Reading Diary B: King Arthur (Week 11)

Illustration by H.J. Ford

• It mentions the White Abbey.  That kind of tips me off that colors are important to the story.
• So on the morn they arose and heard Mass, and then a monk led them behind an altar where hung a shield white as snow, with a red cross in the middle of it. "Sirs," said the monk, "this shield can be hung round no Knight's neck unless he be the worthiest Knight in the world, and therefore I counsel you to be well advised!"  Once again, colors are very significant.
• Religion is really important in the King Arthur tales.  That could be good to incorporate that in my story.
• I also wonder how Mabinogion fits in with all of this.
• "Fair brother," said Galahad, "let us remove this body, for he is not worthy to be in this churchyard, being a false Christian man."
• Suddenly a voice spoke to him, and it said, "Sir Lancelot, more hard than is the stone, more bitter than is the wood, more naked and barren than is the leaf of the fig tree, art thou; therefore, go from hence and withdraw thee from this holy place."  That’s very harsh…
• “My sin and my wickedness have done me this dishonour, for when I sought worldly adventures for worldly desires I ever achieved them and had the better in every place, and never was I discomfited in any quarrel, were it right or wrong. And now I take upon me the adventures of holy things, I see and understand that my old sin hinders me, so that I could not name nor speak when the Holy Graal passed by.”  This reminds me a bit of Percival.

King Arthur unit

Reading Diary A: King Arthur (Week 11)

Tapestry showing Arthur as one of the Nine Worthies.

• So this is where to whole sword in the stone story begins. "Whoso pulleth out this sword is by right of birth King of England".
• It is really interesting to get this perspective on the King Arthur story.  I’ve read a lot of different works about Arthur, like Lanval, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Yvain.  I’ve never really gotten this take on it, so I’m excited about it.
• Sir Ector, Sir Kay, and Arthur came to participate in the tournament
• So this is where the storyline from the movie comes from
• It seems interesting that everyone would believe some random inscription on a stone.
• Was Uther Pendragon Arthur’s father in this version of the story?  If so, why was he taken away from his real family?
• Sir Kay is seneschal.  I wonder if he is good in this version.  From what I remember, Kay was not usually portrayed kindly.
• The story sticking with the Pentecost as an important and central event is interesting.
• It is interesting that the story admits that Arthur isn’t perfect and needs some much help
• Is Cameliard a version of Camelot?
• The springs and greenlife are important still
• So there are differing stories about how Arthur got Excalibur
• Arthur agrees to give the Lady of the Lake a rash boon if she will give him the sword.
• Interestingly enough, Merlin tells Arthur that he is not wise.
• Guenevere’s father gave Arthur the round table, which supposedly came from Uther, Arthur’s father.
• Gawaine is Arthur’s nephew, yet his sister’s child is also supposed to be his downfall.  Although that is obviously not Gawaine, it is a little vague

King Arthur unit

Extra Reading Diary: Through the Looking Glass (Week 10)

Illustration by John Tenniel

• “Then she began looking about and noticed that what could be seen from the old room was quite common and uninteresting, but that all the rest was as different as possible.”  This seems to be when things start really happening and getting interesting.
• So everything in Through the Looking Glass takes place after Alice in Wonderland.
• “'So I shall be as warm here as I was in the old room,' thought Alice: 'warmer, in fact, because there'll be no one here to scold me away from the fire. Oh, what fun it'll be, when they see me through the glass in here and can't get at me!’”  This seems to be awfully mean to her parents, not to mention bratty.
• The part with the Walrus and the Carpenter seems really weird and creepy.  The oysters in particular were pretty odd.
• Tweedledee and Tweedledum seem awfully rattled. 
• I wonder how the selections were chosen.  Obviously not all of the chapters are included in the UnTextbook.
• “'I said you LOOKED like an egg, Sir,' Alice gently explained. 'And some eggs are very pretty, you know,' she added, hoping to turn her remark into a sort of a compliment.”  I feel like this fits Alice’s personality perfectly.  She is kind of witty, yet kind of silly, yet kind all at the same time. 
• “'In summer, when the days are long,
• Perhaps you'll understand the song:
• In autumn, when the leaves are brown,
• Take pen and ink, and write it down.'”  I really like this.  It’s a pretty little song.

Through the Looking Glass unit

Storytelling: The Storyteller (Week 10)

Symbol of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) People

“Come, children.  Gather around.”

           Though his eyes were closed, he could hear the pitter-patter of little feet scurrying around the room.  When he opened his eyes, most of the children had flocked to him.  Only a two stragglers were left slowly toddling their way toward him.  He waited patiently as all the young ones got situated.  The other children fidgeted habitually, unable to stay still for more than a few seconds.  Finally, the children quieted down and made an attempt to sit still.  He was ready to tell his story.

           “How many of you know the story of our people’s greatest citizen?”

           A few children darted their eyes around their peers, hoping to see if anyone knew the answer to his question.  One of the older children, a girl of about twelve, raised her hand.  When he looked at the girl, she answered him.

           “Um, was he a warrior?”  The storyteller looked at the child and smiled.

           “No, my dear, he was not.”

           “Oh! Oh! Oh!  It must have been a medicine man!”  This response came from an excited boy of seven.  He was rocking back and forth and bouncing a bit with excitement.

           “No, child.  This citizen was no medicine man.”  The boy’s face fell slightly when he heard this.

           “Was the citizen a great chief or a leader?”  The storyteller shook his head.

           “The citizen was neither chief nor leader.  No, this great citizen was something much more than chief or medicine man or warrior.  This citizen, this man, was clever.”

           A few of the children made noises of indignation.  One even protested that there was nothing better or nobler than a warrior.  The storyteller just shook his head at the child.

           “This citizen is the reason why we are able to survive throughout the winter.  Even though he is long dead, it is because of him that we are able to get through every winter.  His name was Shingebis, and he was a fisherman.”

           “But how can a fisherman save us when a warrior cannot?  How is the fisherman a better citizen?”

           “Because, child, this fisherman in particular defeated the North Wind when no other person, warrior or otherwise, was able to.  It used to be that this time of the year, when the winds turn icy and the ground turns hard, we would flee this area for one that was more accommodating.  We would have to leave all that we had built and take only what we could carry.  Shingebis changed this.  He and a few fellow fisherman stayed back while everyone else left for the winter.  These fisherman stayed as long as they could and caught as much fish as they possibly could before the North Wind drove them off.  Only Shingebis stayed behind.  His companions warned him not to stay, but he refused to give in to the North Wind.

           “Several times, the North Wind tried to drive him out and to freeze him.  It even tore away at his dwelling.  But Shingebis realized something very important.  Heat made the North Wind shrink.  Shingebis waited until the North Wind tried to sneak into his dwelling again and weakened him with the fire.  The two grappled for a long time.  The North Wind almost won.  The fight ended up outside of Shingebis’ dwelling, where the cold ran free and there was no fire.  Shingebis had to think quickly, before the North Wind regained its strength.  He suddenly had an idea.  When the North Wind came toward him again, he did not move away.  Instead, he lunged forward and wrapped himself around the North Wind.  The two struggled like this for many minutes.  Eventually, though, Shingebis saw the fruits of his labor.  The North Wind was shrinking from exertion and Shingebis’ body heat.”

“Wait, are you saying that Shingebis hugged him death?”  This made the old man laugh lightly.

“No, young one.  Not to death.  We still experience the North Wind today.  But now the North Wind retreats for us and we can now stand him more than we could before.  That is why we no longer have to move around with the seasons.  It is why we can have permanent dwellings and villages.”

A few of the children oohed and awed.  Others looked at him, as if they wanted more.  The storyteller just shook his head.  

“I will have another story for you tomorrow.”

Author's Note:
I wrote my story about the section from American Indian Fairy Tales unit called Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind. The entire unit uses the story of Iagoo, the storyteller, as a frame work for the smaller tales. I found that particularly interesting, so I chose to use that for my own story as well and explore it a little more. I also really enjoyed the story about the North Wind, so I wanted to incorporate that a bit as well. I stuck pretty close to the original story, but I summarized it more. I wanted to do a retelling of that too, but the word count would have been outrageous for the assignment.

American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921).

Reading Diary B: Native American Fairytales

Wigwam

• I really like how all of these stories are in the frame tale of the storyteller Iagoo.  It really gives a sense of connectivity through all the stories and adds to the experience.
• Weren’t the homes called wigwams in the previous section?  Now they are teepees?  Are both correct or is that just a consistency error?
• "No, no!" she said. "You must not harm him. See how friendly he is, and not a bit afraid. There is game enough in the forest for a brave boy's bow and arrow. Why should he spend his strength on a weak little mouse?"  I was a little surprised by this, but it was a pleasant surprise
• The mouse was once great.  That’s really interesting.
• The Dormouse sounds very important
• Iagoo is a really interesting character.  The children seem to be very attached to him.
• “Wa-bun, the East Wind, was the one who brought the news”
• I wonder why the coyote is always mentioned with “the prairie wolf” attached afterwards.
• “Except for the beautiful green pines, all the world was white—a dazzling, silent world in which there was no musical murmur of waters and no song of birds.” What beautiful and vivid imagery.
• “The boy used to dream about it and wonder what could be done. His father could do anything; some men said he was a Manito. Perhaps he could find some way to bring 
• Summer to the earth. That would be the greatest thing of all.”  Sound like he not only wants to live up to his father’s image, but like he also has great aspirations.  

Native American Fairy Tales unit

Reading Diary A: The American Indian Fairy Tales

·         Iagoo, the storyteller, seems to be a kind and generous old man.

·         Apparently coyotes are clever.  Little detail in the story, but it caught my attention
·         “Now, winter was the time for storytelling.”  Interesting little detail
·         The North Wind sounds like a real attention seeker
·         “For the King of this Land of Ice was a fierce old man called Ka-bib-on-okka by the Indians—meaning in our language, the North Wind.”
·         The South Wind was even more powerful
·         The South Wind would sit at the top of the mountain and smoke whenever the summer was almost over, smoking.  It kind of gives off a lazy, hazy image.
·         Shin-ge-bis just laughed in the face of the North Wind.  Talk about cocky.
·         “Ka-bib-on-okka, ancient man,
Come and scare me if you can.
Big and blustery though you be,
You are mortal just like me!”
·         He sounds like a bit of a clever trickster to me
·         “ As he had not been able to freeze Shin-ge-bis, he spent his rage on everything in his path.”
·         “Cheerfulness and courage can overcome even the North Wind.” Nice moral
·         “Coyote, the prairie wolf, was not a bad sort of fellow when you came to know him,”  Did he outwardly appear bad before you came to know him?
·         “At last they met Coyote, the cleverest of them all, trotting along the valley with his nose in the air, so they put the same question to him.”

Coyote

The American Indian Fairy Tales unit

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Extra Reading Diary: Beowulf

Beowulf and Wiglaf

• Beowulf is the son of Ecgtheow and nephew of Hygelac.
• Nicknamed “the Silent”
• “he has the strength in his arms and legs of thirty men."
• Though Beowulf is a Geat, huge chunks of the story take place outside of Geatsand.
• Heorot is the drinking hall in Daneland
• Unferth does not offer to fight Grendel.  (Beowulf is more valiant that Unferth)
• “he would seek out this monster Grendel and slay him — yes! Slay him with bare hands” This preference for weaponless fighting persists throughout the story.
• “But I charge you, Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, earl of the Geats, and my own nephew, return not to these halls if you should fail in your attempt” Seems a bit harsh.  He was the only one to even offer to slay Grendel.
• The story seems to point out age a lot
• Hygd, his aunt by marriage, seems fond of him
• 7 days of preparations and 14 men
• His aunt and uncle gave him a gold collar? What?  Necklace?
• “There were sea-lions of shaggy mane and bird-like fish with horny claws.”  And sea-serpents.
• “But they came at length to the coast of Daneland, and the sea boiled white between them and the land, and the land itself was scarred and pitted with a thousand narrow inlets, which were treacherous to seafarers unfamiliar with them. The forests that clung to the shore line were half hidden in gray mists that moved and twisted like smoke about the trees.”  Sounds violent, harsh, and darkly mysterious.
• “Prince of Weders” Weders?
• Ecgtheow and Hrothgar were friends/war-brothers.
• Wealhtheow is the queen of the Danes
• Seems like all heroes are moody. (Beowulf and Unferth)