domingo, 28 de septiembre de 2014

LORAS TYRELL INSPIRATION?

Russian illustrations of the character. Medieval armour on the left, Renaissance armour on the right.
A rather secondary character in an Oscar Wilde story, a royal guard with very little storytime, is described as "one whose armour was inlaid with gilt flowers". 
Surely he must be an officer, given the detail of his attire (the Penguin Readers version omits any reference to his armour and calls him "an officer") 


He whose armour was inlaid with gilt flowers (although the flowers aren't much prominent in this depiction), Craig Russell

The one whose armour was inlaid with gilt flowers.



A thesis highlights that this is "splendid armour": ... the new guard’s splendid armour ... and tells of his action as he appears;’. . . inlaid with gilt flowers,'
"The same guard, comes forward. He is reintroduced with exactly the same syntactic structure as before ...
'. . . whose armour was inlaid with gilt flowers,'"


Possible inspiration for Loras Tyrell's character?

I'm planning to use this quote in my Snow Queen story "The Queen Beyond the Wall":

And then, through the crowd, she saw a blond breastplated knight from behind, golden locks cascading down the nape of his neck all the way to his back, loosely tied together with a green ribbon. She walked quickly towards him, her heart throbbing with excitement. There was so much they had to talk about!
Finally, the maiden stood a few steps away from him. She called his name out loud: "Jaime!" Suddenly, he turned around and stepped towards her... It wasn't Jaime!
The young knight did resemble Jaime, and he was certainly dashing as well: his hair was curly and a darker shade of blond, and his eyes were a more hazel colour. His armour was inlaid with gilt flowers.
From a distance, King Renly, dressed in gold and green, a dark strip of little hairs shading his upper lip, came towards them and asked what the matter was. He was doubtlessly dashing and tall, a true Baratheon. His bride Margaery, dark-haired as well and dressed in a lavender gown, followed him closely. She was petite and beautiful, teal-eyed and lilywhite with rosy lips.
And then, Brienne bowed before the royals and asked if she could explain the reason for that in private. And all four of them gathered in a grand hall inlaid with tapestries of great battles, where Brienne told them her tale: how much she loved Jaime, how much he had changed, how coldly they had parted... even the fact that Storm's End was under siege, and that she had been kept captive in the camp where heretics were burned.
"Oh! So you're a girl? No matter, we'll keep your secret. If discovered, it may lead to unpleasant consequences later on in your life."
"I don't think Storm's End will hold any longer... Our army is already prepared to retake our fallen lands! Nevertheless... having come from as far as Tarth... that's a feat of daring-do! Shouldn't we try to help you?", His Grace replied, with a wistful smile on his heart-shaped face.
The royals ordered that a supper should be prepared for Brienne. And thus, she had supper in the banquet hall where the bannermen had already supped, with the King and Queen and their Lord Commander (the maiden learned that he was Loras Tyrell, the Queen's youngest brother and the King's closest friend) for company. So, Brienne was served a cool fruit soup, peaches in honey, and fire-plum mousse, washed down with blood-red, sweet summer wine. She told the royals all about Jaime and more about her quest, and she thanked them for all of their kindness, though the words she could find were few.
No longer did she address them as His and Her Grace: they told her she was free to call them Renly and Margaery. And to call Loras by first name, without the "Ser", as well.
After supper, she was led into the Lord Commander's elegant bedroom and dressed in a fine negligé of crimson silk. Ser Loras courteously offered her to stay in his own bed: he would spend the whole night in the nearby Royal Bedchamber, watching for his crowned sister and brother-in-law.
He said he could do no more.
As Brienne wrapped herself in the soft mint-green brocade bedsheets and drew the golden velvet bed-curtains, she thought of the kindness she had encountered at the court. That night, sweet dreams came to her: she was leaving Highgarden, leaving the Reach, she came into an open field in more northern lands, a rider galloped towards her... it was Jaime, this time, no longer cold or detached, offering her his hand, and both of them riding away past holdfasts and cots. But it was only a dream, and thus, it faded away as soon as she awoke.
The King of the Reach himself peeped in through her bed-curtains, his attendants bringing forth an armour of cobalt blue steel, inlaid with bluebells and forget-me-nots.
So she was dressed in this blue armour, that sparkled on her reflection in the mirror that covered a whole panel of the bedroom wall.
As for Edric, he had eaten supper and then slept with the army officers, having already enlisted in the ranks of the Reach.
For breakfast, there were spiced honey cakes and various fruit pies, served with clear lager and with mint tea. The maiden sat to the left side of Queen Margaery, and the Lord Commander to the right side of King Renly, both royals sitting on the thrones that presided the banquet-hall table.
They talked about the invasion of Storm's End, and Brienne learned that the invaders' leader was also a Baratheon, one of Renly's older brothers, with whom he had broken ties long time ago. The vast army of the Reach had been already trained and prepared for the upcoming conflict.
The royals offered to have a notice about Jaime's whereabouts sent throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and detachments to carry on the inquiry Westeros-wide while the rest of the army was fighting the war.
Renly offered Brienne to enlist in his ranks and join them at the war front, where she could perform gallant feats, but she only asked for a horse, new weapons, and provisions to carry on her search for Jaime.
And thus, right before she crossed the garden gate, she beheld a white gelding, caparisoned in cobalt steel as well, with a green silk saddlecloth, on which the embroidered golden rose of Tyrell and stag of Baratheon shone brightly as stars. From the saddlecloth hung a fine longsword, with the sun and moon of Tarth on its hilt, in a finely ornate scabbard, aside from a fine mint-green silken bag, also embroidered with the Tyrell rose, containing a glass canteen full of summer wine and a dozen journey-cakes.
King Renly and Ser Loras helped her get on her steed, embraced her, and wished her good luck. So did the rest of the royal family. Even Edric came to say farewell, for he was going to war. The young bannerman looked like a child Renly in his breastplate and doublet. He had been given permission to be part of her escort, and thus, they should have a little more time together
"Farewell! Farewell!" said Loras and Renly, and Queen Margaery as well. Looking back at Highgarden for every now and then, the maiden crossed the garden gates with the detachment she had been given for an escort. At the borders of the Reach, the other riders departed to join the army, as Brienne took Edric in her arms and they kissed each other for maybe the last time.
"Farewell!", both said in tears, for maybe they wouldn't see each other anymore. Then, Edric departed with the rest of the riders, leaving Brienne on her own, riding up north. Maybe Jaime had joined the Night's Watch to escape his father's expectations. If so, she was most likely to meet him at the icy Wall where the known world came to an end.
So, she led her steed into more Northern lands. At the first inn, she had to exchange that horse for a dun mare after having had breakfast and spent the night there, unaware that there were also scoundrels at that very tavern, and that she'd better be careful with the rarities she carried.


one whose armour was inlaid with gilt flowers

einer, dessen Rüstung mit goldenen Blumen inkrustiert war 

uno cuya armadura tenía en incrustación flores doradas

uno, cuya armadura llevaba incrustadas flores doradas

un, dont la cuirasse était émaillée de fleurs d'or

egy harmadik katona, aranyvirágokkal díszített vértben

en man, vars rustning var prydd med blommor i guld

algú amb l'armadura encastada de flors daurades


Mivel hogy nem szép, nem is hasznos többé – jelentette ki a művészetek egyetemi professzora.
--Lo que carece de belleza es inútil --afirmó el profesor de Estética de la Universidad.

 a lo que le sigue una crítica ante la afirmación del profesor de estética según la cual lo que carece de belleza es inútil; De este modo, al amor en el dolor se le suma la idea de la muerte que cuestiona una vez más el esteticismo y la utilidad. Más que una crítica a la afirmación de la acción sin interés, cuestiona el sentido del común.

14 comentarios:

  1. Is this a snap of your fic? In which language shall it be? So far, it reminded me of both Andersen and George Martin *****
    And yes, this armour may have inspired Loras's character

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  2. I freaking love the Clever Princess, and I'm a hardcore RenLoras fan as well. I loved the Sue and Reed version you posted (which you might as well have written yourself). But seeing Renly and Loras in those roles... still second to Sue and Reed, but it still throws me into a fever. The Prince and Princess are my favourite characters in The Snow Queen, and Renly and Loras are my favourite characters in Westeros... AWWWW ... (tears in her eyes, remembers the Elspeth retelling with the Richardses... besides, the Princess and her brother in that story were Stormses, and Renly was the Stormlord... ;'''') )

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    Respuestas
    1. So I my repost Elspeth's comment:
      Thanks! I wish I could say I took Sue's characterization straight from canon in this (because a Sue would could canonically write love letters in Latin would rock), but I actually took most of it from the original fairytale, where the Princess is the smartest person in three kingdoms (so smart that she's "read all the newspapers in the world") and wants a prince who is her equal. But since Sue is married to Reed, she must have married him for his brains rather than, say, charm or tact or looks -- because Reed's not bad looking, but Sue is definately out of his league -- hence making the Princess her.

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  3. Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.

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    Respuestas
    1. In this kingdom where we now are, there lives a princess of unusual cleverness.
      They say she owns as many books as all crows in the land have feathers, and studies philosophy and art and other such things, and speaks Latin as easily as you please. The late king made his daughter his heir, you see, because his son was the younger of the two, and the crown here always goes to the eldest, so he had her trained in statescraft instead of the usual occupations of young women.

      A short time ago, after ruling for several years just as well as any prince could have done, she
      turned to her advisors and spoke the following words:
      ‘Why should I not be married?’
      ‘Why not indeed?’ they said, and so she determined to marry if she could find a husband who
      knew what to say when he was spoken to, and not one who could only look grand, for that
      would be tiresome. Then she assembled her entire court together in the palace gardens and
      told them of her intentions, to much rejoicing and acclaim.

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    2. The princess's advisors suggested putting notices in the newspapers, but she declined on
      the grounds that this would attract too many men of the ordinary sort. Instead, she wrote
      a proclamation out herself, in Latin, and had it copied out and affixed to the doors of every
      University in three kingdoms.
      The notice stated that every young man who was handsome was free to visit the castle and
      speak with the princess; and those who could reply loud enough to be heard when spoken to,
      were to make themselves quite at home at the palace; but the one who spoke best would be
      chosen as a husband for the princess.

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    3. Scholars and alchemists and theologians and other learned men came in crowds, until the
      palace was quite crowded with men in black gowns, but not one of them was able to meet the
      requirements. They could all speak very well in a lecture hall, or outside on the streets, but
      when they stood in the great hall of the palace, surrounded by gilded plasterwork, and rose-red tapestries, and great, silver mirrors that glowed with the light of a thousand candles, and saw the counts and barons in all their finery, and the guards in blue and silver uniforms, they grew nervous, and felt themselves shabby, though they all wore their best academic robes of black silk. And when they were called up to stand before the princess herself, seated on her throne with her golden hair as bright as the candles, they could do nothing but repeat the last thing she had said. And so she soon grew bored with each man, and sent them away.
      There was quite a long line of them reaching from the town-gate to the palace. They looked very foolish standing there, jabbering away at one another like so many crows, as practice for when they went inside.

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    4. A young student arrived there on the third day. He came on foot, and did not wear a black robe like the others, and he was tall and thin, with very dark hair.
      When he passed through the palace gates, he saw the guards in their silver and blue uniforms, and the nobles in all their splendor, but was not the least embarrassed, though his own clothes were faded and worn. He went boldly up to the princess herself, who was seated on a throne entirely covered in mother of pearl, and all the ladies of the court were present with their maids, and all the counts and barons and knights with their servants; and every one of them was dressed so finely that they shone as brightly as the mirrors. Even the servants wore cloth of gold, and they were all so proud that they would not even look at him,
      because he had come to the palace with ink on his fingers.

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    5. He was quite solemn and not at all afraid, and said he had not come to woo the princess, but to hear her wisdom; and he was as pleased with her as she was with him.

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    6. You cannot enter the palace by the front entrance, for the soldiers in their blue and silver
      uniforms would surely try and stop you. The princess's younger brother is their captain, and
      he guards his sister's welfare most faithfully. They say he is a most fearsome young firebrand
      indeed.

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    7. The moon was high overhead the palace gardens, its light so bright that around and within the garden wall.
      The garden was full of moonlight, turning the snow-covered flowerbeds into great sheets of silver. The fountains were dry, because of the cold, and the princess's gardeners had set little statues carved of ice atop them to take the place of the streams of water.

      The first landing of the long staircase, where a lamp was burning. Beside it stood a bust of the goddess Minerva.

      There was, within the palace, at the end of the long staircase, a series of halls, each grander than the last. First came a hall with a floor of white marble, hung with tapestries of crimson silk. Then a hall with a floor of pink marble, hung with paintings of such size and magnificence, followed in turn by a third hall, which had a floor of black and white marble laid in squares like a chessboard, and which was hung with mirrors in gilded frames.

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    8. The princess's bedchamber was more magnificent still, with all the gold and silk and marble, a great canopy bed in the middle, the bed-curtains thickly embroidered with gold and silver thread. Through a narrow gap in the bed-curtains, one could see a head of dark hair, quite black.
      The princess and the new prince were asleep in one another's arms, his face quite hidden in her golden hair.
      He was quite another man, clean shaven and with grey streaks at his temples, though he was
      still young. The part of his hair that was not grey was so dark.

      The prince and the princess, learned as they both were, looked quite sorrowful, though the prince asked with a keen interest after a great alchemist, saying that they had been at University together once.
      The princess, regretting that she could not help more, offered to have another notice delivered through three kingdoms.

      And then the prince and princess summoned servants.

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    9. The following day, they were served breakfast in a great hall, out of a golden bowl, and the prince and princess talked about what he had seen on his journeys, and about art, which the princess had studied a little, in between reading philosophy books, and about military tactics, and they invited us to stay at the palace for a few days, and enjoy ourselves.

      The prince and princess themselves wished success, from the garden gate.
      “Farewell, farewell,” cried the prince and princess.
      ... ... ...
      The prince and princess.
      “They are gone to foreign countries. On a great voyage of exploration,
      and they have taken the princess's brother, her captain of the guard, with them, and also one of the prince's oldest friends.

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