Essays and travelogues about Medieval France and Italy, focusing on the legends of Charlemagne as well as an occasional post on anything else that strikes my fancy.
Joseph Campbell
famously described the commonalities of myths and stories told throughout the
world as “the hero with a thousand faces” meaning that regardless of the name
of the particular hero or the locale in which a monster was fought - there was
an underlying mythos capturing our imaginations. That is why heroic stories
persist throughout the ages and continue to be propagated for new generations.
One method that allows readers or audiences to recognize the significance of
what role each character plays in the story whether they are hero, ally or
adversary is by using stock figures or archetypes. I use the term archetype differently
than what was described by Carl Jung, so I am not limited to his set of twelve
archetypes. My use is more in line with recognizing stock figures that become
icons in literature and drama.
From the Ariosto Room in the Il Casino Giustiani Massimo al Laterano in Rome, Italy. Picture credit to Marco Ferrara.
Bradamante is the
niece of Charlemagne and a respected warrior maiden. Ariosto praises her beauty
as well as declaring her to be equal in “courage, might and expertise” to that
of her famous brother Rinaldo, (Orlando furioso, Canto II, verse 31).
Archetypically, I feel that Bradamante’s character had
two major influences. The first was the Greek Goddess Athena.
From the Louvre Museum in Paris.
She was the
goddess of wisdom and victory and known for her cool-headed strategic planning.
No man ever captured Athena’s heart.
The second influence was of the historical figure of
Joan of Arc or Jeanne d’Arc. I find that comparison more compelling and I feel
that it was not incidental, but instead a deliberate attempt by Ariosto to
invoke the parallels between the literary heroine and the real life French martyr.
Jeanne d’Arc who was burned at the stake in 1431 at the age of 19. She had been
known for riding a white horse, carrying a banner made of white fabric, was
called “the Maid,” had cropped hair and dressed in men’s clothing.
Jeanne d'Arc, St. Étienne Cathedrale in Cahors, France
Bradamante was a young woman, most likely a teenager, and is described as
having a white shield with a white plume (Orlando furioso, Canto I, verse 60) and is often referred to as
“the Maid.” The color white is known for the symbolic virtues of purity and
innocence. Bradamante also had cropped hair, due to a blow to the
back of her head by an enemy warrior near the end of Boiardo’s poem Orlando innamorato(Book III Canto v, verse 46) and a
hermit cut her hair to tend to the wound. (Book III, Canto ix, verse 61)
Ariosto neglected to
mention the length of Bradamante’s hair until finally in Canto 25 when her twin
brother Ricciardetto relates a tale to Ruggiero of how people commonly confuse
him and his sister Bradamante since they have such great resemblance to each
other. The confusion about her sex was compounded when she lost her tresses due to the head injury. (Orlando furioso, Canto XXV, verses 22-24)
Bradamante also disguised herself as a man when she approached
the thief Brunello at an inn and sought to have him serve as her guide to find
where Ruggiero was being held captive.
“Name, sex, race, family and place of birth
She hides, watching his hands for all she’s worth.” (Orlando furioso, Canto III, verse 76)
The greatest differences between Bradamante and Jeanne d’Arc
is that the literary heroine is revered by her king, never accused of
heresy, has a love life, and a much better fate than the historical figure.
Here are more artistic renderings of Bradamante.
Illustration by Gustave Doré based on Orlando furioso, Canto III, verse 9. (Doré was inspired to begin his drawings before reading the entire poem to discover in Canto XXV that Bradamante's tresses were cut to make her resemble a boy.)
Plate 20 by Jean Honoré Fragonard of Bradamant fighting Atlante on the hippogriff.
I happen to have purchased that image when a facsimile of it was sold on eBay. The scan is from my copy.
Of all the characters in Orlando innamorato and Orlando furioso, my favorite is Bradamante. She is a strong heroine who rarely loses her temper. Twice she gave into seeking revenge. Once was going after Martisino and the second was Pinabel. Both times she suffered due to her lust for vengeance. In Fate of the Saracen Knight, Bradamante hears rumors of Ruggiero being romantically involved with another warrior maiden. Will she suffer if she sets out on another quest for vengeance?
I had a rollicking good time talking with Professor Richard Scott Nokes over Skype on December 8th, 2018.
After finishing the interview, I realized that I had forgotten to bring up a few things I wanted to mention. I gave a lot of advice on the writing process and thought hyperlinks might be helpful for those interested in following up on them.
One aspect of the interview that makes this a little out of the ordinary was the time spent getting the tech stuff working. We spent over half an hour trying to get the Skype application to record. After several failed attempts, Professor Nokes got it working. He started to record, but I didn't see the banner at the top indicating it was recording. I didn't want us to begin talking in earnest and have to start all over again.
I mention this because that mistake on my part is the first half minute of the video. After we stopped talking Professor Nokes spent about an hour editing the raw footage and uploaded the unedited raw footage. D'oh!
What you really missed was the cool introductory musical theme song that precedes his interviews. To get you in the proper mood, here is the music you should hear before his interviews:
And here is a re-posting of the interview with time stamps of my annotations.
At 2:04 I mention that my series is based on the legends of Charlemagne that were told and retold in the south of France and north of Italy for several centuries. For those interested in learning more, Fordham University has a website dedicated to those legends.
2:55 I mention one of the most famous contributions to the legends of Charlemagne, The Song of Roland or La Chanson de Roland. Here is a link to Fordham University's online translation and a link to Amazon.com's trade paperback version.
3:50 I show my copies of Barbara Reynolds' translations of Orlando furioso. Here are links to those copies on Amazon.com Part One and Part Two. Those books are my preferred version of this epic poem. They are in verse and there is a lot of white space, so I find it easier to read. Guido Waldman has a one volume version, and it is written in prose. I find it difficult to read because the font is so small, and there is little white space. Here is a link to his version on Amazon.com
A free online version by Project Gutenberg can be found at this link. A fair bit of warning though. This is the William Stewart Rose translation. I started reading this epic poem by printing out a few cantos of this version and found it utterly confusing. Later, once I read the versions by both Reynolds and Waldman, I went back and checked a few choice passages. Rose refused to translate some of the bawdier ones. Bummer.
(As a side note: I do not recommend the latest translation of Orlando furioso by David R. Slavitt. That is because his publisher heavily abridged his work and deleted numerous cantos that cover the Bradamante and Ruggiero story. I disagree with the editorial decision to cut my favorite storyline from the poem, and so I cannot recommend that version. )
5:50 Professor Awesome asks me to define Saracen. Here is a link to one online definition from the Online Etymology Dictionary.
I use Saracen in my title as one of the magic terms that helps to conjure the genre, time period and meaning of the novel in as few words as possible. Fate is reminiscent of the Oracle of Delphi and those in Greek mythology trying to change their destinies. Saracen is a term that went out of use after the Medieval period. Knight is also a Medieval term used in regard to war and chivalry.
Together the three terms should help readers know this is an epic historic fantasy set in the Medieval period.
8:50 I show my copy of Orlando innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo, translated by Charles Stanley Ross. This is the full unabridged version by Parlor Press. Here is a link to Amazon.com's trade paperpack.
Warning: there is a previous edition by Ross that was abridged and did not include Book III of Boiardo's tale. Bradamante and Ruggiero meet in Book III, Canto iv. I was disappointed after finishing that abridged version to realize that it did not include the scene that I most wanted to read.
10:00 Discussion about fantasy elements in realistic settings. I realize in retrospect, I didn't really answer Professor Awesome's questions about this aspect of my story.
I agree that it is difficult to strike a balance between fantasy and realism. I am retelling a story about a war that never took place between the North African Muslim army and Charlemagne's Frankish army. My goal was to make the setting feel like Medieval Europe (and North Africa) that would include historically accurate details about Roman artifacts, cultural beliefs, religious restrictions, etc. And then, there is magic, but few have the ability to cast magical spells. They are: Atallah, Melissa, and Maugis. Aistulf was given a magical book which has allowed him to cast some spells, but he is not a wizard.
For the most part, the characters live in a realistic and non-magical world, but there are times when flights of fancy come into play. The flights of the hippogriff is the most notable.
Orlando furioso included iconic visits to the Underworld and the flight to the moon by Aistulf. I had to include them, but I wanted more realism in the storyline to at least help me to "buy the premise." I feel that if I can't buy it, I can't sell it.
22:15 I mentioned writing a Master's Thesis. For anyone interested in it, here's a link to Sonoma State University's library copy of The Cultural Evolution of the Cave Man.
And here is a link to the Fifth year Harry Potter Fic that I wrote back in 2003. It won the Readers' Choice Award for novel length story on the now defunct website Portkey.org
24:30 Question about how to begin becoming a writer.
And here is where my annotation, really takes off. There are many other aspects of the craft of writing that I learned over the years from belonging to my writers club. My branch has had workshops about various topic as well as talks at our monthly meetings or sessions in writers conferences. Each one of these topics is worthy of extensive blog posts or entire books.
***One thing that I meant to bring up in my discussion with Professor Awesome, but forgot are the sheets of paper affixed with blue painters tape to the wall behind me. Those are the months of June, July, August and September of the year 802. That was one way for me to determine when different plot events took place.
The calendar was found at www.timeanddate.com
This also includes the phases of the moon. I include that information
in my story. If there's a mention of a full moon, I'm not making it up.
And, if I have my characters do something outdoors at night and I don't
want a full moon's worth of light - I will make it rain or overcast or
foggy.
Using a calendar to structure your underlying
plot will give backbone to your story. I recommend all writers have a
beginning day and year in mind. Then establish your timeline of events
accordingly to that date. It will help you to avoid continuity errors.
I had a friend whose manuscript I read as a critique group partner. Her novel had the climax of her story being on the Thanksgiving holiday. The problem was that she had not been as careful in planning the events as she should have been and she had two Wednesdays worth of chapters. There was a line where she stated it was Wednesday, but I knew it wasn't. That's because I ground myself on the days of the week and other nitpicky details. I then gave suggestions as to how she could move certain events to still make her climactic events happen on the day she wanted.
The use of a calendar to determine the dates of plot points is something I recommend every writer use.
The calendars on my office wall are hard to see, but the events in the months of July and August
are written in pencil, because those already took place in Quest of the Warrior Maiden. Fate of the Saracen Knight takes place in the months of July and August. The different color Post-It notes represent different character POVs that are being represented in chapters or are background information for me to know who was where and doing what on that day. For example: blue is for Bradamante, dark orange is for Ruggiero, yellow is either Renaud or Aistulf, light orange is for Rodomont or Akramont.
I tend to write one action/adventure sequence before switching to a different character's action/adventure sequence. Later, to balance the work I will shuffle the chapters together. To achieve balance, I may have to switch the days of different plot points. Having those plot points on color coded Post-It notes helps me visually re-organize and balance my storyline.
Once I start working on Volume III, I will update those calendars and create new months. ***
Wattpad is another global forum for writers and readers.
So if you live in a rural area and/or cannot find any writers groups in your local area you can try one of those two online websites. Go schmooze, find like minded people and engage with them.
38:30 I recommended the book Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part by Michael Shurtleff. Oops. There are twelve guideposts for actors, I misspoke and said ten. Humor is Guidepost 4. Here is a small excerpt to demonstrate why I adore Shurtleff's book and his advice.
"Humor is not jokes. It is that attitude toward being alive without which you would long ago have jumped off the Fifty-ninth Street Bridge.
Humor is not being funny. It is the coin of exchange between human beings that makes it possible for us to get through the day. Humor exists even in the humorless.
There is humor in every scene, just as there is in every situation in life. There is humor in Chekhov (too seldom found) and even in Eugene O'Neill (virtually never found). When we say about a life situation, "And it's not funny, either," we are attempting to inject humor into a situation that lacks it. We try in life to put humor everywhere; if we didn't, we couldn't bear to live." - page 53
So yes, as writers, we need humor in our writing. Even if the only humor in a scene is gallows humor.
44:30 There was a mention of Medieval Conferences. I twice attended the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I delivered papers about Carolingian legends and Ariosto. I will be delivering another paper in May 2019 in a session organized by the Société Rencesvals. My paper is titled "To Die For:
Duels by knights in Orlando innamorato and Orlando
furioso over swords, horses, heraldic symbols, and women."
( I should at some point finish writing citations of the two papers I delivered at Kalamazoo and upload them to Academia.edu. One of my papers, "Ludovico Ariosto’s Legacy: Inspiring Countless Artists, Playwrights, Novelists,
Filmmakers, and Puppet Theater" was filled with images and the challenge I have is finding good online sources for those images and then go through the cumbersome process of MLA citation. That shows my work ethic that I don't want to publish a paper online without my citations being in order. That will probably wait until some rainy day when I am procrastinating from doing other writing.)
I think that's all for now.
Here's a reminder that the both Quest of the Warrior Maidenand Fate of the Saracen Knightare discounted in the month of December. If you know someone who loves reading and would like to fill their physical or digital bookshelves, please send them the gift of reading. Or give yourself a gift and be transported back to the time of Charlemagne.
Statue of Ludovico Ariosto in the Piazza Ariostea, Ferrara, Italy
Ludovico Ariosto was born September 8, 1474
"Of ladies, cavaliers, of love and war,
Of courtesies and of brave deeds I sing..."
-Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso
(translated by Barbara Reynolds)
Last year I
spent three weeks in Italy in research for my writing. The highlight of
my trip was spending an entire day in Ferrara. I walked miles that day
searching for sites associated with Ludovico Ariosto, Matteo Maria
Boiardo and the noble house of d'Este. Having spent years adapting
Ariosto's masterpiece into a series of novels for modern day audiences, I
wanted to surround myself in the beauty and charm of Ferrara and to
visit the places where Ariosto wrote. It was an inspirational trip and I
look forward to returning to Italy, hopefully in 2016 to help
commemorate the 500th anniversary of the original publication of Orlando furioso.
To help celebrate Ariosto's 540th birthday, my novel Quest of the Warrior Maiden
will have a special discount price during his birthday week. The
regular sale price is $4.99 for the ebook and $16.99 for the trade
paperback. For this week the e-book is only 99 cents at Amazon.com and the trade paperback at $12. The discounted price will be available until Sunday, September 14th.
Please share this information with your students, friends, colleagues, anyone who enjoys epic tales of chivalry.
I am also happy to share with you some good news about my book with the
following glowing review and mention of awards it has won.
"In Quest of the Warrior Maiden, author Linda McCabe
reveals an undeniable talent for creating a truly memorable and epic
fantasy saga incorporating memorable characters, cliff hanger suspense,
magic and Arthurian romance of the first order. Quest of the Warrior Maiden
is enthusiastically recommended reading and a first rate selection for
community library Science Fiction/Fantasy collections." - Julie Summers,
Reviewer - Midwest Book Review
AWARDS
• Winner - Best Historic Fantasy by the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA)
• Honorable Mention for Genre-Based fiction by the Hollywood Book Festival
For those wondering about the progress of the sequel, I am about a third
of the way through. I am currently writing about Aistulf (Astolfo)
chasing the Harpies into the Underworld.
My goal is to have the sequel finished in time for the 2016 Medieval
Congress and all of the celebrations marking the 500th anniversary
publication year of Orlando furioso.
In honor of Ludovico Ariosto's 539th birthday on September 8, 2013, I felt I should start blogging about my recent trip to the city of Ferrara, Italy. I visited there in June of this year.
I wanted to see as many sites associated with Ariosto, Matteo Maria Boiardo and their patrons - the noble house of d'Este - as was possible for the limited time I had available.
I had spent countless hours planning the sites to see, but alas, things do not always work out the way you hope.
I discovered there were apartments for rent in a building once owned by Ariosto. I reserved a room for three nights. My plan was to arrive in Ferrara after a day of sightseeing in Firenze, spend the next day exploring Ferrara, and the following day we would have a day trip to Ravenna.
I had wanted to sleep in a home that once belonged to Ariosto and hope I would become inspired by the experience.
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Historical marker for the current Cavallini-Sgarbi House
The Cavallini-Sgarbi House showing a covered walkway.
I was looking forward to that experience, but then Fate upended my plans.
Ferrara suffered from a large earthquake in 2012, and as luck would have it - the historical building I had reservations for wound up having maintenance scheduled to be performed during the time we were supposed to stay there.
These things happen. At least I learned about the conflict with adequate advance notice to secure a different place for us to stay. I am also grateful it was not a case of being At The Wrong Place At the Wrong Time and have something Truly Bad Happen, like the devastating earthquake that necessitated the seismic retrofitting. Instead, it was simply a disappointment and inconvenience for my family.
Here is an example of damage from the earthquake and the subsequent tremors has had in Ferrara. The picture is of a ceiling fresco in the Castello Estense.
I was surprised the first time I noticed tape on the ceiling, but then quickly understood why it was there. We asked a docent about the tape and our suspicions were confirmed as to its purpose. It is to prevent further cracking until restoration can be performed.
There was a lot of tape used throughout the castle on artwork. It serves as a sober reminder of how historical items are vulnerable to the power of Nature. They are not just pieces of art created centuries ago, but are precious items that need to be preserved for future generations.
We arrived in Ferrara on a Wednesday evening, but several hours later than we expected. Our connecting train in Bologna was late. Then again, most trains were late that day. One woman on the platform informed us that earlier in the day someone had thrown themselves upon a set of train tracks and it delayed all the trains in the region for at least an hour.
Once at the Ferrara train station, we had a taxi bring us to our B&B (bed and breakfast). It would have been a half hour walk, and dragging our luggage that far after being exhausted, and really hungry was not worth saving a few euros. Taking a taxi was a necessity and not a luxury at that point in time.
By the time we got to our room we were tired, our feet were sore from our sightseeing in Firenze and we were really hungry. The weather in Italy had been HOT for days and it added to our desire to find dinner, and go to sleep early in our air conditioned rooms.
My husband and son at that point in time were not all that interested in noticing the charms of Ferrara, but I came became revived once we left our baggage behind and started exploring the city. One aspect that I love about Ferrara is that it is a bicycle friendly city. There are cars and some Vespas, but bicycles seem to be the biggest method of transportation used by the people. They are not fine racing bikes, but instead generally old beat up bicycles with baskets on their front handle bars. They are utilitarian and get their riders from place to place over the cobblestone roads.
Rome has a frenetic energy about it which led me to the conclusion that traffic there is a blood sport. Crossing a busy street in Rome you must be wary. That sense of self-preservation extends to walking in the side streets as the drivers of cars and Vespas zoom past you with little regard to your safety. There were several occasions when I found myself hugging the walls in the back streets to avoid being hit by cars, scooters or motorcycles. Ferrara was a pleasant change of pace for me and I began to relax and appreciate the atmosphere of this historic city.
We walked past the Piazza Ariostea and I was enchanted by the sight of a statue of Ariosto and the moon.
Here is a close up of the inscription on the statue.
That night we ate at a local pizza joint. It was "okay, nothing special." At least we were served quickly and it was not expensive. Afterward, we walked back to our B&B and slept soundly.
The next day was my day to explore Ferrara. My teenaged son decided that he just wanted to relax, sleep in and not go exploring. That meant I was free to roam around the city.
My husband and I started the morning by walking down the Corso Porta Mare and passing the Piazza Ariostea again.
I enjoyed walking in the park and gathering spot for locals that was built dedicated in honor of my favorite poet. We continued on the Corso Porta Mare until we came to Corso Ercole I d'Este, named after the patron for both Boiardo and Ariosto.
On that street is the famous building Palazzo dei Diamante. There are thousands of diamond shaped marble bricks covering the outside of this building. The shadows cast by the diamonds change during the day due to angle of the sunlight making the building a large and complex sun dial. It is a spectacular sight, even if it seems a bit disorienting at first.
An up-close image of the Palazzo dei Diamante and the Renaissance street Corso Ercole I d'Este.
My husband and I walked down the Corso Ercole I d'Este until we came to the heart of the Renaissance city. I had to make a quick stop to see a Piazza named for another poet who also worked for the noble house of d'Este.
Alas, this piazza was nothing more than a parking lot.
The Piazza Torquato Tasso
We soon made it to one of the big destinations for me: seeing the castle where the Estes family lived.
It is an impressive sight.
I shall continue my travelogue about Ferrara in another post, lest this
become epic in size similar to the poems which inspire my writing.
I am happy to announce that I will be doing a reading and book signing at the English Bookshop in Milan.
Mark your calendars for Monday, June 17th at 6:30 pm, at the corner of Via L. Mascheroni and Via Lodovico Ariosto.
I blogged about this wonderful bookstore back in January. I had a wonderful chat with the store's owner, Peter Panton, and I am looking forward to seeing him again.
I was saddened to hear that he made the decision to close his store as of June 30th. It will be a great loss to the literary community in Milan. I am grateful that Mr. Panton agreed to hold an event so soon to his store's closing.
Please help spread the word to your friends and colleagues who live in Northern Italy about the book signing and also of the store's closing. I am certain Peter would like to hear from people about how his store has touched their lives over the last thirty-five years.
Another request I have is to contact him ahead of time for those who will be attending my signing so that he can better prepare the amount of chairs to set out and the number of books to order. The phone number isl: 02 4694468
Douglas Gallagher, Professor Richard Scott Nokes, Linda C. McCabe, Alexis E. Fajardo, Brandon Spars
I have a quick announcement before I give my report on the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies:
I will be doing a reading and book signing at the English Bookshop in Milano, Italy on Monday, June 17th at 6:30 pm. The address is 12 Via Mascheroni (the store opens on Via Ariosto!). Please help spread the word to anyone you know who lives in Northern Italy and might be interested in hearing me speak. Note: I do not speak Italian, so they would have to understand English. If they intend on coming, please let Peter Panton know in advance to help him determine how many chairs to set out and how many books to order. Another way to RSVP would be to send me an email or to join the event on my Facebook page.
Okay, back to my report:
I recently returned from my first ever Medieval Congress held on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
To give you an idea of how large this gathering is, here are a few statistics:
There are approximately 3,000 medievalists from all over the world who attend this four day annual event.
It is so large that it not a conference, it is a congress. I do not know at what point the classification changes from conference to congress, but perhaps it is with the sheer number of sessions offered.
If you couldn't find something you wanted to attend, you didn't look hard enough.
I grew up in the state of Michigan, but it was only after I moved to California and started reading medievalist blogs that I learned of this annual event.
It took a fair bit of advance planning over a year ago for me to be a participant in this year's congress. Thankfully, I found some like minded people who all happen to live in Sonoma County to agree to join me in a panel. We all had adapted the legends of Charlemagne in the hopes of introducing these tales to twenty-first century audiences. I also approached a regular attendee of these congresses and asked if he would be our organizer and preside over the session.
Schmoozing with Professor Richard Scott Nokes AKA Professor Awesome.
We were session #402 out of 582 sessions. I think we were lucky in our schedule because it was Saturday morning at 10 am. It could have been an evening session after the wine hour or we might have had an 08:30 am Sunday morning session when people are recovering from the popular Saturday night dance.
I helped Lex Fajardo staff a table in the exhibit hall. We took turns staffing the table during meal times and when one of us wanted to attend a session.
Lex Fajardo and me at the exhibit table
There were several sessions I attended that I want to highlight. The first was "Constructions of Women Warriors in Medieval Eurasia 2.0." In particular, there were two papers that seemed appropriate to my interest in the women warriors in Carolingian legends.
Suzanne Hagedorn of the College of William and Mary gave a paper titled "The Amazon as Temptress: Thalestris in the Alexander Romance Tradition." I had never heard of Queen Thalestris and the story of her approaching Alexander the Great asking to bear his child since she regarded him as being the epitome of male strength, valor and prowess.
It was an interesting paper and it that reminded me of a portion of Orlando furioso that I did not use in my novel. Canto XX details the history of an Amazonian tribe that warrior Queen Marfisa came across during her travels. Men were scarce in this tribe and those who were allowed to live after venturing near their shores had to pass tests of surviving combat with ten men in a single day and then satisfying ten women later that night.
(While this passage is interesting and humorous, it did not further my plot of Bradamante and Ruggiero's love story and so it was cut by me.)
The second paper from that session that I would like to mention was delivered by Diane Wright of Grand Valley State University. It was titled "Early Iberian Models of the Female Warrior: History, Myth and Legend."
I look forward to corresponding with Diane in the future about those legends.
Schmoozing with Professor Diane Wright
Another session I attended was the French Cultural Traditions in Italy: The Era of Andrea da Barberino. I do not speak or read Italian, so I was unfamiliar with the source material mentioned in the various talks. However, I met scholars interested in the Matters of France and how they were disseminated into Italy and Italian literature. I anticipate having a good correspondance with those contacts.
On Friday I attended a panel regarding E-publishing and Medieval Studies. I wanted to show support for Professor Nokes as well as meet Peter and Sandra from the wildly popular blog Medievalists.net fame.
Peter and Sandra from Medievalists.net and Professor Nokes
Saturday was the day of our session and while I had been hoping for better attendance, those who came were enthusiastic about our topic.
I spoke about the challenges of adapting two epic poems into a novel suitable for 21st century audiences. This included correcting continuity errors with geography, culling extraneous subplots, and balancing the needs of drama vs. historical accuracy.
Lex Fajardo discussed his approach to blending the Beowulf story with heroes of other legends in a graphic novel form. In his Kid Beowulf series, Beowulf and Grendel are twelve year old twin brothers and his stories are "prequels" to the classic legends.
Lex showing images from the prologue of his first graphic novel Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath
Doug Gallagher discussed how he and his students adapted Orlando furioso into a stage production using Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon as a soundtrack.
Doug showing a picture of the many visual elements of that incredible stage production.
Brandon Spars then talked about how he taught the Song of Roland to his class. It involved using a tin foil horn as a prop as he read the classic poem and then squirting ketchup on his face to simulate Roland's temples bursting. I am sure none of his students will forget that day's lesson.
Brandon Spars with "blood" on his face
After our session, I participated in a lunchtime roundtable discussion sponsored by Kalamazoo's local independent bookstore Kazoo Books. There were seven (or eight?) authors on the panel discussing writing historical fiction. Most of the authors were also professors, and I believe I was the only one whose genre extended into the fantasy realm. There was a good give and take between the presenters and the audience who asked some thoughtful questions. For the next two days I had people who recognized me from that talk and I was able to extend the conversation with them about our shared love of books.
Here are two other photos of people that I met who helped make this a special time for me.
Here I am with Medievalist blogger and grad student Jennifer Lynn Jordan
I had read Jennifer's Per Omni Saecula blog for many years and grew to appreciate her humor and love of all things medieval. It was even better meeting her in person. She's cool and I hope once her busy academic year is over that we can share a bad medieval movie mash up like she did once with Carl Pyrdum.
I had so many wonderful conversations with medievalists from all over the globe. I was thrilled to meet Italian and French medievalists so that I could talk about the legends of Charlemagne with them since it is a part of their shared heritage.
I also met a man who is descended from the Noble House of d'Este.
Yes, as I read his name badge, I asked James Estes if he was a descendant to the patrons of Boiardo and Ariosto. He admitted that he was.
This led to a spirited exchange with many laughs and this photo.
Schmoozing with James Estes, descendant of the patrons of Ariosto and Boiardo
How many times do I have the opportunity to geek out over the Noble House of d'Este?
More photos from the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies can be found on my novel's official Facebook page with this open link. (Meaning you don't have to be a member of Facebook to see this album.)
I plan on going back to the Medieval Congress again, but perhaps in 2015 to help spur on the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the original publication of Orlando furioso. Plus by that time, I should have my sequel published.
Please let me know your experiences with the Congress and any other pages with photos, remembrances, etc.
For several years I have seen blog posts by Professor Richard Scott Nokes about all the fun he has had at the annual Medieval Congress held in Kalamazoo, Michigan on the campus of Western Michigan University.
This year I am going to join him.
Correction, this year I am going to be in a panel discussion where Professor Awesome will be our moderator.
This will be Session #402 out of 582 sessions.
"Carolingian Legends: Adapting Medieval and Renaissance Literature for Twenty-First Century Audiences" on Saturday, May 11th, 10-11:30 am in Room 2355 Schneider.
The panel will consist of Alexis E. Fajardo, author of the Kid Beowulf series,
I will be discussing adapting my novel Quest of the Warrior Maiden from the epic poems Orlando innamorato and Orlando furioso,
as well as Douglas Gallagher and Brandon Spars of Sonoma Academy who produced an incredible musical adaptation of Orlando furioso set to the soundtrack of Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon."
It should be a fun round table discussion. We hope to inspire medieval literature professors in their preparations to have a grand celebration of the five hundredth anniversary of the publication of Orlando furioso in 2016.
I would enjoy meeting up with other medievalist bloggers at the Congress. Please drop me a line here or attend my session. Lex and I will also be vendors, so you can try to find us there as well.
If anyone has any suggestions about these Congresses and what to expect, I would enjoy hearing about it. I have attended other conferences, but never one with so many sessions and an expected three thousand attendees.
The inspiration for my novel Quest of the Warrior Maidenwas due to my
previous obsession with the Harry Potter series.No really, it was.
I
spent several years re-reading and studying the series before it was
complete.I formulated theories
and shared them online with other likewise obsessed fans.I wrote fanfiction fleshing out my
wacky theories as to where I thought things might go in the fifth year. I was
also drawn into speculating about the significance of romance in the series. I
became convinced that it was not just an amusing subplot, but that the Power of
Love was integral to the resolution of the storyline. I became drawn into the
shipping debates.
"Shipping"
is a slang term used when fans advocate for romantic relationships of
characters in a series. I believe the term dates back to the original Star Trek
series days when fans wrote their own stories about Spock, Captain Kirk, etc.
As
I debated ship in the online debates, I became a notorious defender of the
Harry/Hermione (H/Hr ship) with my numerous and lengthy (!) essays. I was even
a participant in the only live ship debate held at a Harry Potter symposium in
Orlando, Florida back in 2003.
One
of the theories floated by my H/Hr shipmates was the idea that hippogriffs were
a symbol of love.(A hippogriff is a mythical creature who is the offspring of a griffin mating with a mare and so the front portion is of an eagle with wings and the back is of a horse.) Some of my shipmates suggested that Harry and Hermione flying alone together on the back of a
hippogriff indicated a strong symbolic image of a future romantic pairing.
I
decided to follow up on that possibility and read the epic poem Orlando
furioso since it was the first time in literature a hippogriff was used as a
character.I doubt that I would
ever have read Orlando furioso had I
not participated in the online Harry Potter fandom debates.
I
had no real expectations when I began reading this classic, but largely
forgotten poem.I discovered a
sprawling tale with an immense cast of characters and multiple interweaving plotlines.Think of it as a medieval fantasy of
swords and sorcery set against a backdrop of a holy war between Muslim and
Christian forces in the time of Charlemagne.The poet engaged his audience with one intense duel between
famed warriors and then stopped at an exciting part to then pick up where he
left off on a different storyline that had been previously paused with
something like, "Let us leave Rinaldo and Gradasso's fight here and go
back to Orlando who when we last saw him was battling..."
My
first attempt at reading this poem was using a public domain version that can be
found online for free and translated by William Stewart Rose.I found the nineteenth century language
to be stiff and difficult to follow.That's being kind, I found it confusing and I became easily lost.I found the story much easier to
understand once I got my hands on the Penguin Classics version translated by
Barbara Reynolds.
Reading
her translation, I became immersed in a Medieval world of knights.I was captivated by the love story of
the kick-ass heroine Bradamante and the virtuous knight Ruggiero.I skimmed storylines featuring other
characters and anxiously awaited the return of the Bradamante and Ruggiero
plotline.
My
original intent of reading Orlando
furioso was to see the usage of the hippogriff in context and I recognized that
this mythical creature symbolized the impossible love between Bradamante and
Ruggiero.
Bradamante
is the niece of Charlemagne and Ruggiero is a Saracen warrior descended from
Hector of Troy.They are both
respected warriors, but theirs is an impossible love since they sworn to serve
opposing leaders in the midst of a holy war.
Hippogriffs
are the personification of impossible love.The first mention of a hippogriff dates back to Virgil's Eclogues where it is mentioned in a few lines in the eighth eclogue:
"soon shall we see mate
Griffins with mares, and in the coming age
Shy deer and hounds together come to drink."
Here is the pertinent background legend:Griffins were known as fierce protectors of gold and
avengers of evil.The legendary
one-eyed Arimaspi rode on horseback while raiding gold guarded by griffins
which was the source of the long standing enmity between griffins and horses.Hippogriffs are the offspring of the
impossible love between griffins and mares.
Bradamante is a fierce warrior maid who has the difficult task of
maintaining her reputation and honor while at the same time rescuing her
beloved who is being held prisoner.That's right, the maiden rescues a knight who is locked away in a
castle.
I loved that reversal in plot conventions and was impressed that
literature included such a powerful female character.That this story featuring such a strong female was written
centuries ago by a man impressed me even more.
There were many powerful obstacles to Bradamante and Ruggiero's
ultimate union.I remember being
overcome by emotion when I read one of the ending passages of this poem where
Ruggiero was willing to die out of love for Bradamante.I was reading this on my lunch break,
and crying on the patio.
Upon
finishing the story, I wondered why I had never heard of Bradamante and
Ruggiero before.I felt this
literary couple deserved to be as well known as Tristan and Isolde or Arthur
and Guinevere.
After
publication of Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince, and the online interview that dispelled all doubt as to
JKR's planned romantic pairings, I was disinterested in continuing my same
level of active participation with the HP fandom.I needed a new writing project and it was then that I
remembered my desire to see the Bradamante/Ruggiero love story reach a larger
audience and became inspired to adapt this classic work. That was the
genesis for the writing of my novel.
I began reading extensively about Medieval
history and Charlemagne. To
further my research, I traveled to France to see the settings of my story and
discovered real life magic in the Midi Pyrenees region. I scoured many museums,
trekked hilltop villages and castle ruins.My novel became infused with detail that I could only learn
from being there in person.
Quest of the Warrior Maidenis the first book in the Bradamante and
Ruggiero two volume series.So for
those who enjoy epic historic fantasy, please consider reading this saga of
chivalry, secret romances, betrayal, revenge and magic.
