In which I was awesome and still dodged responsibility; also, I am all a-squee
Mists Bardic was on Saturday. I competed, felt good about all of my performances, and still managed to dodge the responsibility-bullet - it hit Derile this year. Bwahahaha! I had a ton of fun with the competition itself, got plenty of sleep the night before, had all of my prepared pieces ready before I got to site, and thoroughly enjoyed the feast. Seriously, it was fabulous: Branwen did four courses based on period literary references and I don't think a single dish hit the table that wasn't at least decently tasty, and most were delicious. The gyngerbrede balls, the pears in red wine, the buttered wortes (greens) and the chicken in pine nuts and honey were the highlights for me. Also, the roasted pork nearly melted in my mouth.
My competition pieces were as follows:
Period piece: Alegria, Alegria (Cantiga #425 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria) - Incidentally, I did the beginning of this piece for Francisco as he entered court for his Pelican ceremony at Purgatorio.
Piece in a period style:
Fields of the Dead (Rondel)
Like monks at prayer, their hooded heads bowed low,
no more to turn their faces to the sun,
the figures of the dead, in withered dun,
stand watch in dusty silence, row on row,
along the lonely road. Why stand they so,
unmoved since their observance had begun,
like monks at prayer, their hooded heads bowed low,
no more to turn their faces to the sun?
A mystery that only God can know.
They have no earthly duties left undone,
but await the scythe: their mortal race is run.
At last, their seeds of wisdom they bestow,
like monks at prayer, their hooded heads bowed low.
Masterwork: (The original incarnation of The Gashlycrumb Bestiary was a poem, which can be found here.)
The Gashlycrumb Bestiary
(tune of Non Sofre Santa Maria: Cantiga #159 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria).
An alphabetical bestiary,
monsters of legend laid out in rhyme.
Be they feathered, scaled or hairy,
we will fell them, one at a time.
A is for Antelope, tangled in teazel
B is for Basilisk, mauled by a weasel
C is for Cyclops, whose eye was defaced
D is the Dragon St. George laid to waste
An alphabetical...
E is for Efreet, caught fire and flared
F is for Fenrir, by ribbon ensnared
G is for Grendel, by Beowulf mangled
H is the Hydra, with Hercules tangled
An alphabetical...
I is for Incubus, purged by the Lord
J is for Jormungand, strangled by Thor
K is the Kraken, which hasn't yet croaked
L is for Leopard, by fleur-de-lis choked
An alphabetical...
M is for Manticore, felt its own sting
N is for Naiad, dried up with her spring
O is for Oliphant, spooked by a mouse
P is for Phoenix, that burnt its own house
An alphabetical...
Q is the Questing Beast, gone with no trace
R is for Roc, took Greek fire to the face
S is for Salamander, drowned in a fountain
T is for Typhon, pinned under a mountain
An alphabetical...
U is for Unicorn, by virgin subdued
V is for Viper, consumed by its brood
W is for Werewolf, on wolfsbane was fed
X is Ximera, who swallowed hot lead
An alphabetical...
Y is for Ymir, whom Odin bled dry
Z is for Zephyr, expired with a sigh
I must discover another new beast,
for all of the others are now deceased.
An alphabetical... (x2)
I have felled them, one at a time.
Bard's choice (Cooks & Cooking):
All of the Dishes are Still in the Kitchen
(tune of "Tutte le vecchie son maleciose" by Giovan Tomas Di Maio)
All of the dishes, all of the dishes are still in the kitchen. (x2)
One of the burners on the stove is broken. (x2)
“Feed me, I'm hungry now! Feed me, I'm hungry now!” rings through the feast hall. (x2)
There's alarming noises, alarming noises coming from the oven. (x2)
We saved the rabbit pie, the top is just scorched. (x2)
“Feed me, I'm hungry now! Feed me, I'm hungry now!” rings through the feast hall. (x2)
The cooks are working, the cooks are working madly in the kitchen. (x2)
They'll save this feast, no matter what else goes wrong. (x2)
“Feed me, I'm hungry now! Feed me, I'm hungry now!” rings through the feast hall. (x2)
Here come the dishes, here come the dishes steaming from the kitchen. (x2)
Those mushrooms smell divine! Is that rabbit pie? (x2)
This feast was worth the wait. This feast was worth the wait. Cooks are heroic! (x2)
Three words, 15 minutes:
Sackbut Barrier Slaughter
The musicians played the tune
on sackbut, shawm and drum,
but the dancers soon found out
that the worst was still to come.
The attempted Barriera,
which is not an easy dance:
each step requires much care
and nothing's left to chance.
The dance devolved to chaos,
there was slaughter on the floor.
The dancers cried out, "Save us!"
so the band played no more.
**
And finally, in super-awesome fantastic news of amazingness that has me ridiculously excited, at October Crown, the fabulous and talented hrj/Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn will be officially taking me as her apprentice! Wheeeeeee! We're starting with a one-year trial period to make sure that we work well together and are as good a fit as Laurel and apprentice as we think we are before we make any more permanent commitments. I'm so excited! *beams*
My competition pieces were as follows:
Period piece: Alegria, Alegria (Cantiga #425 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria) - Incidentally, I did the beginning of this piece for Francisco as he entered court for his Pelican ceremony at Purgatorio.
Piece in a period style:
Fields of the Dead (Rondel)
Like monks at prayer, their hooded heads bowed low,
no more to turn their faces to the sun,
the figures of the dead, in withered dun,
stand watch in dusty silence, row on row,
along the lonely road. Why stand they so,
unmoved since their observance had begun,
like monks at prayer, their hooded heads bowed low,
no more to turn their faces to the sun?
A mystery that only God can know.
They have no earthly duties left undone,
but await the scythe: their mortal race is run.
At last, their seeds of wisdom they bestow,
like monks at prayer, their hooded heads bowed low.
Masterwork: (The original incarnation of The Gashlycrumb Bestiary was a poem, which can be found here.)
The Gashlycrumb Bestiary
(tune of Non Sofre Santa Maria: Cantiga #159 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria).
An alphabetical bestiary,
monsters of legend laid out in rhyme.
Be they feathered, scaled or hairy,
we will fell them, one at a time.
A is for Antelope, tangled in teazel
B is for Basilisk, mauled by a weasel
C is for Cyclops, whose eye was defaced
D is the Dragon St. George laid to waste
An alphabetical...
E is for Efreet, caught fire and flared
F is for Fenrir, by ribbon ensnared
G is for Grendel, by Beowulf mangled
H is the Hydra, with Hercules tangled
An alphabetical...
I is for Incubus, purged by the Lord
J is for Jormungand, strangled by Thor
K is the Kraken, which hasn't yet croaked
L is for Leopard, by fleur-de-lis choked
An alphabetical...
M is for Manticore, felt its own sting
N is for Naiad, dried up with her spring
O is for Oliphant, spooked by a mouse
P is for Phoenix, that burnt its own house
An alphabetical...
Q is the Questing Beast, gone with no trace
R is for Roc, took Greek fire to the face
S is for Salamander, drowned in a fountain
T is for Typhon, pinned under a mountain
An alphabetical...
U is for Unicorn, by virgin subdued
V is for Viper, consumed by its brood
W is for Werewolf, on wolfsbane was fed
X is Ximera, who swallowed hot lead
An alphabetical...
Y is for Ymir, whom Odin bled dry
Z is for Zephyr, expired with a sigh
I must discover another new beast,
for all of the others are now deceased.
An alphabetical... (x2)
I have felled them, one at a time.
Bard's choice (Cooks & Cooking):
All of the Dishes are Still in the Kitchen
(tune of "Tutte le vecchie son maleciose" by Giovan Tomas Di Maio)
All of the dishes, all of the dishes are still in the kitchen. (x2)
One of the burners on the stove is broken. (x2)
“Feed me, I'm hungry now! Feed me, I'm hungry now!” rings through the feast hall. (x2)
There's alarming noises, alarming noises coming from the oven. (x2)
We saved the rabbit pie, the top is just scorched. (x2)
“Feed me, I'm hungry now! Feed me, I'm hungry now!” rings through the feast hall. (x2)
The cooks are working, the cooks are working madly in the kitchen. (x2)
They'll save this feast, no matter what else goes wrong. (x2)
“Feed me, I'm hungry now! Feed me, I'm hungry now!” rings through the feast hall. (x2)
Here come the dishes, here come the dishes steaming from the kitchen. (x2)
Those mushrooms smell divine! Is that rabbit pie? (x2)
This feast was worth the wait. This feast was worth the wait. Cooks are heroic! (x2)
Three words, 15 minutes:
Sackbut Barrier Slaughter
The musicians played the tune
on sackbut, shawm and drum,
but the dancers soon found out
that the worst was still to come.
The attempted Barriera,
which is not an easy dance:
each step requires much care
and nothing's left to chance.
The dance devolved to chaos,
there was slaughter on the floor.
The dancers cried out, "Save us!"
so the band played no more.
**
And finally, in super-awesome fantastic news of amazingness that has me ridiculously excited, at October Crown, the fabulous and talented hrj/Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn will be officially taking me as her apprentice! Wheeeeeee! We're starting with a one-year trial period to make sure that we work well together and are as good a fit as Laurel and apprentice as we think we are before we make any more permanent commitments. I'm so excited! *beams*