-align: left;">While I have not actually read the books (I did read The Hobbit and my little 14yo brain struggled with the density of it I never could bring myself to tackle the trilogy) I fully acknowledge and respect the impact Tolkien has had on the genre. I don't think anyone who reads/writes fantasy could say they remain entirely untouched by his influence.</p><p style="text-align: left;">One specific Tolkien homage I will draw attention to is that magical forests and beings of Whyt'hallen were strongly inspired by Lothlorien and the elves. While there are some notable differences between the Meah-Hyren and Tolkien's elves, Lothlorien/Kherunis, I don't think I'll ever separate the connection in my mind. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What do you think the current innovations in your genre(s) are?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Strong female protagonists. There definitely does seem to be a boom of take no shit, kickarse female leads in fantasy fiction in general and I am so here for it!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see more of?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">More openly female authors in epic, dark and grimdark fantasy! I say openly in that their identity is not obsecured behind pen names or ambigious initials as a means of hiding gender and avoiding stigma. Basically, I like to just see that stigma erased! </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is something in your genre(s) you'd like to see less of?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Sexual violence (against women) as a a plot device, whether to propel the narrative or a character arc. It's pretty rampant in the grimdark genre because, let's face it, it's a heinous crime. I'm not saying it should be erased from literature altogether but it would be nice to not see it used so frequently (on page) as means of establishing 'evil'. There's so many other horrible, shocking things to do instead. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is there anything else related I didn't ask a question about that you'd like to add?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">No - it's been a great interview. Thank you!:)</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqqmj18NmPEErtOUD0iv6nZGFvjQUZ07Tzy5zeFPz8IDcDTMFdWy8rbE5UxgSOanp2dbI25UwjFQGx4mMOu-wc-c0FE3mEOok-wF71_i1WApkRs266UmLvw7lljVcX-LbFFAh2MT4agHRwOu8Jtv2DQkIxIcgyx04gXRxVrF7Wc7kk2vLTQK16jzAl/s1094/collector.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1094" data-original-width="725" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqqmj18NmPEErtOUD0iv6nZGFvjQUZ07Tzy5zeFPz8IDcDTMFdWy8rbE5UxgSOanp2dbI25UwjFQGx4mMOu-wc-c0FE3mEOok-wF71_i1WApkRs266UmLvw7lljVcX-LbFFAh2MT4agHRwOu8Jtv2DQkIxIcgyx04gXRxVrF7Wc7kk2vLTQK16jzAl/s320/collector.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>Where online can our readers find you and your work?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">The Ruptured Sky is available in digital format exclusively through Amazon, and is enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Paperbacks can be purchased from most online retailrs (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Booktopia etc)</p><p style="text-align: left;">Two FREE prequel novellas can also be found at jessicaamcminn.com</p><p style="text-align: left;">Character merchandise is also available from https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/jamjamcrafts (more options including bookmarks, signed paperbacks etc to come!)</p><p style="text-align: left;">And of course, readers can connect with me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all @jessicaamcminn<br />Come and say hi! :)</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jessica, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your thoughtful answers!</span></p>Rachel Sikorskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01627080353028867997noreply@blogger.com0