#cletic history

[alpaca-clouds]

Stone Circles in France

Something I have wanted to talk about more ever since the first trailer dropped about a month ago, is the stone circle near Machecoul, that seems to play somewhat a big role in Maria's life.

We first meet Richter and Maria at the stone circle, and in season 2 we learn that she learned magic there. This is why Tera takes her there to try to control her magic once more.

So, obviously you might ask: "Why are there old stones in a circle somewhere in France?"

As a European of course, I have grown up with the Asterix comics, and hence my mind just went: "Oh, yeah, they are there because of the Galls. Duh." Though then I did some google-fu and found out that it is not quite that easy.

So, let's talk about Celts and stones.

As I spoke about yesterday: We have sadly super little information about the celts and their precursors, because the colonialization within Europe (partly through the Romans, partly through other groups) has mostly just erased most what was once known of this mostly oral culture. We know a bit about the Gaels in Ireland and Scotland (mind you: We also know that the Gaels in Ireland were not exactly the same as those in Scotland), but for everyone else we know a couple of legends that survived as oral history for long enough that someone who thought it important to record it. Part of the reason in fact that the Gaels managed to hold onto more than anyone else is that they had secret Bard Colleges until into the 18th century, where they literally taught people their oral traditions, despite it being forbidden.

Back to the stone circles.

Celts definitely loved to build structures that are made up of aesthetically aranged stones. Think Stonehenge, which is probably one of those structures everyone kinda knows. But Stonehenge is by far not the only of these sides. And in fact they are scattered all over the former celtic areas.

These two are both from Ireland, where we have the best preserved of those stone circles. But there are also several of them in France.

The best known stones in France are actually not in a circle formation, though. Those are the Carnac stones in Western France.

Those are located about 160km northwest of Machecoul. So a good bit, but still in the same general area. Another fairly well known stone formation - in this case once more a circle - is the Kergonan Cromlech. Which is again about 160km away from Machecoul.

And here is the thing: We actually do not know what is actually up with those stone formations. We know that some of them were created to commemorade the grave of a king or another important burial. We also know that some of them are aligned with certain celestial events (like the solstices). So the general idea is that those stone structures, that are mainly between neolithic and mesolithic. Which is one of the biggest problems.

See, the celts existed with their own culture throughout these areas (mainy the British Islands, France, the Iberian Peninsula and at times also in the area of todays Belgium) at times until about 1000CE. However, those stone structures were build generally speaking between 4500BC and 1500BC. So even those Celts that later were around might not even have known why those structures have been build.

The general consensus between archeologists and anthropologists is, that they were ritual sites related to religious practice. But you should also know that generally speaking archeologists and anthropologists will usually just go "ritual!" whenever we find something and are not certain what it was for. (See also the many things that might have well been dildos, which makes archeologists go: "Eh, probably some ritual practice about worshipping male fertility?!")

Though to be fair: The fact that we know some of those structures are definitely used in terms of graves - and to celebrate certain celestial events - makes it quite likely that there was a ritual component to it.

This is a map of the stone structures we know to be located in France. You might note that none of them is really close to Machecoul. Though given that Machecoul is still fairly close to the Southwestern cluster, it would not to be too off to say: "Oh, yeah, actually there was one but that got destroyed before we found it."

My big question is, what this means about Maria's powers - especially as I was informed that the fact that this is a stone circle of this kind was made very clear in the scripts from the very beginning on.

Especially given that it is called out twice that she might draw the creatures from the Otherworld...

[loopy777]

Whats your thoughts on using historical real world place names for nations in fiction?

There are a lot of those, with Warhammer having Araby(arabia), Cathay(Europes old name for china), bretonnia(guess), albion(just an old cletic word for britain), norsca(Norse scandinavia), and so on.

Conan used plenty of real world names such as Numedia(germanic nation named after... North african berber kingdom), Aquelonia(Conan's kingdom, named after a region in france), and many others).

You'll find that a lot in fiction, sometimes meaningfully, other times not.

I just got thinking about it, when I realised im probably going to name the local dark elves(THE slaver nation of my setting), after the Barbary coast, famous for it's slave raiding pirate nations who captured millions of europeans into slavery in the Muslim world, and the fact it sounds close enough to Barbaric or barbarians in many european languages, which fits in with the local setting being a continent where everyone is, or was descendant from barbarians, where the Dark Elves(the most evil faction of all) being the only one who started out as "civilized".

Basic thematic irony, which you see a LOT of in fantasy fiction.

That said, what's you thoughts on this very common fixture in fantasy, as well as my own addition to it for a state of evil slaver pirates?

I have mixed thoughts. On the one hand, making up words that sound like real names is hard, so riffing on real places can help things not sound ridiculous. And referencing real world stuff in a knowledgeable and meaningful way can help make the final product better, reinforcing the artistic intent. On the other hand, if the names aren't a reference to something real, then it can feel off to the people who know the real version, there's nothing more immersion-breaking than when a story Gets Something Wrong. Then there's the people who will be pulled out of the story by any recognizable reference to the real world. There's a lot to lose with this strategy and not really a lot to gain, IMO.

The other danger is if the story's reference to the real world contains unfortunate implications. And this is where I answer the second part of your question: while you are indeed referencing real history and Dark Elves being an evil race are an established thing in mythology and the RPGs it inspired, combining all that into having an evil slave-taking race defined by their dark skin based on Muslim pirates who preyed on Europeans, and linking the name to the word 'barbaric,' is something that could have some very unfortunate implications.

Personally, rather than referencing 'real' things, I prefer to draw from mythology and other culturally foundational fiction. I'd rather name something after Avalon than London, basically, even though a lot of real-world places have in turn been named after Avalon.

[letuspublish]

Be Inventive for Fun and Entertainment with Halloween Outfit Ideas

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Be Inventive for Fun and Entertainment with Halloween Outfit Ideas was originally published on Let Us Publish