PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook
Gawain, dressed in a forest green coat, stopped for a moment to admire some scarlet flower petals. The castle Hautdesert, now reduced to a tourist attraction, stood before him stirring lost emotions.
It was a bit early for the plebian crowds, but the main entrance was open for business. The tall man of green mourned silently at how the legends of old had been reduced to children’s tales.
Paying the fee in modern script, he quickly deviated from the visitor’s path to the hidden chamber where the sword Galatine could be found. With this, he would defeat England’s terrible invaders.
It’s Wednesday and time again to participate in this week’s edition of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image above as a prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.
A lot of ancient castles are now modern tourist attractions. Seeing the image, I considered a knight from bygone centuries returning to his old haunts and the name “Gawain” popped into my head for no particular reason.
I looked up the Arthurian legends surrounding Sir Gawain which are associated with the English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The fictional castle Hautdesert figures into the legend as does Gawain’s sword Galatine (also spelled Galantyne or Galuth) which was gifted to him by the Lady of the Lake.
Early English and Welsh traditions depict him as the model of knightly virtue, a protector of the poor, and a defender of women. His shield displays a pentangle representing truth, fidelity, and Christian chivalry.
If he could return and if the other aspects of his legend were real, I imagine finding the state of England in the 21st century would be shocking to him. Naturally, he would want to restore the nation and Camelot to their former glory and repel what he would consider foreign invaders.
Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”
To read other stories based on the prompt or to contribute one of your own, visit inlinkz.
My YA science fiction novel A Wobblegong And His Boy is part of a collection of novels written specifically for boys who want to read adventures crafted especially for them. That doesn’t mean my story isn’t a great read for everyone else so give it a whirl. Don’t forget to leave an honest review at Amazon and Goodreads but there’s more.
What is the “Wobblegong” in my science fiction YA/Teen novel “A Wobblegong And His Boy?” When the fine folks at Raconteur Press asked me to write a promotional article for my book, it’s the first thing that popped into my head. Everyone asks me what a “Wobblegong” is. Now you have a chance to find out. After that, click the link at the bottom of the article and please get a copy of my book. Wobble is waiting. https://raconteurpress.substack.com/p/a-wobble-what
Cover art for “Fangs Out: Aerial Combat Chronicle”
The fantasy anthology Fantastic Schools, Volume 13 is now available featuring my supernatural short story “The Battle of New Stains Castle.”
As the Second Dragon War reaches its climax, two sorceresses and a soldier must face a necromancer and his minions in the ruins of a Scottish castle in the midst of a reality gone mad.
Finally, as of yesterday, the science fiction anthology Fangs Out: Aerial Combat Chronicles is available. It features my military SciFi short story “The Jupiter War”. You can read an excerpt of my story in this blog article.
Happy Wednesday.
Even the metaphorical “sword of truth” remains to be wielded against the UK’s modern invaders. Gawain and Galantyne would find themselves rather overwhelmed. But it’s not a bad suggestion.
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I imagined they’d have help, lots of it.
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😀I like how you take a classic Arthurian figure and drops him into a modern, somewhat melancholy fish-out-of-water scenario perfectly
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Thank you. I have a feeling he’s about to go from melancholy to really miffed off.
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😀
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Yes, the invaders came in many forms.
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From Gawain’s point of view, they’re still coming.
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We need men of mettle like that.
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Indeed, Sandra. As far as I can tell though, they’re in short supply where they’re needed the most. Thanks.
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I wonder if ancient ghosts have the capacity to learn, or if they remain fixed in their obsolete notions? There’s a good start for a story for you, James.
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I know what you’re saying and what other readers are thinking, but from the reports of various crimes being committed in the UK, the population committing them, and the lax response by law enforcement and the courts, I wonder if justice, truth, and fidelity are so obsolete. The descendants of those who have lived in the UK for thousands of years have rights too.
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What I can say with certainty is that figures lie and liars figure. All humans have rights or they are supposed to, anyway. We see how that is put into practice across the globe.
I have watched series through Great Courses, including a very interesting one on The Etruscans and another on The Celtic World that shows me lands and their peoples change over the centuries and millennia.
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Yes, the actual real life knights were terrible people in general but in invoking Sir Gawain, I’m speaking to the fictional and mythic Arthur legend. Somewhere between the fictions of all Islamic immigrants are criminals and invaders and all Islamic immigrants are harmless victims is a reality that people don’t like to talk about. It’s really a debate that would take a long time to write out, but the shorthand version is that in the UK and Europe, the latter fiction has been generally adopted by law enforcement, the courts, and the political system (at least one party). What would happen if it were okay to be a native Brit, Scot, or Irish and if someone tried to commit a violent crime against you, the police would focus on the crime and not on the political perception of the victim and perpetrator.
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Not on the side of the desperate and needy then, this ancient hero?
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Sir Gawain was reputed as the protector of the poor and defender of women. He might not take kindly to people portrayed as desperate and needy and yet committing acts of violence against girls and women. Just a thought. Thanks for reading.
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I’d like to think he might be on the side of desperate refugees
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He might not be on the side of those who commit violent crimes though. He’s the defender of women so if someone who was a refugee were to attempt a crime against a woman, what should he do? As I mentioned to Lisa, there’s a very long debate attached to this conversation and to my drabble. I’m not advocating for painting 100% of Islamic refugees as violent criminals but I’m also not an advocate of saying that 100% of Islamic immigrants are harmless or desperate. I would like actual criminal behavior not to be whitewashed or excused because the perception of the perpetrator is that they are desperate or didn’t understand that assaulting a 13-year-old girl was wrong or that her manner of dress was an excuse.
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He best find some extra help…
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