I Can Remember, A Few Years Back, Getting In A Taxi With My Grandfather In New York City. He’s One

I can remember, a few years back, getting in a taxi with my grandfather in New York City. He’s one of the kindest, most courteous to strangers people I’ve ever known and was able to establish a good rapport with the taxi driver until the taxi driver put his subtly Jewish name and face together and started blasting a radio channel saying that “all Jews are donkeys”. Even then, even in New York City, you could turn your head and there was antisemitism.

In middle school, I had been spat at and called slurs—but only after I told the other students that I was a Jew. My father’s Scottish surname and ambiguous appearance give me the option of invisibility. I’ve never chosen to hide who I am, but it’s also not immediately obvious, and that made a difference even before the current horrific spike in antisemitism.

Non-Jews, yes, it really is a serious problem. It really should go without saying at this point. It should have gone without saying an incredibly long time ago, but my cousins are receiving death threats and there was a pogrom in California and a twelve-year-old girl got raped and the people doing these horrific (that word doesn’t seem strong enough but I can’t think of a stronger one) things still somehow think they’re in the right and all I can do is try striking metaphorical matches in the dark while knowing the matches are almost certainly dead and that even if they light it’s unlikely that anyone will open their eyes whose eyes weren’t open already.

Jews, stay strong. We will survive this. I hope.

"Ashkenazi" doesn't mean "white-passing." My mother's husband has pale pink skin, blue eyes, and light brown hair. And he is INCREDIBLY visibly Jewish, even before he opens his mouth. His hair is a super curly mess and his facial features are very, very obviously Jewish. When he says anything at all, you can tell that he's a New York City Jew. No kippah, no Magen David (though that might change soon), but his appearance is JEW.

I have been living in fear every day since October 7th. It never occurred to me before then to be afraid for my mother and her husband because of his visible Jewishness in New York City. Yeah, if they were driving through Alabama or something. But in NYC? If someone had suggested it to me, I'd have laughed.

Now I just want to cry.

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jumblr jewish antisemitism tw for the real world

La Tavola Ritonda is a cavalcade of different canons:

The Lady of the Lake, Sister of Morgan and, by extention, Arthur's

Lancelot stealing from Perceval's backstory

The Split-Shield from Lancelot-Grail, given by the Lady of the Lake symbolizing Lancelot and Guinevere's sexual union, being retconned into another plot by Morgan

King Pelles being King of Organia (Orkney). Also, Amite/Elaine/Pervida's Mom* organizing the... "conception"

*(It's kind of funny, but I've always felt that Brisen and the "Queen of the Wastelands" being separate characters was pointless) *(King Pelles x Queen Brisen, woot)

Uther Pendragon is Morgan's dad**

**(per the original Prose Tristan, apparently)

The events of Pulzella Gaia/The Merry Maiden being canon here. Yes, this technically means... a whole bunch of things

and finally, Lancelot has a daughter***

***(I would sincerely like this to be Gwen's but I'm not holding my breath)

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la tavola ritonda tavola ritonda I keep meaning to finish reading it but I haven’t even though it’s absolutely fascinating

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taliesin-the-bored

10 months ago

I noticed that Caradoc’s and Arthur’s arms are similar: both feature crowns on an azure field, though Arthur has multiple crowns or and Caradoc just has one crown argent. Caradoc is married to one of Igraine’s daughters in the Vulgate Merlin, and he is the son of Arthur’s niece (but referred to as his nephew) in The Story of Caradoc. It’s quite possible that whoever designed Caradoc’s arms meant them to look like a humbler version of Arthur’s.

Coats of Arms of (some) Knights of the Round Table from a 16th century French manuscript, including most of our favourite Merlin knights.

From left to right:

Galahad, Percival, Lancelot du Lac, Bors

King Arthur, Gawain, Tristan, Lionel

(H)elyan the White, King Bagdemagus, King Edern, King Rience,

King Carados, King Clariance, Duke Chaliens of Clarence and (H)ector de Maris.

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king arthur speculation arthuriana sir caradoc caradoc heraldry arthurian heraldry

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taliesin-the-bored

6 months ago

Happy Halloween to Guinevere's mother's terrifying prophetic ghost

The Adventures of Arthur at the Tarn Wadling (Jessie Weston translation)

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halloween ghosts medieval literature arthurian literature arthuriana After her “I am thy mother's spirit” bit the ghost goes on to foretell the doom of Camelot The man mentioned is Gawain (not Arthur) The first link goes to the Middle English version on the Robbins Digital Library project the second to a PDF of Weston's translation The Awntyrs off Arthure at the Terne Wathelynethe The Adventures of Arthur at the Tarn Wadling guinevere's mother

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taliesin-the-bored

1 year ago

“…Dreams” by Peter Dickinson

Wolves in the roadways, brothers at war,

The sword a tool to be bought and sold,

Savages raiding the eastern shore

And the King old, old.

"Newest of all my knights, now ride,

Quarter my kingdom, search moor and fell.

Find me the mage who stood at my side

When the world was well."

A crazed knight dodders across the hills

Blear-eyed, mumbling and listening at stones.

His armour is rusted away. He feels

Ice in his bones.

The last King lies in a secret grave.

His Caer is sacked and his kingdom gone

Under the savages' conquering wave.

But the search goes on.

Where? Which outcrop on what blank moor?

They swore there was something that could not die.

It might sleep, but would wake when needed . . . Or

Is it all a lie?

On a cliff which the ravens swoop beneath

(He does not see them, but hears their calls)

He lies exhausted and waits for death.

Mild sunlight falls

On limbs and turf . . . There is something there,

Not heard like the calling birds, but felt . . .

A presence filling the tingling air,

Seeming to melt

Times into Time . . . In this Time, this Place

A boy lies watching the ravens' flight,

Not outside, but filling the self-same space

As the dying knight . . .

And others whose times are still to be

Here in this instant, layer within layer,

Mind within mind, like the rings of a tree

Grown fresh each year

Till it holds the centuries, age within age . . .

The last knight dies in the evening dew

Knowing the tale of the sleeping mage

Was a lie, but true.

Nowhere, ever, for him to find

Under any boulder on moor or hill

But buried in minds fresh born that mind

Dreams on, dreams still.

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poetry merlin arthuriana arthurian legends “Merlin Dreams” by Peter Dickinson This poem ends the book which uses Merlin’s dreams as a frame narrative for several wildly different short stories It makes more sense in context—the boy is young Merlin—but I think it’s still lovely alone

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taliesin-the-bored

1 year ago

any platonic ships?

I like the wacky friendship between Galahad and the Grail Heroine. They’re both such weirdos (affectionate) that he thinks nothing of wearing a belt which she made of her own hair which she had previously been carrying around in a box because she had a prophecy. He needed a belt. She had hair. That’s just how they are.

When it comes to not-canon-anywhere friendships in not-canon-anywhere timelines, I think that it would be entertaining if Galahad was also friends with Mordred but either Galahad strenuously denied it to himself until he couldn’t any longer or was somehow unaware of or unable to comprehend the absolute havoc wreaked by his friend.

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mordred arthuriana arthurian ask game galahad the grail heroine galahad & the grail heroine platonic galadred

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taliesin-the-bored

1 year ago

Challenge: Find the Holy Grail

The Death of King Arthur by James Archer

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art king arthur arthurian legend arthuriana arthurian art morgan le fay The Holy Grail I don’t know whether this is easy or hard It took me an embarrassingly long time to notice the angel I think the people on the beach are Merlin and Nimue but could be entirely wrong the death of king arthur james archer

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taliesin-the-bored

1 year ago