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Interview: Kindreds
Into the Wonder: Your friend, Danny, thought I would like to interview you, Bryn. I hope that’s all right.
Bryn: Any friend of Danny’s is a friend of mine.
ITW: He speaks very highly of you.
B: Pooka and huldra, field and forest. We make a pretty good team.
ITW: And yet you seem so different. And not just your personalities. The more I learn about Your Kind, the more I’m amazed at how different you all look.
B: Part of that is magic. We can pretty much look however we want. And then, a lot of us are really into body modification.
ITW: You mean like piercings and tattoos?
B: Piercings, tattoos, hooves, antlers… The sky’s the limit, really. And, of course, the different kindreds all have their own particular look, if you know what I mean.
ITW: Kindreds? You mean different types of fae?
B: Presactly. Our Kind live all over the world, and we’re just as diverse as you people. Topsiders, I mean. And most of us value our heritage. Oh, not that I would think any less of Danny, for instance, just because he’s a pooka. But we all have our own ways, our own magics. It’s something to take pride in, you know?
ITW: And somehow, you all manage to get along?
B: Well, I’d say most of us at least try to stay out of each others’ way. There are some of Our Kind who are best left alone. Know what I mean? There’s no need to go asking for trouble.
ITW: So, some fae are more…agreeable…than others?
B: Isn’t it like that among you people?
ITW: Touché.
B: I think I like you, sweetie. You’re real easy to talk to.
ITW: Erm…thanks.
B: Is something the matter?
ITW: No, it’s just…well…
B: It’s the tail, isn’t it?
ITW: I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to stare.
B: Aw, you’re blushing! How cute! But it’s okay. Really. It’s just part of who I am. Nothing to be embarrassed about.
ITW: You’re very kind. I think that’s enough for now, though. This has been very enlightening. Shall I see you to the door?
B: Such a gentleman!
ITW: I’m a married man, Bryn. I’d appreciate if you’d stop batting your eyes at me.
B: Sorry. Force of habit.
ITW: Now you’re blushing.
Top TenEleven Cool Old Guys
Today is my birthday, and I’ve been thinking about the kind of old guy I want to become, because it’s happening faster than I would have imagined twenty years ago! In chronological order, here are some cool old guys from whom I could stand to learn a thing or two:
1. Yoda. He’s short. He’s not that handsome. But he’s got that whole “power of the force” thing going, and could kick some serious heinie in his (relatively) younger days. Plus, I think I edited something he wrote once.
2. Melchizedek. According to rabbinic tradition, he is the patriarch Shem under an assumed name. In any case, he is the ultimate mysterious stranger, “without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of life or end of days,” who arrives out of nowhere to bless Abram and show him hospitality.
3. Nicholas of Myra. Lover of children, giver of gifts, exiled and imprisoned for his faith. He once even punched out an Arian heretic. According to some, he spends his retirement years distributing toys to good little girls and boys.
4. Atticus Finch. Loving father, brilliant lawyer, champion of justice.
5. Sherman Tecumseh Potter. Ex-cavalryman and exemplary army surgeon. Beloved father-figure to everyone under his command.
6. Emmett Lathrop “Doc” Brown. Inspired though eccentric scientist and inventor. If you’re going to build a time machine, why not put it in a Delorean? He realized his dream of living in the Old West, where men were men and women looked like Mary Steenburgen.
7-8. Arva S. Pursiful Jr. and Darrell T. Pursiful. What can I say? My father is and my paternal grandfather was a cool old guy. Devoted husbands, fathers, and grandfathers; among the top in their chosen professions; able to know when to be serious and when to joke around. They’ve given me some mighty big shoes to fill.
9. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Flawed yet honorable. He never stopped learning. He never stopped risking something big for something good.
10. Johnny Cash. An almost perfect synthesis of Saturday night and Sunday morning.
11. Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Just because I wish I could pull off that head slap thing he does and/or magically appear behind someone who’s talking about me.
Tolkien’s Dragons
Anne Marie Gazzolo, guest author at Mythic Scribes, has written a very informative article on dragons in the imagination and writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. Here is a sample:
The great worms will ever live in the world of Faërie, and we can enjoy them from the safety of our favorite reading place. But as we shiver in delighted terror, let us not forget what they can also teach us.
In presenting Smaug as the personification of the destructiveness of avarice, Tolkien shows us the ugliness of materialistic greed. The dragon jealously guards his treasure but does not enjoy it, cannot possibly use it, and does not even know what has true value and what is just a trinket. Even so, he does not wish to share his amassed wealth with anyone. His overreaction after discovering that the cup Bilbo stole is missing is almost as bad as Gollum’s regarding the Ring, and it grows much worse.
Sunday Inspiration: Writing
You must not believe all that authors tell you about how they wrote their books. This is not because they mean to tell lies. It is because a man writing a story is too excited about the story itself to sit back and notice how he’s doing it.
—C. S. Lewis
Watch a Danish Archer Outshoot Legolas
This video filled me with wonder. What was ancient and medieval battlefield archery like? If Lars Andersen is any indication, maybe a lot faster and more rip-roaring than we may have envisioned.
Pookas: Shapeshifting Irish Tricksters
The word “pooka” (or phouka, puka, etc.) derives from Gaelic púca, meaning “spirit, ghost, or goblin.” Originally an earth-spirit associated with fields and herds, these beings are best known as trickster figures, either malevolent or simply mischievous. The worst among them have been accused of crimes including child molestation, kidnapping, and murder.
Pookas often pass through the mortal realm invisibly, but they are also accomplished shapeshifters. A pooka’s animal form is almost always a type of animal that lives in close proximity to humans: cats, dogs, horses and ponies, goats, cattle, rabbits, etc.—another indication of their original agrarian connection. In Waterford and Wexford, however, they have been known to take the form of a huge eagle. No matter the form, its fur or feathers are almost always dark.
As an agricultural spirit, pookas are associated with Samhain, the Gaelic harvest festival when the last of the crops are brought in. The pooka is acknowledged to have a right to anything that remains in the fields after November 1, “the pooka’s day.” Thereafter, pookas might render crops inedible or unsafe—perhaps by spitting or defecating on them. In some locales, reapers leave a small share of the crop to placate the hungry creature.
Pookas can also be helpful to farmers. In at least one story, pookas helped a poor farmer by milling his grain for him in the dead of night.
The Border Region has a variety of pooka known as a brag. These beings are noted for their kindness to animals. They still enjoy playing tricks on humans, however.
Plato or Dumbledore?
DISCOVERY: that the addition of “Harry” to almost any Plato quote makes it seem legitimately like a nugget of wisdom out of the mouth of Albus Dumbledore.
“Death is not the worst that can happen to men, Harry.”
“Harry, good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.”
“He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it, Harry.”
“Harry, how can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?”
“Harry, astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other.”
“He was a wise man who invented beer, Harry.”
Percy Jackson Confession
Adrian Murdoch speaks for many:
The Percy Jackson novels by Rick Riordan are essential reading for any classicist. I claim to buy them for the kids – they are nominally aimed at children – but instead devour them myself as soon as they are published.
Indeed.
This Must Be Commonwealth Week
Yesterday’s statistics: About one third of activity on this blog was generated by Canadians! Since I grew up in Michigan (where I could practically see Canada from my house), I’m quite honored. So now maybe I’ll also have to develop a subplot involving wendigos or maybe a pagwadjinini or two. 🙂
Chupacabra Sighting?
I’m going to vote No, but have a look and see…
Darrell J. Pursiful 