The Hectic Attic

One day, I lived a divine life
I lived among Gods, all around and inside me,
but this life proved to be too easy to a complex mind,
So, I went down, to live a less real life, but,

Arriving there, I found an enchanted life,
not so visible, but enchanted,
I lived among unicorns and fairies, in the midst of forests and rivers.
But that life was too ethereal for a body as physical as mine.
So, I walked … to live a less magical life, but more palpable.

Arriving there, I found a house of great splendor,
a palace, but magical,
I lived among kings and princesses, inside great halls and festivals,
But this life, was too cold for a warm heart.
So, I danced … to live a less noble life, but more palpable.

Arriving there, I found a battle field,
where I could feel the cold war and the heat of the bodies,
I lived among heroes and traitors, in the midst of swords and spears,
But this life, was too gray for someone with hope.
So, I run… to live a less heroic life, but more palpable.

Then I found the “hut”
Simple, where the moon shone silver, and the smells were as the feelings within me,
I lived between the divine love and the cold war,
however, this life proved in its colours and pain that my love and difficulties were worth to be experienced.
So, I died … the arms of the one I love
to live more real, magical, noble, heroic and divine life.

And then I met you …

To continue our Romance posts (and I am holding my fingers not to write about Shakespeare), I thought I should say something about Tristan and Iseult. Which is another very famous romance/ tragedy, which was very well explored by the media, and people tend to forget. Not me though….

Tristan and Iseult’s conflict of love and loyalty is one of the classic tales of Western literature; in the Arthurian tradition, their tragic trajectory rivals and complements that of Lancelot and Guinevere.
The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan (Tristram) and the Irish princess Iseult (Isolde, Yseult, etc.). The narrative predates and most likely influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere.

There are two main traditions of the Tristan legend. The early tradition comprised the French romances of two poets from the second half of the twelfth century, Thomas of Britain and Béroul. Their sources could be traced back to the original, archetypal Celtic romance. Later traditions come from the Prose Tristan (c. 1240), which was markedly different from the earlier tales written by Thomas and Béroul. The Prose Tristan became the common medieval tale of Tristan and Iseult that would provide the background for the writings of Sir Thomas Malory, the English author, who wrote Le Morte d’Arthur (c. 1469).

The story and character of Tristan vary from poet to poet. Even the spelling of his name varies a great deal, although “Tristan” is the most popular spelling. Most versions of the Tristan story follow the same general outline.

In English, after being mostly ignored for about three centuries, there was a renaissance of original Arthurian literature, mostly narrative verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tristan material in this revival included Alfred Tennyson’s The Last Tournament, one of his Idylls of the King; Matthew Arnold’s Tristram and Iseult; and Algernon Swinburne’s epic poem Tristram of Lyonesse. After World War II most Tristan texts were in the form of prose novels or short stories.

The basic story is one of mis-directed love: Tristan, the heroic nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, is sent to Ireland to escort the Irish king’s daughter, the beautiful Iseult, to Cornwall to become his uncle’s bride. In most versions, it is during the return voyage that Tristan and Iseult accidentally consume a love potion (meant to ensure Iseult’s happiness with Mark) together, and fall in love. Because Iseult’s engagement to Mark cannot be broken, she marries the king despite her love for Tristan, and the two lovers spend the rest of their lives attempting to satisfy their desire for each other without revealing that desire to Mark and the Cornish court.

If you would like to read one of the versions of this story, you can download the e-book here and also, if you like to read Tennyson’s Idylls of the Kingyou can download the ebook here

The story, as Romeo and Juliet, has caught attention of the media many times along the last century and has also been adapted into film many times. The earliest is probably the 1909 French film Tristan et Yseult, an early, silent version of the story and the most recent Tristan film is 2006′s Tristan & Isolde, produced by Tony Scott and Ridley Scott, written by Dean Georgaris, directed by Kevin Reynolds, and starring James Franco and Sophia Myles.

And let’s not forget the Pre-Raphaelites also loved this theme, as you can see in some of the paintings bellow: CLICK TO SEE THE FULL PAINTING

Picture: Deirdre of the Sorrows by Steven Brown

This was a very long weekend, since I didn’t work on Friday and it was followed by a Holiday on Monday. Everything was supposed to be perfect, except for the fact that I was in a place I didn’t want to be, and apparently alone. (Even though there were some people walking around).

In these moments I always tend to think “how could people live apart from their loved ones in ancient times?”, I think it was not easy, imagine your beloved travelled… It used to take days, months, if not years, and no internet, nor phone! Letters could take ages. I would never be able to live in such anxiety.

I think I would adopt desperate measures just like any other Heroine from famous romances.

Yes, I bet you thought of Romeo and Juliet, or maybe going a bit further Tristan and Iseult. But I want to go EVEN further… I always think of the Lady of Shalott and Lancelot, or the Celtic Myth of Deirdre.

Deirdre or Derdriu is the most tragic heroine in Irish mythology and pointed to be the inspiration to many other modern love stories (including Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet).

Deirdre was the daughter of the royal storyteller Fedlimid mac Daill. When she was born, Cathbad the druid prophesied that she would be the most beautiful woman in land, and that kings and lords would go to war over her, and Ulster’s three greatest warriors would be forced into exile because of her.

Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, decided to hide Deirdre in a place only Leabharcham, an old woman would know, so he could marry her when she was old enough. However, she fell in love with Naoise, a handsome young warrior, hunter and singer, who was accompanied by his two brothers—the sons of Uisnech. He and his brother run away to Scotland, but wherever they went the local king would try to kill Naoise and his brothers so he could have Deirdre. Eventually they ended up on a remote island, where Conchobar tracked them down.

He sent Fergus mac Róich to them with a message of safe conduct home, but on the way back to Emain Macha Fergus was waylaid, forced by his personal geis (a kind of curse) to accept any offer of hospitality. He sent them on to Emain Macha with his son to protect them. After they had arrived, Conchobar sent Leabharcham to spy on Deirdre, to see whether or not she had lost her beauty in her long years of travel.

Leabharcham, trying still to protect Deirdre from a marriage to Conchobar, told him she had lost all her beauty. However, Conchobar had sent another spy, Trendhorn, who told him that Deirdre was as beautiful as ever. The next day, Naoise and his brothers, Ardan and Ainle, faced Conchobar, aided by a few Red Branch Knights, before Conchobar evoked their oath of loyalty to him and had Deirdre dragged to his side. At this point, Éogan mac Durthacht threw a spear, killing Naoise, and his brothers were killed shortly after.

Frustrated by Deirdre’s lack of love for him, Conchobar offered her to Éogan mac Durthacht, the man who’d murdered Naoise.

She committed suicide by leaning out of her chariot and dashing her head against a rock. In some versions of the story, she died of grief.

The End

Well, I am certainly not going to jump out of the bus, but I have to admit she was quite brave to do that.

Although it’s a very ancient myth, this story inspired many authors such as Yeats to write plays about it.

There are four plays based on Deirdre’s story: George William Russell’s Deirdre (1902), William Butler Yeats’ Deirdre (1907), J.M. Synge’s Deirdre of the Sorrows (1910), and Vincent Woods’ A Cry from Heaven (2005). There are also two books: Deirdre (1923) by James Stephens and The Celts (1988) by Elona Malterre.

But if you would like to take a look into the complete story, here are some very good versions:

http://www.luminarium.org/mythology/ireland/deirdre.htm

http://www.dreamsofdeirdre.org/name.html

on a next post I’ll be writing more about Tistan and Iseult and the Lady of Shalott