Wolfie's Excalibur

 Well, it had to happen: Wolfie got his own Excalibur. Made of wood and not steel, but still. I will explain how he came into possession with it. Last week, we went to a "medieval festival", just for him (and me too, I am actually a medievalist). It was a rather simple affair, nothing too fancy or immersive, with jousting (more like professional wrestling disguised as jousting), falconry, archery and, well, nobody disguised but the entertainers. We had fun in any case. There were a few kiosks, among them one that sold wooden shields and swords from Tymeagain. And among the wooden toys, well, there was Excalibur. Other swords were cheaper, but neither Wolfie nor I could resist. In any case, it is an educational toy, allowing me to teach him a thing or two about the Arthurian legend. The sword will be central to our games in the next months, I am sure of it. I will keep you posted.

World Book Day

 It is World Book Day today, which I try to celebrate every year. I Wolfie celebrates it at school by dressing up, it's a special tradition they have in this country (and elsewhere?). I hope he gets back home with a book token to be spent in the local bookshop, like last year. That would be great. Wolfie is going to school dressed up as a king. Maybe King Arthur, maybe not, don't ask me why, but I do suspect the Arthurian legend sort of influenced him, as I did tell him about it recently and he got quite curious. We have a few books about which I intend to read them with him.

GrailQuest (The Den of Dragons)

A couple of weeks ago, I paid myself another trip down nostalgia lane and it only cost me £0.99. You may remember on this blog a few mentions about  J.H. Brennan, a writer of, among other things, gamebooks. I was quite fond of his work when I was a child. Well, I found on a charity shop the second bok of his GrailQuest series. I bought it on the spot. As the name indicates, it is freely inspired by the Arthurian legend, although the tone is mostly parodic. You play a young man transported magically by Merlin into the reign of Arthur through a spell, the book being a sort of "portal", as well as into the body of a young knight named Pip. It is pretty smart in a meta way. The medievalist specialised in the Arthurian legend will probably recoiled at the amount of silliness (you use a sword called Excalibur Junior, or EJ), but I do remember Brennan being capable of adding pretty dark touches here and there, as well as a few gory moments. I'm looking forward to revisiting the book in any case.

What's in Any Old Iron

I recently finished reading Any Old Iron by Anthony Burgess. One of my favourite novels from my favourite writer. I first read it some 25 years ago or so. I had not forgotten how great it was, but I had forgotten a lot about it. It has many great lines, but one near the end struck me in particular. Here, the main character Reginald Morrow Jones sums up his experience with rediscovering in the middle of the XXth century legendary sword Excalibur: "I had to grasp a chunk of the romantic past and find it rusty. I had to fit myself to the modern age." This is, in essence, what nostalgia is all about. So I found it both moving and profound.

Excalibeer

You may remember (or maybe not) that back in 2017,  Rebellion Beer brewed an ale called Excalibur for September. Well, this year they released it again, but for July (a more fitting month for a blonde, by the way). As I had enjoyed it the first time and because I'm a medievalist, I thought it was only fitting for me to buy it again. So I ordered some. It should really be called Excalibeer. That said, if you remember my first post about it, or if you know a bit about the Arthurian legend, you will find three mistakes on the label. I listed them again here:

1)When King Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, he was a child or a teenager, a very young man at the most, not a full grown adult.
2)Obviously he was no king yet when he pulled the sword from the stone, therefore hehad no crown on his head. (That one must be the easiest)
3)The sword in the stone, contrary to popular belief and years of Hollywood misinformation, was not Excalibur, which he obtained in different circumstances.

Be that as it may, I still enjoyed drinking it.

Souvenir de Brocéliande

En faisant du ménage dans les bouquins (oui, ça m'arrive), je suis retombé sur un marque-page que j'avais oublié, achetéen Bretagne. Jolie allusion à la légende arthurienne, même si c'est inexact: l'épée dans le roc (qui n'est pas Excalibur) n'était bien évidemment pas en Brocéliande. Depuis que mes beaux-parents sont revenus en Angleterre, nous n'avons plus vraiment l'occasion de retourner en Bretagne, ce qui est dommage. J'ai l'impression que l'on n'a pas fait le meilleur usage de notre temps là-bas, surtout en ce qui concerne Brocéliande justement. Mais au moins, j'ai un joli marque-page.

To see Tintagel

As some of my readers may know, I am a medievalist by trade, which means I have a PhD in medieval literature. I am also a specialist of Arthurian literature. And I have a confession to make here (I have done it already, but it is always mebarrassing to say): while I have been living for about 20 years in the UK, I have never visited Cornwall or Tintagel Castle, where King Arthur was conceived (in morally questionable circumstances) and born. It gets even worse as English Heritage keeps taunting me on social media with adverts featuring the picture you see on the left. I was hoping to visit it this year as soon as we have some holidays, now I think it is going to have to wait until 2022, but it is on my to go list.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

'Tis the season to be reading and I might start this post with a confession: although I am a medievalist, specialized in Arthurian literature on top of that, I have never read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, although I know the story. Mostly because I specialized in XIIth century French literature, but I digress. I bought this version of it some 20 years ago, in the previous millenium, when I did my MA. I found it on my bookshelves at my parents' place and brought it back here with me. The cover is horrid, but this is a proper academic edition, with original Middle English and the modern translation side by side. This is next on my reading list. And it is very fitting that I start it now: not only do I consider old myths and folklore an essential element of any respectable Christmas, but this particular story starts during Christmastime.

The Sword in the Stone

I took this picture at the Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire, more precisely in this little pathway in the woodlands by the village. It is the sword in the stone, most likely the one from the Arthurian legend. And no, it's not the same one as Excalibur. I have seen more impressive displays, but in the woods, it's still a pretty nice sight. I was rewatching the pictures from our day there and it struck me that I must make time to reread proper Arthurian literature. Or read the numerous pieces I have not done so since I finished my PhD, and that was a few decades ago. I am a bit ashamed to admit it really. I need to check my bookshelves, but I know I have at least a few titles here and I think one of my reading objectives this year (and the next) should be to rediscover the Matter of Britain.

The crimes of MZB

I don't know why I started thinking about it, maybe because I blogged about Merlin recently. I originally came to the Arthurian legend via the movie Excalibur. It is what ultimately got me into becoming a medievalist specialized in Arthurian literature. For many people of my generation, they discovered the Arthurian legend through... The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I came across this book in college when one of my teacher got her class to read it. By that time, I had already read a few medieval Arthurian romances, so while I was far from an academic, I knew my stuff pretty well. So I plodded through the mists, and I... hated, hated, hated it. Even at that age, I could see the sheer stupidity of it: poorly researched material, using the Arthurian legend as a vehicle for neo Pagan, pseudo-feminist, modern mumbo jumbo. Characters and tropes were twisted beyond recognition and it was so very badly written. It was so bad it was vile. It was also rather creepy and distasteful when it came to sexual content. For instance, the author seeming to make an apology of the incest between King Arthur and Morgain that was going to produce Mordrer, depicting it as something mystical and noble.

While I was one of the few in my class to despise the book, I discovered in the following years that my feelings were shared by many medievalists. But it is only in recent years that I learned the truth about Mists and its author: Marion Zimmer Bradley allegedly raped and abused both her children and was complicit in the sex crimes of her husband. This came out in 2014, but I only found out last year. And this is why I think the novel is so despicable: because it does make apology of incestuous rape and sexual predatorism, and twists one of the greatest literary works of Western civilisation to defend a sick ideology. This is what infuriated me then, reading that rubbish book, and I did not even know the truth at the core of it. Bradley was a vicious monster, disguised as a terrible writer, hailed as some kind of brilliant writer of fantasy and neo Pagan guru. I am very sad for the many people she hurt, that said as a medievalist, I can't help but feel vindicated.

Merlin in Derbyshire

I took this picture at the Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire. There is a path in the wood, a bit outside the village and there are a lot of wooden statues and creations, some representing characters and monsters from British folklore. Including this old mage on a throne.I have good reasons to believe this is Merlin. There was a sword in the stone nearby, for one (and for the record, no, the sword in the stone is not Excalibur, see my post here for more details.). It could be any other mage or wise old man, but let's face it, when you see a wizard in the woods in a medieval or pseudo medieval setting, it is either Merlin or Gandalf, and it is almost certain this one is Merlin. And as a former medievalist, I cannot wait to visit these woods again.

Meeting King Arthur, Merlin and the others

Sometimes you get back to your old literary (and, in this case, legendary) loves. Last month, I was saying that being at my parents' home, I had the pleasure to roam the bookshelves to read and reread old books. One of them was this one. The title in English would be "The Great Book of King Arthur", about the Arthurian legend of course. I received it as a Christmas present a few years ago, I can't remember when, and I had never read it. It tells in layman's terms the details of the Arthurian legend. I had not read it before because, with all humility, I am not a layman when it comes to Arthurian literature: I did my PhD on it, so there is very little if anything I can learn from that book. That said, it is a beautiful book, with gorgeous pictures and illustrations and just for this I decided to read it. And since I have left academia a long time ago, I could enjoy it innocently so to speak, as I would have had as a child or a teenager. Without feeling guilty about reading something beneath the academic that I still am, at least in title. I did not go very far in my reading, but it was nice to meet King Arthur, Merlin and the others again, so to speak. I thought about bringing the book home, but my wife strictly forbid it (too much to read here already). So it will be for our next time home.

Excalibur (and find the three mistakes)

Today, we spent the afternoon at the local park in a yearly fayre. I had the chance to drink the September ale from Rebellion Beer, called Excalibur, as every month this year they celebrate a great Briton. As a medievalist specialized in the Arthurian legend, I had to have a pint. Rebellion Beer brews some of my favourite ales, so it is another reason to have a pint of their products whenever I have the occasion. My verdict? Not bad for a blonde, but the label has three mistakes which I thought I listed here. But first try to spot them. Come on. Two are easy enough. Anyway, here they are:

1)King Arthur was a child or a very young man, certainly not a mature man like in the image.
2)Obviously he was no king yet when he pulled the sword from the stone, so he had no crown.
3)The sword in the stone, contrary to popular beliefs, was not Excalibur, which he obtained in different circumstances.

All right, that was just a label to sell beer after all, but I thought it was a funny exercize for the medievalist that I am, or used to be.

Excalibur is real!

Well, almost. I have read the coolest news ever today: a schoolgirl found in Cornwall a sword in the lake where King Arthur is meant to have thrown it away. Granted, it is most likely a prop from a movie, there are plenty on the subject, or an hoax. But for the medievalist that I am, specialized in the Arthurian legend (no kidding: I did my PhD in Arthurian literature), it still gives me butterflies reading this. I envy that child so much.

Any Old Iron

As this week will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Anthony Burgess, my favourite writer, I have decided to plug some of his work. Tonight, it is the epic novel Any Old Iron. The old iron of the title and its driving narrative and thematic force is nothing else than the sword Excalibur. If many of his epic works are Apocalyptic, this one is to a degree genetic: it is about the birth and rise as much as the fall of civilizations. You see a lot of them: Britain's dwindling empire, kick-started by the sinking of the Titanic, the end of Czarist Russia and the beginning of the Soviet Union, the turmoils of World War II and the (re)birth of Israel. As for Excalibur itself, it may only be, in the end, a piece of rusting metal. It is funny as a comedy, absurd like an existentialist novel, it is in so many ways a grand novel.

The Charm of Making from Excalibur

" Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha."

The things we can learn on the internet. Old mysteries from childhood, that have been with us until adult age. I am refering to the Charm of Making of the movie Excalibur. It is pronounced at many different times in the movie, in fact it seems to be the only magic spell ever known by Merlin and Morgana, a magic formula that does everything: bring a fog on which you can ride on, change one's appearance, imprison a powerful half-demon like Merlin into thick ice, save a wounded Lancelot from a deep wound. I was so impressed by it that after I first watched the movie, when I was about 6, I was pronouncing it in front of old logs, hoping to raise a fog. It didn't work.

Now, I thought about it recently, and decided to discover what it meant after all, if it meant anything. And it does. You can find the answer here: "Serpent's breath, charm of death and life, thy omen of making." It is all mumbo jumbo really, like the film itself I am afraid. I used to think it was the best movie ever, until I discovered years later that medievalist thought poorly of it. I understand why now, but since it brought me to the Arthurian legend, I cannot help but love it. Sure, the symbolism is a bit thick and it is often a messed up, chaotic movie, with a plot so wide it becomes as confused as it is confusing, but it is still a beautiful movie, full of atmosphere and such a pleasure to the eyes. And it has some very powerful scenes, such as the one when we first hear the Charm of Making, when Merlin is plotting with Uter the conception of Arthur. I uploaded it here for you to enjoy. Tell me if it is only me, or if it is indeed great fun.