#Literary Legends

[blumoonfiction-blog]

Fairytale 101: Myths & Legends - Who is Jack Frost?

“Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about!” ~Cecily E. Pike When winter arrives and frosty mornings cover the world in glittering ice, you might hear someone mention Jack Frost. But who exactly is Jack Frost, and how did he become such a recognizable figure in folklore? Jack Frost, as the personification of winter, ice, and frost, has captured the imagination of storytellers and audiences for…

[gildedbearediting]

Short Story Day (Africa)

Celebrating the Day June 21 is a day to celebrate diversity in writing, and authors across Africa. The people who write about what it’s really like in Africa, and speak on the issues faced by the African people. In the past, authors didn’t capture Africa as it was, and it can be hard to shake long-lived stereotypes and old narrow perspectives. I’ve seen it even now as African Social Media…

[raskolnikovsneighbor]

in honor of louise glück’s passing, here is a poem that i think about constantly and that has pulled me through some of the most difficult moments in my relationship with my parents

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: The Knight of the Holy Grail Artist: Frederick Judd Waugh (American, 1861-1940) Date: ca. 1912 Genre: literary painting (illustration of The Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson) Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 240.6 cm (94. 7 in) high x 319.4 cm (125.7 in) wide Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

Y'all wanna know about a gender-non-conforming knight from 13th century France? No? That's okay- I'm fine with talking to myself.

I'm obsessed with gender performativity in early medieval texts- so obviously I had to know everything about Le Roman De Silence.

To preface-

So, long before there was the Marvel Cinematic Universe- there was the interconnected works of the Arthurian Legends. The original superheroes- King Arthur, Merlin, Morganna le Fey, and the rest of the cast. However, one of the lesser known (only arguably canonical) interconnected texts of the Arthurian legend hails from France. People argue over whether or not to include these texts as part of the cannon of King Arthur because it's technically french- and the french-english divide between characterization of all the main players of Arthur's court is remarkably different. Much research on this suggests the discrepancy of characterization is largely due to distance between where the stories originate, and sociopolitical tensions between the French and the English. Either people were too far apart to share stories- thus too far apart to keep characterization uniform, or they fucking hated each other enough to mess up the characterization on purpose. For example, many of the French portrayals of King Arthur paint him to be a rather terrible person, where English portrayals are generally more kind to him.

All that aside- many people will disagree that Le Roman de Silence should even be part of the Arthurian legend canon anyway- because it only mentions Merlin at the end of the poem and because it's a super french poem.

The main storyline is about this character named Silence. From the Old French Poem- Le Roman de Silence.

Gender? No- Never heard of it.

The latter half of the story in this poem is predicated on a complex mediation of Nature vs Nurture. What happens is that a baby is born into a wealthy family, and for sociopolitical reasons, the family decides to raise the girl baby as a boy. They name this child "silence." Silence grows up with full access to an education, as was typical for the boy children of aristocratic medieval families- this education becomes important later as Silence wrestle with where they fit into the larger social structure after maturing into adulthood. Essentially, they find the idea of marriage too boring and would like to be a Knight or Explorer instead. (I love them.) Anyway, it's fascinating to me that the conceptual ideas of nature and nurture are personified into being something like "deities" which are overseeing the growth of Silence through the ages- and so we get these deities commentary.

Silence wants to be a knight- so Nurture brags about being right that gender is more performative than it is biological. Then, later Silence grows up to be remarkably "pretty" and according to the deity of Nature- they brag about being right that biology and gender are intrinsically tied. It's such a thought-provoking mediation on gender as either performance or pure biology that I forget it was written in the 13th century- long before Freud or Lacan or any of the others who became hyper fixated on human presumption of gender as either a social category or a biological necessity.

I argued in a paper, once, that the narrative itself does actually finally end on the note that Gender is a performance, and it is tied into social roles only so the ruling class can have control of the population. That is why the stories ending shifts into horror-genre-esque of Silence marrying into the upper-ruling class.

I also have a strong urge to write a Fanfiction of Silence as a knight- who does not meet a sad fate but rather lives happily as a knight and eventually marries a princess. Okay- Okay? fine I said it. I said it-

Social pressure to marry?

The story takes a dark turn, however- when the King demands Silence to reveal themselves in front of the court. Obviously, even the author of the story was aware that misogynistic social standards would not allow for people to ever really be free of gender stereotypes and roles. So, Silence is then forced out of the adventurous lifestyle of a knight and into a marriage. Also, this is the place in the story where Merlin makes an appearance (I have a theory that Merlin is representative of the devil, and the author really hated that all AFAB people were forced into marriage back in 1200's. So that's why the devil shows up when all the bad shit is happening to Silence).

Inevitability and dismay-

What I find particularly interesting about this poem is the fact that the end, as Silence is forced into marriage and back into "proper" social roles for their assumed biological characteristics, is the fact that it is written like an early attempt at gothic horror!

So, one of the stipulations for something being a "gothic horror" is 1.) old, archaic, twisted buildings. (this blog is indeed named after my fixation with gothic horror elements, it's interplay relation to social reform, as its emphasis on decay as the tonal necessity for social indemnification). Anyway, the other most important aspect of gothic horror- is an overwhelming sense of desolation, isolation, and loneliness.

Sure, Silence is forced into marriage- but even with the forthright writing style of the author, we, as readers, are struck by Silence's loneliness. Thus, the "happily ever after" part of the storyline wherein the characters get married, as it traditional to chivalric romance, is recriminated against in subtext. Now, we have a moment in which the "happily ever after" is a creation of horror rather than peace.

Ending the narrative with marriage as equivalent to a loss of freedom and a sense of evermore-present loneliness, cumulating in the edifice of horror-struck fear in Silence at their own new future, is a remarkably bold social statement coming from a 13th century author.

I just think it's a really interesting text on the thematic points of negotiating Gender identity, in broader terms of performance and social roles, as much as it is a critique on the total social control that the monarchy held over the people of 13th century France.

Edit: I need to add that Silence themselves consistently rejects the idea that they are AFAB and instead only ever refers to themselves as "Silence" or "the knight"

[beepboprobotsnot]

So, I've seen a lot of stuff about how TotK's story is... not great. And I can't say I disagree with it. A number of decisions carried over from BotW don't work as well this time around, and a number of new decisions don't work super well either. But, I can't bring myself to call TotK's story bad. Because for all the things that it gets wrong, there are some things that it gets so, SO, right.

Spoilers. Obviously.

When Link first wakes up on the Great Sky Island, with a new arm and a broken Master Sword, he has one thought on his mind, represented by the first Main Quest. It's not "defeat Ganondorf", it's not "fix the Master Sword", it's not "figure out where I am", it's "Find Zelda." That's the first main quest, and it's also the last main quest, sticking with you all the way until the screen fades to black at the end of the final cutscene. For everything Link does, that's the driving force behind it. He could care less about Ganondorf, if it weren't for the fact that he is an obstacle in the way of finding Zelda.

And so, at the end of the game, TotK recognizes this, and plans appropriately. Because as fun as the Ganondorf fight is, that's not the climax. And as much as the Demon Dragon fight is a massive step up from Darkbeast, that's not the climax. The climax, the moment they pull out all the stops is the Final Fall. It starts with the heroic, triumphant brass from the trailer theme, moves into Zelda's Lullaby, and finishes with the main theme of LoZ to make my favorite music/story moment in a game since Little Goth from Celeste. And Nintendo could've made this a cutscene. After all, the final boss is already dead, and TotK is no stranger to 10-minute cutscenes. But they knew that this was the most climactic moment of the game, where Link undoes his failure from the start of the game, and that the player needed to be in control for it. And that's not even getting into the whole motif and hands and grasping hands throughout the whole game, but that's a whole nother thing.

TL;DR: For all its faults, TotK's story understands what its climax is. And that makes all the difference.

[indeedgoodman]

[gennsoup]

"Our back is to legends and we are coming home."

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

[austin-friars]

As Thaddeus mounts his horse, Matthew remains on the bench like a statue. He sits there, hours after the sound of footsteps have vanished into nothingness, melding with the evening banter of the town in the distance. The wind hums around him, and with it carries his tears. His eyes rest on the stone path, in which the red leafed trees arch over, like an eternal canopy. It seems almost a lifetime ago that Thaddeus was there. There is a sense of longing in Matthew’s heart, that he cannot rid of. One that will not change with the seasons.  And like Queen Guinevere, he is alone.

Crimson Archway - Austin Friars

Queen of Camelot - Nancy McKenzie

[dullyn]

Thinking about the Vulgate Author and how they committed to the deus ex machina bit so hard. Like what do you mean Lionel cannot kill Bors because God Stopped Him?

[blumoonfiction-blog]

Fairy Tale101: Myths & Legends - The Snow Queen

“The cold never bothered me anyway.”~Elsa, Frozen Let’s talk about one of the most fascinating characters in fairy tale history: the Snow Queen. You’ve probably heard of her, whether from Hans Christian Andersen’s 1844 story, Disney’s Frozen, or even as a fleeting reference in winter-themed conversations. She’s this incredibly enigmatic figure, blending beauty, power, and just the right touch of…

[kaizsche]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

CHAD POWERS

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE

SCREAM QUEENS

NORMAL PEOPLE

HIS DARK MATERIALS

MR. PLANKTON

BLOODHOUNDS

MOON LOVERS: SCARLET HEART RYEO

BAD AND CRAZY

LITTLE WOMEN

VALORANT

LOVE AND DEEPSPACE

HONKAI STAR RAIL

SILENT HILL 2

TWISTERS

SET IT UP

HIT MAN

TOP GUN: MAVERICK

ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE

BATMAN V SUPERMAN

MAN OF STEEL

THE FLASH

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY

EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!

SPEAK NO EVIL

ANYONE BUT YOU

ALIEN ROMULUS

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

DEVOTION

THE RUNNING MAN

LOVE IN THE BIG CITY

FRESH

WICKED

GLEN POWELL

DAISY EDGAR-JONES

TWISTERS PRESS

TWISTERS FEATURETTES

IN THE END (IT WILL BE JUST US)

LET GO, LOVE. I'LL CATCH YOU.

STELLARIS-ARCHIVUM

THE MONSTERS IN HER HEART

HAPPY GLEN POWELL DAY!

[gildedbearediting]

National Mother Goose Day

You may already be familiar with Mother Goose, the rhymes and tales that she spun. The little old lady who rode her goose, and has been a staple for many over the years. Much like The Brothers Grimm, Dr Seuss, Robert Munch, and Shel Silverstein. Yet, Mother Goose is something altogether. Mother Goose is that warm, fondly remembered family member. The one that shows up for family reunions,…

[anghraine]

Aww, Ash admitted to me when we were discussing Star Wars opinions that she's not only thought about these things before, she's actually really feeling like using her advanced creative writing degree to write ...................... fanfiction, and has actually done so in the past.

me, shoving my 67 SW fanfics on AO3 under the bed: Oh hey, awesome! That sounds really interesting.

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: "I am half sick of shadows," said the Lady of Shalott Artist: John William Waterhouse (English, 1849-1917) Date: 1915 Genre: Arthuriana; literary painting (based on the poem "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson) Movement: Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 100.3 cm (39.4 in) high x 73.7 cm (29 in) wide Location: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

[gawrkin]

We should talk more about these guys. These are the guys who serve as the Literary agents of the Arthurian Romance Narrative, specifically for the Lancelot prose cycle.

Supposedly, they're the reason the stories of Lancelot, Galehaut, etc. manage to reach thw modern day. They're also how the french writers could deviate from previous material, insisting on premise they accurately recorded the happenings and deeds of the heroes not mentioned by Robert, Chretien or Geoffrey.

If you are to write an arthurian story but with your own spin and changes, you can attribute the difference to "they were totally wrong/super-biased/skewed the facts" and say "this is what really happened"

Or, more ambitiously, make up own own "source material and authorities"