Anglo-Saxon Alamo

[pegkerr]

I am re-reading John Myers Myers' Silverlock (I'll do a complete report on it when I do my monthly book list) but just wanted to say that I was totally charmed by the account of the death of James Bowie at the Alamo done in Anglo-Saxon blank verse, which includes, in part:

Gathered the garrison, gave them his orders:
"Houston the Raven is raising a host;
Time's what he asks while he tempers an army.
Never give up this gate to our land.
Hold this door fast, though death comes against us."
. . .
Bold thanes were with him, thirsty for honor,
Schooled well in battle and skilled in all weapons;
Avid for slaughter there, each against thirty,
They stood to the walls and struck for their chieftains,
Houston and Bowie, the bearcat of heroes.
. . .
at last some found him,
Fettered to bed by the fever and dying,
. . . Gladly they rushed him, but glee became panic.
Up from the grip of the grave, gripping weapons,
Gizzardbane rose to wreak his last slaughter,
Killing, though killed. Conquered, he won.
. . .
In brief is the death lay of Bowie, the leader
Who laid down his life for his lord and ring giver,
Holding the doorway for Houston the Raven,
Pearl among princes, who paid in the sequel:
Never was vassal avenged with more slayings!



-- from "The Ballad of Bowie Gizzardbane"



I wonder what the heck Tolkien would have made of it. My hunch is that he might have admired it. It is certainly in keeping with one of the great themes of Anglo-Saxon poetry, the berserker courage of men facing a hopeless end (the sort of spirit he tried to evoke with the story of King Theoden choosing to ride out of Helm's Deep).

Strange to structurally compare the legend of the end of the Alamo, and the myth of Raganok. Anglo-Saxon scops would have recognized it as the same story.

Comments

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

I...have no words. That is just...wow.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Yah, Silverlock is all about the embedded poems. Sort of like a musical, where the story just exists to provide an opportunity for the cast to burst into song periodically. Richard was particularly taken with the song about Gilgamesh ("I remember bawdy days, when the earth was ringing//Tamas, Gilgamesh and I, clinking cups and singing...") Some filker set it to music once, and Richard used to sing it to our kids as a lullaby.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

How absolutely fricking marvelous that is.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

A former coworker of mine performed that one at Burns Night one year... wish I'd been there to hear it.

However, my favorite, being a rower, is "East of Agamemnon", and one of my all-time favorite quotes about rowing is in that book:

"Of all sports, rowing offers the least to outward seeming. It is hard work unleavened by variety. Worse, a man attending to business can’t see where he is going. The pleasure compensating for this madness is at once simple and subtle. A need of men, generally denied, them, is to feel a part of something which works smoothly and well. In a mated crew the ideal is reached, the feeling of perfection passing back and forth from the individual to the team like an electric current. Until exhaustion breaks the spell, there is no more to be desired."

Mostly I row in a single, these days, but that's the perfect description of a good crew, right there. It's like singing in a choir that's exactly on key.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

You needn't be a rower to enjoy East of Agamemnon. It's a good walking-to song as well when you need to pess the pace. (My paperback copy is older than all but one of the people on my FL.)

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

I must have lost ten copies to friends who picked it up and couldn't stop. I have a PB but would LOVE a nice HC version.