Gawain Project: Brothers & Sisters, p. 135

[sigune]

"We Made It" illustration: check.

Bookmark for Bookdepository: check.

Page 135: check - but only just. I apologise for the late posting hour and the hasty and less-than-stellar art (but would you believe I have recently had some equally hasty published work in my hands? That's no excuse for my own hasty stuff, but really...! *shakes head*). As it is, I'm happy I got to post at all...

I still need sleep. Which you can tell by the totally unintended innuendo in some of the stuff below :P.


***

A runaway slave boy begs Arthur to save his family from their Saxon masters. Cei doesn't trust the boy, but Arthur feels inspired. He decides to ride for Venta. And there he is going to do something everybody could have predicted. Some other people are going to try first though.




Concrit is still and always welcome :).

THE STORY SO FAR:

Part I: The Darkest Hour
1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, 19-21, 22-24, 25-27, 28-31, 32-35, 36-40, 41-44, 45-47, 48-50, 51-53, 54-57, 58-60, 61-64, 65-66, 67-69, 70-73, 74-75, 76-81, 82-84, 85-87, 88-90, 91-92, 93-97, 98-101, 102-103, 104-108, 109-111, 112-114, 115-119

Interlude: The Sword of Kings
1-4, 5-11


Part II: Sunrise
Brothers and Sisters
1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, 19-21, 22-24, 25-27, 28-30,31-33, 34-36, 37-39, 40-42, 43-45, 46-48, 49-51, 52-54, 55-57, 58-60, 61-63, 64-66, 67-69, 70-72, 73-75, 76-78, 79-81, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134.

Comments

[cabepfir.livejournal.com]

Well, it's difficult not to fall in innuendos while you talk about swords ;)

And I notice a particular design for Excalibur - have you invented it or is it a reference to something?

(Re: Published works today, let's cover this topic with a piteous veil...)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

(But I was really shocked! There is a series by Valp that I bought to support the author - the first was quite all right, but after that - she couldn't be bothered to draw properly anymore. Now Virginie Augustin in Whaligoë - the first book is really nice, but the second one: same story! I can understand being in a hurry because of deadlines, but one splendid book and one that is really sketchy?!)

The sword design is based on the sword of the Lord of Oss (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verbogen_Keltische_zwaard.jpg). I saw it, as well as a modern replica, at an exhibition and thought it was a stunning blade :D...

Yes, swords. It's not my fault if they tend to stick out at odd angles. I try to keep it decent, but... ;)

[ms-geekette.livejournal.com]

Whoa, that sword is pretty wild. And now I want to know why it was bent like that, too! :-D

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Archeologists surmise that swords were bent like that (this one is in a circle, which is kind of special, but most are just plied in two or three) to 'kill' the sword and thus make it pass into the Otherworld, where it could be used normally. So this sword accompanied its master into death. Often the weapons that are made unusable like this are really fine items and seemingly too fancy for use in real life. Many of them were brandnew too!

[ctd. in my reply to Cecilia below :)]

[ms-geekette.livejournal.com]

I really haven't delved in Celtic burial traditions (only am familiar with some ritual killings, like bog bodies), but that's neat that it could be a basis for King Arthur.

[cabepfir.livejournal.com]

Oh, why is the sword twirled around? That's really surprising for me.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

[See above for the first part :)]

So: this sword was ritually 'killed' so that its ghost might be used by its master in the Otherworld - but many more have been found in pools, lakes and rivers, in which they seem to have been thrown by way of offering or sacrifice. (There are MASSES of them in La Tène, but they are found all over the Celtic territory.)

And the good bit: it is believed that the idea of Excalibur as the sword that has to be returned to a lake has its origins in this practice :).