Greetings, fellow questers. I hope you find this space a useful one in your grumblings about your own grails. My court jester, Dr. Mueller, has established a protocol and schedule, which you find below, for using this blog and I command you to follow it as if it were the chivalric code. Good luck. I will enjoy reading about your intellectual feats from my splendid digital dais.
Blog Schedule
Entries are due on the date listed. Names in italics are characters/authors who appear in/wrote the text assigned for the day (i.e. Branwen is a character from Branwen, Daughter of Llyr; the student assigned to Branwen must write from the perspective of Branwen found in that text). Comments (C) are due the day following. Commenters must address the entry posted by the person listed above their name. Please note that only one entry and one comment have been scheduled. To meet the two entry/two comment requirement, you must contribute a second entry and a second comment on days (only those listed below) for which you are not scheduled.
January
4 Branwen
C: T.S. Eliot
7 Perceval
C: Michael Baigent
8 Joseph of Arimathea
C: Perronik
Messire Gawain
C: Balin
10 Lancelot
C: Michael Baigent
11 Balin
C: Messire Gawain
Red Knight
C: Joseph of Arimathea
14 Perronik
C: Perceval
16 T.S. Eliot
C: Branwen
17 Michael Baigent
C: Red Knight
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3 comments:
My life so far has been a tumultuous one. Oh the suffering I have gone through! In Harlech in Ardudwy, I lived a pleasant life alongside my brothers Bendigeid Vran (whom I like to call Bran for short) and Manawyddan, as well as two siblings from my mother's side of the family, Nissyen and Evnissyen, though I have to say I quite think that Evnissyen has some problems with his attitude. I far prefer Nissyen for company, he is much nicer than his brother.
When Matholwch, the king of Ireland, came upon our island with his ships to ally our two countries into unity, I was offered to him as a bride. He seemed like a good man at the time so I dutifully went along with him and we became married in Aberffraw.
But then that terrible Evnissyen became angry that a sister of his would be married off without his consent, and he disfigured Matholwch's horses beyond use, (those poor helpless animals) and the king was so enraged, he wanted to leave that very moment! But my dear brother Bran offered up some magical gifts to Matholwch to appease his fury, and all was well again. I believe the gift was some sort of cauldron? The boys are always talking about some cauldron that can bring a broken man back to life from battle, though not wholly.
So with 13 ships and a new husband by my side, I traveled to Ireland to be queen to Matholwch. Living in Ireland was lovely for a while; I adored the people there who acted so kindly and accepting to me, a stranger from another island. I made lots of new friends and had wonderful times with them. I liked to give the men and women who came to see me gifts, things of adornment that I had far too many of. I was glad to give away the jewels and things that made others so joyful.
Soon I gave birth to Gwern, my beautiful son whom we sent to training where he will become one of the best men of Ireland. But my happiness was short-lived. The men of Matholwch's court were livid at the fact that he could be bought with simple gifts that did not fully redeem his insult from Evnissyen so they took me from my chamber and forced me to cook for the court in the kitchen like a servant. And even worse, a large man covered in animal blood stains comes to my every day and strikes me in the ear, which frankly, hurts quite a bit. But what is a feeble young maiden like me to do? Surely I cannot fight back a man.
To console myself I raised a bird as my very own pet and companion, a delicate little starling I found outside the kneading trough. I have taught it to speak as well, as to provide me with some conversation when I am lonely. I wrote a letter to my brother Bran and sent it with the starling, hoping that he would come to help me in my stolid prisoner life.
And of course he came, along with the rest of my brothers. And then the unthinkable happened. The wretched Evnissyen took my poor son Gwern and threw him into a fire, killing my only child. Oh I am in such grief! For a mother to lose a child is like losing a part of her self, her own body. It might as well have been me that the evil Evnissyen cast into the flames. I wanted to go in after him, to try and save my son, but Bran held me back.
There is a great battle to be fought very soon, between the Irish and the men of my island. I know that I should be strong and try to live for my brothers and my island, but I am so distraught and saddened by the death of my poor son.
This is all too much for me. I feel so heartbroken inside that I think that I might soon perish from my condition. I am not a soldier, not a warrior, not strong and mighty like the men of my island. I am just a young woman who has had her life and her children taken from her. What ever will I do? Two lands have been destroyed and I cannot help but feel that I am to blame for it.
Ah, Branwen, I understand your lamentation. In fact, your pain and suffering reminds me of my wife, Vivienne (although she will be upset to know I've brought attention to her dissatisfaction with life).
My own world has turned out to be a disappointment with the closing of Britain's involvement, alongside the French, in the war against Germany. London is not what it used to be; I witness the effect of death on the faces of all my fellow people - and I can only imagine the effect it has had on you with the loss of your son Gwern.
After a while of living with pain and a suffering human spirit, one must find an outlet - a way to reach out to others. Just as you have found comfort in raising a starling as a way to reach Bran for help - I have found comfort in writing poetry. My current piece of work involves as much pain as your story and I hope, at it's completion, it will be as meaningful to readers as it is to me. Perhaps I will share it when I am done.
Until then Branwen -
Shantih Shantih Shantih
damn okay I didn't get into my webmail GrailGrumblings invitation until after I posted, so my bad for making my post a comment.
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