nerd talk

[cabell]

I have decided that the #2 bus is the Harry Potter bus, because after two sightings of a man who looks eerily like Peter Pettigrew, today I spotted Seventh Year!Ron Weasley, which kind of made me see the appeal of Ron Weasley for the first time. I have a special spot in my heart for Percy (it's the spot I retain for nerds gone wild in general),

Comments

[carlamlee]

Ron will be hot in seventh year? I will keep that in mind. Mmmm. I'm partial to Bill myself, but seventh year Ron wouldn't be so bad, either.

The traditional version does sound much more logical. What exactly was McKennitt smoking when she made her changes? Illogical pipe weed? Psh.

I do think I want to hear that song, though. And if I were one of your sisters, I think I'd be a little worried right now.

[cabell]

Dude, the McKennitt version also has a THIRD SISTER who is mentioned exactly twice in the first verse and then POOF! Disappears. As I've said before, I would hope that if I decided to murder Hannah, sophonisba would try to stop me or run for help or SOMETHING.

I should put it on a mix for you. :p

[carlamlee]

Well, I don't know, what does the third sister get out of the deal? The first sister gets the second sister's lover, the second sister gets death (ok, so I didn't say anything good came out of the situation), but the third sister has to have some reason to disappear. Heh.

Maybe she thought she'd be next and the second sister obviously had no ability to protect herself from the first sister, much less help protect the third sister.

You should! ;-)

[rosepurr]

Something else we have in common- well, sort of. My folk song/story of choice is "Pretty Polly." It is mostly an appalachian tale/song about a pretty old maid who thawrts a serial killer, except in the versions when she doesn't and ends up buried 'neath the crying pines.

Isn't there a version of the sister killing song in which the harp sings out the crime?

[cabell]

Yeah, because it's MADE OF HER BONES. It does that in the McKennitt version--"He made a harp of her breast bone / and straight it began to play alone." You can see why that's my favorite plot point, but it's completely absent from the "traditional" version my sisters learned.

I think I've heard of "Pretty Polly," but I don't know any versions. It sounds good. Another favorite of mine is "On the Banks of the Ohio," where the narrator kills the woman he loves because she would not be his bride.

My sisters also know one where a girl strangles a serial killer with her long gold hair. I'd like to learn that one.

[rosepurr]

Here's a happier version of Pretty Polly

http://www.ferrum.edu/applit/texts/PrPolly.htm

In moy fav versions, she tells him out in a riddle contest and then produces a murdered woman's severed finger as proof. The finger falls into her lap as she hides beneath the killer's stairs and he drags a struggling victim up them.

A sadder version is here:

http://www.radford.edu/~bluegrass/songs/prettypolly.html

I've seen a modern retailing weaving Pretty Polly and kitsune legends together that's also kind of interesting.

[cabell]

It sounds a lot like Neil Gaiman's "The White Road," which seemed based on the "Mr. Fox" folktale, which is either a variant or source of the Bluebeard story.

[lilitou]

Those are my issues with the McKennitt version, too.

You may notice that the father goes from being a farmer to being a king, as well. An impressive status jump, I must say.

My theory on the disappearing sister is that she has a sex change and becomes the "brother Hugh" of the final verse. At least, that's how I decided it went down when I was contemplating using that song as the basis for one of the stories for my thesis project last year. (I didn't wind up writing that story, in the end, mostly because I'm a lazy fuck. =P)

[cabell]

Ha! Yes, another good point. Perhaps he was a gentleman farmer in the extreme? :p

If I were a murdered harp girl, I'd definitely have a shout-out for the sister who just ran off while I was being drowned.

[delirieuse]

There's a short story based on that called "The Harp that Sang" by Gregory Frost. It appears in Swan Sister, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. It's apparently based on another version of the song called "Cruel Sister", by a group called Pentangle. I have heard none of them, so cannot tell you how it deviates from the McKennitt or traditional versions.

[cabell]

Hmmm, I've read several of their collections, but I don't remember that story. I should look for it. Thanks!

[polypragmosyne]

mmmmmhmmm... Percy... mhmm...

[cabell]

Yes, indeed. His apparent defection has saddened me. :(

[polypragmosyne]

we'll see... I still like him a lot, though!