Lady Kateryn Draper
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Below are the 12 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Lady Kateryn Draper" journal:
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05:58 pm
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Bardic madness
Bardic madness was fun. I recited a poem, "The Story of Macha," for the period challenge; told a story, "Alvild and Alf," for the Warrior Women challenge; and sang a song, "Byrd one brere," for the love and madness challenge. There were patrons for each challenge, and one of them handed out these really cool home made pater nosters.
There are YouTube videos up of some of the performances, although none of me.
I have mixed feelings about "Alvild and Alf." On the one hand, it's a really cool period story about a female pirate. On the other hand, I hate the ending. Prince Alf goes to defeat the pirates only to discover that the pirate captain is his long-lost fiance. He offers her the choice between execution or marriage; she chooses marriage.
There were two other disquieting tales at Bardic madness. One was a traditional Norse tale about a smith who gets revenge by, among other things, raping the daughter of his enemy. The other was an Irish myth in which Cathbad holds Nessa at swordpoint and says, "Marry me or die." (Nessa and Cathbad are the parents of Conchobur, king of Ulster.)
I have never felt comfortable changing the ending of "Alvild and Alf," since ultimately it's not my story. But what do we do with period stories that have a misogynistic streak? Do we not tell them? Do we alter them? Do we tell them in a way that problematizes them? Or do we tell them as is?
Thoughts?
Current Music: Byrd one brere
Tags: sca, storytelling
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10:36 pm
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Storytelling and Ohio Valley Filk Festival
I was sorry to miss the Comfort Zone Bardic event, but had a great time last weekend.
Storytelling went very well. I told nine ghost stories, ranging from an ancient Irish tale (the "Adventure of Nera") to a ghostly poem. I'll be telling one of the stories ("The Shoemaker from Constantinople") Friday at Gwyntarian Dance Night and Halloween Revel. I was paid by the bookstore owner and made decent money in tips. The turnout was perfect - the room was full without being crowded. I actually frightened several people with my stories. One woman came up afterwords and wanted to know my performance schedule, which was really flattering, but I demonstrated my non-professional background by not having a webpage or Myspace with that information. I did tell her that I would most likely be performing at the OSU Medieval Faire in May. Afterwards, the bookstore owner asked me to come back in the spring.
OVFF was fun, if not period. ;-) (Although Heather Dale was one of the performers up for a Pegasus this year...) My favorite song was "Gabriel Gray's Song," about Sylar from Heroes. And I got to recite "Castle in the Clouds" from Les Miserables as a rap.
If any of you get a chance to go to OVFF next year, I highly recommend it.
Current Mood:  happy
Current Music: "Castle in the Clouds"
Tags: event, filk, storytelling
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05:03 pm
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Storytelling in Columbus
Next Saturday, Oct. 24 from 3:00 - 4:00, I will be telling ghost stories at Fly By Night bookstore in Columbus.
http://www.flybynightbookstore.com/announce.php
The rest of the weekend I'll be volunteering at Ohio Valley Filk Festival.
Tags: events, filk, folklore, plans, storytelling
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09:43 pm
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Afternoon of Fun
Afternoon of Fun was, as usual, fun. An entirely outdoor event, I've never attended when it wasn't either raining or snowing (raining yesterday), but that's just part of its charm. I discovered my black hooded cloak works very well at holding off the rain, but stained the sleeves of my white chemise. Site tokens were monkey paws - I was very careful not to make a wish while wearing mine.
There is an annual ghost story competition, and this year I won. Most period ghost, vampire, and werewolf stories are actually quite boring for modern audiences. They go something like this: "Creepy thing appears. We all get scared. A priest prays. Creepy thing goes away." But the week before the event, I found "The shoemaker of Constantinople," a wonderfully complex twelfth century tale about obsession, necrophilia, disembodied heads, unstoppable villains, and courageous princesses. It's actually a cautionary tale about a type of shoes, but I left that part out.
I almost didn't go because of the rain, but it was worth getting wet. Hey, the weather was period.
Current Music: Folk music
Tags: event, sca, storytelling
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05:57 pm
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OSU Medieval and Renaissance faire
Are any of you going to the OSU Medieval and Renaissance faire next Saturday, May 2? If so, you can hear me tell stories at 2:00 and 5:00 by the Maypole.
Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Draco Invictus
Tags: events, middle ages, storytelling
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10:48 pm
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Bardic crafts
I recently read a book by Arthur Rowan, The Lore of the Bard. While I don't agree with everything in the book (do I ever?), he has a lot of useful ideas. I especially like his concept of the three crafts of the bard, which are then divided up into three parts:
( Read more... )
I've been calling myself a bard for two decades, and a storyteller for longer than that. This transcends both the SCA and the Pagan community. The beauty of the concept of the three bardic crafts is that it gives me a path towards which I can work.
Current Music: Twilight Dance, Joe Gavin
Tags: bards, music, persona, poetry, storytelling
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11:35 am
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Medieval Festival
On Saturday I went to the OSU Medieval and Renaissance Festival, arriving at 11:30 and staying until 6:00. This Festival has always held a special place in my heart since I started attending it at age 10.
This year the festival also provided me with my first paycheck since I quit my job last May. I'm not sure if I earned it though. For those of you who attended, I was listed as "The Storyteller" in the program. My set was comprised of "Kemp Owyne," "The Scholar Who Fell Into the Water," "The Pirate Alvild," and "The Legend of Finn M'Cool vs. Cucullin." My first performance went well. I could tell that the mother and two children who comprised the entire audience really enjoyed my stories. My second performance was a bit more...complicated. You see, shortly before I was due to perform at Minstrel's Circle, it started to rain - hard. Minstrel's Circle was this lovely brick circle in the middle of one of the paths, where the performer and audience could be bathed in the warmth of the sun, or the rain, or whatever else the sky decided it wanted to throw down. Fortunately, I realized that the Pub, a pavilion set up a few yards away, had no performances scheduled for that time, so I asked for and received permission to perform there instead. As it turns out, I wasn't the only one who had come to the conclusion "roof = dry." The Pub was packed; alas, as it turns out, they were not all there to hear my performance. I quickly discovered that I did not yet have my outdoor projecting voice, as the various knots of people talking amongst themselves kept talking amongst themselves. There were some people scattered among my rightful audience who were actually listening to the stories, but I'm not sure how much they got out of it. Things didn't really pick up until my last story, when I drew members of the audience up to act it out. (Thank you, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) wishesofastar.) So the second performance turned out to be one of those "learning experiences" performers sometimes must, well, experience.
All in all, though, it was a fun day. I got to dance the maypole and see several cool performances. Because of the rain, I bought a new (and very inexpensive) cloak with a hood which was perfect for the weather. I ran into people I knew, such as wishesofastar and oknight and a really nice couple I knew from Marcon, got the story of what really happened to Salem West from AJ and found out that he's happy being a full-time festival vendor, and arranging to get pizza with braider after the festival.
My performance aside, the rain also made the day entertaining. It did thin the crowds, leaving only the die-hards like me. Four rennies took to carrying a camping dining fly from sheltered performance site to site, announcing "Your carriage has arrived," and transporting attendees around the faire in relative dryness.
And of course those of us who were not scared off by the rain had to stay to see the Chessboard at 5:30. There was a pretty decent crowd for that.
All in all, a lovely way to celebrate May Day.
Current Music: Pasttime in good company
Tags: events, middle ages, renaissance, storytelling
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11:11 pm
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Medieval Faire
I just got confirmation. I will be doing storytelling at OSU's Medieval and Renaissance Faire this May.
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Agincourt
Tags: storytelling
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10:01 pm
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Willow scroll
The Latin text and English translation of my Willow, before I frame it and lose the translation on the back. ;-)
( Read more... )
Tags: sca, storytelling
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11:28 pm
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Willow
At the SCA event Royal University of the Midrealm today, I received a Willow (an award for excellence in the arts) in storytelling, especially Irish tales. I kind of knew I was getting one, since November's Pale listed a Kateryn Draper as having received a Willow at a Cleftlands event, but I wasn't sure if there was another Kateryn Draper out there (I never did submit my name to the heralds.) And I didn't expect to get it at this event.
I feel very honored by this. I like storytelling, but it doesn't automatically mean I'm any good. I guess this means, "They like me. They really like me." ;-)
Current Mood: thankful
Current Music: Down in a Garden Green
Tags: bardic, sca, storytelling
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12:30 am
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A medieval Irish story
http://community.livejournal.com/celticmyths/47375.html
Tags: irish, literature, storytelling
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01:19 am
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Happy All Hallow's Eve
An ancient tale:
http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/nera.html
Tags: holiday, storytelling
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