(no subject)

[rymenhild]

I am not getting anywhere at all on the paper grading.

Instead, I am using this wonderful Edward Gorey font (linked by Neil Gaiman) to produce Gashlycrumb Tinies usericons.

Does anyone want one?

ETA: Wow, this is addictive.

Comments

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

I need to read the Mabinogion.

If Rymenhild wasn't from the Mabinogion, I will be silly.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

Not the Mabinogion. She's from the late thirteenth-century (or, possibly, early fourteenth-century) Middle English poem King Horn. (I happened to be reading it the day I set this journal up.)

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

I mean, I will feel silly. Now I feel silly and ungrammatical.

And tired.

Well, I need to read the Mabinogion anyway. I do not intend to read the majority of medieval literature, but that one I'm curious about. And more curious since the fabulous Owl Service.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

You don't need to read the whole thing, then. I love it all, but some sections are awesomer than others.

Get the Patrick Ford or Jeffrey Gantz translation and read the Fourth Branch, Math ap Mathonwy.

You might also be interested in the Second Branch, Branwen daughter of Llyr. (It gets referenced in A Swiftly Tilting Planet.)

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, I recognize the name. I'll start with those. Whenever I pick it up. I'm on Alphabet of Thorn by McKillip at the moment, which is lovely. I'm so glad I didn't read any McKillip in high school, because now I have all these new wonderful books to enjoy.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I read all the branches and loved it. Although there are definitely parts you can skim, like the pages and pages of lists of warriors (not unlike the "begats" section of the bible).

Definitely recommend both the Gantz and the Gwyn and Thomas Jones translations, though I keep meaning to read the Lady Charlotte Guest version as well. It's apparently not an accurate translation at all but is supposed to be worth reading in its own right.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't recommend Guest to anyone who hasn't already read at least one near-literal translation for purposes of comparison. If I recall correctly she cuts out juicy bits.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Ha! I admit, my main interest in it is that it's the version Lloyd Alexander was reading when he wrote Prydain. Also, apparently Guest adds stuff in.

But yeah, not the one to start with.

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

Good to know. I suspected rymenhild was doing the "I love this book so much I can't tell how much anyone else will like it" thing anyway, but I wasn't going to tell her I thought so.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

You couldn't have read Alphabet of Thorn in high school -- it was published in '04. That said, Alphabet may be my favorite of McKillip's books except for the Riddlemaster trilogy. This probably has to do with the fact that the main character is a linguist in the underground cave equivalent of an ivory tower.

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm not terribly surprised to hear it's one of your favorites.

[obopolsk.livejournal.com]

What do you mean, you don't intend to read the majority of medieval literature? ;)

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

What can I say? I'm a rebel.