#The Grey King

[the-dust-jacket]

I do not need all of the pretties, I do not not need ALL of the pretties....

[laurellerual]

Hey! after seeing your crown of ice and fire, it made me want to see your interpretation of the kingdoms pre-conquest crowns. could be neat to see what you come up with! Regardless please take care!

Here some crown sketches! <3<3<3 Maybe one day I'll do a more thought out series of drawings with the kings of the conquest.

[briefbestiary]

An ominous presence in the mountains. He is a silent being, wreathed in the mountains' grey mists. Strangely, some choose to describe him as a more Bigfoot-esque creature. They say he is more flesh and blood, and believe he is a tall, hairy humanoid.

[blessthemwithsaltstonesteel]

The Green Voyage by Alex McClelland

[addictedtowords16]

On the day of the dead, when the year too dies, Must the youngest open the oldest hills Through the door of the birds, where the breeze breaks. There fire shall fly from the raven boy, And the silver eyes that see the wind, And the Light shall have the harp of gold. By the pleasant lake the Sleepers lie, On Cadfan’s Way where the kestrels call; Though grim from the Grey King shadows fall, Yet singing the golden harp shall guide To break their sleep and bid them ride.

The Grey King

[semper-legens]

200. The Grey King, by Susan Cooper

Owned: Yes Page count: 124 My summary: In the Welsh hills, Will Stanton struggles to remember his prophecy. There is something he must do, something that will help the Light, if only he can remember. Meanwhile, Bran Davies struggles with his shadowy past and the mother he doesn’t remember, while in the mountain, the Grey King is watching… My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Grey King is my favourite of the Dark Is Rising books. This much is well-established. I love Wales as a setting, I love it when books acknowledge that King Arthur was a Welsh legendary figure, and I love stories about strange boys finding each other in the middle of extreme situations, particularly when they become as close and as happy together as Bran and Will do here. It's the most homoerotic Dark Is Rising book, that's for sure. But more than that, it also raises a lot of questions about identity, about fitting in, about humanity and being chosen and the nature of evil. It's a really interesting book, and I love it as ever.

So what does it mean to be the Chosen One? Well, neither Will nor Bran are that, really. Will, as is established, is an Old One, while Bran is the Pendragon; neither starts the book as particularly normal, though neither quite realises all of the ins and outs of this yet. And both are questioning the tactics of the Light. Will has been nerfed by an illness implicitly brought on by the Light as a means to get him to Wales. Bran has spent his entire life not being told the full truth about his parentage and his past as a plot from the Light to get him to where he needs to be. It's incredibly manipulative on the part of the Light, and neither boy is particularly comfortable with it. Compounding that is Bran's dog, who is shot by Caradog Pritchard as a direct result of the Dark sending creatures to impersonate local dogs and savage sheep to raise tensions. Bran, reasonably, lashes out at Will and the Light over it, blaming the Light for taking Cafall from him. Though it isn't really the Light's fault, it's still true that, were it not for the interference of the Dark and the Light in Bran's world, Bran would most likely be a lot happier and still have Cafall. It's an interesting issue, though I think the book falls just short of calling its conclusion one way or another, instead leaving the answer to implication.

Bran is also a very credible kid. I like that he's moody and not very easy to get along with, but in a much more naturalistic way. He reminds me of every stubborn and introspective child I've ever met, you know - hell, he reminds me of myself at that age, though Bran is more charming and quirky. Really, this book is about their relationship more than anything. Here's Will, a kid who feels isolated from his peers because of his identity as an Old One, and there's Bran, a kid who feels isolated from everyone due to his unknown heritage and albinism. Naturally, they're going to latch onto each other. Neither is exactly 'normal', neither has anyone they can talk to about the supernatural stuff in their life, and they get along really well from the off. I love their relationship, Bran's sarcasm versus Will's all-knowing Old One schtick. It's a cute dynamic, and very believable.

Next, my first book of 2024!

[quietflorilegium]

“Will picked a single blossom from a gorse bush beside him; it shone bright yellow on his grubby hand. "People are very complicated," he said sadly. "So they are," John Rowlands said. His voice deepened a little, louder and clearer than it had been. "But when the battles between you and your adversaries are done, Will Stanton, in the end the fate of all the world will depend on just those people, and on how many of them are good or bad, stupid or wise. And indeed it is all so complicated that I would not dare foretell what they will do with their world. Our world.”

Susan Cooper, "The Grey King"

[a-ramblinrose]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || January 10 || Magical Moment:

“It is a comet!' Bran whispered. 

Will said softly back, 'Wait. There's more, if all is well.

'The long flaring tail of the comet moved gradually out of sight, down over the horizon of their nameless world and time. Still in the black hemisphere the stars blazed and slowly wheeled; beneath them Will felt so infinitesimally small that it seemed impossible he should even exist.

Immensity pressed in on him, terrifying, threatening - and then, in a swift flash of movement like dance, like the glint of a leaping fish, came a flick of brightness in the sky from a shooting star.

Then another, and another, here, there, all around. He heard Bran give a small chirrup of delight, a spark struck from the same bright sudden joy that filled his own being. Wish on a star, said a tiny voice in his head from some long-departed day of early childhood: Wish on a star - the cry of a pleasure and faith as ancient as the eyes of man.

'Wish on a falling star,' said Bran soft in his ear. All around them the meteors briefly died and vanished, as tiny points of stardust in the long travel of their cloud struck the aery halo of the earth, burned bright 

and were gone.” ― Susan Cooper, The Grey King

[cannondisabledcharacters]

Today’s disabled character of the day is Bran Davies (The Grey King) from The Dark is Rising, who has albinism

Requested by Anon

[Image Description: Cover of the book The Dark is Rising. It features a shadowy figure riding a black horse. The person with wearing a black cloak and has white eyes. The tree around them are green and have no leaves. The ground is covered in snow and in the distance there is a bird flying through the sky,]

[asoiafreadthru]

HOUSE GREYJOY

The Greyjoys of Pyke claim descent from the Grey King of the Age of Heroes. Legend says the Grey King ruled not only the western isles but the sea itself, and took a mermaid to wife.

For thousands of years, raiders from the Iron Islands—called “ironmen” by those they plundered—were the terrors of the seas, sailing as far as the Port of Ibben and the Summer Isles. They prided themselves on their fierceness in battle and their sacred freedoms.

Each island had its own “salt king” and “rock king.” The High King of the Isles was chosen from among their number, until King Urron made the throne hereditary by murdering the other kings when they assembled for a choosing.

Urron’s own line was extinguished a thousand years later when the Andals swept over the islands. The Greyjoys, like the other island lords, intermarried with the conquerors.

The Iron Kings extended their rule far beyond the isles themselves, carving kingdoms out of the mainland with fire and sword. King Qhored could truthfully boast that his writ ran “wherever men can smell salt water or hear the crash of waves.” In later centuries, Qhored’s descendants lost the Arbor, Oldtown, Bear Island, and much of the western shore.

Still, come the Wars of Conquest, King Harren the Black ruled all the lands between the mountains, from the Neck to the Blackwater Rush.

When Harren and his sons perished in the fall of Harrenhal, Aegon Targaryen granted the riverlands to House Tully, and allowed the surviving lords of the Iron Islands to revive their ancient custom and choose who should have the primacy among them. They chose Lord Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke.

The Greyjoy sigil is a golden kraken upon a black field.

Their words are We Do Not Sow.

[roseunspindle]

When the dark comes rising

Six shall turn it back

Three from the circle

Three from the track

Wood, iron, bronze, fire, water, stone

Five will return and one go alone

Iron for the birthday

Bronze carried long

Wood from the burning

Stone out of Song

Fire from the candlering

Water from the Thaw

Six signs the circle

And the grail gone before

Fire on the mountain,

shall find the harp of gold

Played to wake the sleepers

Oldest of the Old

Power from the grennwitch

Lost beneath the sea

All shall find the light at last

Silver on the tree

[the-dust-jacket]

Happy Anniversary to the The Dark Is Rising Sequence! How do we feel about the new covers?

[laurellerual]

Theon could eventually dress up as the grey king. I don't think the people of Winterfell know any Ironborn lore they'd just think he's dressed as some weird old man and he would get frustrated.

Alternatively, Dalton Greyjoy but that would get him mean looks from Lady Stark and Old Nan.

Ohohoh yes I love the Grey king!

[blessthemwithsaltstonesteel]

The Greying of The King by Alex McClelland

[addictedtowords16]

The White haired-boy said bleakly, “It’s swinging to the North. That is the worst wind of all, the North wind. Gwynt Traed yr Meirw, they call it, the wind that blows round the feet of the dead. It brings storms. And worse, sometimes.”

The Grey King

[semper-legens]

167. The Grey King, by Susan Cooper

Owned: Yes Page count: 124 My summary: In the Welsh hills, Will Stanton struggles to remember his prophecy. There is something he must do, something that will help the Light, if only he can remember. Meanwhile, Bran Davies struggles with his shadowy past and the mother he doesn’t remember, while in the mountain, the Grey King is watching… My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Welsh! It’s Wales! We’re going Welsh! Apparently Susan Cooper had family who lived in Aberdyfi, which is why this region specifically of North Wales features so heavily in this book. Which is cool! I love media that recognises that King Arthur was a Welsh hero long before he was an English one (in fact, the idea of King Arthur as an English hero was likely born just to denigrate the Welsh and keep them down as much as possible), and given that the first book is wildly Arthurian and takes place in Cornwall, it’s nice to see the Arthurian legends going back to their roots here. Anyway, check the tag for my old posts on this book, let’s go.

Bran is probably my favourite character in this series. I love this boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Bran’s actually a good medium between Will and the human kids, he’s involved in the Light and has mystical origins, but he’s fundamentally a human being in a way that Will only sort of is. He’s also very self-serious and moody, which is totally my type of character, let’s be real. He’s also bringing the Welsh culture. He plays the harp and speaks in Welsh, complete with teaching Will how to pronounce Welsh phonemes properly.

Which leads me onto the thing I like the most about this book - it’s very human. Most of the conflict that occurs is character conflict between the humans. Sure, the Grey King’s about, and Will and Bran have to go and collect the golden harp from the mountain, but the villain of the piece is just a shitty dude. Caradog Pritchard hates Bran because he wanted Bran’s mother, and is still upset that she chose Bran’s father Owen, and that (ambiguously) Owen stopped him assaulting her. He’s being manipulated by the Dark - when he shoots Bran’s dog, it’s because creatures called the milgwn are impersonating Bran’s dog to harrass his sheep - but his choices are his own. He could have chosen to talk to Bran’s father about Bran’s dog and come up with a solution. He didn’t have to jump to murder. And his foil is a man named John Rowlands, a man who is not of the Light but is still Light-affiliated. He’s a good man, he tries to do good things. He’s been touched by the Light, but he isn’t of the Light. It’s a more nuanced view of morality than I might expect from this kind of narrative, and I very much appreciate it.

Next up, the last book in the series, as all shall find the Light at last, silver on the tree.