tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24192911965878978122024-02-08T06:34:15.973+00:00Troll MaidensThree brothers on a quest to be kissed by a troll maiden ... and they have more than one bridge to cross!Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-6831420330357022722016-02-08T23:01:00.000+00:002016-02-13T15:12:22.966+00:00Setting: The Perilous Realm<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"<i>Don't you see yon bonny, bonny road</i></b></div>
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<i><b>That lies across the ferny brae?</b></i></div>
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<i><b>That is the road to fair Elf-land</b></i></div>
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<b><i>Where thou and I this night maun gae</i>"</b></div>
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Thomas the Rhymer, traditional.</div>
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Having introduced trolls and shape-shifted humans into the story it seemed to be no great leap to introduce elves. My elves are neither the whimsical creatures of Victorian nursery tales, nor are they the noble, sometimes comical and yet slightly distant beings of Tolkein's Middle Earth and subsequently of much of modern heroic fantasy. I think they are closest to Alan Garner's Lios Alfar, which are drawn from Scandinavian sources and are very distant from humans, who they despise because of pollution. But I too have looked back at the traditions and have drawn my own conclusions.<br />
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There are not a great many sources that have much to say about the elves of Anglo-Saxon myth. The poem Beowulf lumps them together with devils and monsters in one line, which does not speak well of the way in which they are seen. The same fear and repugnance can be seen in the semi-magical remedies of Bald's Leechcraft, which includes a spell against Elf-shot, which seems to represent any illness in humans or livestock which strikes out of nowhere rather than a specific malady. Elves were thus seen as being creatures who were pitiless, spreading illness and misfortune. Bertred voices his repugnance the most when they are confronted by Gamol in the hills south of Jeddart. His brothers share the same culture (more or less) but it seems that it is Bert who speaks for them, being very careful with his words, and being incredibly polite, using formal language and nice titles for the other-worldly being.<br />
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Gamol is a high elf, lordly and well versed in magic, able to see things from afar, aware of the plight of the brothers, but most importantly only distantly relating to it emotionally. The affairs of men are of little consequence, but his curiosity is piqued and he furthermore has been troubled by some riddles that he has collected - presumably in other moments where his ennui has been overcome by the lure of the interesting. He has no desire to harm the brothers, but nor is he interested in helping them. Indeed, although he offers to give them some help if they can explain his riddles, he also threatens to make things very bad for them if they do not.<br />
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I did not want to have the elves to be particularly understandable, nor the land in which they live. Mist seems to have a connection with entering their world, but later in the book a rather minor elf makes his appearance and it seems that he is wholly in the real world; he even has a little local knowledge. When Frith asks his brothers what an elf is after meeting Gamol, they do not give an answer, although Edgar gives a guess. Edgar's guess is derived from the story of the Voyage of St Brendan, where at one point the saint encounters islands of birds who had been among those angels who neither rebelled against God with Lucifer, not aided the loyal angelic host in their struggle against the upstart. When Frith turns the question to the nature of the old gods followed by the Anglo-Saxons, Edgar becomes more defensive and the speculation ends. Edgar is the one who is most close to an understanding of Christianity, having been partly raised by Bishop Paulinus, yet he still does not understand Christianity, he just likes the stories.<br />
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Unlike Trolldom, which has a real presence in the world according to the book, Elfland is definitely Other, although it lies closer to the real world at some places than others. Although Gamol's Path is marked on the map, his hall is not. The lines quoted above suggest that the road to Elf-land can be discovered (it is revealed along with a road to Heaven and a road to Hell). Tam Lin is found by Janet at Cartershaugh, Thomas the Rhymer encounters his elven queen near Erceldoune.<br />
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So those are my elves: not quite as evil as the Anglo-Saxons seem to have seen them, yet not creatures of nobility and goodness either. They are alien and the concerns of their perilous realm of Elfland eclipse their occasional passing interest in the mortal world. If it suits them they can be helpful to mortals, but they would be just as happy to harm or hinder them. Potentially the equal of angels, they have no joy, no real purpose and the hint of an alliance with, or being in thrall to the lord of Hell. Gamol makes a passing reference to the Teind. This is a feature of Borders' lore that is seen in both Thomas the Rhymer and more urgently in Tam Lin. Both of these characters are enticed into Elfland and they seem to prosper there, but whereas the fairy queen seems to want to protect True Thomas, poor Tam Lin needs the intercession of his mortal lover Janet to save him. The Teind (another word for a tithe) is exacted upon the elves by the devil. They are allowed to make up the numbers with trapped humans - either enticed in as adults like Thomas or exchanged in the cradle for a fairy child (a changeling). If there are not enough humans to fill the Teind then they seem to have to offer up some of their own folk instead. It would seem that the changeling, although it meant the temporary loss of a child, was preferable to them to the permanent loss of the same child in this way.<br />
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There are some interesting Northumberland tales of elves who are very unlike the fairy elves of Victorian stories. These elves are fierce, being roused to chase a lad who rides his horse three times widdershins (anticlockwise) around a quarry which they have made their home; they are caring, leaving a child with a poor farmer with instructions to anoint his eyes daily from a pot of eye ointment - which of course he uses on himself to his detriment; they are cruel but loving of games, carrying away children which have to be ransomed back with gifts that are the answers to riddles. These fierce and cruel - yet occasionally noble - creatures are all additional sources of inspiration for the elves that you meet in the Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff.<br />
<br />Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0Elfland, Bateable Lands55.379695613780569 -2.3318481445312555.361653113780569 -2.37218864453125 55.397738113780569 -2.29150764453125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-6828091430114025052014-10-22T15:40:00.001+01:002016-02-08T21:17:17.186+00:00Views across NorthumberlandIn the Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff I have often<b> </b>dwelt on views, particularly of distant hills. When I have thought about the boys next steps, there has always been one hill in view on their return journey; the Cheviot.<br />
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It is an odd feature of the landscape, visible from many places as a distant hump, but as often concealed from view by folds of the land or, as today, by the weather. </div>
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I am sitting in a play park in Prudhoe with an expansive view northwards. There is the sweep of the Tyne Valley towards Hexham to the west and Newcastle upon Tyne in the east. There is the ridge of high ground which separates the Tyne from the other river basins of East Northumberland and also marks the route of General Wade's military road and, of course, Hadrian's Wall. Opposite Prudhoe there is Harlow Hill, a minor hill by most standards, but distinctive. Eastwards is Heddon on the Wall, another notable rise on the ridge, while in the distance westwards the ridge continues into the hazy distance where it forms the southern boundary of the wild lands of western Northumberland - that is Trolldom.</div>
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At the edge of sight today there is a further ridge, though I am not sure what they represent - probably the watershed of the Blyth/Wansbeck basin. On clear days the next line of hills would be the Simonsides, a line of northward facing sandstone escarpments south of Rothbury and beyond them the Cheviots, of which only two hills are visible clearly; The Cheviot and Hedgehope Law.</div>
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Beyond the Cheviot lies the Till Basin, the ancient land of Din Guaire which was the home of the Grufflings long ago. The Cheviot, glimpsed from afar by the brothers, will call them home.<br />
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Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-71529280814763303502014-03-09T19:52:00.000+00:002014-03-09T19:52:30.407+00:00Goodreads AuthorI have at last re-established the fact that I am the author of The Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff. I was listed as the author for quite a while, but I think when Amazon bought it up, they must have killed the link. It is a simple enough process, and I should really have got round to doing it ages ago, but you know how you look at a set of instructions on how to do something and then you think that it would probably be easier to do something else completely different.<br />
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Now that I know what to do, do you think I should claim to write under the pseudonym of J.R.R. Tolkien as well? These things are moderated, so I'm sure that someone might notice.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-4534030745691030842013-10-02T12:16:00.000+01:002013-10-02T12:56:28.303+01:00Paper book availability.Well, I guess it was inevitable in the current book market that my little book should founder a little in the sea of literature, which is becoming a scene with almost as many contributors as there are consumers. I have been informed that last year I sold less than a hundred copies, and so it will only be available in print for a short time longer. If you have been putting off getting a copy, I strongly recommend that you do so now, and if nothing else, you will be getting your hands on a rarity!<br />
<br />
What am I doing about this? Well, I am talking to you, for a start, and more importantly I am doing a quick second edition. Mostly this means having another look at the syntax, having read the book out loud for the first time recently, but I have also picked up a few errors such as referring to Eadmund as Eadwine on several occasions, which I noted has confused one reviewer!<br />
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The new edition will be out on Kindle in the near future, and I will of course keep everyone up to date with news here.<br />
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P.S.Ласкаво просимо всім моїм шанувальникам в Україні, мені шкода, що я можу використовувати тільки Google Translate би подякувати вам за ваше регулярних відвідувань. Я сподіваюся, що вам сподобалося дізнавшись про "Пригоди козлів Графф". Так благословить вас Бог!<br />
Якщо це нічого не значить для вас, або що ми називаємо по-англійськи "Gobbledegook", будь ласка, коментувати, але майте на увазі, що якщо ви відповідаєте українською, мені доведеться використовувати Google Translate, щоб зрозуміти його, так що відповіді англійською мовою буде оцінили!Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0Yeavering, Northumberland, UK55.56667429416666 -2.1023797988891655.564429794166657 -2.10742229888916 55.568918794166663 -2.09733729888916tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-72379059039700310782013-06-21T12:43:00.001+01:002013-10-02T12:51:54.850+01:00MidsummerWell, that's half of the summer gone, we are at the mid point, so now we can look forward to the nights closing in, the days getting shorter.<br />
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Remember the Words of House Stark ...<br />
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You have to admire George R Martin for coming up with such a catchy and easily parodied hook for his books. Every time someone Tweets or puts on Facebook, some comment about it soon being cardigan weather, they are advertising the Song of Ice and Fire series, even if they are thinking more of the Game of Thrones TV series. Either way, it's good money coming in to the author.<br />
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I'm sure he didn't imagine that these Words would have the impact they have, I would see it as being more of a reflection of the position of House Stark, that in a world where the seasons are unpredictable, it is the ones in the north who will need to remember winter the most through the long summers, for it will hit them hardest when it returns, with or without the White Walkers.<br />
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Living in Newcastle upon Tyne, I have often wondered on the use by the TV series of the Yorkshire dialect for the Starks and their allies. I approve, by the way, but it does then rather beg the question ... does that mean that Geordies are the Night's Watch? After all we are far to the north of the "Northerners" and we have a wall running through our fair city. By extension, north of the Wall there are the wildlings of Northumberland and the Borders, and of course the White Walkers must have Scottish accents.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-61956752140428819432013-06-13T12:37:00.001+01:002013-10-02T12:44:19.130+01:00Sighs: an exhalation of breath or a sign of emotional turmoil?<sigh><i>[Sigh]</i></sigh><br />
<sigh><i><br /></i></sigh>
<sigh><i>"What's the matter?"</i></sigh><br />
<sigh><i><br /></i></sigh>
<sigh><i>"Nothing, why?" </i></sigh><br />
<sigh><i><br /></i></sigh>
<sigh><i>"Ah, well, you just gave a big sigh, that's all." </i></sigh><br />
<sigh><br /></sigh>
<sigh> I don't know how many of you are familiar with that little scenario, but I get it all of the time from my wife, in some permutation or other. I really think it is a gender thing, possibly the root cause of so much misunderstanding between the sexes. Obviously I cannot speak for all Malekind, but to me a sigh is just a large exhalation of breath about 80% of the time. Possibly more. Only rarely will I sigh because I feel I am sad or exasperated or whatever other feeling could be expressed by a sigh. I am far more likely to be sighing because I have been breathing shallowly and feel the need for a good oxygenating breath. Or I might sit down suddenly and exhale sharply from the change in position. </sigh><br />
<sigh><br /></sigh>
<sigh>I think that to a woman, a sigh is one of a collection of non verbal modes of communication that they employ consciously to express dissatisfaction, a sense of hopelessness, or just as a way of eliciting an emotional response from their audience, e.g. the above "What's the matter?"
If that audience is another woman, fair enough. The response will probably be uttered, and the woman can either make a dramatic denial of there being anything wrong (and thus confirming that there is) or she can pour her heart out to her confidante.
If the audience is a man, there is a high chance that the sigh will be misinterpreted as a needful exhalation of breath. </sigh><br />
<sigh><br /></sigh>
<sigh>Some men are naturally more attuned to sighs than others and some men learn to invest time and effort into listening for these verbal clues - especially early in a relationship, when failure to interpret a sigh at a critical juncture can result in withdrawal of privileges, possibly on a permanent basis.
Failure to pick up on a well placed sigh has its own set of feedbacks in the female mind, not least of which is a feeling that there is a deliberate refusal to pick up on such an obvious message, such as the "We have been at this party far too long, they are all your friends, the music is rubbish and the food is worse, so make our excuses and let's get out of here."
You have to admit that is a lot of message to fit into a simple exhalation of breath.</sigh><br />
<sigh><br /></sigh>
<sigh>I think we are back full circle to the female misinterpretation of the sudden exhalation of breath. Here is where the really fertile ground for misunderstanding lies. As the female mind is more sigh conscious, the response at the top is wide open to misinterpretation. Firstly, the denial is in fact an admission that something is wrong and therefore the cue for further investigation, which leads to increasingly vehement denials from the male, who has in fact just made the mistake of breathing out a little too forcefully.
The terrain gets worse if the sigh occurs during, or immediately after a conversation. This can mean that the male disapproves of whatever the female said or subsequently did and this is therefore a followed by a more intense cross examination of the hapless and increasingly bewildered male. </sigh><br />
<sigh><br /></sigh>
<sigh> At this point the male may sigh again. This time it probably does represent an expression of emotion or exasperation.</sigh>Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne54.978252 -1.61778tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-60391023287458667832013-05-30T14:29:00.002+01:002013-05-30T15:43:22.814+01:00A little bit of self-promotion<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">I've just joined The Independent Author Network. You can see my page at</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><a href="http://t.co/a6S3T87xC3" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">http://t.co/a6S3T87xC3</a> It would seem that in order to succeed as an author, you have to spend more time trawling the internet for new ways to flag the interest of new readers than you do writing. There are any number of platforms out there that I have yet to get to grips with; Tumblr, Pinterest, Stumbleupon, etc. I see that Reddit has survived from quite a way back, but I'm sure that there used to be a load of other services like it that have gone the way of the dodo. Ah well, it is a fast changing world online. Anyone been on Friends Reunited recently?</span>Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0Lemington, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE15, UK54.980818 -1.721192999999971154.962595 -1.7615334999999712 54.999041 -1.680852499999971tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-45589276780790043212013-05-01T05:26:00.000+01:002016-02-08T21:18:47.257+00:00Hal-an-Tol!<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>Hal an tol, jolly rumble-oh!</i></b></div>
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<b><i>We've been up long before the day-oh!</i></b></div>
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<b><i>To welcome in the summer</i></b></div>
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<b><i>To welcome in the May-oh!</i></b></div>
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<b><i>For summer is icumen in</i></b></div>
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<b><i>And winter's gone away-oh!</i></b></div>
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Here we stand, as the sun rises on the month of May. The BBC is probably poised to launch its Springwatch programme on us yet again. Yet there we have one of our oldest folk songs telling us that we are welcoming in the summer, for it is but six and a half weeks to midsummer. I know that I have technically jumped the gun on the actual date of the ancient festival of May Day (also known as Beltane (Irish) or Calen Haf (Welsh)) by a few days, but the words of the song clearly speak of welcoming in the May, so I have timed this post to go out at sunrise in Newcastle upon Tyne on the 1st of May.<br />
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Will I have been up long before the day? Probably, probably not! Let's just hope that it feels like the beginning of summer.<br />
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Why am I so fascinated by all of this? It is a reaction to something that always annoys me in desk diaries, which tell me that summer begins on the 21st June, which is patently nonsense. More importantly, when I am writing of times which did not have this sort false view of the seasons, if I talk about "the beginning of summer" I need it to be clear that I am talking about early May, not late June.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-79995703858846982912013-03-20T12:43:00.000+00:002013-03-20T12:43:51.913+00:00Tweet! Tweet!Well, my publisher keeps <strike>pestering</strike> advising me to have a higher profile, so I have joined Twitter. This is actually the second time I have done this, but although I can now see my old account, it won't let me update it or send me a password reminder, so @Gruffling is in limbo and @KevinFuters is live.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-61387302449150307932013-03-01T08:00:00.000+00:002013-03-01T08:00:00.567+00:00TrollsI really felt that my trolls had to be something both like and unlike humans. They have an earthy, stony quality, but they are not made of stone. They look quite human in their body proportions and many of them are either much taller or much smaller the human average. I use the name Orcneas for them, using a word used once to describe Grendel in Beowulf. English did not have a word cognate with troll, it seems to have come into mainstream English usage in the 19th century, although it is recorded in the 17th century in a witch trial from the Shetlands.<br />
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I hint that trolls eventually leave Britain in order to find lands less densely inhabited by men; that they now live in Iceland and Scandinavia.During the 7th century they live in areas which are sparsely populated, but the human population is already on the increase and new lands are being cleared for human settlement and agriculture. In Northumberland, the spine of hills that we now call the Pennines meets the Cheviot Hills and the Southern Uplands of Scotland. This area is perfect for the trolls, and this is the area referred to as Trolldom in the book. There are other trolls living outside of Trolldom; one lived near Yeavering under a bridge over the River Glen. Communications with trolls living south of Hadrian's Wall have been lost, so there is no news of any who may have been alive further south.<br />
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Trolls and humans can have children together, although it is clear from what Alfreda says that trolls consider humans to be ugly - and most humans similarly consider the trolls to be ugly. Fortunately this is not always the case! Half-trolls may exist, and over time their descendants merge fully into the human population.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0Greystead, Northumberland, UK55.146311249604 -2.4087524414062555.110018249603996 -2.4894334414062502 55.182604249604 -2.3280714414062498tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-37445030164807917032013-02-26T15:58:00.000+00:002013-04-30T12:32:26.039+01:00The other project<br />
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I have referred to it elsewhere on this blog as "the other project." Well, if you are interested in finding more about it, I have uploaded it onto Authonomy where it is free to view in its unedited form. To view it you will need to be a member of Authonomy; a website run by Harper Collins which allows authors to showcase their work in the hope of receiving constructive criticism and (hopefully) attracting the attention of the editors at Harper Collins or even another publisher.</div>
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So, what is the other project? The title it is currently lurking under is "<a href="http://authonomy.com/books/51064/c-dmon-the-lord-s-poet/" target="_blank">Cædmon: The Lord's Poet</a>."</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">"Here, my friend, take the harp. I am sure you can entertain us with a fine lay!"</span></b></div>
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When his lord makes him swear an oath never to sing his greatest composition again, and carrying a burden of additional lies and slanders, C<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">æ</span>dda seeks refuge in anonymity and exile as a slave near remote Streneshalh.<o:p></o:p></div>
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His past returns to haunt him when a menacing stranger appears at the Winterfilling Feast, calling upon him to sing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Eluding his pursuer, he finds refuge in an isolated cow byre. As he contemplates his life story and his immediate situation, he must make a final decision.</div>
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Can the Lord’s Poet avoid retribution again, or is it time to rise to the challenge and embrace his destiny?</div>
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Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-6928621091006048402013-02-06T15:02:00.000+00:002013-04-30T12:35:19.184+01:00Candlemas (again)Steve Ashley sings a "Candlemas Carol" which begins:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>"Oh, Candlemas beware old man</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>The wind gale and the storm,</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>For if you think that winter's dead</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>It's barely been born,</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>And if you think that the spring has come,</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>With the bright sun in the sky</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>An icy wind blows icy tears</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>From the corner of your eye"</i></b></div>
<br />
I posted last year about Candlemas, and here I am again. This year it is much colder and I am more inclined to appreciate Steve Ashley's point. So, how to reconcile the conflict between a logical division of the year by length of the day and our observation that there continues to be cold weather after winter (and for that matter warm weather after summer).<br />
<br />
I see two factors at work here, the first being that it should be possible to divide the year up into two "great seasons" of warmth and coldness and that the boundary would therefore be the equinoxes, the dates when the day and the night are both twelve hours long (give or take a few minutes). With this pattern, half of spring would fall within the greater winter and the other half would fall in the greater summer. The same apply to autumn.<br />
<br />
The other factor is the physical laws relating to the conservation of heat. It feels like summer through August and into September because the energy provided by the sun is still present as warm atmospheric conditions and warm land surfaces. February and early March feel like winter because a lot of the sun's heat is taken up just with heating that mass of air and the upper layers of the surface.<br />
<br />
<br />Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-31624740944079450562013-02-06T14:09:00.005+00:002013-10-02T12:57:01.882+01:00Blog tidy-upI have created a new page on this blog which brings together the posts that relate to the book. You can find all of this information <a href="http://www.gruffling.info/p/adventures-of-billy-goats-gruff.html">here</a>. I have deleted the older posts that this information is derived from.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-53867827578708319912013-01-18T13:52:00.001+00:002013-01-18T13:52:24.890+00:00The Historical Setting: 7th century NorthumbriaI'm still not exactly sure why I wanted to set The Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff in the Early Middle Ages, but I know that I was drawn to stories of the period. I started writing the story in about 1994, before I started my MA, so the interest was sparked by history books for the general market and I had not at that stage picked up a copy of Bede's Ecclesiatical History to begin to read the primary sources - indeed at that time I knew more about the later Historia Britonnum and Annales Cambriae than I did about the Anglo-Saxon sources.<br />
<br />
What I was aware of was the prominent position of Northumbria at that time. I have since learned to develop a layer of scholarly cynicism, to see Bede and other contemporary writers as people with agendas and bias, not as pure, disinterested chroniclers of events. Nonetheless, there was definitely something dynamic and vital about the kingdom in the 7th century, a fact that is attested in the monumental sculpture, the incredible illuminated manuscripts and the fact that no other kingdom at the time produced so many writers who could present their stories of saints and kings and be preserved after Northumbria had ceased to be independent and became a relatively minor earldom and ultimately remembered only through the county name of Northumberland.<br />
<br />
It is difficult to define when the concept of Northumbria came into being and whether it was meant to represent a unified political force or to be descriptive of a group of peoples who came to be united. The inverse term of South Humbrians was certainly used (by Bede, of course) to refer to all the other English kingdoms, but that label did not stick, largely because the South Humbrians included Mercia and the West Saxons, who were to be the main rivals in later centuries for the dominance of England.<br />
<br />
There were two principal dynasties involved in the formation of Northumbria, the Idings in the north and the Soemilings in the south. The Idings ruled a land given the Latin name of Bernicia, which I have called Bernice (not pronounced Ber-nees like the girls' name, but Ber-nee-che). The Soemilings ruled ina land in modern Yorkshire called Deira, which I have given the alternative name of Dere in the book after the name of the Roman road which runs from York to Edinburgh.<br />
<br />
Ida was a king of Bernicia and is said to have joined Bernicia and Dinguaire (Dinware in the book). As the older name given in Welsh sources for Bamburgh is Dingauiraroy (or something similar), this seems to represent a more southerly kingdom, probably centred on the River Tyne, absorbing a more northerly one. Ida seems to have had a lot of sons, the greatest of whom was Æthelric. They were under repeated attack particularly by Urien of Rheged and Morcant, but they survived it all in part because the Welsh were divided and Urien was killed by an assassin. Æthelric's son, Æthelfrith, was the first king of both Bernicia and Deira. He also seems to have expanded his territories westwards at the cost of kingdoms like Rheged and its forgotten southern neighbours.<br />
<br />
Soemil is named in the ancestry of the kings of Deira, but may not have been an actual person. For the purposes of the book, I have assumed that he was, and that the Grufflings are descended from him, thus giving them royal blood. The first king of Deira named in history was Ælle, for his name is said to have been known to slave traders in Rome, as recounted in the Life of St Gregory. It was Ælle that was defeated by Æthelfrith when he became ruler of both kingdoms. Ælle's son Eadwine (Edwin) was forced into exile until the time was ripe for his return. Eadwine defeated Æthelfrith and in turn ruled over both Deira and Bernicia, the only Soemiling to do so. The importance of the line continued after his death, however, as we shall see in time.<br />
<br />
Into this situation I have placed our family of Grufflings. The two older boys were born in Deira and stayed there as fosterlings when their mother died. Their father was sent north into Bernicia, to the place that Bede tells us was called Ad Gefrin and is know called Yeavering, in Northumberland. Here he remarried, a political match to a princess from the fallen royal family of Rheged. They had two sons and a daughter, born in the north and of mixed ancestry - they differ from their elder brothers in being biligual, learning Welsh from their mother even though English was their main language. When Edgar and his elder brother Athelred join the family, they are almost full grown men, and Athelred is taken by his father as his assistant. The younger boys learn to get along with their older brothers, but the differences between them can cause arguments to flare up - as with brothers anywhere.<br />
<br />
In AD 633 two significant events seem to have occurred. The first was that Cearl of Mercia (or Mierce) was deposed by a kinsman called Penda. The second was that Cadwallon (or Cadwalla), who was the king of Gwynedd, rebelled against Eadwine. Together with this same Penda, he marched out against Eadwine, who fell at Hatfield Chase. Cadwallon stormed northwards, harrying the land and seeking out any English settlers, putting them to the sword. Bede states that his intention was to destroy the English race. This is the situation facing the family at the beginning of the book. The events at Yeavering are not part of history, although the excavation there by Brian Hope-Taylor identified two attempts to burn the place to the ground, neither of which was particularly successful. I have taken the first attempt as being in AD 633 and have based my account around that fact.<br />
<br />
In a future post I will discuss the aftermath of Eadwine's death further, as it has an impact on one minor character and will affect the world to which the Grufflings return.<br />
<br />Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0Northumbria, England, UK54.393352223845881 -2.02148437551.990519723845878 -7.185058375 56.796184723845883 3.1420896249999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-7012188201688064012012-12-06T15:59:00.000+00:002012-12-06T16:01:37.105+00:00A peep insideIt is now also possible to view the beginning of the book through the publisher's website: <a href="http://epubco.com/samples/978-1-61204-933-5sample.pdf">here</a><br />
<br />
Of course, you can do the same wherever the book is available in Kindle or e-book format, even if you intend to buy the hard copy.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-53530670417932781562012-01-23T18:37:00.000+00:002012-10-29T13:57:59.685+00:00The LibrarySome time ago I published a list of books on this blog. All of the books shared a common theme: historical settings which can be described as Anglo-Saxon, separated by defining them in terms of blocks of time within this span, which includes both Dark Age and Early Medieval periods.<br />
<br />
As is the way of posts, this list has long since dropped to the bottom and is therefore hard to find. Even though I have added to it over time, it remains quite anonymous. Therefore I created a new page called the Library, which has all of the books on this list as well as being an opportunity for me to expand the list into new categories.<br />
<br />
I have included a section on Children's books which relate to the same periods of history and to stories with a modern setting but with influences from Anglo-Saxon or Norse literature.<br />
<br />
You can see the Library <a href="http://www.gruffling.info/p/library.html" target="_blank">here</a>Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-57253447053991597192011-12-17T21:42:00.000+00:002011-12-17T21:42:06.602+00:00Inside The Adventures of the Billy Goats GruffOne benefit of The Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff being published on Kindle & E-book is that it is now possible to view the beginning of the book on Amazon and elsewhere.<br />
<br />
What you will see is obviously taken from the Kindle version but as that follows the format of the paper book, it is the same basic idea.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately the long front pages with the chapters, the foreword, the map, the Word Hoard and the Muster List all take up space in this preview but you still get to read almost all of Chapter One, which is not a bad thing. No sign of any goats yet, which may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on whether you like spoilers or not.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-82291890281087150882011-11-15T21:44:00.000+00:002013-02-06T14:36:02.642+00:00A new episode?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think I have got through The Other Project now and random thoughts of a sequel to the Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff are being jotted down with a working title of The Revenge of the Grufflings. The first half of the book is pretty plain sailing, but the second half throws up some issues which I don't know how to resolve as history kind of gets in the way ... </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's the problem when you involve known historical characters such as Penda in your story; you can only interact with them in certain ways, unless you choose to go down some alternative reality line. In part that could happen (there are trolls and elves in the milieu of my book after all), but I think it would be cheating to do so.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The decision has yet to be made and the journey has only just started, so although I know what happens next, I don't know the exact route to get there.</span></span>Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-17620026939201156232011-08-30T22:48:00.000+01:002013-01-14T14:35:13.264+00:00Facebook page updateJust a quick post to say that the Facebook page for the Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff can now be reached <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Grufflings">here</a>. The link is <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Grufflings">facebook.com/Grufflings</a>.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-7810789677174494432011-08-24T12:53:00.002+01:002011-08-24T13:06:06.673+01:00Kindle edition now out!I am happy to announce that <i>The Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff</i> is now available in a Kindle edition:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005IPLSIK/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=theadvofthebi-21&camp=1406&creative=6394&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B005IPLSIK&adid=065K0GYT0FHG217TX2NA&">United Kingdom</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005IPLSIK/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=theadvofthebi-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B005IPLSIK">USA</a><br />
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</div>I am waiting for details of the e-Pub version - keep your eyes peeled!Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-89044054221818244202011-05-13T23:47:00.001+01:002011-05-22T10:07:01.850+01:00The names of the kingdomsVery early on in the process of writing the book I got it into my head to deconstruct the names of the various kingdoms, sub-kingdoms, regions, etc. that the characters know and move through. With hindsight I was a little uneven in my approach but I think I got the level about right.<br />
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The first name was Dere. This is better known as Deira but this is a Latin name derived (probably) from a Brythonic original (perhaps Deur). However the road that runs from Edinburgh to York is known as Dere Street so I opted to use this name for the land around York.<br />
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Having dropped one Latin name, the next in line was Bernicia. The Brythonic original was something like Bryneich which is not very easy on the tongue, so I went for Bernice as a similar name to Dere.<br />
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Then there was the land that the story began in. It is often lumped in with Bernice in general histories but I prefer to think of it as a separate kingdom that was later merged. We only have the Welsh name Din Guaire to apply to the region, which seems to have had its political centre at either Bamburgh, Yeavering, or both. My solution was to assume that the "gu" in Guaire was pronounced as a "w" and so Dinware was coined as an easy way to give a name to the land within which Frith and Bertred were born.<br />
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Moving away there was The Mark, which represents the midland realm of Mercia. In West Saxon sources this is often written as Mierce which by i-mutation would suggest an earlier northern spelling something like Mearc. It is The Mark because there were no other marks (border areas, marches) in existence.<br />
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Welsh names, paradoxically, are left pretty much as they are. Gwynedd was for some time going to be "Gwunneth" or something similar but I abandoned this idea in favour of the modern spelling because it lacked the simple elegance of Dere and Bernice.<br />
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Similarly the Brythonic kingdoms of Rheged and Gododdin are mentioned several times and no attempt was made to alter those names.<br />
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Finally there is the name Gatburgh. A single place-name can change from one form to another in a remarkably short period of time. Bede gives the name as "ad gefrin" but on the whole such Brythonic names did not survive elsewhere in Northumberland, so it seems plausible that at some time there was an attempt to change the name to a more English friendly form. Gat is of course Old English for goat and burgh is a fortified place. Although Gatburgh is technically not fortified it does have the illusion of strength to help it along, and the ancient hillfort on the summit of the Bell may have influenced the name further.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-9774038371766765492011-04-12T15:51:00.000+01:002011-04-12T15:51:56.429+01:00Blog addressI've just updated the blog to my own, much shorter, web address: www.gruffling.info<br />
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No point in putting in a hyperlink - you are already here!<br />
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Unfortunately it does not have the same security level as Blogger, so some of you may no longer be able to see it if you have an evil net nanny like they do at work!Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-87809426818322325322011-04-07T13:47:00.003+01:002011-12-17T20:23:27.524+00:00Book reviewsOne of the things that has been hardest for me as a new author has been getting a print review. Of course I'm pleased to have been reviewed on-line and would welcome many more, but its certainly good to see a review in a printed format. I think it helps that there is the feeling of independence involved that may not apply to online reviews.<br />
<br />
I was very pleased when a colleague told me that the <a href="http://www.thecrackmagazine.com/index.php?section=2&category=17">Crack</a> magazine had reviewed the book. This worthy and arty magazine has a good circulation in the Newcastle area. I couldn't have asked for a better first review, so many thanks to GM!<br />
<br />
<em>The Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Kevin D. Futers, Strategic Book Group, £8</em><br />
<em>This is a lovely curio of a book from Futers, a Scottish author who has been resident in Newcastle since 1974. It’s a sort of re-telling, or retro-updating, of the story of the three billy goats Gruff; an old folk tale usually associated with Norway. Here the action is set in ancient Northumberland and sees three brothers inflicted by a curse that turns them into goats who must set forth into a land besieged by trolls on the hunt for a maiden’s kiss: not an inconsiderable task when you are distinctly goat-ish in appearance. Naturally, there is a bridge, but killing its guardian heaps only more trouble on the trio who get caught up in an almighty feud. The author’s evident interest in mythology doesn’t come at the expense of a really cracking read in a tale which is full of cauldrons, kings and people answering to the moniker of “Cerdic the Tall” and the book will appeal to both adventurous adults and children alike. GM</em><br />
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Being a lifelong looker of gift horses in the mouth, I would point out that my middle initial is a P, not a D but that is the fault of the font on the cover, so fair enough! <br />
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It was also strange to be described as Scottish, even though I am. I put British on the Census!<br />
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Now comes the crucial bit - extracting a quote to help with marketing. "A lovely curio of a book" or "a really cracking read" are possible, or a longer bit from "The author's evident interest..." to the end.Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-21234579093510181082011-02-08T16:50:00.003+00:002011-02-17T15:24:54.053+00:00CandlemasI've been thinking again over the last few days about the seasons.<br />
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It is accepted by the majority of people that summer begins at the Summer Solstice, autumn at the Autumnal Equinox, winter at the Winter Solstice and spring at the Vernal Equinox. So in the UK we have the BBC running their Autumn Watch programme in November and their Spring Watch programme in May. <br />
<br />
We seem to base these seasons more on whether we expect the weather to be warm or cold than anything else. Yet there is an older perception of the seasons which survive in the expressions Midsummer and Midwinter. These clearly refer to the longest and shortest days of the year respectively. So the start of winter is also midwinter?<br />
<br />
The major pointers are what pagans refer to as the Fire Festivals - Candlemas, Mayday, Lammas and Hallowe'en. These occur roughly three months apart and also midway between the equinox/solstice dates. These then, surely, are the real beginning of the seasons. Therefore, cold though it may be, we are now entering into Spring.<br />
<br />
I was out in the garden at the weekend and was delighted to see some bulbs that we put in last year poking their heads through the soil. Even better, all along the hedgerow there is a mass of green buds, ready to burst into leaf as soon as the conditions are right. <br />
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It seems to me that things are definitely Springing!Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2419291196587897812.post-43164726092234689602011-01-02T18:27:00.001+00:002013-12-23T15:37:03.840+00:00What does the P stand for?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, for the past 40 odd years it has unquestionably been Peter but I've discovered a new name which suits me down to the ground, so with </span><a href="http://icelandchronicles.com/2010/12/icelandic-christmas-folklore-stufur/#comments"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Stúfur's</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> permission I'm adopting his other name as my own.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Kevin </span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Pönnuskefill Futers!</span></i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 14px;">I've always thought that Icelanders have the best names. Now I've appropriated one for myself.</span>Grufflinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.com0