Don't shoot the pianist
Sep. 27th, 2023 12:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elglinAs far as I remember an article I once read, Tolkien originally set out to write a Norse-like mythology which he felt the English culture lacked. It all turned out completely different, of course.
A certain Mr. Sapkowski expanded his short story collection to a fantasy saga, in a large part, due to a lack of a fantasy saga in contemporary Polish literature. Long before the forgettable Netflix series and even long before the acclaimed video game series, this saga was well-known and well-liked in Eastern Europe.
What if Geoffrey of Monmouth, being sick and tired of the Matter of France, found a distinct lack of the Matter of Britain and decided it was his task to fill that void? If not with blackjack and hookers, then with knights and ladies?
If it were so, he was no less, if not more, successful, than the aforementioned acclaimed authors whom he predates by almost a millennium. And we cannot really blame him for the fact that generations of historians used his writings as the authoritative source - that would be akin to blaming Bernard Cornwell for taking liberties with the Peninsular campaigns which, historically, never saw a certain Sharpe make quite a career.
A certain Mr. Sapkowski expanded his short story collection to a fantasy saga, in a large part, due to a lack of a fantasy saga in contemporary Polish literature. Long before the forgettable Netflix series and even long before the acclaimed video game series, this saga was well-known and well-liked in Eastern Europe.
What if Geoffrey of Monmouth, being sick and tired of the Matter of France, found a distinct lack of the Matter of Britain and decided it was his task to fill that void? If not with blackjack and hookers, then with knights and ladies?
If it were so, he was no less, if not more, successful, than the aforementioned acclaimed authors whom he predates by almost a millennium. And we cannot really blame him for the fact that generations of historians used his writings as the authoritative source - that would be akin to blaming Bernard Cornwell for taking liberties with the Peninsular campaigns which, historically, never saw a certain Sharpe make quite a career.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-27 09:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-28 09:23 pm (UTC)https://xkcd.com/593/