Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

You may be familiar with the legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Here is a synopsis:

Composed in medieval England by an unknown poet and set in what were (even then) the old days of King Arthur, the tale of Sir Gawain begins when a magical warrior with green skin and green hair interrupts the Christmas party at Camelot with a bizarre challenge: If a person here present, within these premises is big or bold or red blooded enough to strike me one stroke and be struck in return in once year’s time, says the knight, I shall give him as a gift this gigantic cleaver. Pure, loyal Sir Gawain accepts the agreement: the adventures that ensue include a boar hunt, a deer hunt, and an extended flirtation with a noble lady, designed to test Sir Gawain’s bravery, fidelity and chastity, and to explore—with some supernatural help—the true meaning of virtue.

The Gawain-poet, as he is known to scholars, wrote in Middle English though it is slightly harder to read than Chaucer, the grammar is more or less our own. Armitage (The Shout), one of England’s most popular poets, brings an attractive contemporary fluency to the Gawain-poet’s accentual, alliterative verse: We hear the knights of Round Table chatting away charmingly, exchanging views.

There is a new book out with a new translation and it is available on Amazon Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

But the story is also available for free in several different versions from gutenberg Here is a nice HTML version of it You can also search Gutenberg.org for other, more difficult versions.

There is also a book by Tolkien on this legend . It is his translation and he preserves the alliteration of the narrative as only the master philologist can

Popularity: 23% [?]

I put in a serious blitz this week with the Fantasy Guide website and it is now complete and uploaded to the server. Well, complete is a term I use loosely because no website is ever complete. They always need to be updated on a regular basis and added to with fresh new content. Anyhoo, the new template is completed and the new information design etc. and it is now live.

So, if you are a big fan of fantasy books, epic fantasy, series of books like the wheel of time, chronicles of thomas covenant, Shannara and the like you might want to check it out. The basic goal of the site is to be a guide to fantasy books. There are essays, articles and guides for reading and finding books. The Fantasy Guide

Youre going to have to poke around a bit on the site to dig up all the things. i have a fantasy newsletter you can sign up for, top ten lists, bestsellers and lots of great resources including articles I have written for people  who want to write fantasy. There are also live feeds direct from amazon with their hourly updated lists of fantasy books in a lot of different areas. Have fun!

Popularity: 16% [?]

It is pretty much official that a Shannara movie is being made. The filming is supposed to start this year and the movie is scheduled to be finished sometime next year. I may be released in 09 or possibly 2010. Interesting thing about it is that the movie will not be The Sword of Shannara. It is said that Terry Brooks wanted to start the series of movies with The Elfstones of Shannara. He believes it is a better place to start out.

I have been a big fan of the Shannara series since it came out. I read the first book when it came out! Tells you how old I am getting.

Digging up information about this movie is currently pretty scarce and the IMDB has a listing for it but no information currently available. Warner Bros are making it so it should be well done.

I guess we really have lord of the rings to thank for this resurgence in big budget fantasy movies. It propelled Harry Potter, Narnia and others into the mainstream. Well, maybe not Harry Potter. Those movies didn’t need any help from LOTR.

Anyhoo, I will keep you posted on the progress and specifics of the movie as I can dig things up.  If you can’t wait until 2010 for your big budget fantasy movie fix you might not know but David Farland’s Runelords is set to be released next year.

The Elfstones of Shannara

The Runelords Book 1

Popularity: 10% [?]