Mi Contra Fa

Fabliau - It seemed like a good idea at the time

So down they laid; got right to it
The devil found hell quite a tight fit
Quoth Abilech: "He hurts hell so!"
Quoth Rustico: "That pain will go."

And so it did, and many times
As often as the church-bell chimes
At noon, they served our God the Lord
A pleasant penance, neither bored.

And so it was in days to come
That Rustico knew he'd been dumb.
Our Abilech enjoyed the deed
And would him to the bet-mat lead
"Come, Rustico, now no more rest
For we must serve the Lord our best.
I think we've rested quite a spell
Let's put the devil into hell."

The hermit ate but weeds and grass.
To keep up was a busy task,
So, despite his youthful age,
He found he could not earn his wage
In this work she asked for him.
In fact, he started feeling pretty grim!

Fabliau - Meet the Devil

"Dear Abilech, now here's the thing
That best will please the Lord our King.
Just do exactly as I do,
And let me teach you something new."

Then he knelt down and so did she,
Then tunics off; she looked to see
That he had something she did not.
"Rustico, what is that you've got?"

"It's a devil," to her he said,
"See how he rears his ruddy head?
He gives to me an awful pain
But we will school him, to God's gain."

"Oh blessed be!" the maiden cried
"That I am not by devils tried."

"It's true a devil you have not,"
Our hermit said, "but you have got
Instead a hell, consider that...
Come over here, to my bed-mat...
The devil should be put in hell
It's there that God wants him to dwell.
It is a holy, blessed task.
Will you do it, as I ask?"

"At once!" she cried, "if God it please!
I'm here to do such works as these!"

Fabliau - Versification

My dear husband read the fabliau draft and commented unfavorably on the at-times irregular meter, and on some of the slang.

Meter: Well, my Internet efforts had yielded only that fabliaux, and most French poetry at the time, were in octosyllabic couplets.  No information on meter.  So meter must be free, right?

Or French doesn't really have linguistic stresses, so 'meter' doesn't apply.

English does have stresses.  Meter does apply.  I should probably go with either iambic or trochaic, and at least be consistent in the same couplet.  We'll see - I think I'll go for a full draft and sharpen it up as time allows.

Slang: This, I'm divided on.  It's a translator's dilemma - the modern slang provides the correct emotional effect at the possible expense of ruining the illusion of a medieval work.  I don't go in for purposeful archaic expressions, but that's a slightly different beast than purposefully modern-sounding ones.

Fabliau: Putting the Devil into Hell

Stolen shamelessly from Bocaccio.  This is just tonight's work, a first installment.

Come and listen, all hear me well
And of a goodly act I'll tell
God loves it when Satan who fell
Is put forthrightly into Hell.

In Africa there was a maid
Young and fresh, never had been laid
Innocent and quite simple, too.
So what's a pious girl to do?
Abilech - that was her name -
Heard that life is lived without blame
By hermits in the desert dry
And so she went there, by and by.

She met a hermit in his cave;
To live with him in prayer she craved.
He knew it was a bad idea
And said, "I'm very sorry, dear,
But I am not the man for you.
My days in the desert are few.
You want a man with expertise.
My neighbor down the road will please."

On she went, into the sands,
And found a man with praying hands,
Another hermit, old and wise
Who did not want this lovely prize.
Temptation too much too resist!
If she remained, his prayers he'd miss.
Can't have that; so on she is sent,
And far into the desert went
Until she found another cave.
She hailed its hermit with a wave.
Rustico was the young man's name;
To the cave-mouth quickly he came.
So young and proud, he thought for sure
That he could prove his soul was pure
By living with this pious maid.
So with him she finally stayed.

His resolve lasted a good hour
Til fleshly longings stormed the tower
Of all his good intent; instead,
He schemed to get her into bed.
Delicately, he asked around
And to his great surprise he found
That she knew nothing of the deed
That he was rushing towards at speed.

"Saxon Songs" Pseudo-Review

I got my copy of Carl Wood's "Saxon Songs" a while ago.  I've read the text and picked out a few melodies, but I'm calling this a "pseudo-review" because I haven't actually yet played any of the full arrangements.

She comes right out and says in her Introduction that this is not an attempt at historical re-creation.  It's a  modern composition.  This is rather at odds with the ad copy, and I admit I was disappointed.  The other supporting information is the usual; no sources I was surprised to see.  She does give a handy pronunciation guide for Old English.

The music looks very "harpistic," lots of rolled triads or four-note octaves.  It does look to be in either minor keys or else  modes - it's hard to tell at first look, and from the chordal tablature, if it's "really" a minor key or if that's the modern analogue to the mode.  (For instance, the key of D-minor is not the same as D-Dorian, but a D-minor I chord and a D-Dorian I chord are the same. The note in the scales that is different doesn't show up in the chord.) 

The melodies have some accidentals dropped in; I don't like the effect right away, but maybe it grows on you?  My very brief acquaintance with Icelandic folk music showed that it had some accidentals, and maybe that's where this is coming from.  That, or Wood's imagination and art.

It is a good example of through-composed settings for Anglo-Saxon poetry.

On the whole, I'm not unhappy that I bought it, and I hope to be able to try a few of the pieces soon.  However, I'm not as excited about it as I was before learning it was an entirely modern take on things. 

Class Notes, ahoy!

Anglo-Saxon Poetry and Performance (link goes to a PDF) is ready to go, clocking in at 8 pages and 14 references, plus a handful of useful websites for future work.

Winter University

It's in one week!

I have a class handout drafted; it runs 11 pages with 14 footnotes and for some reason, two of the pictures just won't center.  Sigh.  If I can fix that, I may call it done and post it.

I have six students signed up; not bad for an obscure early-morning two-hour class.

Packing List:
Class Notes (10 copies)
Blank paper for poetic composition
Pencils (10)
Print-outs of Anglo-Saxon poems
Rosemarkie harp
Saxon lyre
Flute and recorder
Drum (?)
Wire roller basket to carry it all!

Optional Multi-Media:
Laptop
Beowulf DVD
Edda CD
Other relevant sound clips culled from Internet

To Do List:
Find good translations of Anglo-Saxon poems to print
Print them
Print/copy class notes
Buy pencils
Find/cue up relevant multimedia tracks on laptop

Caroles in The Decameron

First, how have I not read The Decameron before now?  If you have not read it, go forth and find a copy for as little as a penny.  (Or it will be at your library for free.)  The table of contents handily summarizes each tale, so you can find the naughty ones easily.  (There is an online Decameron, but it has older translations that gloss over some of the most amusing tales.)

Now that the PSA is done... in between the one hundred tales, there is a little bit of prose about the ten tellers.  Not much, really, and on my first lookings-through there's only one of the ten who even qualifies as a character (Dioneo).  But, before and after every batch of stories, the young people sing and dance caroles.  The king or the queen of the day selects one to lead the dance, one or two to play instruments, and one to sing.  All sing choruses.

Brilliant!  The main vocalist does not dance!  Breathing problems solved!

Because someone "leads the dance," I am guessing they are making it up as they go along, or else it's vaguely conga-line like.  Some quick experimentation has shown me you can dance the Tangle Bransle steps (left single x3, right single) to: The Lusty Young Smith, any ballad, Wild Mountain Thyme, The Chandler's Wife. This implies you could dance any four repeating dance steps to possibly most of the SCA traditional song corpus.  You might be able to invent alternating dance steps (e.g., left single x3, right single; left single x3, turn single, repeat all) but you might also run into problems with the ends of verses or choruses; similarly, you may or may not be able to have separate chorus choreography.

Or, in summary: It is dead easy to repeat ad infinitum any four bars of dance steps to a variety of SCA songs.  Anything more complicated will require forethought.  Possibly not much, but some.

Fabliaux

The Fabliaux, on Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer page

Marie de France wrote fabliaux?

"Almost invariably octosyllabic couplets," at least in French

An essay

And of course, "Le Chevalier Qui Fist Parler les Cons."  (NSFW language warning)

Upcoming Events

Winter University: I'm teaching a class on Anglo-Saxon Poetry and Performance.  Class notes are well underway, and I need to talk it through a few times.

Courtly Love (Bright Hills): Bardic Bear Pit; sounds fun to try!  I don't see myself seriously prepping for this one, although continuing to review old repertoire during the commute is a good general exercise.

Feast and Foolishness (Highland Foorde): I think I have existing pieces I could enter in every competition except the children's.  And it sounds like a fun event.

Tournament of Love and Beauty (Ponte Alto): Unspecified A&S, PA&S.  Hundred Years' War theme, which means I could trot out "Blind King John" again... but I suspect we'll be needing a weekend or two off and this will probably be one.  Because the very next weekend is...

Kingdom Arts and Sciences: I'd like to enter the Individual Artisans display, the Fistful of Fabliaux, and possibly the Heart of Atlantia competitions.  I think an Anglo-Saxon riddle, with the answer being whatever I decide I think the heart of Atlantia is, would be just spiffy for that one.  I'm not sure I'm raunchy enough to do a good fabliaux but I'll give it a go.  Original tale or retelling of existing one?  Hmm...

Then there's a nice quiet stretch until:

Highland Foorde Collegium: Not many details up, at least on the Acorn.  I could trot out one of my older classes.