Amazing to think that it is already the third week in this month’s “Fun With Thornspell” feature on the blog. And there have been some great comments and character suggestions so far—I am really enjoying reading them as they come in!

For those of you who are new to this, the full info is set out here, but the basic “gen” is that if you suggest a character from Thornspell and why you like them, then at the end of the month the judges will go through the list and I will write a short story about the character they select! So keep those suggestions coming, most particularly if there’s a character you haven’t seen mentioned yet.

The other part of the deal though, is that each week I will talk a bit about the Thornspell story from my point of view as the author. (And by the way, feel free to make requests for topics you’d like me to cover in your comments—I will see what can be done!)

About Thornspell: The Legend of Parsifal

Last week I talked about the belvedere and this week I am going to talk about my use of the Parsifal myth in Thornspell. I have always loved the Parsifal story and wanted to work it into the backstory—in part, because I made the Thornspell world very middle-European, almost-but-not-quite Holy Roman Empire, and Parsifal is a story cycle that belongs to that part of the world. To an extent I was making the traditional Sleeping Beauty story ‘new’ in Thornspell—not too new though, because I like the traditional story—but I also felt that weaving my new story of the prince into the broader, European myth cycles, as well as just the fairytale, would give it greater richness and authenticity.

So that is why I decided that Sigismund’s sword, Quickthorn, would be one that the dragons “made for Parsifal.” (Chapter 18, pg 300)

I had already decided that Quickthorn would be “red and white”—but the amazing thing was that once I made the decision to draw on the Parsifal story, and started researching the myth cycle, there were just so many overlaps with elements in my ‘new’ story. For example, in one of the Parsifal variants, he has a “red sword” (which he pulls from a stone, as it happens, in much the same way as King Arthur with Excalibur.)  Another overlapping aspect from the myth cycle was Parsifal’s relationships with women—sometimes as a romantic interest, sometimes as mentor/guide—who could appear as either “loathly” ( I borrow the word from the Sir Gawain tale in the King Arthur cycle here) or “fair.”

How apt, I thought, given I had already decided that it would be shapeshifting dragons who had mentored Parsifal—and that might well explain how a lady might appear sometimes “loathly” and sometimes “fair!” In fact some of the overlaps were so neat that I decided that the Muses, taking counsel on Parnassus, must have meant for the stories of Parsifal and Sigismund to overlap! Or—an alternative explanation—my avid reading of myths and legends as a kid had embedded the stories so deeply in my subconscious that they were just waiting for the opportunity to re-emerge in another form. (A little like those shapeshifting dragons … )

In terms of explanation, you may take your pick 😉 —but either way, I do feel that having authentic mythological elements as backstory add to the richness of a fairytale retelling like Thornspell.

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Now back to the fun part—don’t forget to comment and say which Thornspell character you would like a short story written about, and also why. I’m looking forward to getting some more great character suggestions to add to those from weeks one and two, which you can read here and here.

Can’t find your copy or don’t have time to reread and refresh your memory of the characters? You can also check out the Thornspell website and read the first chapter, here — or just click on any of the images around the web page; each one should take you to a quote about that particular character.

Have fun!