JOSHUA GILLINGHAM
  • Home
  • Writer
  • Articles & Interviews
  • Educator
  • Game Design
  • Musician
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Writer
  • Articles & Interviews
  • Educator
  • Game Design
  • Musician
  • Contact
Search

The Gatewatch: Influences & Inspiration

2/12/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
   My good friend, fellow fantasy writer, and Viking scholar Steven T. Dunn (Host of Fjorn's Hall blog and podcast) recently asked me what influence the Norse myths had on my first novel, The Gatewatch. I found it refreshing to revisit the sources of my inspiration and so decided to share a summary of my influences here.

   In writing The Gatewatch I originally set out to create a modern retelling of a few of my favorite Norse myths. However, as the northern realm of Noros came into clearer view and the main characters delved further into their adventure I realized I had a full-fledged fantasy series on my hands.

"as the northern realm of Noros came into clearer view and the main characters delved
further into their adventure I realized I had a full-fledged fantasy series on my hands"

   The three main characters, Torin, Bryn, and Grimsa, are inspired by the three central figures of Norse Mythology: Odin, Loki, and Thor. Other characters throughout the book reflect familiar Norse personalities in a much looser sense: Freya, Frigg, Heimdal, and the dwarven brothers Brokk & Eitri to name a few. Certain events, such as a drinking contest in an enormous mead hall, are directly based on specific myths, in that case Thor’s Journey to Utgard. Torin’s obsession with riddles (part of his Odin-like nature) culminates in a duel of riddles to the death with a giant king; this is inspired by scenes from The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek and from Vafþrúðnismál in the Poetic Edda. The epic poems recited in the book are structured around some of the poetic rules of drottkvaett, the ancient court meter of viking skalds; further, many treasure and place names are direct or close translations of Old Norse words. And, of course, the entire book centers around defending the human realm against giants and trolls which is a classic heroic task of both Norse gods and Viking heroes.

"the entire book centers around defending the human realm against giants and trolls
which is a classic heroic task of both Norse gods and Viking heroes"

Picture
   Certain locations described in The Gatewatch are inspired by historical sites in Norway which I had the pleasure of visiting in 2015. Fjellhall, the great mead hall at the center of Gatewatch, is based off Håkonshallen in Bergen which had to be partially reconstructed after resistance fighters ignited a harboured ship full of munitions during the Nazi occupation. Scenes in the wilds beyond Gatewatch are coloured with memories of my time spent in Odda, a town close to the trailhead of the iconic Trolltunga hike. On my way home I stopped over in Iceland for a day and so any readers who have had the pleasure of bathing in Iceland’s Blue Lagoon will recognize its influence on the underground baths visited by the characters in Gatewatch.  

"any readers who have had the pleasure of bathing in Iceland’s Blue Lagoon will recognize its influence on the underground baths visited by the characters in Gatewatch"

   Distinctly lacking in The Gatewatch are Viking longships and the northern sea because the story takes place high up in the mountains. This, of course, will be remedied in future sequels, the first of which is already well underway. For now, find the first three chapters on the website  and stay up to date on publication details and future novels by joining The Gatewatch mailing list.
0 Comments

Cultivating Creativity through Microspaces

1/18/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Big Question: Where do ideas come from? ​
  This simple quandary has stumped generation after generation of thinkers, academics, writers, artists, musicians, and creative types of every kind. Interviewers constantly badger famous authors for any clue of where their most memorable fictional characters come from and songwriters dissect chart-topping hits in an attempt to reverse-engineer some long-kept secret formula.

  Much like the mythic Spring of Eternal Youth, the secret source of humanity’s ability to be creative continues to evade us. However, there is another question that I think can be answered: When do ideas appear? The answer to that question, and our willingness to adjust our lifestyle to it, may be the ‘secret’ that so many seek. So if you are not currently living a creative life and would like to I am offering a concrete, costless step that you can take on that journey. 
"if you are not currently living a creative life and would like to
​I am offering a concrete, costless step that you can take on that journey"

​The Other Big Question: When do ideas appear?
My Answer: Microspaces. 
  Microspaces, as I define them, are all the insignificant moments of the day. Taking the elevator. Stopping at a red light. Brushing your teeth or standing in line at the grocery store. Tying your shoes. Sitting on the toilet. Microwaving your lunch. Waiting for the bus. Watching a laggy webpage load.

  Microspaces offer brief moments of mental liberty. They are the empty  ‘inbetweens’ in our days that so easily go unnoticed. They are the white space between the letters. They are the silence between notes. They are the breaks in the pattern and the place between strokes.
"Microspaces offer brief moments of mental liberty.
​They are the empty  ‘inbetweens’ in our days that so easily go unnoticed."
   In my experience these microspaces are exactly when my best ideas appear. Not during dedicated brainstorming sessions. Not during my scheduled writing time. Not while doing research or hammering out words on the keyboard. They float into my mind during those empty moments. But look carefully at the microspaces listed above and you may find that those moments are not so empty for you. 
Picture
​  Cell phones and advertising have practically eradicated microspaces from our lives. If you are not looking at an ad during an elevator ride you’re probably checking your social media accounts. Tweets from the toilet and duck-face Insta-selfies in the bathroom mirror have replaced contemplative silence and a moment of self reflection. Fear Of Missing Out and cell phone addiction are endemic. Advertisers and developers pride themselves on filling every unclaimed surface and second in our lives with noise.

​  When all the white space on the page gets filled the text fades into chaos. Without the silence between notes the concerto becomes a cacophony. But that is how most people are living right now and human creativity suffers for it. So what’s the good news? We are all in control of how we manage our microspaces. 
"Advertisers and developers pride themselves on filling every unclaimed surface and second in our lives with noise."
  If you are serious about being a creative person you need to actively cultivate your microspaces. Don’t fill every moment looking at a screen or gawking at photoshopped models in advertisements or on magazines. Just let your eyes rest on those round buttons in the elevator. Stare at the seagulls outside while you wait in line at the store. Don’t make a habit of checking your phone in the bathroom and look out the bus window rather than up at the ads.
"If you are serious about being a creative person you need to actively cultivate your microspaces."
  Nothing has been more rewarding in my creative journey than protecting my microspaces from mental clutter, but don’t interpret this advice as dismissive of the hard labour that goes into being creative. Ideas are raw materials that need to be shaped and refined through hard creative labor. However, if you don’t allow room for microspaces in your day you’ve cut yourself off from that mysterious spring of ideas somewhere beyond our reach. Embrace your microspace.  
To experience the benefits of microspaces in your creative journey Joshua challenges you leave your phone turned off for a day. 
0 Comments

Wielder of Words: On Vikings & Poetry

1/12/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
​This article draws heavily on Peter Hallberg’s 1975 publication Old Icelandic Poetry: Eddic Lay and Skaldic Verse.
​History presents the vikings (accurately or otherwise) as ruthless raiders, seafaring traders, horn-helmeted heathens, and ferocious fighters. However, one of the most enviable traits of a Norse hero at the height of the Viking Age is regrettably overlooked today: skill in poetry. 
"one of the most enviable traits of a Norse hero at the height of the Viking Age is regrettably overlooked today: skill in poetry"
​In a viking’s mind the sword lay next to the spoken word. Wielding words with skill was as important as wielding a blade; a clumsy phrase could lead to more bloodshed than a misplaced sword stroke. If injury was intended then every viking knew that a well-crafted insult aimed at an enemy could fly farther and sink deeper than any hand-fletched arrow. Intelligence could be measured by one’s ability to interpret poetic riddles and, for those seeking glory, a deed enshrined in verse would outlast the richest treasure. Therefore, no study of the Viking Age could be complete without considering their poetry.  
"a clumsy phrase could lead to more bloodshed than a misplaced sword stroke"
Picture
Depiction of Egil Skallagrimson of Egil's Saga

​​Translated verses of famous viking skalds (poets) such as Egill Skallagrímsson and Kormákr Ögmundarson bear little resemblance to what most people today would consider to be poetry. Modern song lyrics and traditional Western poems are primarily defined by rough syllabic consistency and end-rhyme between lines. An excellent example can be found in Lennon & McCartney’s classic Beatle’s hit She Loves You:
​ You think you've lost your love (6 syllables)
 Well, I saw her yesterday (7 syllables) 
It's you she's thinking of (6 syllables)
And she told me what to say (7 syllables) 

The end-rhyme pairs love/of and day/say in an ABAB scheme satisfy, to the modern ear, what poetry should ‘sound’ like. Each line has either six or seven syllables which demonstrates a fair amount of consistency between lines. 
"Modern song lyrics and traditional Western poems are primarily defined by
​rough syllabic consistency and end-rhyme between lines."​
By contrast, the skaldic poetry enjoyed by vikings centered around internal rhyme and alliteration instead. Both of these were made easier by the fact that Old Norse as a language has less phonetic diversity than modern English. Since there are literally fewer sounds within the language it is much easier to find rhymes and alliteration in Old Norse. Skaldic poetry also featured over one hundred distinctive structured verse forms, each of which had its own strict set of rules. One of the most popular forms was dróttkvætt, also known as ‘court metre’. 
"the skaldic poetry enjoyed by vikings centered around internal rhyme and alliteration" 
While it is nearly impossible to re-create within the English language I will give an approximation of my own making based on a set of five dróttkvætt-like rules.
  1. Each verse should consist of eight lines
  2. Every line must have exactly six syllables 
  3. Odd lines must have one case of full-rhyme (shown in italics; e.g. ‘wave’ and ‘gave’) 
  4. Even lines must have one case of half-rhyme (shown in italics; e.g. ‘cut’ and ‘bit’) 
  5. Every pair of lines must have triple alliteration occurring twice in the odd line and once in the even line (shown in bold; e.g. ‘sword’, ‘sea’, ‘sailed’) 
​With those five rules in mind, here is an example of how they can be applied and what (with a great stretch of the imagination) viking verse might have sounded like. 
Picture
A Reconstructed Viking Longhouse

​​Now light logs to brighten 
Longhouse dim and gloomy
Let long flames grow stronger
Like red wolves wood licking
Bring here beer in barrels
Fill every horn brim-full 
Also fine wine and mead
Till throats are dry no more
​
Attempt to construct a verse of your own with these five rules and you’ll find it a synapse-stretching task. However, a skald would not consider the verse above to be dróttkvætt at all as it does not strictly follow the additional rules of the form. In conversations with doctoral students of Norse literature I have heard these skaldic forms described as ‘hyper-complex’ with ‘draconian rules’; however, Viking Age skalds were famed for being able to improvise such forms on the spot.
“skaldic forms [were] ‘hyper-complex’ with ‘draconian rules’; however, 
Viking Age skalds were famed for being able to improvise such forms on the spot”​
In addition to these challenging structural complexities skalds were famously known for their use of a unique poetic device known as a kenning. Kennings were metaphorical phrases that alluded to Norse myth and culture. For example, the ‘whale road’ is a kenning for ‘the ocean’; the ‘sea of swords’ is a kenning for ‘battle’; ‘Freya’s tears’ is a kenning for ‘gold’. The best skalds might employ a double kenning, a reference to a reference. A phrase like ‘the venom of the battle snake’ employs the kenning ‘battle snake’ for ‘sword’, presumably making its ‘venom’ a kenning for ‘blood’. Therefore, by saying ‘the venom of the battle snake’ the skald simply means ‘blood’. While triple or even quadruple kennings may have existed, scholars such as Peter Hallberg declare that the intimate knowledge of Norse culture and skaldic traditions needed to decipher these kennings makes them practically inaccessible to the modern reader. 
“Therefore, by saying ‘the venom of the battle snake’ the skald simply means ‘blood’”
Picture

​​The poetry of the skalds then becomes not only an epic demonstration of linguistic acrobatics but a nearly sadistic interweaving of kennings that may all but conceal whatever meaning was originally intended. Modern scholars share the frustration of interpreting these poems with ancient vikings who themselves often could make little sense of the more complex skaldic verses. However, that which we can translate and understand gives us a glimpse of a culture that, despite its harshness, had a keen ear for quality verse and a fascination with vexing riddles. 
For more on poetry in the Viking Age Joshua recommends Old Icelandic Poetry: Eddic Lay and Skaldic Verse by Peter Hallberg. 
0 Comments

The Stories We Tell: Dystopia & Ragnarok

11/25/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
One of my favorite local bookshops recently displayed a sign that read as follows: Due to recent happenings we have moved our ‘Dystopic Future’ section to ‘Current Events’. 

Isn’t that just the case though? Everywhere you turn and every device you turn on has another article about environmental catastrophe, a research report heralding disaster, and opinion pieces laying hefty bets on where, when, and how humanity will ultimately destroy itself. Best-selling books are bleak, despairing, and pessimistic. Popular Netflix series like Black Mirror paint a horrid picture of where humanity is headed and the movie industry seems to only have time for scripts where superheroes, rather than relatable humans, solve all our problems for us. ​
It is my firm belief that the kinds of stories a culture tells will, in fact, tell you far more about that culture than the stories themselves. What kind of stories do we tell today? I sense futility, anger, hopelessness, selfishness, and defeat in most of them. A sense of embarrassment about the story we are currently telling through how we live is already openly acknowledged: how often have you heard people shudder as they ask what their grandchildren might say of us and how we treated the environment, or nuclear science, or genetics research? But there are other cultures and with them other stories that we might tell instead. ​
"It is my firm belief that the kinds of stories a culture tells will, in fact,
​tell you far more about that culture than the stories themselves."
​

Picture

​For this reason I am eternally intrigued by the concept of 
Ragnarok in Scandinavian mythology. For those unfamiliar with the Norse Myths, Ragnarok is an apocalyptic battle that will take place in Asgard where the Norse gods reside. Odin will be swallowed whole by the giant wolf Fenrir, Thor will slay the world serpent Jormungandr only to die by its venom, and Frey will be slain by the fire giant Surtr with the edge of his own sword. In short, it is a prophecy of utter doom. The gods lose.


What sort of people tell that kind of story? What kind of culture lets their heroes lose? Couldn’t the strength of Thor, the cunning of Loki, the beauty of Freya, the keen senses of Heimdal, or the wisdom of Odin divert this terrible disaster? No. The gods are doomed and each must live under the shadow of this impending apocalypse. Does that sound familiar? I think we might have more in common with the ancient Scandinavian story-tellers than most people imagine.

What sort of people tell that kind of story? What kind of culture lets their heroes lose?

​So what is the response of Odin and the gods to their plight? Do they give up? Do they lay down their swords and surrender to their inevitable end? Do they drink themselves blind in light of the doom that awaits? No. Odin plots ceaselessly to seek out the bravest and wisest warriors to join him in Valhalla where they constantly prepare for Ragnarok. Thor continues to beat back the frost-giants with his hammer Mjolnir and Heimdal remains ever-watchful at his post atop Bifrost. And, of course, the iconic viking warrior emulates the Norse gods: despite the odds he fights, more concerned about finding a good end than in trying to avoid it.


So I offer this thought: if the stories we are telling today are not the sort we’d like people to remember us by then let’s look back and find stories worth telling. After that, when we are ready, we’ll embrace a new way of looking at the future and learn face the inevitable challenges that lay ahead with courage instead of cowardice. Then we’ll start telling stories worth living.

For more on Ragnarok Joshua recommends Kevin Crossley-Holland’s translation of the Norse Myths.
0 Comments

Becoming a Resilient Writer

11/25/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
​​Let me begin with a confession: I spent seven years writing the first chapter of my first novel. Seven years. In that opening scene my characters were trying to climb up over a mountain pass and in all that time they never made it over the top.  

Then, two years ago, everything changed for me when I learned how be a resilient writer. I’ve now finished my first novel, delved into the sequel, recorded an audiobook podcast, and started collaborative work with other writers and podcasters. So if you are stuck on the side of the mountain right now then let me assure you of this: you can get up to the top. 
"Then, two years ago, everything changed for me when I learned how be a resilient writer." 
My first lesson was this: inspiration feels more like rowing and less like the weather. I used to sit around in my writing chair as if it was a sailboat. There I would wait for inspiration to fill my sails and whisk me away on the adventure that was my story. Gusts of inspiration came intermittently but with such infrequency that they carried me nowhere; even worse, they often blew me right back to where I started. But when I learned to row, to start tugging at those oars despite the blisters and the rain, I started to make real progress. Then when a blessed gust of inspiration did come I was ready to take full advantage of it.  

The second lesson I learned is going to sound strange, but I’ll share it anyways because this is what really changed the game for me: imagine there is a force that is actively and insidiously working against you finishing your book. You don’t have to literally believe this (I do) but it will put you in the right mindset. The creative process, like actual birth, isn’t a pretty, passive act. You won’t want to Instagram the reality of it. It’s a gritty, greasy slog that will take everything you’ve got, and then some. So forget all the perfect pictures of laptops and lattes that other people post online and brace yourself for all-out war. ​

"The creative process, like actual birth, isn’t a pretty, passive act. You won’t want to Instagram the reality of it."

​My last piece of advice is for writers in the digital age: treat social media like sugar. It feels great to have your Facebook page liked, your Twitter announcement re-posted, or your podcast shared. However, nothing is going to crush you like a bad review or a rejected query letter if you’re relying on praise from strangers; it’s like trying to run a marathon on a stomach full of halloween candy. Instead, ground yourself in your work, believe in its intrinsic value, and invest in a support network of analog friends (preferably writers) rather than banking all your hopes on one-shot viral success online.  

Not everything that works for me will work for you. But I do think your story is worth telling and I don’t think you will finish it in a reasonable amount of time without becoming a resilient writer. So ignore the storm clouds on the horizon. Nevermind that the breeze is blowing against you. Chalk up those hands then grip the oars and get writing.  

For more on writers and resiliency Joshua recommends The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. ​
0 Comments

    Author

    Joshua Gillingham is a Canadian author from Nanaimo, BC. He writes Norse fantasy, Celtic songs, and non-fiction essays about writing craft. 

      Mailing List

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018

    Categories

    All
    Article
    Author Q&A
    Fantasy
    Folktale
    History
    Horror
    Microspaces
    Myth
    Norse
    Podcast
    Poetry
    Resiliency
    Russian
    The Gatewatch
    Viking
    Writing Craft

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Writer
  • Articles & Interviews
  • Educator
  • Game Design
  • Musician
  • Contact