The Hole of the Moon

S01 — Session 23

1626, Sea Season


Season, Week, Day

1626, Sea Season, Harmony week Fireday

Dramatis Personae


Events

As before, the log will be recounted with extracts from Berra JarangsdottiHumaktisaga, from The Lay of Serala, Lance of the Cold Sun , The Death of Rajar, and NalaTiwrSaga. As with last time there will be extracts from the Sonnets to Varanis, and also The Sonnets to Mellia, Sweetest of Healers, White Lady of Esrolia, additionally, we will be seeing the Sonnets in Praise of Xenofos. Editorial commentary will be recorded [thus]. Both the {“D”} and “T” voice appear in this selection of extracts.

[Greetings. I trust you all enjoyed and indeed survived your Winter Festivals of your choice. This is the last lecture of the year, and I promised you a treat. So, here we are, the various relative versions of The Battle of Nochet. I wonder if you would care to put a small wager or two on how, precisely, various poems will differ. Let us begin with the Sonnets to Varanis.]

Girding gilded gold1Charrington, in her usual sardonic fashion, observes that here the poet was clearly either hiccuping or was drunk as the proverbial unicorn. See., e.g., Catullus 27 (https:en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Catullus_27). rapier to her waist,
and clenching Spear and shield in fearsome haste
Varanis called her noble allies bold
That Lunars part of ancient Nochet hold

Her passion called unto her Goddess strong
To strike and slay this taint of chaos’ wrong
Thus God inspired she called her heroes band
To be as weapon in her awesome hand

Her lawful anger rent the very air
But all her men she plac’d with ice cold care!
Before her hand, bronze bound oak split like naught
And in her anger, Red Bound foes were caught!

Like unto dervish struck her mighty band
First Rajar bull carv’d axe in muscled hand
Then Berra, like a cold avatar of death
And Serzeen, fighting wasting ne’er a breath!

Serala as a beauteous war’ior queen,
Xenofos, sword writing hist’ry as it’s seen
Dormal, a sharp eye’d guide to warfare’s art
Lanasha, dear to Vinga’s noble heart

And flying o’er the battlefield below
Koraki, we in other sonnets know
But best of all, is Vinga’s greatest Lord
Who purgテΛd all of Nochet with her sword!

[If we compare this with another pro-Saiciae narrative, Sonnets in Praise of Xenofos we see a lot in common, although Xenofos gives rather more detail.]

Brave Xenofos2There is no direct evidence to support the hypothesis that the Xenofos named in the sonnets would be the author Xenofos whose lost history The Fall has been paraphrased by later historians of late Lunar Empire. stood forth his armour bright
His3A male protagonist in Esrolian warrior poetry might indicate that males occasionally had a more significant role in military affairs than hitherto assumed by the majority of scholars. Whether said Xenofos is representative of a larger male warrior group ignored by other sources in matriarchal society, a break in the societal and cultural norms of his day or – most likely – sarcastic critique of the values of Esrolian hero poetry, ridiculing their normal protagonists and their ideology by carnivalistically presenting the most unlikely hero possible, remains subject to further study and even then, due to the fragmentary nature of our sources, may regrettably not be conclusively solved. wisdom’s gleam a beacon in the night!
He stood against the men of fourth cohort
And when the Bull was struck he bravely fought!

Alone, like brave Humakt on the gate he fought
He soared as well as any Orlanth sought!
And landed light as any feather’s kiss
And show’d himself aware of battle’s bliss!

As sign of which the dread Gods warm embrace
Was shar’d with Berra in that rising place
And she, prostrate before his fighting skill
Entreat’d him rest, and take a moment still4This verse is highly debated as it seems entirely out of character for the Berra of Berra JarangsdottiHumaktisaga. Of course, that saga is thought to consist of an enormous amount of hyperbole..

[So far, so fairly typical. However, if we continue and examine The Lay of Serala, Lance of the Cold Sun we see a not unusual disparity.]

By magic lunars into Nochet came, with many a regiment of mighty men
How came they there? It lies without a God loveing priestess’ ken
But there they stood, in fortress of a magic shell
Which risked to make the city from a heaven into hell!

Serala like a great colossus stood, and urged
The queen that this pus filled abscess then by purged!
Her lance would cleanse it, and her blade divide
The secret cords behind which evil moonlords hide!

Like sunbeam she strode into the fort ahead
Her angry stares alone did strike a dozen dead!
With sword she laid low twice a score before
The beast Onjur lunged out from ‘neath the floor!

“Beware!” yelled Dormal, with his only breath
Before the Redlord struck him near to death!
But his cry was all that Cold lance needed
And her great blow showed his warning heeded!

{“Watch out! He’s c…. bleuh.”}

Great it was, but great his sword swung right back
And whilst her sword was part turned by iron tack
His bit deep, and cursing to her knee she fell
And yet he feared her skill would send him down to hell

And so he fled her anger keen and flew against her friends
But they inspired by Cold Lance would make him end
And so, his henchmen in their dozen slain before
They turned their swords ‘pon him, drenched in Gore.

So craven fled he, clutched to his Whore Goddess breast
Whereas Nochet was by Yelmalio’s cool hand bless’d
For where Serala led the righteous furiou’s fray
All opposition, all fortresses, before her melt away!

[If we compare these, we see themes, but there are relatively few points in common. This is exacerbated if we bring in Berra JarangsdottiHumaktisaga]

Lunar Lair Lurks
Leeching life from land
Bold Berra bravely
Bore biting blade

Past paingiving portal
Pacing into Pelorian post
Giving guardians gore
Gift of God’s Good Healing5 This is presumably ironic, as Berra’s God was Humakt, his good healing may well be death.

[Naturally, Rajar’s response in The Death of Rajar is rather more terse]

Calling Berserking
But your foe flees by Goddess,
Utterly Runed

[So, how did Dormal survive this encounter with a Scimitar Lord, I hear you ask? Well, we might expect to see our answer in The Sonnets to Mellia, Sweetest of Healers, White Lady of Esrolia, but this seems not to be the case, for if Dormal was indeed ‘struck near to death’, then we find the following in Mellia’s sonnets.]

Into war’s red cruel wrack and ruined gore
Strode Mellia, White balm to wounds as before
Past Onjur, unfearing called to dire need
Where Dormal slept, Serala’s bright blood bleed

She heal’d the Lance, and bade the Storm Bull sleep
And at the death and losses, later weep
But now White Lady as the people call
She strode to heal them as they bleeding fall//

[Meanwhile, Nala appears to have been busy in an academic setting, which is an odd juxtaposition for a presumably illiterate Praxian proto-shaman.]

Nala goes hunting.
Oath-sworn, information comes
from prune-faced priestess.

Perched on a chair, her
intelligence undisguised,
she watches and guides.

The earth窶冱 presence bound
in her body; the long wait
to bring truth to ground.

[One assumes she went without her mount.]

“Alllllll by myseeeellllllf. Don’ wanna be….. Allllll by myseeeeeeeeeeeelf.
Anymore!”

What Really Happened

Session Quotes


  • 1
    Charrington, in her usual sardonic fashion, observes that here the poet was clearly either hiccuping or was drunk as the proverbial unicorn. See., e.g., Catullus 27 (https:en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Catullus_27).
  • 2
    There is no direct evidence to support the hypothesis that the Xenofos named in the sonnets would be the author Xenofos whose lost history The Fall has been paraphrased by later historians of late Lunar Empire.
  • 3
    A male protagonist in Esrolian warrior poetry might indicate that males occasionally had a more significant role in military affairs than hitherto assumed by the majority of scholars. Whether said Xenofos is representative of a larger male warrior group ignored by other sources in matriarchal society, a break in the societal and cultural norms of his day or – most likely – sarcastic critique of the values of Esrolian hero poetry, ridiculing their normal protagonists and their ideology by carnivalistically presenting the most unlikely hero possible, remains subject to further study and even then, due to the fragmentary nature of our sources, may regrettably not be conclusively solved.
  • 4
    This verse is highly debated as it seems entirely out of character for the Berra of Berra JarangsdottiHumaktisaga. Of course, that saga is thought to consist of an enormous amount of hyperbole.
  • 5
    This is presumably ironic, as Berra’s God was Humakt, his good healing may well be death.