Monthly Archives: September 2010

09/30/10

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

NaNoWriMo is a demented, unrelenting, insane way to write a book, and November, the 2010 NaNoWriMo, is one month away.  It’s time to start planning now!  50,000 words in a month.  You can’t do it on 1000 words a day.  But you can do it with 2000, which is terrifying because it sounds doable.

As The Last Pendragon started out as my 2008 NaNoWriMo novel and Cold My Heart was NaNoWriMo 2010, I believe it is well worth the attempt.  However, I didn’t bother with any of those pesky daily wordcounts in either outing.  The first time around, I wrote 15,000 words in 5 days and gave it up as a lost cause.  2 1/2 weeks later, I had a brainwave, and with the urging of my writing partner, wrote 35,000 words in 6 days.  That was insane.

The next year, unlike the previous year, I actually had a fairly complete outline and a plan before I started (that’s why you need to start working on it now!) and wrote 50000 words in 12 days.   Not quite as nuts as my daughter, who has done it in 4, but . . .

Of course, that’s not a real book.  It’s not even half a book, even if you have an actual word count, because it’s quick and dirty and really bad.  But that’s okay.  The point is to write as much as you can as quick as you can, to get a chunk of a book under your belt, if only to prove you can, and then slow it down and revise and expand later.

The web page is here:  http://www.nanowrimo.org/

It says the new site will launch by the end of the week (Oct. 1).   I love it.   Can’t wait.

Anybody care to join me?

09/26/10

Myth and Religion in the Dark Ages

While many fictional accounts of the Dark Ages describe conflict between pagan religions and Christianity, that seems to be a product of the medieval mind, rather than an accurate analysis of Dark Age religion.  For there to be conflict there must be a power relationship as well as organization, and for both the pagans and the Christians in Wales in 655 AD, there were neither.

When the Romans conquered Wales in 43 AD, although Rome was not Christian at the time (Emperor Constantine didn’t  convert until 311 AD), the legions systematically wiped out the reigning religion of Wales at the time, which was druidism.  Why did they do this?  The Romans themselves were pagans, with a pantheon of gods and goddesses.  Why did they not simply incorporate the native gods into their own religion as they did in most other places, and as the Catholic Church did later throughout the world?

The difference was that the druids formed the basis of a nationalist movement in Britain—and throughout the Celtic world.  To quell it, the Romans systematically destroyed the sacred sites and groves, particularly on the island of Anglesey, prompting Boudicca’s revolt in 61 AD.  The Romans defeated her, and the end of the revolt spelled the end of organized druidism in Britain.

Thus, in the time between this momentous defeat and when the Roman empire became Christian, there was a lengthy vacuum, both in religious leadership and belief.  Christianity came to Britain in the first century, not long after the death of Christ, but was no more organized than paganism without the druids.  Wales was far from Rome and the seats of learning, and when the Roman legions left, the Christian religion was cut off from its roots. 

Christianity in the Dark Ages, then, was one of several available options in Wales.  By the mid-600s, Christianity was growing more organized, but it was a religion based around monasteries.  There were cells of monks and hermitages, but few, if any, churches as we understand them.  There were also strong pulls towards different sects within Christianity, and strong resistance to the Roman Church, with which the Welsh Church did not reconcile until 763 AD.

Even up until the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in 1282 AD, the Welsh Christians were unhappy with conformity to Rome, especially as the Church kept excommunicating their Princes for not bowing to England.  Welsh laws did not conform to the Church’s teachings well into the Middle Ages.  Most notably, women in Wales had a higher status compared to the rest of Europe, divorce was easier, illegitimate children could inherit, lords levied fines instead of executing criminals as punishment for crimes, and the punitive forest laws of English/French feudalism were absent.

Religion in the Dark Ages was at the intersection of superstition and mythology.  The old Welsh gods had not been vanquished, but were everyday participants in daily life.  They were random and capricious, just like the weather.  Jesus Christ, if adhered to at all, brought a message of personal salvation and belief in heaven, rather than the Underworld.  Christ allowed a believer control over his ultimate destiny. 

Eventually, it was Christianity that incorporated the pagan Welsh gods into its pantheon of saints, accommodating the old beliefs.  In the Spoils of Annwn by Taliesin, a Christian, the final two stanzas of the poem rail against dissolute monks, comparing them to wolves or wild dogs and end with a prayer to the Lord and Christ.  At the same time, the bulk of the poem describes Arthur’s descent to the Underworld and his battles in the world of the sidhe.  This blend of pagan and Christian is the hallmark of Dark Age Wales.

09/21/10

The origins of the name ‘Woodbury’

The name ‘Woodbury’ has its origins in the old English word wudu, meaning ‘wood’ and byrig, dative of burh ‘fortified place’.   While not native to Britain (as in, not Welsh), it’s roots are Saxon, and thus the place-name ‘Woodbury’ in Devonshire predates the Norman conquest of 1066.   The name was recorded “as ‘Wodeberie’ in the Domesday Book of 1086, and the latter ‘Ve(s)burg’. The derivation of both placenames is from the Olde English pre 7th Century . . . The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of David de Wodebir, which was dated 1273, Hundred Rolls Devon, during the reign of King Edward I.”  http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Woodberry

In 1848, there were three locations in England with the name ‘Woodbury’ (and lots in the US, but that’s another story):

“WOODBURY, a hamlet, in the parish of Gamlingay, poor-law union of Caxton and Arrington, hundred of Longstow, county of Cambridge; containing 34 inhabitants.

WOODBURY (St. Swithin), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the union of St. Thomas, hundred of East Budleigh, Woodbury and S. divisions of Devon, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Topsham; containing 1933 inhabitants. The parish comprises 7304 acres, of which 734 are common or waste: the navigable river Exe bounds it on the west. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patrons, the Custos and College of Vicars Choral in the Cathedral of Exeter. The church contains some ancient monuments, among which is one to Chief Justice Sir Edmund Pollexfen. At Salterton, in the parish, to the north of the village of Woodbury, is a district church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, built and endowed by Miss Marianne Pidsley, who holds the patronage. A school, in connexion with the National Society, is endowed with £37 per annum. On the edge of a lofty hill commanding a beautiful prospect, is an ancient earthwork called Woodbury Castle, an inclosure of irregular form, deeply intrenched.

WOODBURY, a tything, in the parish of RomseyExtra, union of Romsey, hundred of King’s-Sombourn, Romsey and S. divisions of the county of Southampton; containing 293 inhabitants.”

From: ‘Wombleton – Woodbury’, A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 649-652. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51423

Woodbury Castle  (http://www.britishexplorers.com/woodbury/castle.html) has been the subject of a series of excavations over the years:

“A conspicuous hill-top fort, on the crest (175m) of a ridge of the Bunter Pebble Beds on Woodbury Common, two kilometres east of Woodbury village. The B3180 runs through the fort, passing through the two entrances.The main enclosure of 2 hectares is defended by a massive steep rampart and deep ditch, supplemented on the north and east sides by a substantial counter-scarp bank. On the west side the defences are doubled and the end of the second rampart is expanded to create a fighting platform beside the northern entrance. The main rampart turns inwards to flank the southern entrance, now under the road. Other gaps are modern.

60m to the north there is another smaller rampart and ditch across the ridge, extending to Soldiers’ Well, a spring on the western side, which probably served as the water supply for the hillfort. On the southern and western sides there are intermittent earthworks that are earlier than the main hillfort.

Limited excavation of a narrow strip alongside the road in 1971 by Henrietta Quinnell showed that a palisaded enclosure pre-dated the defences. The inner rampart was found to have a turf revetment at the back and was topped by a timber breastwork; subsequently it was heightened and the breastwork renewed. At the northern entrance, the rampart ends were revetted with timber and later strengthened with stone, whilst in the interior there were post-holes indicating rectangular timber buildings, possibly granaries. Finds were very few but the pottery suggested that the defences were completed before 300 BC.”

There are, in fact, several more ‘Woodbury’ place names, all ancient, all dating to the iron age or Roman times.  Also in Devon, on my map of Roman Britain, is Axminster, located at ‘Woodbury farm’.  It was a Roman site which sits at the crossroads of two Roman roads.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moridunum_(Axminster)

And then three more iron age hill forts:  ‘Woodbury Hill’ located northwest of Worcester and apparently the site of the worst defeat of the Welsh leader Owain Glyndwr to English forces, ‘Great Woodbury’, and ‘Little Woodbury’, the latter two excavations near Salisbury.   There is even a ‘Little Woodbury culture’:  Middle Iron Age communities living in central southern England in the 3rd and 2nd centuries bc. The culture was named by Frank Hodson in 1964 on the basis of material from Gerhard Bersu, Gerhard 1938–9 excavations at Little Woodbury near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Larry Wert has done heroic and exhaustive research of the thousands of Woodbury descendents.  For more stories and more information than you could possibly comprehend, see his web page:  http://www.woodbury-ober.com/

09/14/10

Dark Moon of Avalon by Anna Elliott released!

14 September 2010!
from Simon & Schuster (Touchstone)

She is a healer, a storyteller, and a warrior. She has fought to preserve Britain’s throne. Now she faces her greatest challenge in turning bitter enemies into allies, saving the life of the man she loves . . . and mending her own wounded heart.

Book II in the Twilight of Avalon Trilogy

The young former High Queen, Isolde, and her friend and protector, Trystan, are reunited in a new and dangerous quest to keep the usurper, Lord Marche, and his Saxon allies from the throne of Britain. Using Isolde’s cunning wit and talent for healing and Trystan’s strength and bravery, they must act as diplomats, persuading the rulers of the smaller kingdoms, from Ireland to Cornwall, that their allegiance to the High King is needed to keep Britain from a despot’s hands.

Their admissions of love hang in the air, but neither wants to put the other at risk by openly declaring a deeper alliance. When their situation is at its most desperate, Trystan and Isolde must finally confront their true feelings toward each other, in time for a battle that will test the strength of their will and their love.
Steeped in the magic and lore of Arthurian legend, Elliott paints a moving portrait of a timeless romance, fraught with danger, yet with the power to inspire heroism and transcend even the darkest age.

* * *

Read the Prologue of Dark Moon of Avalon

BUY it today at Amazon.com or your local bookseller.

09/9/10

Women in Celtic Myth

Women in Celtic societies had more freedom and autonomy than women in feudal Europe.  It is not surprising, then, that women play an important role in Celtic myth, beyond the wives, lovers, and mothers of male gods.

Within Celtic myth, warrior goddesses such as Babd, Aoifa, and Scathach have a significant role; Don (Danu in Ireland) was the mother goddess, giving birth to male and female goddesses such as Gwydion and Arianrhod.   The Irish word, Tuatha de Dannan means “Children of Danu”, the equivalent of the Welsh “Sons of Don” as popularized in Lloyd Alexander’s The Book of Three series.  Note that their children are not referred to as “Sons of Beli” or “Bile”, who was her husband and the god of death.

Also among the Welsh is Cerridwen, keeper of the cauldron of knowledge.  Within Irish mythology, the Morrigan, herself a triple goddess with Nemain (Venomous), Badb (Fury), and Macha (Battle), encouraged fighters to battle madness.

Below is a listing of the some important Celtic female goddesses:

Adsullata:  (British) A goddess of hot springs who came to Brittany from Celtic Gaul. She is the origin of the Anglo-Celtic sun Goddess Sul, and was most likely a minor sun goddess in her own right before the time when the Celts relegated the majority of their sun images to male deities, and moon images to female ones.

Arianrhod:  Her name means ‘silver circle’. This major Welsh goddess is the goddess of reincarnation, the Wheel of the Year, the full moon, fertility, and a primal figure of female power. Some Celtic scholars believe her story represents the shift from woman-centered clans to patriarchal power.

Blodeuwedd:  Blodeuwedd was created from the flowers of oak, broom, and meadowsweet by Gwyddion and Math as a wife for Gwyddion’s nephew Llew. This arose because Llew had been cursed by his mother, Arianrhod, that he would never win a bride of his own people.While Llew was away one day Blodeuwedd saw Gronw hunting in the woods and the two fell madly in love at first sight. She and Gronw made plans to kill Llew, but because he was no mere mortal, Gronw asked his lover to discover for him the secret of his death. Blodeuwedd coaxed the information out of Llew, and not only passed the information along to Gronw, but tricked Llew into being at the right place at the right time. At the moment of his death, Llew turned into an eagle and flew away. Gwyddion sought out Blodeuwedd to seek revenge, and for her punishment decided he would turn her into a bird, on which only lived by night, a carnivore whom other birds shunned and feared. Thus she became an owl.

Brigit:  (Irish) A fire deity and midwife and protector of woman and children. She also ruled over agriculture, healing, divination, occult knowledge, poetry, prophecy and metal work. Other spellings of her name include : Brid, Brig, Brigid, Brighid and Brigindo.

Cailleach Bheur:  (Scottish, Irish, Manx) She is a great goddess in her Destroyer aspect; called “Veiled One”. Another name is Scota, from which the name ’Scotland’ comes. In parts of Britain she is the goddess of winter. She was an ancient goddess of the pre-Celtic peoples of Ireland. She controlled the seasons and the weather; and was the goddess of earth and sky, moon and sun.

Cerridwen:  In Welsh legend, Cerridwen represents the crone, a darker aspect of the triple goddess. She has powers of prophecy, and is the keeper of the cauldron of knowledge and inspiration in the Underworld. She has two children: daughter Crearwy is fair and light, but son Afagddu (also called Morfran) is dark, ugly and malevolent.

Rhiannon:  Goddess of birds and horses. Enchantments, fertility, and the Underworld. She rides a swift white horse. Rhiannon is believed to be the Welsh counterpart of Gaulish horse goddess Epona. Her son, Pryderi, succeeded his father Pwyll as the ruler of Dyfed and of the otherworld.

She is the wife of Pwyll, and mother of Pryderi. Unjustly accused of destroying her newborn son (who had been kidnapped by a nameless Fiend; see above), She is compelled to take on the role of a horse, until her son is unexpectedly returned to her. She is also considered as an aspect of the Irish Morrigan.

Scathach: (Scottish) A warrior goddess and prophetess who taught martial arts healing and protection. She was also known as Scota, Scatha, Scath, Scathach Scathach Buanand, Skatha. Her name means she who strikes fear.

http://www.paleothea.com/Celtic/

http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Celtic/deities.html

http://www.maryjones.us/jce/triplegoddess.html

09/5/10

Announcing the Witch Queen’s Secret

In the shadow of King Arthur’s Britain, a young mother will need all her courage to save the Queen’s castle from the hands of a traitor… A stand-alone story of Trystan and Isolde featuring a secondary character from the universe of Anna Elliott’s Twilight of Avalon. 

Between Books I and II in the Twilight of Avalon Trilogy 

Dera owes Britain’s former High Queen Isolde her life. But as an army harlot, the life she leads is one of degradation and often desperate danger, with small hope for the future either for Dera or for her small son.

Through a Britain torn by war with Saxon invaders, Dera makes her way to Dinas Emrys, last stronghold of Britain’s army, to beg Queen Isolde’s help once more. Isolde offers Dera a new life, both for herself and for her child. But when Dera and Isolde uncover a treasonous plot, Dera must leave her little boy and undertake a dangerous mission, the outcome of which comes to her as a stunning, but wonderful, surprise.

And as she risks her life, Dera also draws nearer to Queen Isolde’s most closely-guarded secret: one that Britain’s courageous witch-queen may be hiding even from herself.  

 See the following links for download:

Wireless delivery to Kindle:
Kindle Store ($0.99)
Downloads (free!):
.mobi — Kindle
.epub* — iPad, Nook, ADE, most others
.pdf — full-page printing/viewing

Don’t have an E-Reader?
.xhtml — Read in your web browser
.pdf — full-page printing/viewing

Need another format?
.rtf,.lrf,.pdb,.txt — Smashwords