{"id":21568,"date":"2013-07-24T06:30:39","date_gmt":"2013-07-23T18:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=21568"},"modified":"2013-07-23T21:02:55","modified_gmt":"2013-07-23T09:02:55","slug":"influence-on-story-epic-poems-an-excerpt-from-the-gathering-of-the-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2013\/07\/24\/influence-on-story-epic-poems-an-excerpt-from-the-gathering-of-the-lost\/","title":{"rendered":"Influence On Story: Epic Poems & An Excerpt From “The Gathering Of The Lost”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UK\/AU\/NZ Cover<\/p><\/div>\n

Those of you who follow my Tuesday Poem posts, will know that I’ve been featuring legendary and\/or epic poems each Tuesday while the voting period is open for the David Gemmell Legend Award<\/strong> shortlist<\/a> (voting closes on 31 July.)<\/p>\n

Yesterday’s poem was an extract from Sir Gawain & The Green Knight<\/a>, and its influences on contemporary Fantasy include the importance of the Arthurian cycle, which was also known as ‘The Matter Of Britain’ in the Middle Ages, as well as the hero’s quest, the importance of knightly honour, chivalry and integrity, as opposed to expediency, and the all important contest of arms.<\/p>\n

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USA<\/p><\/div>\n

So today, since The Gathering Of The Lost<\/em><\/strong> is one of the books currently on the Gemmell Legend Award longlist, and the award celebrates excellence in epic and heroic fantasy, I thought I’d feature an excerpt from the book that speaks to some of those elements that comes down to us from Sir Gawain & The Green Knight<\/em><\/strong>, in particular the knightly society and the contest of arms.<\/p>\n

This excerpt comes from a chapter titled, The Sword Ring<\/em>.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

from<\/em> The Sword Ring<\/span><\/h4>\n

“…<\/span><\/p>\n

The crowd was deep around the ring where Audin was fighting, but very quiet, which meant that the clang of sword on sword was louder than usual. Kalan zigzagged his way between the onlookers until he had a clear view of the ring. Ado was in Audin\u2019s corner, his expression strained. A knot of men in well-worn armor faced him from the opposing corner of the ring, but it was what was happening within the ropes that held everyone\u2019s attention. Audin was taller than Kalan and almost as strongly built, but he looked slight, almost fine, beside the man who hulked opposite him. Orth, Kalan realized\u2014with a sinking feeling in his stomach as he joined Ado, because in full armor the Derai looked as though he had been hewn from the rock of the Wall itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kalan could not see the warrior\u2019s face behind his lowered visor, but the savagery Ilaise had spoken of was evident in every movement of his body and hammer blow of his sword. Bloodlust rolled off the man, and Kalan\u2019s fists clenched. Ilaise was right, he thought, this is someone who will deliberately maim an opponent, or even kill, uncaring of tourney rules. So far, Audin was holding his own, but only just. It was clear to Kalan that the Derai warrior was overpowering him every time their blades met\u2014and that Audin dared not let the swords lock lest his wrist be broken outright.<\/span><\/p>\n

The question, Kalan thought, was not whether Audin could win, but how long he could hold out\u2014and how much damage Orth would inflict before the marshals stopped him. The Derai seconds\u2019 faces were impassive as they watched their comrade pounding into Audin. They must have seen it all before, Kalan supposed, his anger sparking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Audin was visibly tiring now, unsurprisingly given the onslaught he was facing. He was still using his shield, but holding his arm in a way that suggested he had taken damage. The Sword warrior\u2019s blade hammered down again, beating Audin\u2019s sword aside as though it wasn\u2019t there. Audin interposed his shield, and this time it took the full weight of the downstroke; he kept his arm and shield up but went down onto his knee. Ado groaned as the Sword warrior came in like a battering ram, raining blows onto the shield as Audin tried to swivel sideways and regain his feet. Across the crowd of silent watchers Kalan saw the knights in blue-black armor, disinterested behind their screening coifs, and the spark of his anger quickened.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sword warrior\u2019s blade pounded down again and Audin rolled, a maneuver designed to bring him back onto his feet before his opponent caught up. He almost managed it, but the Sword giant covered the ground between them in a single stride and swung his blade like a club, catching Audin a tremendous wallop in the side. The young knight staggered sideways, fighting to regain his balance and turn\u2014to get his shield in place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSerrut!\u201d whispered Ado. \u201cI think he\u2019s going to kill him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kalan thought so, too. The intention was written in every line of the Sword warrior\u2019s body, and Kalan could hear the blood thirst in the giant\u2019s roar as he raised his weapon again. Now everything was in slow motion: the sword coming up and Audin starting to straighten, to turn, bringing his shield up but not in time. It could never be in time, and given that last strike he might not be able to hold it anyway \u2026 Kalan was vaguely aware of riders watching from behind the heads of those crowded around the ring and hoped that one of them was not Ilaise, returned from watching the joust. Orth\u2019s sword had reached its apex now and was starting to descend: it was sweeping down, a mountain of force behind it\u2014and Kalan pulled raw power out of the Emerian earth and willed it into Audin, infusing strength into his friend\u2019s shield arm and his legs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The shield came into play in time and\u2014impossibly\u2014held. A sigh that was half a groan rippled through the crowd as Audin managed to stagger up, retreating from the Sword warrior\u2019s renewed assault. Kalan could gauge the blows himself now, through his bulwark of earth, and could not imagine how Audin had managed to last even this long. The Derai warriors were murmuring to each other, and from what Kalan\u2019s acute hearing could catch, they were equally amazed that Audin was still standing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kalan gritted his teeth, trying to shield his power use as best he could, but he dared not withdraw it. Audin might be on his feet and doggedly evading, but even with the infusion of additional strength he looked as though he might fall at any moment. Kalan bit his lip, aware of how much Audin wanted to make his own way, rather than rely on the Sondargent name and his standing as the Duke\u2019s nephew. Yet in battle none of them would have qualms about using Oakward power to thwart an enemy, especially if confronted by a squadron of Orths.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tourney ground is not battle, Kalan thought\u2014but this bout has turned into life and death.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sword warrior had stopped roaring now and was pursuing Audin in silence, intent as a stalking wolf. He wondered why the marshals were letting the situation play to its bitter end, when the bout was effectively already over. He didn\u2019t think he could afford to wait until they finally decided to take action, in any case: Audin was too near done. And even warrior Derai like Orth and his Sword comrades were bound to sense that he was supporting Audin sooner or later.<\/span><\/p>\n

So if I am going to intervene further, Kalan thought grimly, it has to be now.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the opposite side of the ring the young, black-armored knight took a step forward, ignoring the restraining hand of one of his companions. Almost, Kalan thought, still with that distant, observational part of his mind, as if he\u2019s thinking exactly the same thing I am. The coif concealed the young knight\u2019s expression, but his stance and the angle of his head suggested a total focus on the endgame now being played out.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the ring, Orth\u2019s sword thrust forward and the point would have driven between Audin\u2019s pauldron and gorget, piercing the vulnerable armpit area, if he had not twisted clear at the last moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than time, Kalan thought, to finish this.<\/span><\/p>\n

He drew a deep breath and concentrated power within himself, intense as the summer lightning that flickers above acrid earth. Orth pivoted, drawing his sword back for another hammer blow\u2014and Kalan sent a flare of invisible energy leaping along the giant\u2019s sword blade and up his forearm.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time, Orth was the one to leap back, yelling, although he did not drop his weapon. Audin lurched after him, although it looked as though even lifting his sword took everything he had. The two weapons rang together, sparks flying from the clash of metal\u2014and Kalan released the molten flicker again, unseen beneath the blue midsummer sky, and shattered Orth\u2019s blade.<\/span><\/p>\n

…”<\/span><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

If you would like to vote for The Gathering Of The Lost<\/em><\/strong> to make the shortlist for the David Gemmell Legend Award, it’s as simple as 1-2-3:<\/p>\n

1. Click on the following link: http:\/\/www.gemmellaward.com\/page\/the-legend-award<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Click again in the circle above “Helen Lowe – The Gathering Of The Lost”<\/p>\n

3. Scroll to the bottom & click on “Vote”<\/p>\n

Easy-peasy — and thank you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those of you who follow my Tuesday Poem posts, will know that I’ve been featuring legendary and\/or epic poems each Tuesday while the voting period is open for the David Gemmell Legend Award shortlist (voting closes on 31 July.) Yesterday’s poem was an extract from Sir Gawain & The Green Knight, and its influences on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-my-books","category-influences-on-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21568"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21587,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21568\/revisions\/21587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}