December tomorrow

[elingregory]

Imagine me making that Macauley Caulkin face, will you.

However December isn't all bad because it means it's time again for the Speak Its Name Advent Calendar! Every day in December there will be a new post by a different contributor. Some are established stars of the genre, some are cheeky so and sos like me who thought it might be fun! There will be stories, information - all kinds of stuff - and prizes for commenters too. Last year it was a blast.

I haven't written much today but I have done some planning on paper over how to organise battles, casualties and escapes. It's fun, in a slightly sick way, interpreting the elegies of Y Gododdin to try and work out a way of making a story out of them:

Of Bernicia's warband I could hardly bear it
Should I leave a single man alive.
A dear friend I lost, keen in combat,
Faithful to him I was, leaving him grieves me.
No desire had he for a dowry,
Cian's young son of Maen Gwyngwn

Or something. None of the versions agree.

Comments

[jessie-lansdel.livejournal.com]

I've been plugging the SIN calendar on Facebook. Hope you like my little story. Hey, that write or die certainly works. Cheers Hun, :-).

[elin-gregory.livejournal.com]

Another lovely icon!

I'm sure I will love yours [though I'm wishing I'd done something sensible about using primary sources as inspiration instead of perpetrating fiction].

Write or Die is a very useful tool.

[gaycrow.livejournal.com]

LOL. I'm frustrated, because J L Merrow's link to this (http://jl-merrow.livejournal.com/82895.html) didn't work, and your link doesn't seem to, either. Is it just meeeee?

[elin-gregory.livejournal.com]

It's going live around noon UK time, I believe. So no, not just you. We'll all be watching the clock. :)

[gaycrow.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm jumping the gun. It's been the 1st here for hours now. ;)

[elin-gregory.livejournal.com]

Yes. Time zones are a bugger! But Erastes needs to get up, walk the pooch and have coffee, I guess before doing technical stuff. I know I do.

[gaycrow.livejournal.com]

Yes,I'm hopeless before my morning cuppa.

I'll be catching up tomorrow morning, my time. I'm looking forward to seeing what's behind each window.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

moaning minnies - I've put it up a bit early just for you! LOL.

[elin-gregory.livejournal.com]

We don't deserve you, do we? *simpers*

[gaycrow.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I missed out, because I went to bed. Off to check it out now.

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

Oh, that poem. I sometimes wonder if we put to modern an interpretation on things when we read them. Then I think, "No. I know why he didn't want any girl's dowry..."

[elin-gregory.livejournal.com]

It's full of what Erastes amused me by calling "man-crushes", but the poet seems to have been seriously invested in someone called Llif ap Cian of Maen Gwyngwn. The translations vary wildly and will have most probably been made by people who would be appalled at the idea that any of 'that kind of thing' could have been going on. So I reckon that it's fair enough to put a bit of a spin on them:

When we were warriors
Defending the high fields of silver grain,
By right we were known as men of note,
Gracious to any who implored our aid.
Then he was my strong door, my refuge in defeat,
His arms a fort for the one who trusted him.
Where he was, that place was called Paradise for instance didn't take much tweaking, in fact the final line isn't tweaked at all!

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

Well, you've convinced me, entirely.

[wulfila.livejournal.com]

IMHO, you are doing a very good job converting ancient poetry into a convincing realistic story that still manages to retain that flavour of something grand and epic.

[elin-gregory.livejournal.com]

:D oh it is epic! I just wish more of it had survived. But because it's fragmentary I can mess about with it.

For instance, there's a repeated line "Men went to Cattreath/Catreath" which is interpreted as a reference to the Roman fort at Catterick in North Yorkshire. But 'cat' is battle in Welsh - there are several famous battles where the word is used - Cat Coed Calidon fought by King Arthur and Cad Goddeu where Arawn was beaten by Amaeton and Gwydion. So if you split the word up it becomes 'Cat Traeth' or "the battle on the beach". o I'm looking for a nice sandy beach where cavalry can really run overlooked by a hill fort for them to retreat to when the tide comes in/reinforcements come up. There's nothing more epic than a Pyrrhic victory! :D

[wulfila.livejournal.com]

Good luck - the beach idea sounds really great (impressive mental images)!