Thursday, October 31, 2019

Week 11 Story: Gellert

(Warning that this story is kind of a downer!)

Gellert could smell the wolf. He knew his owner, the prince, couldn’t smell it because he had left his young behind unguarded, sleeping in its crib. Gellert heard the horn calling him to help on the prince’s hunt, but he stayed put. The dog had always loved the child with its gentle touch and kind laughter; he wouldn’t dare let the wolf get to it. He needed to get the sleeping infant out of the bedroom--now. As he grabbed for it, it awoke and made happy noises, showing excitement to see the dog and completely oblivious to the dire situation. The wolf was getting closer and closer, and Gellert realized there was no time. No escape could be made. He smelled the prince miles away, just now turning back from hunting to come back to their home.

The wolf entered the room and Gellert growled at it. He placed the baby behind the crib and stood in front of it as a barrier. Gellert bared his teeth and the wolf attacked. They bit and clawed, tore and ripped at each other. The wolf pounced on the dog and they hit the crib, tipping it over and trapping the baby inside. The child cried but Gellert ignored his instinct to curl up next to it and provide comfort. He had to keep the child safe--that was his mission. Limping and in agony, he noticed the wolf was breathing heavily and gravely wounded from Gellert’s most recent attack. The dog saw his opportunity, took one last leap and sunk his teeth into the wolf. It whimpered, then stilled. Gellert had won. He went over to the child and licked its face through the bars of the crib. The child immediately stopped crying and started petting the dog. Gellert ignored his pain, blood seeping out in too many places. He had the child, safe and sound. That was all he cared about now. 

File:Beth Gellert - Illustration 1.jpg

A moment later, he sensed his owner outside coming quickly. Feeling that the child was safe now, Gellert ran out to meet his owner and safely guide him back to his young. Gellert felt the prince was unsettled, though, upon meeting him. His owner took one look at Gellert, covered in blood, and suddenly picked up his pace.

He’s fine, Gellert tried to say. Your baby is safe. The wolf is gone.

It was no use, though. As the prince stumbled into the bedroom, he took a quick look around at the room and cried out. Gellert didn't understand why he wasn't going to his child. It was right there, right under the crib. Could he not see it? 

Anger like Gellert had never seen before flashed on the prince’s face. He pulled out his sword and swung it at Gellert, much to the dog's confusion. The last noise the dog heard was the baby’s cry and the prince’s remorseful sobs of grief. 

~

Author's Note: I rewrote the story of Beth Gellert from the dog's perspective. In the original, the prince goes out hunting but is not joined by his normal companion (Gellert the dog) even after calling for him (with the horn). The prince comes back and sees Gellert covered in blood and thinks the dog had killed/eaten the prince's baby, even though Gellert had been a wonderful companion to the prince. When the prince goes into the baby's room, he doesn't see his child or the wolf (since they were covered by the crib) and assumes too quickly that Gellert had killed his child. The prince, in his grief and anger, kills the dog and a moment too late realized what had actually happened. 

I wanted to tell the story from the dog's perspective because I was wondering how the actual event would have occurred (since only the aftermath is mentioned in the original story). It's probably pretty obvious that I've never written action scenes before so it's definitely something I need to work on, but it was fun to make an attempt! 

I considered changing the ending so that the dog didn't die but I feel like that was a really important part of the story, especially because the original story is a Welsh legend and there is an actual grave for Gellert in the village of Beddgelert in Wales. Wikipedia has a really great article to summarize everything about the legend here

Bibliography: Beth GellertCeltic Fairy Tales (1) unit. Story source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Image information: Beth Gellert from Wikimedia Commons

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Week 12 Story Lab: Storybook Research

For my next (and final!) storybook story, I plan to (it could change) write about the Hufflepuffs in their common room. We don't know much about their dorms, since it was the only one Harry didn't visit in the series, but there is a lot of information floating around online. I know it's really gorgeous, well-protected, and has tons of plants and natural light. Here is actually an entire article about it by JK Rowling herself. I'll need to refer to that a lot. If you Google the Hufflepuff common room, you get a lot of good images for it. Here's my favorite:

Image result for hufflepuff common room
Hufflepuff common room from WizardingWorld.com

Some great information about Hufflepuffs:
Characters to potentially use/mention:
  • Cedric Diggory (take place before book 4?)
  • Tonks
  • Prof. Sprout
  • Hannah Abbott
  • Ernie Macmillan
  • Other minor Hufflepuff characters
Stories I could re-tell (replace characters with witches/wizards--potentially a legendary Marauders story):
Here is the link to all of my notes for those stories. 

Image result for hufflepuff
Coat of Arms Hufflepuff from Wikimedia Commons

Friday, October 25, 2019

Extra Credit Reading Notes: Andersen Fairy Tales

The Princess and the Pea - I had never actually heard the full story of this before, and it was pretty surprising to me. I thought it would be deeper or more meaningful, but all it really concludes is that princesses are used to comfort and will complain even if they were graciously given a place to stay for the night. I wish there would have been more significance to the pea, or a different trial the princess could have been put through for the queen to be able to tell she was a princess. I really love the below image, though. The art style is so beautiful!


The Emperor's New Suit - I really liked this story, although I feel like it could have been made more concise. I thought it was so clever that the emperor never realized the weavers were tricking him and selling him nothing. I also like that the excuses people use to not tell the emperor the clothes aren't real are actually legitimate-sounding. It makes sense that they're too insecure or scared to say something about it. The writing does a good job of making the reader understand that.
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Bibliography: Andersen Fairy Tales unit. Story source: Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by H. P. Paull (1872).

Image Information: Illustration by Dulac

Extra Credit Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm

Cat and Mouse in Partnership - This was a good story, and I certainly did not expect the ending to be a sad one. I was surprised the cat didn't get punished somehow for stealing the food they were supposed to save. Instead, the innocent mouse got punished for no good reason. The story even ends with, "You see, that is the way of the world." Just a brutal, honest truth. This would be a good one to re-write, and honestly I might actually keep a bad ending. I like the idea of changing it up and not writing a happy ending for once, even if that doesn't always satisfy the writer/reader.

I also really liked this image for the story. It shows the cat eating the food that they were trying to save for winter.

I knew the Brothers Grimm had a lot realistic/pessimistic ideology in it, but I didn't realize how blunt it could be. In The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids, a wolf is trying to deceive children and asks a baker to help him. The baker complies because he is afraid of being eaten. The next line, then, is, "Yes, that is the way people are." I find it so interesting how brutally honest these stories can be. 

From The Seven Ravens, I loved how brave the girl had to be. Writing a story about her would be so fun because she really just took it upon herself to save her brothers. I'd also be interested in just re-writing the story all-together because it's kind of confusing but has so much potential. 

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BibliographyBrothers Grimm unit. Story source: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).

Image Information: illustration by Walter Crane

Week 12 Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales (Part B)

Beth Gellert - I absolutely loved this story, even though it was quite tragic. It reminds me of The King, the Falcon, and the Drinking-Cup. In Beth Gellert, a man thinks his dog killed his baby, but the dog was actually protecting the baby from a wolf (and the baby was fine and safe under his crib). The man doesn't realize this until after murdering the dog out of grief. The story ends by mentioning that the area is now called Beth Gellert, and there is a grave for Gellert there.


It turns out Gellert (also spelled Gelert) is a legendary dog in the village of Beddgelert in Wales. There is a whole Wikipedia article on him, and there is actually a grave for him there.


This story was pretty emotional, especially when you know that there was likely truth in the fairy tale somewhere. If I were to re-write this one, I'd definitely want to keep the emotional aspect. 

~~~

Bibliography:

Celtic Fairy Tales (1) unit. Story source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Image Information:

Gelert image by Charles Burton Barber from Wikipedia.

Gelert's grave from Wikipedia.

Week 12 Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales (Part A)

Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree - I love comparison stories (where there are two or three characters and it's a good vs. evil kind of thing) so this was definitely my favorite from part A. As mentioned in the note of the story, it's similar to Snow-White, but I think I prefer this version. I feel like them being related (Silver-tree is the mom, Gold-tree is the daughter) creates a more realistic reason for the girl to be so jealous of another girl's beauty. If I were to re-write it, though, I think I'd make them siblings.

I did think it was weird that the king wasn't taken aback by his wife's request to eat her daughter's heart and liver when she (his wife) was sick. I feel like there was potential in there for him to question what he valued and why he was married to her.

I liked the theme of the daughter not dying no matter how many times her mom tried to have her killed, although it did get repetitive and started getting confusing at some point. I think the main reason it was becoming hard to follow was because of the daughter and mom's names. It was hard to remember who was who. Changing the names would be really important if I re-write this story.

I had never heard of a story ending with "I left them there" instead of "and so they lived happily ever after." I'm not sure I would use it, but it's something to consider if I re-write this one. I'm always interested in lesser known phrases to use in stories so this one works great for that.


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BibliographyCeltic Fairy Tales (1) unit. Story source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Image Information: The queen looking for the trout to tell her who the most beautiful is.  Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree Illustration from Wikimedia Commons.

Week 11 Reading Notes: Blackfoot, Part B

The Smart Woman Chief - I was really interested in this story for its plot. Men and women are separated, and it explains how they came together. In the end, the woman refuses to accept one man's poor treatment and turns him into a pine tree. If I were to re-write this story, I would definitely use some of the personality traits of that woman and focus more on her refusal of poor treatment (because it was only a small part in the original). I thought her actions were really clever, especially when she told the other women not to choose Old Man because she wanted him but she actually didn't, leaving him alone (like he deserved for his actions). I could also see telling a story from the man/pine tree's perspective, where they story leaves us at the end. Maybe he uses the lesson he learned to teach others to not be so arrogant.


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Bibliography: Blackfoot unit. Story source: Blackfeet Indian Stories by George Bird Grinnell (1915).

Image information: Pine tree from Wikimedia Commons. This is what the woman turned Old Man into.

Week 11 Story: Gellert

(Warning that this story is kind of a downer!) Gellert could smell the wolf. He knew his owner, the prince, couldn’t smell it because he...