Mi Contra Fa

Sapphire Joust Report

We had three really outstanding entries into the romance competition.  Yaakov HamMizrachi entered a true Pennsic tale of miraculous restoral based on Orlando Furioso.  Sir Axel brought by a yarn in Kalevala meter which was convincingly what a Finn might write if told about European romances and asked to give it a go.  And our winner, Metylde the Cunning, produced over 4,000 lines of Middle English (with side-by-side modern translation) to give us The Marshalles Tale, a Canterbury Tales-esque story-within-a-story inspired by the Amicus/Amelius romances, but with her own interpretation of their themes.

We have some seriously awesome poets in Atlantia.

Project idea

A website containing all "the usual suspects" of primary sources touching on Anglo-Saxon performance.
Written references from Tacitus through Widsith.  Hucbald and Guido for theory.  Manuscript illuminations.  Archaeological finds of instruments.  And a biblio of secondary sources and relevant oral poetry work in other cultures.

If for no other reason, the next time someone on the lyre list asks about the possibility that duets were played (or whatever), I'll have the relevant quotes handy instead of having to run home and find them in Opland.

Going back to bed

Rather than either feature bizarrely isolated lines and corrections, or reproduce all 80-90 lines to show corrections to a few, I've put up a page for the Perilous Bed and edited it there.

The wordsmithing is not the greatest, with more poetic "ums" than I'd like, but considering that it was knocked out in two days under time pressure, I'm not displeased. 

I am still uncertain on the alleged joke I'm perpetrating at:

He had to try, lest he be mocked
For leaving maiden all... untouched.

First, the 'real' rhyme I'm angling for isn't even pronounced 'focked,' so minus points there.  Next, this sort of cutesy substitution for R-rated language isn't appropriate, as far as I know - euphemisms, sure, but not "oh a dirty rhyming word goes here and now I'm going to not say it" games.  Third, "mocked" and "touched" can almost-but-not-quite pass for approximate rhyme, which further confuses exactly what the heck I'm trying to get at.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure it would work to get a laugh.  And the poem is not free of modernisms, like "your lucky night" and "sword-free," anyway.  (Yes, those were conscious.)

The Perilous Bed

Adapted, a little irreverently, from The Knight of the Sword.  First draft; lines I want to definitely revisit marked with *.

Bold Sir Gawain rode out one day
Through hill and glen he made his way
Til coming to a castle stout
With tall stone walls all ringed about.
Twas there he sought to spend the night
He hid his name, in case it might
Cause his host to treat him unlike
Any other knight come to spend the night.

Lyre Tunebook

The lyre tunebook is chugging along.  I've scored seven 19th-20th century pieces, like "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Ode to Joy," that people will already be very familiar with.  That (in theory) helps them know if they're playing the instrument "right."  And I've also scored eight 12th - 16th century tunes (or parts of tunes) to be all medievally.  Maybe "scored" is the wrong word.  It's just melodies at the moment.  I'll be adding some accompaniment separately.

Of course, none of that repertoire is really historically appropriate for the lyre (although the 13th cen. Danish "Dromte mig et drom" is close).  But we don't have any 8th century music, period, is my understanding.  We start getting chant in the 9th cen.

I may include a section on improvising tunes, and what (I think) is historically plausible, and maybe give a couple of scored examples of my own compositions.  I hate doing that, if only because I'm so bad at transcribing what I'm playing into note values.  It takes me forever to get it right.

Sapphire Joust: The Knight of the Sword

The Knight of the Sword is a moderately obscure bit of Arthuriana featuring the redoubtable Sir Gawain.  It has two main episodes, the Perilous Bed and the Maiden and the Hounds.  (Both episodes are found with different protagonists in other works; it's sort of early TV Tropes.)  Three years pass between the end of the Perilous Bed and start of the Maiden and the Hounds, and it looked like a perfect spot to insert a "new fragment."

Except... this is a moderately obscure work.  I'd have a decent chance of being able to start something off with "Not long after Arthur pulled Excalibur from the stone" and have everyone know what I was talking about.  "Not long after Sir Gawain married the maiden of the Perilous Bed"?  Not so much.

I think I have two options at this late date:

1) Expand on the "Branwen seeks a cure" idea I used to sell this contest in the first place.

2) Write a 100-ish line version of the Perilous Bed episode (the original runs hundreds of lines).  It's a bit bawdy, which makes it a more appealing performance piece than the Branwen, unless I come up with some interesting ideas for that one.

Back to work

Ongoing project: Lyre tunebook.  It's slow-going, but it's going.

Upcoming Poeta stuff to get done:

Sapphire Joust: Should I write something? Clearly I can't enter my own competition, but I could exhibit.

Highland River Melees: Need to get tokens together.

Novice: Need to write heraldic bling

Pennsic: Need to find deputy for Known World Poetry

Birthday: Need reasonably-sized epic of Early Storvik history, in suitable (Norse?) meter

Personal Research stuff:

Learn to use the video recorder to make YouTube lyre tutorials

Make some more audio clips for podcasts.  Should do "Wulf and Eadwacer," post to lyre list.

Englyn Milwr

Poeta Atlantiae is sponsoring a challenge at Highland River Melees.  Since the event theme is Wales and warriors, the call is going out for the soldier's poem, englyn milwr, a Welsh form.

How do you write one? It's very simple!

This is a verse form for me!
Of lines, there only are three.
Meter is totally free.

Each line must have seven beats.
End rhyme will make it quite neat.
Englyn milwr, short and sweet!

It is known as soldier's rhyme -
Themes of war are quite sublime.
Let's write some - it's a good time!

May Acorn Poem

"Has love's sweet glance your heart ne'er warmed?"
Asked Branwen, of the witch transformed.
"Indeed I have," was her reply,
"And that is why I will deny
Your plea that I undo the spell
That made your lady's heart to swell
With love for valiant Sir Tristan.
For if her love for husband's man
 - King Mark's best knight, I hear - is true,
Then whatsoever spell I do,
She'll only grieve her love that's lost
Much more than what her sins will cost."