Hope everyone has had a wonderful week and is ready for a relaxing and/or busy weekend (I have a LOT of planning to do before Tuesday...). Unfortunately, I've been rather swamped at work this week and don't have a terribly long list of fun stuff to read for this weekend. So, here's a very few that I've enjoyed and hopefully kick your weekend off right.
A really, really interesting look at the importance of getting outside ourselves as writers. It's easy to retreat to a quiet room, the corner of a coffee shop, a lonely cabin in the woods, and immerse ourselves in writing. That leads to what I call "Ivory Tower Writing" and is incredibly dangerous. It is important for us to be involved with those around us and live life. It reflects in our work.
A good read on building first drafts and a little motivation as we get ready for NanoWrimo. I'm always inspired by reading about how other people write, and while everyone has their own unique rituals and ways of going about writing, there's usually something that encourages me in seeing how other people write. It's also good to be reminded that first drafts are just that, the First (meaning more to follow) Draft (meaning unfinished product with a lot of work to go. Emphasis on UN-finished).
A good brief look at how to get over writer's block. I'm sure it'll happen to me at least once during NanoWrimo, and these are some really good tips. Review your planning and Keep Writing are the two big ones that I've found successful, the only thing I would add is READ. Your mind needs grist for it's mill, and if you don't read a lot, you are going to have trouble writing new things. If I get really, truly, utterly stuck, I'll go flip through Rosemary Sutcliff or Thomas Shippey and then dive back in. But seriously, Keep Writing is the most important one.
An interesting article on some of the debates on translating for readers, and how much the translator really does control the text. This is looking at the philosophical writings, and how rendering important words can change or alter the meaning of the text and the experience of the reader. One reason I think it is important to at the very least, study other languages, (like Latin) to gain an understanding of how words change as they cross language barriers.
Wish there were more, but like I said, there hasn't been a lot of reading going on this week. Hopefully that will change next week. Check back for the next Tolkien Article tomorrow, where I'll look at how Tolkien's Christianity allowed him to reconcile and understand a lot of the issues presented by the Great Wars and the Ancients.
If you haven't already, check out my Author Facebook Page, I'm hoping to put up some videos during NanoWrimo, kind of like a vlog, but not really. I'll also be posting some stuff there as I get ready to announce my next story soon. Can't wait to tell you all what it's about, when it'll be out, and let you in on some of the work it takes to get it ready (Spoiler: there are watercolors).
Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a comment, and have a wonderful weekend!
So I'm a hair late on this one, but I've decided to give NanoWrimo a go. Most of you are already familiar with National Novel Writing Month, but for those of you who aren't, it is a novel writing challenge in the month of November in which we will attempt to write a 50,000 word novel. To that end, here is what I'm going to try my hand at!
What inspired the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?
The idea is one I've had fairly recently, after I finished Dragon of Kveldmir, I looked back and started wondering where Farndrang came from. The sword itself I wrote into the story several years ago, and while it originally was forged by the stranger, that just didn't feel right. So, then, when it was determined to have come from Karik, I started to wonder what his story was. Something clicked while I was watching the most recent season of the History Channel show Vikings. Ragnar Lothbrook, to me, shares a lot with Macbeth and Turin from Tolkien's The Children of Hurin. All three are tangled in fate, are presented with impossible choices, and trapped by their decisions. So I wanted to explore the idea of fate or, as the northmen would call it, Wyrd. Do we have a choice? Are our choices between success and failure, or failure and worse failure? What did Beowulf mean when he said "Fate often spares the undoomed man, but only if his courage holds". What if his courage holds? What if he IS doomed, and his courage still holds? Would that be better than if he was doomed and his courage did not hold?
Describe what your novel is about!
Vrania is a large, cold island not unlike Scandinavia with long winters and short harvests. After being sent out from their village due to famine, the young men of Ydnara go to make their own way in the world. One of them, Karik, has intentions far beyond surviving. For what happens next, I borrow from The Welsh Triads (lists of threes) and present the Triads of Karik:
These are the three great deeds of Karik Haldsson, First the slaying of the dragon, for the renown it brought him Second the sailing of the underwaters, for the wealth it gave him Third the sailing of the Black Isles, for the destruction it brought about
These are the three Great Ladies of Karik, First Elva, his mother, for the courage she gave him Second Ylmi, his wife, for the strength she nurtured in him And Third the lady Lysa, for the sons she bore him
These are the three Great Warriors of Karik, Revik, whom none could withstand, Igil, whom none could outwit And Karik Kariksson, whom none could defeat.
These are the three great tragedies of Karik First the Curse of the Dragon, for the doom it laid on him. Second the falling out he had with Ylmi And Third the Poisoning of Karik Kariksson
These are the three great blades of Karik, Ulfbite, which was given him by his mother Farndrang which he took from the Dragon And Viper, the short sword he forged for himself.
And before you ask, no I'm not entirely sure how all those are going to play out, but I've got a good idea on most.
What is your book’s aesthetic? Use words or photos or whatever you like!
My aesthetic....hmmm...very Viking with a hint of Dane. It will be in keeping with the style I used in Dragon of Kveldmir, but I've got a few new things I want to try out. Got to keep trying new things!
Introduce us to each of your characters!
There's too many to fully introduce (in the tried and true tradition of the Sagas), but I'll introduce the first three. Karik is a young man who has watched his family and settlement starving since he was old enough to notice. He believes that there is a way his people can live without death constantly hovering over them. Revik is a great fighter, he and his brother Igil were better off than Karik's family, but now all three are sent out with the young men of Ydnara to make their own way in the world. Karik has plans for this....Karik always has a plan.
How do you prepare to write? (Outline, research, stocking up on chocolate, howling, etc.?)
My writing preparation boils down to three things...Draw a map. Start the coffee. Re-draw the map. Plan. Drink all the coffee. Make a new plan. And on and on Ad Infinitum. Also lots of Youtube Playlists. You ever tried playing two videos at the same time? 4 hours of campfire noise over Light of the Seven for 4 hours? It's pretty relaxing and focusing. Though occasionally I'll get wrapped up in trying to create the perfect ambience and then...well...oh bother.
What are you most looking forward to about this novel?
I'm looking forward to having fun with Karik. I think he is going to be a really fun character to write, and I think that the adventures he's going to go on will be a challenge to really write properly.
List 3 things about your novel’s setting.
It's cold, except where it isn't. It's dangerous everywhere. And the whole thing takes place inside of one house. Figure out that riddle if you can.
What’s your character’s goal and who (or what) stands in the way?
Karik wants to make a new life for his people, one of plenty without all this starving and fighting over food. There's three things that stand in his way in increasing order of difficulty. First, no one has sailed through the black Isles for hundreds of years, those who have tried got smashed to kindling in the ice, burned alive by lava, or smashed to kindling on the rocks. Second, there's a fair number of kings and jarls who are just fine with how things are in Vrania and would rather Karik didn't upset their rule by finding new lands and such. Third is fate, in the form of the Dragon curse (which some of you might remember being mentioned several times in The Dragon of Kveldmir). The Dragons do not like Karik.
How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?
This is something I'm working on. Not entirely sure how Karik will react to getting punched in the face by fate at a an alarming rate. I think part of it will depend on how his relationship with Igil and Ylmi shape up.
What are your book’s themes? How do you want readers to feel when the story is over?
Adventurous. Defiant. Ready to go do great things. That's always been the point of a lot of my writing, I want people to get up from it thinking a little bit, encouraged to go do great things themselves. And also hopefully intrigued enough to read some of my other stories. So...there you have it. The Tale of Karik Haldsson. If you haven't read The Dragon of Kveldmir, check it out for a few mentions of who Karik is and what he's done. There will be more allusions to the good Karik as well as new info on Vrania and the Black Isles coming soon...but that announcement is still a few days out... To make sure you don't miss this upcoming announcement, and to see my NanoWrimo updates and musings and encouragements, head over and like my Facebook Page! I am planning on doing a few short videos during NanoWrimo, might even give Facebook Live Streaming a try...we'll see. Any way, check it out, give me a like if you've got a spare one lying around, and have a wonderful day!
Tolkien
was more than just a soldier. He was a scholar as well, and this allowed him to
contextualize his experiences against the backdrop of history. Today we will
look at the ancient, and largely northern, legends and sagas that Tolkien read
and studied for much of his professional life.
There
are three main things that Tolkien saw and wrestled with in the ancient lore he
studied. First, evil in the old world, it’s pervasiveness and position was in
some ways not unlike the images that came out of the Great Wars, but in some
ways very different. Second, the concept of fate, or as the ancients called it,
Wyrd. Thirdly, in the old stories, there is a sense of looking back and
trying to make sense of information that Tolkien felt he could do better.
If you are not
familiar with the Norse legends and sagas, it is important to understand they
live against a backdrop unlike any other. The Greek Gods kept the Titans at
bay, and Christians look toward the return of Christ and eternity in heaven.
There was no such triumph in the North. Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods and
the end of the world awaited them. The world ended in fire and darkness, with
no visions of paradise beyond. To get a sense of what Ragnarok meant, watch
this short clip from the History Channel show Vikings, where a newly
arrived monk asks what Ragnarok is.
And of course, northern lore is filled with all sorts of
monsters and dragons from Grendel to Fafnir on top of the ice giants and
everyone else waiting to crash the whole world burning party. In a way, this is
not too different from the omnipresent evil that Tolkien saw through the 20th
Century. There is however, a major difference.
Whereas
the Twentieth Century saw evil arising primarily out of man (an internal
threat), the ancients saw it primarily as coming from beyond man, from the outside.
To be sure there were outlaws and oath breakers, the ancients were under no
illusions about the nature of man, but these men were not seen as world breakers
the way that 20th Century man saw himself. This is an important
difference in determining how you look at and understand evil. More will be
discussed on this next week when we look at how Christianity allowed Tolkien to
understand and in many ways resolve the contradictions between the ancient and
modern experiences.
Before
we go farther and jump into the tangled concept that is Wyrd, take ten minute
and watch this short summary of Beowulf. Seriously, it’s important and I think
you’ll enjoy it.
Wyrd is an interesting concept. It is similar to our concept of fate, but more
nuanced and less understood. The best way to look at it is to examine a quote I
have mentioned before, Beowulf’s remark that:
…Wyrd oft nereth
Unfaegne Eorl, thonne his ellen deah
…Fate often spares
The
Undoomed warrior, When his courage holds (my translation)
A purely logical academic might point out that, strictly
speaking, this is nonsense. Of course fate spares the warrior who it spares, it
is axiomatic. Why then, Tolkien might have responded, does Beowulf add the
qualifier “When his courage holds?”. If it is necessary for his courage to
hold, what happens to an undoomed man if his courage doesn’t? Conversely, what
happens to a doomed man whose courage holds.
What
emerges is a sense that an individual’s actions are important in determining,
in some way, the outcome and our fate, but not completely. For a sense of how
this plays out, let’s examine one of the more interesting discussions about
Beowulf: Who is the better ruler, Hrothgar or Beowulf?
Both
achieve their crown through martial prowess, both keep their people safe (the
sacred duty of northern kings) until they are challenged by a terrible monster,
Grendel for Hrothgar and the dragon for Beowulf. Both are vitally important to
the peace of their kingdoms, the poet mentions that after Hrothgar dies the
peace treaty falls apart and his people are destroyed and also that with the
death of Beowulf, all the surrounding nations that had been cowering from the
warrior all return to destroy Beowulf’s kingdom. But here is where they differ,
Hrothgar calls for aid to deal Grendel, thus surviving and securing several
more years of peace and prosperity for his people, while Beowulf fights the
dragon himself and is killed, dooming his people.
Some
point to this as evidence of Hrothgar knowing his limits, others point that it
highlights the no-win situations many heroes are placed in. But if fate is
predetermined, if the destruction of their people is inevitable, does it matter
what their choices are? Many modern academics would argue that it doesn’t, and
that was a prevailing view for many coming out of the Great Wars, but Tolkien
believed that the poets would disagree, and that they were right to do so.
This
leads into the third point, the looking back. I believe that Tolkien felt he
was looking back to the ancient poets that we still have in the same way that
they looked back on their predecessors. This is characterized by two things.
First a lack of “chronological snobbery”, as C.S. Lewis described it, and
second a certain puzzled confusion over things that did not make sense.
It is
an interesting literary fact that ancient literature looks back quite fondly on
history. Whereas the 20th Century is characterized by a disdainful
neglect of the past as it rushed on toward utopia, the old poets look
nostalgically back to a time when men were stronger, women wiser, and all
things better. More will be said about this also next week, but it is important
because it gives the past a voice. Modern skeptics, having rejected the past,
had neither the context in which to put the horrors of the 20th
Century nor the perspective to evaluate mankind as he stood among the rubble.
This abbreviated vantage point allows views to swing wildly between man as a
god building utopia to man as a demon, the agent of his own destruction.
The puzzled confusion will be apparent to those who have
read much of the legends. Ancient authors ideas appear vague on some subjects
or confused on others. Take the tale of Sigurd and Fafnir for instance. Sigurd
refuses to tell Fafnir his name, lest he be cursed. Yet only a few stanzas later,
Fafnir is apparently well read up on Sigurd and all his exploits, and no curse
is forthcoming.
Yet, as
a philologist, Tolkien also was able to pick out more subtle confusions. Take
for instance, this excerpt of the list from the Dvergatal (Tally of the
Dwarves) in the poem Voluspa.
"Orinn, Onarr, Oinn,
Miothvitnir,
Vigr og Gandalfr,
Vindalfr, Thorinn
Fili, Kili, Fundinn,
Vali…"
On an initial
reading, one’s eyes can quickly get bored and float over them, but as Thomas
Shippey points out in Author of the Century, what is Gandalfr or
Vindalfr doing on this list? They contain the element alf, meaning elf
which is “a creature in all tradition quite distinct from a dwarf” (16).Tolkien
apparently interpreted Gand as staff or wand, leading to a staff-elf,
and it is not far from there to a wizard.
There
are countless other instances where we could walk through such oddities that
gave rise to Tolkien’s creations, many of which are attempts to make sense of
things like Gandalfr. But those shall be addressed another time, in
another post. My point here is to try to give you a glimpse of what was working
in Tolkien’s mind as he created.
It may
seem like I’m leaving a lot of loose ends floating around, and I am, they will
be pulled together soon, but hopefully a picture is starting to emerge. Next
week we’ll look at how Tolkien’s faith allowed him to pull together and
understand the contradictions between the moderns and the ancients. Leave a comment (or comments) and let me know
if I’m missing something you’re curious about and I’ll see about plugging it
in.
Also
coming up next week, I’ll hopefully be ready to introduce my project for
NanoWrimo (hint, the main character is mentioned but not met in Dragon of
Kveldmir). Thanks for reading, don’t forget to follow my blog, and have a
wonderful weekend!
Here is the link to the Youtube Channel Overly Sarcastic Productions, where I got the Beowulf summary. I think I found my new favorite channel.
