Gawain: the comic 16-18

"'It is Morgan le Fay,' he said. 'It is difficult to explain her.'
'I should not try.'"
- T. H. White, The Sword in the Stone (1939)



I know, I know, these days my quotes all seem to come from the same two books. The trouble is that I started this quotes thingy (which I rather like, because it gives an entry a certain finish, you know?) for a story that is entirely new - that is, a story that doesn't exist in the legend. And so, although I have heaps of quotes about Morgana in a variety of books, I can't use all of them here because I'll need them when I get to those parts of the story that are actually being recounted in the books.

- Okay, so that sounds a bit muddled. Let's pass on the the next pages :-).

Oh, first I have to advertise a film. It's not my habit, but it's sort of appropriate, as the wonderful tales about the Irish church are part of my inspiration for this episode of my Gawain comic. Brendan and the Secret of Kells is a wonderful animation film - a beautiful 2D motion picture about a little Irish monk who saves the Book of Kells from being destroyed by the invading Vikings. He gets a helping hand from a fairy called Aisling - and a helping paw from Pangur Bán, the most famous cat in Irish history. The graphics are truly lovely; and of course I can't say anything bad about a story that claims that beautiful books are the most important thing in the world :-).



The film is an Irish/Belgian/French co-production. I am pleased as Punch that a good deal of it was realised by Belgian animators :D. The makers of Brendan don't belong to any of the major studios, but they prove that independent 2D animation deserves being invested in. Go look!
(Note: small children may find the scenes involving wolves and Vikings rather scary.)

Okay. Where were we? - Right, I was telling a story.

What went before:
Having been handed over by his father to Morgana the Fay, Gawain attempts an escape. Alas, the valley in which he finds himself is not called "Valley of No Return" without a reason. Gawain is not the only one stuck there, either: lying on the forest floor is a bunch of men. We left our little hero sitting disconsolately under a tree, where he is found by his strange aunt.

Pages 1-3
Pages 4-6
Pages 7-9
Pages 10-12
Pages 13-15

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