Famous Last Words: Getting Ready for my Future

 

A quote we used to use with youth I worked with. (Source: ourmindfullife.com)

So, this week has gone by super fast. It seems like since we are at the end of the semester, everything is super fast or super slow. Depends on the day for me, I guess.

The readings for the week went okay for me. I read the Faerie Queene unit this week. I will confess though, the story seemed to kind of drag on and on. I got to the end and wanted to see everything work out for the characters, but it left a lot of mystery about Lady Amoret. So that's what I did my story on. I had a lot of ideas about how I wanted the story to go, but with keeping it under 1000 words, I wrote about just her capture and what that may have looked like. That has probably been the biggest challenge for me this semester as a writer. I have had to learn to be more concise. In my other classes I am used to having to fill word count requirements for papers and assignments, so this has carried over into my other writing. I think I am improving on it though. I really appreciate Laura's and my classmates' help, as well. I had the chance to read some other people's writing earlier in the week because on Monday I was catching up during the grace period. My interest was really piqued in writing microfiction and six-word stories. Hopefully, I get a chance to try it out before the class ends. 

My other classes are going well. I am juggling everything quite nicely. *knocks on wood* I really cannot wait for the semester to be over though. I already have a job and am looking forward to starting my career. I am really excited to put the skills I have learned over the last 4 years in college to use to help people. 

Next week, I hope to start wrapping things up. I only have one final to do for one of my classes, so that's going to be a lot less stressful than usual. I am also apartment hunting and will hopefully find somewhere soon. Finally, my last week at my current job is also next week. I am looking forward to finishing things in this chapter of my life and moving on to the next. 

Week 13 Story: Lady Amoret's Capture

 The Capture of Lady Amoret

How I imagine Lady Amoret might look. (Source: Tumblr)

The sun started to set and the shadows started to lengthen when Britomart decided to stop for the night. She, her horse, and Amoret were all weary from their long journey and all the trials they had faced. They currently were wandering through a desert to get to the forest that lay on the other side of it. But it was vast and would take days to travel through. Britomart found a sheltered place in a vacated cave that had the evidence of past travelers being there. 

"Let's stop and rest here for the night. We are both weary and the sun is setting. We will make little to no progress in this state if we continue and do not rest," Britomart stated.  

There was cut dried kindling and wood stacked from past travelers just inside the entrance to the cave. Both Britomart and Amoret said a silent thanks to their gods for the strangers' gift.

 "If you will help me get the fire going I shall cook some of the meat we still have left from the last hunt you took," Amoret offered. Britomart agreed and they both got to work on preparing a small meal for the two of them.

Once they had eaten they were sitting around the fire almost fast asleep, when Amoret thought she heard rustling outside of the cave. "Did you hear that, my friend?" Amoret nervously looked over to Britomart who was almost asleep. 

"Hmm? Oh, it was probably an animal that smelled the food. Not to worry though, the fire will keep them at bay. Wild animals won't dare come near a fire like this and we are both behind the fire. That is why I made it near the entrance of the cave." Britomart dismissed Amoret's worries and fell fast asleep. 

'Well, she's probably right, I am just being paranoid. I need to rest while I can. I want to get back to Scudamour, my love as soon as possible.' She thought to herself as she too fell fast asleep. 

Little did Amoret or Britomart know, that someone from the tourney had followed them. Sir Satyrane, furious at being bested by not just the Savage knight, but also the Knight with the Ebony Spear, had followed where the strange knight was taking the fair lady he won. At first, Satyrane thought to some distant castle but was outraged to overhear and see the truth about Britomart and Amoret. 'I shall show them what happens when you try to make a fool of me! Lady Amoret is rightfully mine, husband or no. I will have her!' He thought with fury. 

So, Satyrane continued following them until they stopped for the night. He knew that he was no match for Britomart and would lose against her if it came to combat. So he waited until their exhaustion overtook both of them and put his plan into action. 

He swiftly but quietly scooped up the Lady Amoret from where she was laying and quickly made haste to his horse. The lady was so exhausted from all of her previous adventures and capture from the Enchanter, she never even stirred. 

She awoke to the sun shining in her eyes and laying against who she thought was Britomart on horseback. She was quite disoriented and wondered why Britomart did not just wake her earlier. But even as she thought this, she slowly came to her senses and realized it was not Britomart she leaned against. 

"Oh, you're awake, lovely. My lady, we shall be home shortly." Satyrane smirked to himself as he spoke to her. 

"Home? Sir Satyrane? What are you doing? Why have you taken me from my dear knight? I demand you bring me back at once!" She pounded on his back to no avail. He never stopped or even slowed the horse carrying them down.

He chuckled sinisterly to himself. "I know the evil trick you and this Britomart played on the rest of us. But I am no fool! You are rightfully mine and shall be my wife! You will grace me with your beauty all of my days," He said dreamily. 

Amoret fought as hard as she could to get him to let her go. She planned and tried many escapes but she could not beat him. She prayed that Britomart and her love, Scudamour would come to her rescue and soon. She shivered to herself to think what was awaiting her at Satyrane's castle. 

A/N:

First off, thanks for reading! While reading the tales of Britomart this week, I got so frustrated. It took forever for Britomart to find Artegall and for her "happily ever after," so to speak. Then we have her best friend, Amoret, who was separated from her husband by a wicked Enchanter who Britomart saved her from. So when Britomart finds Artegall and Scudamour, we find out that Lady Amoret had been taken and Britomart had no clue about who had taken her or to where. The last story in the unit said Amoret's story was for another book, and let me just say, I was super disappointed to not be able to read at least something about her! So that's why I decided to write my story post about her capture at least. Satyrane seemed very arrogant to me in the original story and I wouldn't put it past him to do something like this for revenge. Actually, a lot of people seemed to be getting revenge on each other during this unit, so it fits well with the story to me. I didn't want to give too much detail and wanted to leave some mystery, as I haven't yet read any of her actual story (if there is one) and I just like leaving my readers wanting more. Hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is always welcomed! 

Bibliography:

Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary McCleod, with illustrations by A.G. Walker (1916). 

Faerie Queen Reading Notes: Part B

 Faerie Queen Notes

Britomart by Cristian Gonzalez (Source: Reddit )

The Enchanted Chamber

-What Britomart Saw in The Enchanted Chamber 

-Shrill trumpet 

-"brave Princess" 

-"Then stepped forth a grave-looking person, in costly raiment, and bearing in his hand a branch of laurel."

-name of man was Ease 

-iron wicket

-joyous band 

-Fancy, Desire, Doubt, Danger, Fear, Hope, Dissembling, Suspicion, Grief, Fury, Displeasure, Pleasure, Spite, and Cruelty all personified. 

-Love was also personified and was "tyrant of the castle" and had a winged figure 

-also- Reproach, Repentance, Shame, Strife, Anger, Care, Unthriftiness, Loss of Time, Sorrow, Change, Disloyalty, Rioting, Poverty, Death-with-Infamy

-all returned to the inner chamber they had come from 

A Wicked Enchanter 

-How Britomart Rescued a Fair Lady from a Wicked Enchanter

-Britomart tried to open the door to the inner chamber and couldn't because it was closed by magic

-no one but the enchanter and the lady was in the inner chamber. her hands were tied up and a chain around her waist

- the enchanter was drawing figures in blood trying to use magic to make her love him

-Britomart didn't kill him because he had to undo the spell over the lady 

-Glauce and Scudamour left to look for more help, so when Britomart and Amoret came out, they weren't there 

Strange Meetings 

-What Strange Meetings Befell on the Way

-As they were looking for the knight and Glauce, Amoret shared the story of how she was captured with Britomart

-her and Britomart became best friends 

-Duessa and Ate-treacherous and in disguise 

-Strife

The Golden Girdle

-How Britomart did Battle for the Golden Girdle

-last day of the tournament 

-Knights of Maidenhood

-The Savage Knight- Sir Artegall, The champion of justice 

-Britomart beat all the other knights

-Girdle of Florimell- wearer said to be peerless

The False Floimell

-How the Golden Girdle was Awarded to the False Florimell

-Snowy Lady- impersonating the Lady Florimell

-"Unlucky maid, to seek her enemy! Unlucky maid to seek far and wide for him whom, when he was nearest, she could not discover because of his disguise!"

The House of Care 

-How Sir Scudamour Came to the House of Care

-Scudamour wants revenge of Britmoart b/c Ate filled his heart with jealous rage 

-Care- a blacksmith by trade, ragged and dirty appearance 

-6 servents who were strong men 

Two Knights

-How the "Savage Knight" met the "Knight with the Ebony Spear"

-Scudamour and Artegall meet

-they both agreed to help seek revenge on Britomart

-Britomart fought both and won

How Britomart Ended her Quest

-Britomart and Artegall are made known to each other

-Glauce makes everyone make amends

-Amoret is missing

Bibliography-

Stories from the Faerie Queen by Mary McCleod, with drawings by A.G. Walker (1916).

Faerie Queen Reading Notes: Part A

 Faerie Queen Notes

Britomart walking into the fire. (Source: www.oldbookillustrations.com )

Sir Guyon

-"How Sir Guyon met a Champion mightier than himself"

-Acrasia- the wicked enchantress, captured

-he traveled with Prince Author- (possible connection with king Arthur later???)

-traditional chivalry and knight cade

-saw another knight with a golden lion on the shield 

-Guyon wanted to be the one who fought the knight 

-Guyon fell off his horse because of an enchanted spear he was holding 

-knight was actually a maiden 

-maiden was actually the famous Princess Britomart, daughter of Ryence, King of South Wales.

-she was trying to find Artegall- the champion knight of justice

-she saw him in a magic mirror Merlin gave to her father

-definite connections to Arthur 

-traveled and fought together, when they lost to one another they were graceful about it 

How Britomart Fought with Six Knights 

-a milk-white pony rushed past them with a lady on its back

-Florimell- name of the lady on the pony

-Arthur and Guyon started to fight the woodman chasing her

-Britomart found a "stately castle" 

-she saw one knight fighting six others on the plain that was in front of the castle

-Britomart ran to help

-story reads like a fairytale 

-"There dwells within this castle a fair lady whose beauty has no living rival. She has ordained this law, which we approve: that every knight who comes this way and has no lady of his own, shall enter her service, never to leave it. But if he has already a lady whom he loves, then he must give her up, or else fight with us to prove that she is fairer than our lady."

-Britomart won, entered the castle 

Britomart in Castle Joyous 

-Lady of Delight and Castle Joyous 

-the lady always satisfied her own desires no matter what

The Magic Mirror

-How Britomart Looked into The Magic Mirror

-explains to her companion knight that she is traveling and disguising herself as a knight to seek adventure but also find Artegall

-lied about how she felt about Artegall to hide her feelings from the other knight 

-"These words sank into Britomart's heart and filled her with rapture, but still, she would not let her companion see it."

-mirror was round and hollow like a globe

The Cave of The Magician Merlin

-How Britomart went to the Cave of the Magician Merlin

-saw Artegall in the mirror and was plunged into grieving thinking that she would never see him again

-went to Merlin to try to find out where Artegall was

Britomart's Quest

-How Britomart Set Forth on Her Quest

-the nursemaid helps her to come up with a plan to sneak away to the Faerie Queen's land to find Artegall

The Castle at the Churl Malbecco

-How Britomart Came to the Castle at Churl Malbecco

-a great storm 

-churl-an impolite and mean-spirited person

-the churl refused to let Britomart into his castle away from the storm

-he eventually let her and other knights into the castle where they all shared stories

How Britomart Walked Through Fire

-saw a giant chasing a man

-wandered into the forest to find the giant and both got separated

-Britomart found a sobbing knight

-knight told her that his lady love had been taken by an evil enchanter 

-she vowed she would rescue her or die with her 

-found a great magical fire at the entrance of the castle

-Britomart's boldness helped her to pass the fire 

-castle was richly decorated 

Bibliography-

Stories from the Faerie Queen by Mary Mcleod, with drawings by A. G. Walker (1916).