Hello friends.
So for my creative project I decided to write an epic! Max helped me edit it and gave me some feed back. We went over the elements of an epic found in the Harmon handbook, and in Beowulf, and tried to see if my epic fell under that. Thanks Max!
Some of the elements I tried to highlight in my writing were:
-Kennings
-a feeling of oral tradition (I tried to make it sound/feel like it was being spoken verbally)
-references to kinship
-digressions
-a hero of imposing stature
-elements of both fate and Christianity
-elevated style
I think I some improvements I would make are:
- a more epic setting
- objectivity as a narrator
- more supernatural elements
- include more gift giving.
BUT, for now this is it! This is an epic about my FATHER! and the day he saved us from a terrible fate!
Listen!We have heard in ages past of Lords and Ladies,
Noble in deed and spirit, from many a Kin
But perhaps the story, spoken from the lips
Of tale-baring men, has escaped your elusive ears
Of a man, great in deed, wisdom, wit, and wealth.
From the Baker clan harks he,
Whom no man would question, nor young courter
Would dare spare with for want of a daughter’s hand.
Baker of Breads he is not,
But leader of men, director of soldiers, builder of buildings,
And slayer of creatures more lengthy and poisonous
Than the toxic gas plaguing your lungs at this moment.
A Bryant by name, but a Beowulf in heart,
He honors greatly the mother from whom he comes,
And the land of grasses so blue in which he was born.
A colonel of the great Ken and Tucky,
A president of his stake,
Fated to lead and live with true-hearted love.
Designed by God to face the challenges of both
The spiritual and physical world.
Come closer still, and hear of the day
That this Bryant the Baker of no breads
Conquered the scathing slitherer of sin,
A creature spoken of to be over three walks of men in length
With the back of a copper, head of poison
This eater of kittens, chomper of puppies.
Its fame spread before the day of its fall;
Watchers tell of the wrath felt by the simple walker
Known in name, but not in nature, as Lucky
On the day that the fiend of fields determined
That little Lucky’s slow moving leg, was the recipient of said creature’s wrath.
Striken, not-so-Lucky fell to the ground
Only saved by the miracle methods of the nearby pet-healer.
Vengeful warriors could not locate the fanged serpant,
That servant serpant of the son of the morning,
So again it appeared, on a day when only one,
Could slay its slithering side.
Children, they were, who played about on that fate filled day.
Down in the dungeon, where darkness held despite the warmth-giving sun,
The children ventured to, declaring that but they open a window
The bottom floor might be a place of mirth.
So they slid the glass, opening the room to the bright day,
And the world they knew too little about.
They played about, games of hockey on air,
And little thought was given to the window
And what might come from there in.
The fanged fiend slithered forward through the window
Seeking an opportunity to wreak fear and horror on
The unsuspecting children playing within.
The diamond pattern shined as the sun beat upon the creature.
Suddenly, a kitten’s cry, as soft as the beating of humming bird wings,
Called the attention of one of the children to the window.
As she saw the beast, and took in the three-foot long length,
She let out a scream heard across the household.
As they saw the danger, the other children joined,
Screams and cries of despair filled the household.
Terrified, they ran to the stairs to escape the fiend’s poisonous bite.
They stopped mid-way up the stairs, and gazed down below
On the sinister slithering snake.
They knew they could not leave it be,
For certain havoc it would wreak, even only within the dungeon below.
Unwilling to act on their own, paralyzed by fear,
They called the one they knew contained no fear,
Their champion, strength, and leader,
The one they only could call father,
But to you, dear listener, is known as Bryant of the Bakers.
He came. Fear dispelled as he entered the dungeon,
For the champion of much more than snakes had arrived.
He wielded a machete of no small reputation,
For it had once belonged to the father to the bride of Bryant,
And had killed many a snake before that fateful day.
The fiend seemed to shiver with the entrance of the conqueror.
It coiled, and raised its crown to meet the approaching challenger;
The tongue flickered, and poison swelled to the anticipatory fangs.
Bryant approached, no hesitation or fear hindered his step,
He raised the machete, and with one brilliant stroke,
Before the beast could even think of striking,
Bryant chopped off the head of that copper-headed fiend,
Forever vanquishing the greatly feared foe.
The children rejoiced for many a hour,
For they knew their safety, maybe even their lives,
Was owed to him, and him alone.
Gifts they bestowed upon him,
Of love and respect, and obedience.
And forever this day remained in the memory of the children
As a day that showed the bravery, courage, strength, and fearless attitude
Of their one and only father,
The great, the beloved, the respected,
Bryant the Baker, directed by the hand of God in all he does,
The one who conquers all fanged fiends,
Champion of his children.
And now, will he remain engrained in your memory
So that you may emulate, as his children try to,
The bravery and strength of the great Bryant the Baker.
Here's a picture of the hero:
:)
