ddudd gws nih no im jemen
In a spirit of madness during a recent RPG session I had an Elvish NPC say a few words in his own language, offering his culture’s name for a mythic beast mentioned by one of the player characters. In the split second before the dialogue I decided that the human culture’s name for this mythical beast would be a derivation (unknown to them) of the older Elvish name. The beast was a griffin that emerged from the sea near the PC’s home (an addition to the campaign mythology by that player) known simply as “The Grey” so in that moment of improvisation I had the Elf NPC refer to it as “Gar Ai Meddin” (the dd being a voiced “th”) translating that as Hawk of the Ocean. I could see how “Gar Ai” became “Grey” and job done.
So far so normal for me. But I enjoyed the sound of “Gar Ai Meddin” – it sounded suitably faux-Welsh and alien to the ears, but pleasingly euphonic. Gar I decided was Hawk (though it also reminded me of the Old English Gar meaning Spear, and that was apt I thought, comparing the swift dive of a hawk with the swift flight of a spear) and Meddin was literally Deep Water.
That I decided meant that “Medd” was water, with an affix meaning “Deep”
I should have left it there.
I didn’t. A week or two later and with the help of vulgarlang.com a wonderful site that does all the heavy lifting when it comes to building the framework of a constructed language, I now have a workable Elvish language (they call it “Siwn” which means “Lesser Light” as language to them is a way of experiencing the world) with a functional grammar, structure and about 4000 words of vocabulary.
It’s a crazy waste of time and effort since I have no intention of using it more than tangentially in play, but it has been fascinating in seeing how much of a culture you can discover by forming their language. These Elves for instance revere the concept of light as revelation. Consequently their words relating to inspiration, truth and goodness all derive from the root “Si” meaning light. Their words for making, shaping and creation are all derivations of words for speech and language, and so on. I honestly think that if no syllable ever crosses my lips during play (and I don’t intend to inflict it on my players) I’ve learned some valuable stuff about the rare Elvish race in my campaign setting.
I’ve even dabbled with translating a poem that already existed in the setting, composed a century or two ago by the same Elvish NPC, into this new language — and in the process discovered that Elvish poetry doesn’t rely on end-rhymes but rather end-sounds…
The first stanza in English:
Namer of names, her words were light
And sunshine pierced the deepest dark
Whene’er she spake, where e’er she went
In deepest gloom a kindled spark
Would shine and brighten blackest night
And in Siwn
Minin aiminem vi ddem si had
vur alsi si idd mach alin vavrwd
Re vi siwnˈdasad, ˈMisme vi ˈruhed
Ho alin mach na ragle vassad
Dwn vur almarmach odlaj
You can see the full language breakdown at the campaign’s WorldAnvil page HERE and play with the dictionary if that sort of thing appeals to you.
The title of this article by the way translates roughly to: “Too much time on my hands”
The Maiden in the mist
U.P.G.
Loaded with metaphor, a seed signed and ready,
Or clever code to upload,
Somewhere in an abstract pocket, or third eye squint
Or heart-glow or something
It’s time to lay back and dark the eyes, and don’t think
About the process (but you do)
The veil isn’t some gauzy temple thing
Or symbol rich tapestry
It’s a rug, much swept-under, and all the sweepings wait
And ambush with
What If? and
Why? and
Arguments (in hindsight easily) to win, and
Memories, and
Tasks undone, and
Snatches of old songs, and
New ideas – so sneaky- much more interesting than This
But press on without trying
Don’t listen, don’t engage, as they take your hand
And lead you through the streets till undone
To Memory Lane, or
Could-Be-Would-Be Land
Pass on, pass on, pay no attention to the man
The men, the women, the many,
Behind the curtain
Which is a rug much swept-under
Until the noise subsides
And images arise for you, to view,
Distracting no longer, but odd
Alice odd, not no but yes Odd
With dialogue and shows
And riddles and scenes
Sir Eel rules here, and all his friends
Don’t notice, let it wash past
Until later, time-gapped later, seeming sooner
You realise a void had bloomed
A lily of lacuna
And it’s time for open-eyes, and questioning and doubt
Did code upload, did signed and certain seed take root
And so on to the rest of the feet-on-floor day
And waiting
ICARUS TRIUMPHANT
Tempus Ascendit
My son has recently taken up climbing. At first via an after school club but now he’s got a membership at a local climbing centre. This means he can now go scrambling up awkwardly shaped walls on weekends as well as schooldays which means I get to accompany him.
Today was my first chance to do this. He went off suitably corona-masked and equipped with a chalk-bag and his new climbing shoes into the depths of the building while I grabbed a coffee and went to find a place to sit.
Suitably armed with caffeine I looked into the open area with the climbers and I saw a young man scrambling with ease up what looked like a tricky section of wall. Perhaps one day my own son, when he is a little taller and stronger, will be able to do that, I thought.
And then I recognised him behind the mask. My son was already taller and stronger than I realised and it took seeing him unknowingly to realise that.
Lovely moment but astonishing too. Seeing someone everyday means the little changes turn invisible. My son is now a young man and I almost missed it.
Last Train Back from Trancentral
Back in 1988 there was novelty record called Doctoring the Tardis by a band calling themselves The Timelords which blended a ridiculously empty set of lyrics over a sampled bit of music, with a bizarre video of a car blaring out music and running over a bargain basement dalek. It was the number one selling single in the UK and New Zealand.
Shortly afterward the people behind it released a book called The Manual (How to have a Number One the easy way) which was a cynical but accurate explanation of how the music industry works and the ingredients needed to game the system and get a number one hit. They’d followed their steps with Doctoring the Tardis and it had worked.
Then the KLF began releasing a string of catchy dance hits, the lyrics and videos of which heavily referenced the lore from the Illuminatus Trilogy and firmly placed the performers on the Discordian team. As a long-standing, newly-sitting, sometimes lying-down Discordian sympathiser myself I was duly amused.
In 1991 they made a film The Rites of Mu at the summer solstice on the Isle of Jura in the Hebrides, where they burned an 18m Wicker-Man, with journalists asked to wear robes, join in the chanting, and pay an entrance fee. The money collected was burned with the Wicker Man.
In 1992 they performed at the Brit Awards they performed live, ending their performance by firing a machine-gun full of blanks into the audience and announced they were leaving the music industry. They didn’t attend the after-party, instead dumping a dead sheep with the message “I died for you – bon appetit” tied around its waist at the door.
Then lest anyone think this was just a stunt to drum up publicity… they deleted their back catalogue of music and quit the music industry. The trophy they won for best band at the Brit Awards was later found buried near Stonehenge.
In 1993 they founded the K Foundation and among other projects filmed themselves burning £1,000,000.00 of their royalties on the Isle of Jura as an act of… of something… that people have been arguing about ever since. I suspect it was an act of self-liberation given their Discordian tendencies.
Then on 23 August 2017 (23/8/2017 or 2+3+8+2+0+1+7), 23 years after they burned the money, they returned as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (a group heavily featured in their previous music and in the Illuminatus Trilogy) They also announced new plans for a People’s Pyramid to be built from bricks each containing 23 grams of human ashes from volunteers who choose to contribute. To anyone versed in Illuminatus and Discordian lore these details will seem inevitable and familiar.
Why bring this up now?
Well it’s the first of January, 2021: 1/1/21 and strange things have been seen in East London.
And now, behold, after the absence of their music since 1992 the KLF have now made their entire back catalogue available for streaming.
This is a fine day, ladles and gentlepens.
Wisdom
Cattle die, kindred die,
Every man is mortal:
But the good name never dies
Of one who has done well
Havamal, stanza 76
Otherworlds 