JOSHUA GILLINGHAM
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Q&A with William Justus

12/22/2019

1 Comment

 
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Welcome William! Thanks for taking some time to chat about writing. First, a few quick-fire questions: What is your favorite brew? What is your go-to cuisine for a quick take-out dinner? And where would you build the writers retreat of your dreams?
​
​Thanks for having me Joshua! I usually reach for the 1554 beer from New Belgium Brewery and drink Guinness on more special occasions. For a take-out meal, I really enjoy Thai food. Unfortunately, rural Idaho isn’t known for a proliferation of Thai restaurants, so I have to take what I can get. The writer’s retreat of my dreams is a cottage in an ancient oak woodland that’s only a short walk from the sea.
"I usually reach for the 1554 beer from New Belgium Brewery and drink Guinness on more special occasions." 
​

One of the hardest things for any writer is to move forward with a story once it no longer feels ‘fun’, i.e., once the story is no longer flowing easily from your mind onto the page. What advice do you have for writers who feel like they are stuck in their narrative and are struggling to move forward? 
​

I think that’s an issue that all writers struggle with at one time or another. We all want to write when we feel inspired, but bouts of inspiration can be few and far between. I follow some advice from Anne Lamott’s book, Bird by Bird. Anne emphasises the importance of routine and of reaching a minimum word count no matter what. I’ve found that keeping a daily writing routine trains my creative muscles to work when I need them. I also aim to write eight hundred words a day, even if every sentence is a struggle. Once I get those eight hundred words down, I’ve usually broken through the wall and entered a good writing flow. If not, I can stop there and try again tomorrow. Repeat ad infinitum, punctuated with long walks and reading.
​
"I follow some advice from Anne Lamott’s book, Bird by Bird.
Anne emphasises the importance of routine and of reaching a minimum word count no matter what."
​

I am always interested to learn about what else writers do for work as I find this has a significant influence on their writing. How has your work as a wildlife biologist informed your narrative and influenced the fantastic world you have created? 
​

My training in biology makes it a point of professional pride to be accurate and precise in my descriptions of nature. No one else might notice if I confuse the behavior of hares with rabbits, but those are details that I care about. I spend an inordinate amount of time researching the life cycles of every flower, tree, and critter that I include in my book because I want my natural descriptions to be as realistic as possible.

"No one else might notice if I confuse the behavior of hares with rabbits, but those are details that I care about."
​

On the less technical side of things, my love of nature causes the natural world to loom large in my stories. Nature can be a setting, but it also influences moods, themes, and characters. I particularly love exploring how characters relate to nature because I think that is such an essential part of the human experience.

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The Wind from Faerie is your first novel which tells the tale of Kellen the Fey. Were there any particular myths, legends, and folktales that inspired you to write Kellen’s adventure?
​
​Kellan’s story is heavily inspired by Irish and Welsh myths and legends. Specifically, Taliesin and Fionn mac Cumhaill were influential in my conception of what Kellan could become, although he hasn’t yet reached that level. The Wind from Faerie is the introduction to the series, so readers won’t find many strong parallels yet, but they will become more obvious as the series progresses.
​
"Kellan’s story is heavily inspired by Irish and Welsh myths and legends. Specifically, Taliesin and Fionn mac Cumhaill were influential in my conception of what Kellan could become..."
​

You and I are both avid fans of poetry in fantasy. I have enjoyed some of the poems you have posted on Twitter as well as those featured on your website, particularly The Road Goes Ever On. In the world of Kellen the Fey, what special role does poetry play in the context of the adventure?
​
I’m so glad you asked this question because it’s something I love to talk about. For Kellan, poetry begins as a gateway to an elder time full of daring heroes and magic. All the old stories were written in verse, and so that’s how he connects to them. When Kellan starts creating his own poems, it quickly becomes a driving force in his own legend. He learns that poetry is somehow connected to a very deep and powerful magic, but one that comes at a significant price. As Kellan matures into the legend himself, poetry becomes a medium through which he reflects on his journey. I think as the series progresses it will be really cool to see how the role of poetry, and Kellan’s relationship with it, changes from beginning to end.
​
"For Kellan, poetry begins as a gateway to an elder time full of daring heroes and magic....
​When Kellan starts creating his own poems, it quickly becomes a driving force in his own legend."
​

As your site hints, there is a sequel to The Wind from Faerie which is tentatively titled The Many Antlered Crown. I am intrigued by the fact that we are both currently working on the second book in our respective series. I have personally found writing the sequel to be a vastly different experience than writing the first. In what ways has the process of writing The Many Antlered Crown been different for you compared to the first book?
​
​When writing my first book, I was very aware of my word count. I knew that publishers and readers were more likely to take a chance on a shorter book, so I wanted my debut to be an approachable length. With this sequel, those concerns are completely out of the window. I’ve got a lot of room to explore the world, the characters, and some really exciting themes. The end result is going to be a book that is significantly longer than The Wind from Faerie, but will be better for it.

"With this sequel, those concerns are completely out of the window.
I’ve got a lot of room to explore the world, the characters, and some really exciting themes."
​

​I also originally conceived Kellan’s story as one arc, but that has necessarily been divided into three books. The Wind from Faerie was just the opening act, an introduction to everything. With The Many Antlered Crown, I feel like I’m finally biting into the meat of Kellan’s story and it’s immensely satisfying.
​
I think it is fair to say that we both believe in the power of words. As you write, do you feel that there is something you want your reader to feel or do you write simply to tell a good story? Is there a specific message behind Kellen’s adventures or are they purely a narrative escape from our day-to-day reality?
​

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The Avenue by Impressionist painter Claude Monet
​I think writing is an art form, and that all art should make us feel something. I think the emotional response we have to art is because good art is reflective of truth. Monet understood the way light interacts with water, and forces us to notice that beauty whenever we view his paintings. That understanding goes beyond the scientific truths of light waves and diffraction to something we can only approach through art. I want to write stories that reveal those sorts of truths. Kellan’s story isn’t meant to be a moralistic lesson, but I hope readers can gain something from it. Some big themes I try to tackle are the nature of wisdom, destiny, free will, art, and reputation.
​
"That understanding goes beyond the scientific truths of light waves and diffraction to something we can only approach through art. I want to write stories that reveal those sorts of truths."
​
Where can readers find you online and what can they expect to look forward to reading in 2020? 
​

I have a website where readers can check out my weekly blog, see what I’m working on, and find links to my Twitter and Instagram pages. I hope to release The Many Antlered Crown in December of 2020, and the audiobook for The Wind from Faerie should become available early next year.
​
Follow William on Twitter and discover more of his writing by exploring his website!
1 Comment

Wielder of Words: On Vikings & Poetry

1/12/2019

0 Comments

 
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​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"
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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. 
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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’”
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​​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. 
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    Joshua Gillingham is an author, editor, and game designer from Vancouver Island, Canada.

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