page 1
A certain enemy robbed me of my life,
stole my world-strength; afterward he soaked me,
dunked me in water, dragged me out again,
set me in the sun, where I swiftly lost
the hairs that I had. Afterward the hard
edge of a knife, with all unevenness ground away, slashed me;
fingers folded, and the bird’s joy
[spread] over me with worthwhile drops, often made tracks,
over the bright border, swallowed tree-dye,
a portion of the stream, stepped again on me,
journeyed, leaving behind a dark track. Afterward a hero
encircled me with protective boards, covered me with hide,
garnished me with gold; therefore the wonderful
work of smiths glitters on me, surrounded by wire.
Now those ornaments and the red dye
and that wondrous dwelling widely worship
the protector of the people, not at all foolish in wisdom.
If the children of men wish to enjoy me,
they will be the more sound and the more victory-fast,
the bolder in heart and the more blithe in mind,
the wiser in spirit, they will have more friends,
dear and near, faithful and good,
upright and true; then their glory and prosperity
will increase with favour and lay down
goodwill and kindness and in the grasp of love
clasp firmly. Find what I am called,
useful to men. My name is famous,
handy to heroes and holy in itself.
Anon c. 10th century (Translation source)
Welcome everyone! I hope you’ll enjoy reading this comic as much as I enjoyed writing and drawing it! I’m going to be making posts with collated info in the future but I’m also going to be writing up some history notes under pages with specific info that pertains to it! I’ll try to keep them brief but feel free to give them a miss! They aren’t needed to enjoy the comic but hopefully will be interesting and enlightening!
Riddles are a big part of TFBOSC (visual riddles even more so). It made sense to start the comic out with one. The faint gold letters overlaying the images is the Old English of the above riddle, and the pages illustrates the first ten or so lines. I’ll leave you to puzzle out what the final answer is (the translation source gives the answer, and also a commentary if you are interested). The wonderful thing about Anglo Saxon riddles, however, is how “metaphoric and metamorphic” (Williamson, 1982) they are! A quill is a ‘bird’s joy’, its means of flight, it is almost as if it in itself is alive! Everything mundane has a history, has a story that twists out of the grasp of our conception. Things are not what they seem, inanimate objects ‘speak’ (“my name is famous”), and meanings change and shift as you move through the riddle. Normal things become bizarre and although its the job of the riddle-solver to set things straight again, part fo the fun is looking at our world through a contorted lens to appreciate how every little thing is unique, unknowable and has a story worth telling. I hope this sets the tone of what to expect in the comic.
