Category Archives: Literature

Literature

“Into the Dragon’s Lair” #5

21 Comments

Tuesday again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I contemplated posting something else first, for cruelties sake alone, but I couldn’t bring myself!  Why in the world am in so much suspense when I WROTE the story?!

Like always, here’s the last post.  I’m doing this so if people find only one of my posts somehow, they can link back.  Problem is I have NO way to make sure they can find the posts that come after.  Ceste la vie [“this is life” for those of you who don’t speak French], I did what I could.

Okay, this (spoiler alert) is the climax.  You can’t imagine how fun it was to end on such a cliff-hanger last time!  (I know, I know: I’m downright cruel.  I have now lost all reputation of being a nice person, haven’t I?)

Oh!  And I feel inclined to mention that my reader Savannah absolutely nailed it in the comments on this post with her suggestion of another dragon–even though it goes against a quote from a certain book series a little birdie told me she’s read:

That is why you will seldom find more than one dragon in the same country. (94)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis

I couldn’t it earlier because it would have given away too much.

Now, as I’m sure the rest of you are all saying, “Okay, good job, Savannah–now let’s get on with it”; I’ll get on with it.  Happy reading!

:-: INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR :-:
:-: INTO THE DRAGON’S LAIR :-:

CHAPTER 4~FIRE AND FURY:

As Fogginess creeps up the tunnel, she becomes more and more puzzled.  She hasn’t see her husband since yesterday morning (she doesn’t know he’s dead), and as she climbs up the tunnel she hears the clinking of coins, the creak of old hinges, and voices sounding very loud and excited up there in the dark.  Human voices?  Impossible!  Not in the lair of a dragon like Grizzled.

But there are voices up there in the dark.  Finally Fogginess peeks out into the Big Cavern–and there are two of those annoying little human-creatures sitting in the biggest cave of the whole lair, fingering her husbands treasure and talking excitedly.  Fogginess can hold her anger in no longer.  She gives a howl of rage and leaps into the Big Cavern, giving a terrible roar.  There’s fire in her eyes and smoke in her mouth.

In a moment Spenser has his pistol drawn, but it’s no use: the bullet bounces off the dragon’s scales.  Sparks pour from Fogginess’ mouth as she leaps forward.  Not caring which one of the humans dies first, she leaps for Spenser.  He, in a last effort to protect himself and Hannah, draws his knife and stabs the dragon in the throat.  The two of them are saved by luck!*  The throat is Fogginess’ one weak point and the blade pushes through a crack where the Head Scales and the Neck Scales meet.  With a howl of pain and anger Fogginess flops back, lifeless, on the floor of the cave.

 

“I th-thought Grizzled was dead,” says Hannah, when she gets her breath back.  “It can’t be Grizzled, because we saw him.  He’s dead,” says Spenser.  “Then is this his mate or his child, sir?” wonders Hannah.  “I don’t know.  And we don’t know if there are any more, so do we take the treasure and get out of here, or do we try to find and kill the rest of them (if there are any)?” asks Spenser.  “I think we should go, sir,” replies Hannah.  “Yes, I think we should too, Navigator.  It’s obvious our guns aren’t any good!”

———————————————————————-

P.S. Sorry I forgot to include the chapter name in my last post.  I just added it.  Next post is the last one!!!

 

*Totally borrowed that quote from The Hobbit.  *sigh*  I was such a copy-cat when I was little–still am! 🙂

Literature

Daughter of the King

8 Comments

“But, Mr. Author, why do you always write about princesses?”  “Because every little girl is a princess.”  “You will make them vain if you tell them that.”  “Not if they understand what I mean.”  “Then what do you mean?”  “What do you mean by a princess?”  “The daughter of a king.”  “Very well, then every little girl is a princess, and there would be no need to say anything about it, except that she is always in danger of forgetting her rank, and behaving as she had grown out of the mud.  I have seen little princesses behave like the children of thieves and lying beggars, and that is why they need to be told they are princesses.” (9)

–The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald

And yes, I’m hoping to do a book review of this, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.  Sorry.

Happy Wednesday!!! 🙂

Literature

“Into the Dragon’s Lair” #4

12 Comments

IT’S TUESDAY AGAIN!!!!! 🙂

Here’s the last post I did, in case anyone missed it or wants to re-read anything.

I picked this story to put on my blog because it was already broken down into smaller parts and because some of those smaller parts ended on really good cliff-hangers.  You’ll see why I brought this up in this post in a minute! 🙂

:-: INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR :-:
:-: INTO THE DRAGON’S LAIR :-:

CHAPTER 3~THE DRAGON’S LAIR:

“Well, I s’pose we had better go in,” says Spenser, pulling his flash-light out of his back-pack.  “I don’t really like the idea of going in there,” says Hannah.  “I mean, I know there’s nothing to be afraid of; the dragon is dead.”

They both turn on their flashlights and start down.  It’s very slippery, and the two of them have trouble finding hand-holds in the mossy rocks.  The slanted floor is slippery, and so are the walls–even the ceiling is slippery!

Finally they come to a large circular cavern.  In the middle are about five chests with the lids thrown back.  The chests are filled with gold and diamonds!  “My great, great (however many greats!) grandfather’s treasure!” exclaims Spenser.  “We did it! We did it!  We found it!” cries Hannah.

~*~

 Now Grizzled (as you already know) is dead.  But he lived longer than Spenser thought he would.  In fact, he only died yesterday, and his mate, Fogginess, is still alive.

Fogginess lives in the very cave where Spenser and Hannah are now!  She has a small tunnel, with a room at the end, in which she used to hide when her husband came home in a bad temper.

But she also sleeps there, and now she has just been awakened by a lot of noise at the top of the tunnel.  Fogginess is annoyed (and dragons are very dangerous when they are annoyed), and she starts creeping up the tunnel to see what’s going on.

Life, Literature

Mothers

5 Comments

Mr. Burd sank into a chair before the fire.  “Now, wait a minute,” he said.  “After Jon gets me a drink of water and Sally fetches my slippers and Andy puts Molly in the barn and Mother sits and rests herself, I”ll tell you all about it” (26).

-“By Wagon and Flatboat” by Enid La Monte Meadowcroft

(Emphasis mine)

 

That sounds like something my Dad would say!  Mamas sure work hard, don’t they?

Literature

2 Samuel 22:34-37

7 Comments

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.  He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You give me your shield of victory; you stoop down to make me great.  You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.

 

 

Emphasis mine, naturally. 🙂

Literature

“Into the Dragon’s Lair” #3

19 Comments

In some ways I’m like “It’s already Tuesday again?” and in other ways I’m like “Tuesday?  Finally–it’s been weeks!”

I honestly meant to post earlier today, but there were several things I needed to get done, so I decided I was not going to post until I got those done.  It was a good motivator! 🙂

I think I’m looking forward to Tuesdays now as much as I do in the summer when we go swimming at “Two Rivers” state park with our home-school group on “Two Rivers Tuesdays”! 🙂

(Click here to read chapter one.)

Okay, here goes:

:-: INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR :-:
:-: INTO THE DRAGON’S LAIR :-:

CHAPTER 2 ~ THE JUNGLE:

Hannah and Spenser walk down the path for about a mile, then they come to a fork.  “Which way, Navigator?” asks Spenser.  “Left,” says Hannah, looking down at her G.P.S.  “You stay here, I’ll see what’s up ahead,” replies Spenser.  Left alone Hannah begins to wonder what creatures could might be watching her!  A stick cracks and Hannah jumps! but it’s only a rabbit.  Hannah steps aside as a daddy-long-legs, the size of a penny without the legs, scuttles past.

“Navigator!  Come look at this!” calls Spenser.  Hannah runs after him and sees a shiny object lying on the path.  “What is it, sir?” she asks.  Spenser stoops and picks it up.  It is a golden necklace!

“I think this is some of my great, great, great, great grandfather’s treasure!” says Spenser.  “Then we’re on the right track, sir!” says Hannah.

The two of them continue.  Finally they come to the dragon: lying cold and lifeless across their path.  “Are you sure it’s dead, sir?” asks Hannah, with a shudder.  “I think so,” replies Spenser, “but you stay here; I’ll go make sure.”  He cautiously taps the dragon with his walking-stick.  Then a little harder.  “It’s safe!” he calls back.

After passing the dragon, the path is scattered with bones.  Some of the dry weeds in the under-brush are charred and black.  “Are we still on the right track, Navigator?” asks Spenser.  “Yes, sir!” replies Hannah.  “And we’re getting close, sir!”

As they go further the birds and insects become fewer and fewer.  The jungle grows quiet.  Hannah stoops to pick up a shiny object on the path.  “I found a diamond, sir!” she calls.  Spenser comes running back.  “We must be getting close now!” he cries.  Hannah lays her hand on the handle of her knife.  “There’s no danger, Navigator, we saw the dragon and it’s dead.” says Spenser–but he looks nervous too!

After about another mile they come to the mouth of a large cavern.  It’s about five feet wide and opens on to a rocky tunnel.  It’s surrounded by gravel, bones, and ashes.

“The dragon’s lair!” breathes Spenser.

Literature

Prudence

6 Comments

“Then you would have us retreat to Minas Tirith, or Dol Amroth, or to Dunharrow, and there sit like children on sand-castles when the tide is flowing?” said Imrahil.  “That would be no new counsel… But no!  I said this would be prudent.  I do not counsel prudence (860).

-“The Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King” by J.R.R. Tolkien

“To fly would only be to obey the dictates of vulgar prudence.  But we did not come here to be prudent (116).

-“Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne

(emphasis mine both times)

 

Note: “The Lord of the Rings” contains three of my favorite books ever written, but I would not necessarily recommend “Journey to the Center of the Earth”.  It was just alright, and there were a couple reference to evolution.  I honestly enjoyed the movie more, which is rare for me!

See you tomorrow!!!!! 🙂

Literature

Beowulf

8 Comments

I told you guys in this post that I was reading a couple of new books; and because I thought I’d tell you all about them–mostly because I need more in my “Book Reviews” tag than this, awesome as that book is.

I am starting with “Beowulf”, translated by J.R.R. Tolkien; who is the author of some of my absolute favorite books!

“Beowulf” is a story that was written in Old English, and has been translated by many people.  It was while I was reading about the Battle of Pelennor Fields in “The Return of the King” that I suddenly thought I want to read J.R.R. Tolkien’s version of “Beowulf”!

(Mama read a picture book version of it to us three “bigs” a long time ago, and I re-read it pretty recently and expressed my interest in reading a longer version.  I wanted to read the original before I found out it was not written in English–well, the English I know! 🙂 )

Well, if any of you who have read “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit” and are interested in reading this; I certainly won’t stop you, but be forewarned: it’s as bad as Shakespeare!  It was interesting, and I am glad I read it, but I was daunted at first!  Honestly, it was interesting until the action got over and the characters started telling each other stories about people I did not know (or care) much about.  I did get “into” it though, and I actually have a favorite character–which I do not usually when I read Shakespeare plays, as it is harder to grasp how people talk to others.  I would probably recommend reading an abridged version first, like I did–I also did this with “Ivanhoe” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If there was a main character in this book, it was (understandably) Beowulf.  I think of the book in three parts, though you could say it was more like two: Beowulf is incredibly strong, and there are three monsters that he kills over the course of the book–two ogres and one dragon.  I usually think of it as the three creatures he fought with; but the ogres were in the same place, so you could also think of it as 1) the fight with Grendel and his mother and then 2) fight with the dragon–or you could just think of it as a good book and not over-analyze anything (which is what I do best–have you noticed?) 🙂

Grendel is the first ogre, who (apparently) was descended from Cain, the first murderer.  I have NO idea what my opinion on that spiritual aspect is.  I might go into that more later.  We will see.

The book the story–there was a lot at the beginning that I considered unnecessary (though I’m not usually on the eliminate-needless-words train)– the story starts with King Hrothgar (please do not ask me how to pronounce any of the names–I have NO idea!) and his people being attacked by Grendel who came to the hall called Heorot at night (never during the day) and carried off people to… eat.  Sorry, it’s fierce.

Beowulf gets news of the monster, and sails to Hrothgar’s country and offers to fight Grendel.  The problem with fighting the ogre is that he has the ability to cast spells over men’s weapons, so they cannot hurt him.  Beowulf is unaffected by these spells, as his greatest weapon is the simple strength of his hands.

He stays in Heorot over night and kills Grendel (read the book if you want details, I am not giving everything away!), and then faces the task of Grendel’s vengeful mother.

Beowulf’s last battle takes place years later, after he has returned to his own country.  He becomes the ruler of that land, before the dragon comes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Something that I noticed reading this longer version, which I never thought of before (though it shouldn’t have surprised me) was how much the dragon sequence resembles that in “The Hobbit”… perhaps it served as inspiration!

But seriously, in both of the dragon steals this crazy amount of gold from someone, hides underground with it, hunkers down and sleeps on it for years.  Some innocent, unrelated person stumbles in and steals a golden cup (yes, it’s even a cup in both stories) and takes it to his master/leader.  Granted, in “The Hobbit” Bilbo was on a mission to steal treasure, even calling himself a “burglar”; while the poor man in “Beowulf” simply blundered in and took something to pay off his debts.  In Bilbo’s defense (because I’m biased 🙂 ) he was not in debt (the dragon was, if anyone), he was just doing what he was told, and he knew those whom the dragon had stolen from.  These quotes also reminded me of each other:

Treasure in the ground it is ever his wont to seize, and there wise with many years he guards the heathen gold–no whit doth it profit him ( 79).

-“Beowulf”

Thieves! Fire! Murder!  Such a thing had not happened since first he came to the Mountain!  His rage passes description–the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted (186).

-“The Hobbit”

“Sellic Spell” was also included in my hard-cover edition, which is something J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, and described:

It is only to a limited extent an attempt to reconstruct the Anglo-Saxon that lies behind the folk-tale element in “Beowulf” (355).

And the character Unfriend/Unpeace in it totally reminded me of Wormtongue from “The Lord of the Rings”–though he had a happier ending!  And Heorot reminded me of Edoras (also from “The Lord of the Rings”).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I really enjoyed reading this, though it went a little slow sometimes!  It was also not as long as it looked at first, because the inch-thick book was mostly introductions and commentaries.

My favorite character is Hrothgar, who is generous and humble.  I also liked Beowulf; though he was very honest about everything, including his accomplishments, which (his accomplishments being impressive) made it sound a little like he was bragging.  I do not think that was his intention though.

…the light of his eyes lit the hall from floor to ceiling like scarlet lightning.  ‘Revenge! …I kill where I wish and none dare resist.  I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today.  Then I was but young and tender.  Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Thief in the Shadows!’ he gloated (193).

-“The Hobbit”

 

Life, Literature

Another Old Favorite

6 Comments

I was gone for eight hours yesterday, and had a BLAST!

I went to a play of “Little Women” with some friends…

IMG_0560

(at the Omaha Community Playhouse, believe it or not!)

IMG_0561

…and then went to “Noodles & Co.” for lunch!

 

The play was good–not as good as the book, but is anything?  I mean, the book is always better than the movie or play. right?  Well, maybe that’s just me.  I’m a bookworm–though you guys probably figured that one out already! 🙂

They dramatized it a lot, made it a musical, left things out, and scrunched it all together–like putting the Jo-Meets-Apollyon-chapter part being about Meg and Jo’s first ball, not the theater, kind of thing; and John and Laurie proposing before Mrs. March came home.

That bothered me a little; but if you included everything in the book,  the play would be like twenty-four hours long something insane like that!

And the music was good touch!  The only problem was that you I (at any rate) can’t memorize songs the first time I hear them, and I have no way to listen to them again, so I can’t sing them.  Tragic, is it not?

It was almost as emotional as the book too: I spent the whole after-intermission-half trying not to cry!  Good actors, and a good story.

Good singers too–incredibly good!  One of the songs (actually one of my favorites) really reminded me of “Let It Go”–it had the same powerful piano-music; without so much of the hopeful and liberated feelings.  Jo sings it right after she refuses Laurie’s proposal, and I was like “oh my word!  I’ve totally felt like that before!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

IMG_0562

Us “bigs” finished off the day with a rousing game of “Bang!”

IMG_0564

Dad got out chips and salsa.  We all enjoyed the chips, but one of us doesn’t hold with salsa (okay, okay: it’s me).

Love these people! :-)

IMG_0562 IMG_0566

 

Love these people! 🙂

 

“God winds you up, and you go till He stops you” (514).

-“Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott 🙂

Literature

“Into the Dragon’s Lair” #2

6 Comments

I’m not sure if it was motivating or just plain distracting this morning, knowing that I could post this when I was done with school! 🙂

And now, of course, since I decided to mess around with a prologue, chapter one is in my second post.  *sigh*  Leave it to me to make things confusing! 🙂

And in case any of you missed it, here’s the prologue!

:-: INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR :-:
:-: INTO THE DRAGON’S LAIR :-:

CHAPTER 1 ~ Travels:

The year is 2012, and Explorer Spenser Rothfuss and Navigator Hannah Marie are going on an adventure in Bolivia.  Spenser had not been able to find a plane going to Bolivia they could afford; and they might not have gone at all, but Hannah had said her aunt (Pilot Kirsten Marie) owned a helicopter, and she might take them.

You have probably guessed why Spenser and Hannah are going to Bolivia.  Yes, it is to find the Rothfuss’ stolen gold and diamonds.  It has been many years since the treasure was stolen, and Grizzled is dead.

Pilot Kirsten Marie, Co-pilot Bekah Lynn, Explorer Spenser, and Navigator Hannah leave for Bolivia June 25th, 2012.  Flying from Texas to Bolivia takes a long, long time.  Hannah spends most of her time playing rock-paper-scissors and having thumb-wars with Spenser.  Kirsten’s helicopter, “The Darting Dragon”, is a cargo helicopter, so they have to keep stopping to drop things off.  Finally they reach a certain clearing in the Bolivian jungle: Hannah and Spenser start down a small trail into the trees.

The adventures begun!

———————————————————————————

I realize now I’m going to have to proof-read these pretty carefully, since (as most of you have probably noticed) the characters are named after my family members, but spelled different.  My muscle-memory makes me want to type them the way the real people spell their names, I’m this is going be more work to re-type than I anticipated! 🙂

I’m making a few changes as I go along, but they’re mostly punctuation.  In the original copy, though, I spelled Spenser with a “C” because I couldn’t think of any other way to spell it!  I was inspired to spell it that way when I typed it wrong by mistake once, and thought I’d spell it that way here!

Come back next Tuesday! 🙂