Past Informs Future

 

Writers are often something else first, because many of us are never fortunate enough to become fully-fledged published authors right off the bat. We have been around a while, some of us dipping our toes into more than one profession before finding our writing feet. A plethora of metaphors aside, there was one element of my own past I had not figured into my writing, though I am now grateful for the knowledge.

 

I loved the art of learning Aromatherapy - blending oils and plant essences - much more than learning how to massage people. Like a wise-woman, I could mix potions for rheumatism or scalp disorders or simply create a hormone-balancing face cream. My passion for chemistry (which my 14-year-old self never thought I’d say out loud!) expanded from essential oils into herbology and wild plants or weeds.

Aromatherapy is still one of my main loves, because it speaks to my nature-loving side and my need for natural, organic alternatives to all the modern potions hurled at us today for cleaning our homes or our own bodies. This has provided me with some wonderful pieces in my writing, where characters are able to draw upon essences of nature to cure or persuade.

 

The real surprise, the one thing I hadn’t expected to use, was anatomy and physiology. I’d taken biology at secondary school, but this was more in-depth being as it was for massage use. I explored muscles in a way I hadn’t previously and learned more about bones and bodily systems than a GCSE had given me. It wasn’t a medical degree, but it was detailed enough to become useful when I was writing about Saxon warriors being injured in battles and skirmishes.

There are a multitude of roles a writer must play when creating their written worlds; many hats they must wear as they research and resource material and information on people, food, clothing, transport, topography and more. Anatomy and physiology is one thing I didn’t have to grab a book to read up on, as I had all I needed either still in my head or in work-folders from college. It was a hat I already possessed!

 

It is remarkable how things from your past can inform upon your future in ways you never imagined. And I never imagined I would use this former knowledge to fathom how a sword injury might infect and disable a warrior in early medieval times. Nor how someone might know where to strike their enemy with a sword in battle to kill or merely hinder them.

 

What parts of your past have informed on your future in surprising ways?

Classical Themes - 2 of 4

Classical Themes within the ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series

Myths, magic, rituals, quests, places, people and animals; all of these elements are helping to shape the forthcoming tales in my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series. Here is the second of FOUR posts.

The Dark Goddess

She is a pre-patriarchal, ancient belief from Neolithic culture in many countries. Tomb burials, caves and the deep, dark ocean introduce us to the Dark Goddess. She rules the world’s ocean as well as the inner tides (our emotions, passions, psychic perceptions and soul regeneration). The ferryman of souls can deliver us to her in his glass boat, to the Sacred Isle where we enter the cave and pass through the veil to the Otherworld - the land of the dead. There is much to explore here in terms of characters’ responses to water and its powers, but also human emotions and how these fluctuate in various circumstances.

Grey beach of rocks leading to the sea

Boats

Boats and their contents have more than a passing link to the land of the dead. As well as ferrying those near death across a sacred lake to the afterlife, boats can take the form of offerings to the gods and vessels transporting offerings to the gods - treasure hoards defaced and buried in thanks for victory. Found most profusely in Denmark (though also in other countries), boats of war and the weapons of their defeated warriors have for millennia been deposited in lakes in gratitude of the gods’ protection. As well as afterlife journeys for characters, this provides us with response to conflict within societies and the rituals invoked. Boats themselves can have souls and characters, as can weapons such as valued swords or even amulets of the gods and goddesses of the time. Many of these themes are integral to my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series.

Consider:      Hjortspring and Nydam boats from Denmark – deliberately sunk into lakes, these boats contain a multitude of offerings from vanquished enemies: swords; axes; spears; shields; chainmail; knives; horse tack; brooches; tweezers; ear spoons; bones of horses, lambs, calves and dogs.

Oseberg ship burial

Rainbows

Another way to the afterlife can be via a bridge, often linked to rainbows, found in Christian, Norse, Greek, Chinese and Australian aboriginal cultures, among others. Water was a sacred element through which one could travel to the Otherworld, so to cross it was to, in some respect, cheat death and almost magical. Tales of dangerous creatures inhabiting the undersides of bridges come from this concept, such as Norwegian Trolls, river sirens like the 'nix' and Celtic Kelpies in the form of horses or women, who would drag people down to their deaths. Flag Fen is an excellent example of how bridges over water held magical properties, where Iron Age people deposited metal, stone, ceramic and food gifts from the causeway. Bridges can also represent boundaries between earthly realms like county borders, or unearthly realms, both of which can present characters with problems depending on the purpose of their journey. I tinker with this theme in ‘Wulfsuna’ and also forthcoming ‘Wolf Spear Sagas’.

Think of:

Bifrost – linking Earth to Asgard;

Sword Bridge – crossed by Lancelot to rescue Guinevere from the Castle of Death;

Bridge of Heaven;

Greek goddess ‘Iris’, who guarded a rainbow (from where ‘iridescent’ is derived)

Wooden bridge in dark forest

• What classical themes most interest you?

~   ~   ~

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

They come to honour a Warrior-Lord’s dream,

An ancient saga weaving their destiny,

But a treacherous rival threatens their fate.

The Wolf Sons are coming.

WULFSUNA

Classical Themes - 1 of 4

Classical Themes within the ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series

Myths, magic, rituals, quests, places, people and animals; all of these elements are helping to shape the forthcoming tales in my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series. Here is the first of FOUR posts.

Magical beasts and food; feuding siblings; rags to riches; death and rebirth; initiation and rites of passage; serpents, dragons and treasure – drawing on ancient and classical themes are of utmost importance in providing familiar storytelling arcs that readers can naturally connect with. Whether we realise it or not, most stories will resonate with an ancient theme and ‘remind’ us of something we have encountered previously in our conscious or subconscious. Fairytales are but one example of how repeated themes provide a wide variety of stories. 

Consider:

Sleeping Beauty                      Beauty and the Beast

Cinderella                               Snow White

King Arthur                              Chronicles of Narnia

Red Riding Hood                     Alice in Wonderland

Lord of the Rings

Stag in misty forest

I have immense pleasure incorporating these fascinating myths, legends and beliefs into my ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series and hope you, my readers, have as much pleasure hunting for the morsels embroidered into my tales; small threads weaving through the whole. In my second ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ novel I have elements of the following themes:

Rights of Succession of Kings

This is deeply rooted in Indo-European mythology. There is an underlying, ancient archetype of a son or grandson killing their father or grandfather in order to marry and/or rule alongside the queen or mother goddess. The son has a hand in despatching the father (not necessarily a blood descendant and not necessarily with malice) and the son-lover joins the female sovereignty until the next ‘son’ arrives and repeats the cycle.

Think of:          Perseus and Acrisius, or

                        Oedipus and Laius

Celtic warrior aloft a war chariot drawn by two horses

Feuding Siblings

These also appear frequently in my sagas, though not all are blood-related. Brothers and sisters can be actual relatives, or bonded kinsfolk in religious orders or warrior bands. For my second ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ I was inspired by the half-brothers Nissyen (who wished for harmony) and Evnissyen (who wished for discord) from the ‘Sorrows of Branwen’ in the Mabinogion. Where there is disharmony, there is always interesting conflict!

Pair of wolves

Cinderella Stories

These are another recurring theme in many cultures: a hero or heroine undergoes a series of trials at the domestic hearth or in the wilderness, their true worth revealed at the story’s climax. This crisis-initiation-resolution appears in several forms. I’ve already used it for two main characters in my first novel in my series ‘Wulfsuna’ and expect to see it again in future sagas.

Midnight pyre

• Can you think of other classical themes repeated in literature?
• Do you like to include ancient themes in your writing?

~   ~   ~

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

They come to honour a Warrior-Lord’s dream,

An ancient saga weaving their destiny,

But a treacherous rival threatens their fate.

The Wolf Sons are coming.

WULFSUNA

The Last of the Druids...?

There are many hypotheses on the end of the Druidic order, mostly written by the victors, namely the Roman Empire and the Diocese. I do not feel we can take either of these sources as read, due to their weighted opinions in opposition of this religious group. There is little doubt that the Druids held sway in not only religious circles (no pun intended) but also the political arena. They had the ears of kings, who would not dare to contradict a Druid. A Druid would be heard before a king, for his power was absolute, as he (or she) was believed to be in direct commune with the gods.

The Romans saw that no leader would be swayed to their ideals while a Druid had one ear of the king. The obvious solution then, was to rid the land of Druids, so the Romans had all ears of the countrymen (nicely epitomised in a famous speech). With all ears on Rome, so to speak, the message of the Empire would be better heard. For those Augustii who were of the new Christian faith, the eradication of these heathen ‘vicaris’ would be a necessity. Locally, you can merge deities to please the populous – Sulis Minerva at Bath being a perfect example. But to glean the minds and support of the tribal leaders, the Druids had to be removed from the equation.

Reports suggest that they were forced to flee to what is now ‘Anglesey’ (Angle’s Isle). However, while there may be some feint truth in this cluster of Druids herded north-west by the Romans, I find it hard to digest. These priests of the old religion would have lived and practised across the isle, in all kingdoms. The far reaches of Dumnonia in the south-west of what is now Cornwall, did not see much in the way of Roman invasion. So, how could ‘all’ Druids have been forced to flee to a small location in Wales? For me, it seems entirely possible that, where the reach of Rome was hardly felt, some of these Druids might have survived. Even if they had not openly practised, they may have taken their religion into the caves and secret groves, away from prying eyes of stray Romans, Christian pilgrims and tribal leaders that may betray them.

The latter could be a possibility for such a thorough ‘cleanse’ of the Order. If Rome and the Christian preachers could demonise the Druids in some way, discredit them, then perhaps the leaders of kingdoms would banish them and a distrust might spread to other kingdoms. Once again though, I find it hard to believe ‘all’ Druids would have been removed in this way. Not all kingdoms were willing to bow to Rome and I would imagine some still preferred to trust their Druids than these Latin invaders.

In my second Wolf Spear Saga, my Druids are (apparently) the last of their kind. Having been practising in secret, their time is running out. As Christianity spreads to further tribes around them, distrust of the old religion grows as tribal kingdoms endeavour to secure the lives of their towns as the Diocese strengthens. Despite the existence of the Roman Empire and its subsequent departure, now some fifty years passed, my little secret Order have survived. They have evolved in order to do this and do not perform in public, nor counsel kings. They pray and carry out rituals at sabbats, educating new and young Bards to become Ovates and eventually Druids, keeping the faith alive against adversity.

My main Druid character is a young woman, the heroine, given to the Order at the age of five. It is all she knows and she is all too aware of its fragility in the current political climate. Well-versed in the beliefs of her enemies, she has been taught Druidry, but also the religions of those that surround them, both Christian and barbarian. This, she knows, will keep her alive in such a volatile time.

'WOLF SPEAR SAGA 2' coming soon...

E S MOXON has had a lifelong passion for history and writing. A childhood filled with family visits to ancient burial sites and stone circles fuelled her imagination. Inspired by classic medieval tales and Norse sagas, Elaine imagined herself inhabiting these Dark Ages and exploring the landscapes in her mind and continues to do so through her novels. The first in her ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series is ‘WULFSUNA’ and books two and three will be out soon. When not lost in pages of the past, she lives in the Midlands with her family and their chocolate Labrador.

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

They come to honour a Warrior-Lord’s dream,

An ancient saga weaving their destiny,

But a treacherous rival threatens their fate.

The Wolf Sons are coming.

WULFSUNA

Avebury Stone Circle

Lunching in the English Heritage café to avoid a particularly heavy downpour, our afternoon was once more to be filled with Neolithic treasure, this time from 2,850-2,200BC. Avebury henge is the largest stone circle in Britain (another record-breaker!) that encircles part of the village of Avebury. Once comprising 100 stones, this outer circle encloses two smaller stone henges surrounded by deep ditches. Again, it was marvellous to be able to walk among these structures and touch the surfaces, wondering at their past.

The interior ditch is immense, perhaps at least 30-40 feet deep and at least that wide. One of the henges is within the ditch and had oak trees lining its outer edge, as well as henge stones inside. The sacred trees of the ancient Druids, we wondered who had planted the majestic flora. It continued to rain heavily as we walked round and round the henges, passing through gates and across main roads, up and over narrow pathways through clusters of trees.

The enormity of the task in erecting these magnificent stones over such a vast area is breath-taking. And the spirituality of the place is soothing, especially when bad weather keeps the hordes away and you have the stones almost to yourselves. We hardly spoke as we meandered through the circles, all gripped by a serenity. You could almost sense the footsteps of older, ancient visitors as the sodden grass enveloped our boots.

Finally, on our second day, we visited Stonehenge…




FACTS: COURTESY OF ENGLISH HERITAGE WEBSITE [link]

E S MOXON has had a lifelong passion for history and writing. A childhood filled with family visits to ancient burial sites and stone circles fuelled her imagination. Inspired by classic medieval tales and Norse sagas, Elaine imagined herself inhabiting these Dark Ages and exploring the landscapes in her mind and continues to do so through her novels. The first in her ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series is ‘WULFSUNA’ and books two and three will be out soon. When not lost in pages of the past, she lives in the Midlands with her family and their chocolate Labrador.

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

They come to honour a Warrior-Lord’s dream,

An ancient saga weaving their destiny,

But a treacherous rival threatens their fate.

The Wolf Sons are coming.

WULFSUNA

Silbury Hill

Standing 30 metres tall and 160 metres wide, it has been estimated that it took 4 million hours and half a million tonnes of chalk to build Silbury Hill. It is another record-breaker; the largest artificial prehistoric mound in Europe, constructed around 2,470-2,350BC.

It’s astonishing to stand beside it, though bizarre to simply find it lurking in a field and beyond a basic gate. Many theories abound as to the uses of the hill, which at one time was surrounded by ditches as the reconstruction drawing below indicates. No, one conclusion has yet been drawn as to what happened at Silbury Hill and this gives it an air of elusiveness. You can ‘feel’ its secrets hovering around you like invisible spirits as you stand and gawp at the enormity of it.

woman versus mound

You cannot climb it for it is fenced off from the public, but it is possible to stand within a couple of metres of the base. There is a fairly visible spiral ridge climbing up around the hill, similar to the Tor at Glastonbury, though on a smaller scale. My companions and I wondered whether it had once been possible to walk clockwise up the hill to perhaps an altar raised on the top. With so many burial mounds in the surrounding area, could it have been an access platform to become closer to sky gods during funerary rituals? We shall never know.

A reconstruction drawing showing Silbury Hill under construction, surrounded by a massive ditch
© Historic England (illustration by Judith Dobie)

Later that day we drove on to the village of Avebury…




FACTS: COURTESY OF ENGLISH HERITAGE WEBSITE [link]

E S MOXON has had a lifelong passion for history and writing. A childhood filled with family visits to ancient burial sites and stone circles fuelled her imagination. Inspired by classic medieval tales and Norse sagas, Elaine imagined herself inhabiting these Dark Ages and exploring the landscapes in her mind and continues to do so through her novels. The first in her ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series is ‘WULFSUNA’ and books two and three will be out soon. When not lost in pages of the past, she lives in the Midlands with her family and their chocolate Labrador.

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

They come to honour a Warrior-Lord’s dream,

An ancient saga weaving their destiny,

But a treacherous rival threatens their fate.

The Wolf Sons are coming.

WULFSUNA

West Kennet Longbarrow

Meditators on the mound

In 2016 I spent a marvellous weekend in Wiltshire with my sister and her friend. The three of us were looking forward to a couple of days without the children and some social and spiritual replenishment. We found both, as well as plenty of exercise. We were off to burial sites and stone circles nestled amidst rolling countryside and open skies. Before we’d barely unpacked our bags at the guest house (after mentioning we were there to see Avebury and Stonehenge), the owner asked us if we were going to see West Kennet Longbarrow. Apparently, it was only ‘over the hill’ from where we were staying. We dutifully dropped our bags in our rooms and headed straight back out with the idea that it would build us up to walking around Avebury. It did indeed!

West Kennet Longbarrow is “one of the largest, most impressive and most accessible Neolithic chambered tombs in Britain” [English Heritage] dating from 3,000-2,600BC. That is certainly true, for as we drove round a curve in the road Silbury Hill leapt into view, which is opposite the barrow. We dashed into a layby and parked. Access seemed to be through a stile and into a field planted with a cereal crop. After a steep climb through the field we reached the brow of the hill and the barrow was before us. It stands 10.5 feet high, 82 feet wide and 328 feet long! It would originally have been a real eye-catching landmark covered in bare chalk, but today it’s turfed over and the side ditches almost filled in by generations of ploughing. Inside, four burial chambers would have held cremations and partial remains of at least 46 male and female deceased of varying ages. Grave goods of pottery, beads, stone implements and a dagger have been found.

windswept author at the entrance stone

detail of thistle growing in a notch in the entrance stone

The entrance is guarded by a massive Saracen stone, filled with curious holes. I assumed these were either used for poles when moving the stone, or were perhaps holes made for offerings, for minute objects persisted in some here, as well as at Avebury stone circle. I am immensely claustrophobic, but with assistance from my two companions, I managed to enter the tomb and walk a few metres into the cool, dark interior. Contrary to what I imagined I might feel, it was intensely calm and restful. Back outside, the view is amazing. You can turn in any direction and see other burial mounds on the landscape, as well as the striking Silbury Hill, which was our next conquest...

FACTS: COURTESY OF ENGLISH HERITAGE WEBSITE [link]

E S MOXON has had a lifelong passion for history and writing. A childhood filled with family visits to ancient burial sites and stone circles fuelled her imagination. Inspired by classic medieval tales and Norse sagas, Elaine imagined herself inhabiting these Dark Ages and exploring the landscapes in her mind and continues to do so through her novels. The first in her ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series is ‘WULFSUNA’ and books two and three will be out soon. When not lost in pages of the past, she lives in the Midlands with her family and their chocolate Labrador.

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

They come to honour a Warrior-Lord’s dream,

An ancient saga weaving their destiny,

But a treacherous rival threatens their fate.

The Wolf Sons are coming.

WULFSUNA

Plot Proppers

I wanted to lend some time and thought to those characters often-used and quickly forgotten within fiction. They are the all-important bit-players who swim in and out of scenes, often perhaps without having received much consideration at the time, but who later prove to have been pivotal. They are the ‘plot proppers’ – those minor roles that can be utilised so neatly to prop-up a scene, play a key role in progressing plot or support the main characters.

pieces of the whole

They are oft times unsung heroes or heroines the reader does not always recall in great detail. However, without them, our protagonists would not learn important information to progress through the written landscape. The antagonists would fail to learn details of the hero’s/heroine’s next move. So often we talk about our main characters. I wanted to dedicate some space to the plot-proppers and ask you to share some examples of your own.

 

the unwritten landscape

Two characters, in particular, spring to my mind as I write this. The first is named ‘Hig’ from my first Wolf Spear Saga ‘WULFSUNA’. He appears briefly at the start as a young Angle warrior who is a boy given a man’s task. We never see him again in this novel, but he may one day be resurrected to play a part in my forthcoming sequel, Wolf Spear Saga 2!

Another plot-propper from ‘WULFSUNA’ in Trunhild. He epitomises his entire tribe and is a symbol of all the differences between them and the Germanic Wolf Sons they reunite with. His whole existence during the novel serves as a lesson to my hero Wulfgar, which in turn shapes his character progression.

·         Do you have plot-proppers?

·         Who are they and how do they affect your storyline?

·         Do you feel plot-proppers are necessary?

~  ~  ~

Blood, betrayal and brotherhood.

An ancient saga is weaving their destiny.

A treacherous rival threatens their fate.

A Seer's magic may be all that can save them.

WULFSUNA