Heh. I didn’t think…

Heh. I didn't think people would write these Camelot VSD's so fast. Tim Pratt (the prolific) has added another for Excalibur, and Heather has added one for the Lady of the Lake/Nimue. I think of those two as separate characters (one holy, one pretty close to evil), but some stories apparently merge them. S'okay with me -- I told Vera she could merge Elaine of Astolat and Elaine, Galahad's mother if she wants. Probably more fun to write if she decides to, since Elaine of Astolat just pines away and dies, whereas Galahad's mother plots and schemes and casts spells on Lancelot. But separate fine too.

Interestingly, Karen's Scabbard (and my Arthur) have already diverged from Tim and Heather's version. In one, Excalibur is the sword in the stone, that Arthur pulls out to establish his kingship. In the other, that's just some sword, and Arthur gets Excalibur after he's king, from the Lady in the Lake (her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite). Pick the legend that pleases you most. :-)

Today, I'm struggling through Disraeli's Sybil. He's okay with the dialogue, but much of the book so far is ponderous parliamentary politics, oog. Going to be a long day.

After Disraeli, I have Whitman, Thackeray, and Omar Khayyam. Two long poets, one long novel. Then I'll be done with my historical list (pre-1900). I'm hoping to finish them by Saturday. We'll see.

7 thoughts on “Heh. I didn’t think…”

  1. Mary Anne, you really rock. Only a person as multi-talented as you, will go on with VSDs and also side-by-side, manage their exam-reading. OOoooo, how do you acheive this variety 😉

  2. All in the name of procrastination… 🙂

    But with the VSD’s, other people are doing the hard part. I’m just cutting and pasting — takes five minutes. No biggie.

  3. I think the VSD divergence isn’t a big deal, really. I’ve always been kind of murky on whether the sword in the stone is Excalibur, but I’m pretty sure I’ve read at least a few retellings which incorporate all of our diaries without much conflict. Didn’t MZB have all sorts of magical personages chucking the one sword back and forth between rock and lake?

  4. I thought the Lady of the Lake gave the sword to Merlin to put in the stone. I do know that after Arthur fell, Bedivere threw the sword back to the Lady. I’ve been to Dozmary Pool in Bodmin Moor where this was supposed to have taken place… 🙂

  5. Sybil is poky at first but there is actually a genuine romance buried in there. I had to read it back in college and I don’t recall it very well but I remember that the second half was far more pleasant reading than the first half. Just sayin’. Persevere.

  6. Oh, I have persevered, and survived partly by skimming over the political stuff, but it’s a pretty thin romance under all that. Skimpy. I’ve got about fifty pages left, but somehow I don’t it’ll improve much over the previous three hundred.

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