by Vallawulf Rurikson in the style of The Life of St. Cuthbert (c. 634-687), by St. Bede (673-735).
(This is a true story told in the style of a fairy tale or legend. It is written by Vallawulf Rurikson, Ambassador of Atenveldt and Atenveldt Disaster Relief Coordinator and Moderator of the SCA-911 Yahoo Group.)
WHEN Radu and Broinnfinn, Lord and Lady Heir of Gleann Abhann, had passed several months in said positions as Heirs to these Lands, a Principality of the Kingdom of Meridies, knowing in Spirit that Their day to become a Kingdom in Their own ryght was at hand, They did turn to contemplate such Actions and kindle up to Greater Bryghtness the Flame of Their Impending Nationhood. At this time, They were accustomed to go out frequently from Their Manor and converse with the Populace, who came to visit with Them.
They had one day left Their Manor, to visit with Their Populace and, when They had finished, They said to them, "We must now go home again; but do you, as you are inclined to depart, first take food; and when you have cooked and eaten, go on with the preparations for Coronation.” They then gave thanks to Their Populace and, feeling blessed in them, went home.
Now when They had readied Themselves, They tryed to go forth with Their Coronation, but a Massive Storm utterly prevented Them from proceeding. The Tempest flooded the Barony of Axemoor, causing Their Excellencies, Merwyyd of Effington and Eleri of Caerleon, Baron and Baroness of those Lands, and all Their people, to flee in dismay from Their Ancestral Holdings. The Barony of Seleone and the Shire of Dragoun’s Wheel were smashed flat by the Four Winds, causing Their Excellencies, Thaddeus Camberwell and Daphne of Colchester, Baron and Baroness of Those Lands, and all their people, to flee in dismay from Their Ancestral Holdings as well. Many other Shires, Cantons and Colleges were also destroyed or damaged heavily.
The Lord and Lady Heir, along with the people of Gleann Abhann, watched in dismay as the roughness of the Winds and the Waves increased, and the rising of the Waters continued unabated, and yet They could not call to mind what fault They had committed or how They had offended the Gods. They fled North and East and West, in all directions but South, in any way to escape the Angry Sea that flooded their Cities, and scattered upon the Teeth of the Four Winds that scoured their towns flat, and it seemed as though the Lands known as Gleann Abhann would cease to exist, lost in the Mysts of Time, as Atlantis or Mu before Her, and Her People decimated and caused to wander, as the Jews, for a long period of Tyme, or absorbed into other Kyngdoms...
After gathering in what shelters They could find, They turned to the King and Queen of Meridies and Their Heirs, and to lament to Them of Their Ruin and Destruction. Their Royal Majesties and Their Royal Highnesses exhorted the people of Gleann Abhann to be patient and, throughout the period of waiting, came out to console their Sorrow, and give them Succor and Encouragement.
“Why do we remain here idle?” asked Lethrenn, Queen of Meridies. “Let us do the best we can to save ourselves!”
“Yes!” cried Deirdre, Crown Princess of Meridies. “We can survive this! We can help each other!”
“Yes!” cried Broinnfinn, Lady Heir of Gleann Abhann. “We have all that we truly need! Our husbands and wives and children and dogs! Our lives and our friends and our family! Though our Land is covered with Water and the Heavens with Clouds, though the currents of both Wynds and Waves are fully against us, though we are Famished with Hunger and we have lost Everything, and there is no one to Relieve us, if our Faith does not Waver, I think we shall not remain long in these Dire Strayts.”
Little did these Formidable Women know at that moment how right They were!
Then it did happen Most Wonderfully that the Wynds began to cease and the Waves began to be still and the Waters began to recede. Seeing that the Sea was finally Calm, after suffering from Cold and Hunger and Loss of Property, after overcoming Shock and Despayr, the people of Gleann Abhann began the long and slow trek back into their Damaged Lands to see what was left, to begin the process of rebuilding their lives. It seemed that, for now, the Dream of becoming a Kingdom would have to be put aside.
But it was not to be.
The Dream would not die. Not for the Lord and Lady Heir of Gleann Abhann.
“We will hold coronation barefoot, in our shifts, in a field if necessary!” said Broinnfinn.
It would not die for the Loyal Members of the Principality, nor would it die for the King and Queen of Meridies, Maximilian II & Lethrenn II, nor for their Royal Heirs, Boru & Deirdre, nor for the Officers or Populace of Meridies or Gleann Abhann. Nor, indeed, would the Dream die for the rest of the Knowne Worlde.
“We will not allow this to happen!” came the cry from all Corners of the Worlde, from those who had heard of the Trials and Tribulations being experienced by the people of Gleann Abhann.
And, shortly after the Wynds and Waves stilled, the Knowne Worlde responded en masse, succoring their brothers and sisters in Gleann Abhann and Meridies with an overwhelming outpouring of Cheerfull Wyshes and Welcome Supplies to assist them in the rebuilding of their Kingdoms and of the day of Coronation for the newest Kingdom. So much, in fact, that the storehouses of Gleann Abhann were bulging with largesse.
“We do not have the words to thank you, the Knowne Worlde, for the overwhelming aid to our populace,” said Broinnfinn a sentiment echoed by Her King, Officers and Populace time and again as They spoke and wrote to those assisting Them. (But They did find them later, as you can read in Theyr letter further on in this History.)
Thus it was that Gleann Abhann, to their Grayt Delyght, and to the Graytt Delyght of the rest of the Worlde, reached Kingdom status at long last. Those there rejoiced because they now saw what care the Knowne Worlde had for Their Youngest Kingdom, so as to Vindicate Her from Neglect, to keep Her from Destruction and from Extinction and from being Forgotten, even by means of the Elements. They rejoiced, too, that the Knowne Worlde should have had so much regard to Themselves, as to assist in Their recovery in a most Miraculous Way.
Thus was the Kingdom of Gleann Abhann born from the Elements, from Water and Wynd, Fyre and Earth and took its Ryghtfull Place as the Nineteenth Kingdom of the Knowne Worlde!
Written by my hand this third day of November, Anno Societatus XL, being 2005 Gregorian.
Vallawulf Rurikson, Ambassador from Atenveldt
Originally published on www.SCAtoday.net (11/14/2005)
Originally published --date-- by Gael Stirler
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