1) Make a wish for the fourth book of the Waterfire Saga (I've got the third book in German, which I got in Warnemünde, and I will soon write a review; including Destrid shipping [My Waterfire OTP], more info on Astrid's lesser-known comrades, Astrid getting into serious trouble --we're talking the Stark kind of family issues--, Ondalinian geography and culture, Ondalinians speaking Swedish and German... Gaaawds, I should type my review for Book 3 sometime around here) to come to me.
2) Finish up my FutureLearn courses (on moons, histology, abdominal anatomy, and the Great War).
3) Write more posts in Spanish, Catalan, and Swedish.
4) Something something yadda yadda fourth centennial yadda yadda... ***inintelligible***
5) Will there be a Westeros fairytale this Christmas, as usual? Maybe, maybe not.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta 2016. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta 2016. Mostrar todas las entradas
sábado, 17 de diciembre de 2016
jueves, 1 de diciembre de 2016
CRYSTAL QUEEN PROJECT I - THE STORY
THE CRYSTAL QUEEN
My present-day Snow Queen retelling will be the basis for this year's Advent calendar; character designs, inspiration, music, a playlist, a dreamcast, fashion...
She's walked through fire and ice in black tennis shoes, burning rubber in her wake for as long as she can remember. And why?
For HIS sake.
Life had been a bed of roses, even before their university years. Both were only children, classmates since kindergarten, so close friends that their relationship had grown strong as a blood tie.
As they sat down by the frog pond to rest after class, the lady in white, careening through campus in her convertible, looked through her bug-eyed 60s glasses at Kai, as he sat there feeding the fish and quoting Shakespeare to his sweetheart. The next day, he found an invitation in his backpack --to the new in club on campus-- Gerda told him not to go, yet her bed stayed cold and empty that night.
The lady in white was at the club right then. She laced Kai's drink with sky blue crystals that filled him with such excitement that nothing else mattered. The next day, Gerda realized he had become even more awkward, shying away from her and from the sun, from Shakespeare and Voltaire, from the frogs and fish, his ice-blue eyes glazed.
That afternoon, the lady welcomed the drugged young man into her convertible with the promise of more of the blue crystals. And he readily accepted, half in trance half unconscious.
And it was Kai's disappearance that sparked Gerda's quest.
Her time with the flower children, still living as if the revolution were going on, is already far behind her. Half a year idda-gadda-da vida, until the weed left her system and that song by the Four... in the S-Kai with Diamonds... reawoke her memories. None of the stoners could tell her anything about her beau: each of them lived in their own octopus's garden in the shade.
The next stop, at the country club... maybe the blond young man playing the mixed doubles match with that lovely and intelligent socialite was Kai? No. Not every blond tennis player is Kai; Edmund was a bit taller, more slender, honey-eyed and left-handed, while Kai was a blue-eyed righty. The reveal, having snuck in as a ball girl during the match, hit Gerda as hard as her fake prince's serve. Still, the kindness of Edmund and his Lucy, who supplied her with a golf cart and oodles of power bars, convinced her that people were good in the wide world.
However, the cart was soon overcome, and Gerda taken prisoner, by a gang of bikers. The gorilla man and the orangutan man both wanted to shove her into their sleeping bags, but the leader's mercy saved her life. Asha, tall, dark, and sadistic yet with a heart of gold, heard Gerda's story being all ears, as she enjoyed in her dominatrix fantasies with the young blonde. Asha told her of the queen of crystal, of her fortress in a railway car in the middle of nowhere, of how she herself had been a thrall to the drug but her strength made her snap out of it.
"Only you can save him. I know you will", Asha said as she gave Gerda her own motorbike, while the thugs were sleeping off their drinks.
Now, after all these trials, she is standing before the railway car, she enters... the Queen is gone, Kai deeply unconscious, before a table in the crystal lab, vials of blue liquid suspended in his left and right hand.
Gerda calls his name, shakes his shoulders, but he does not react. Quickly, she turns the Bunsen burner on, smashes one of the vials against it, and runs out with her lover in her arms as the railway car explodes.
Kai awakens, looks left and right, is reassured by the twinkles in her green eyes. His right hand in her left, they seem to have awakened from a dream as they start southward, homeward, once more.
The tennis players are on their honeymoon. Asha wonders if Kai is really worth going to the ends of the Earth for as she looks wistfully at Gerda.
Back on campus, they sit down by the lily pond once more and finally, as children at heart, understand the words of Shakespeare:
"TONGUES IN TREES, BOOKS IN THE RUNNING BROOKS, SERMONS IN STONES, AND GOOD IN EVERYTHING".
And thus we leave them, in the summer of youth, as children at heart; ere disenchantment enters their lives.
My present-day Snow Queen retelling will be the basis for this year's Advent calendar; character designs, inspiration, music, a playlist, a dreamcast, fashion...
She's walked through fire and ice in black tennis shoes, burning rubber in her wake for as long as she can remember. And why?
For HIS sake.
Life had been a bed of roses, even before their university years. Both were only children, classmates since kindergarten, so close friends that their relationship had grown strong as a blood tie.
As they sat down by the frog pond to rest after class, the lady in white, careening through campus in her convertible, looked through her bug-eyed 60s glasses at Kai, as he sat there feeding the fish and quoting Shakespeare to his sweetheart. The next day, he found an invitation in his backpack --to the new in club on campus-- Gerda told him not to go, yet her bed stayed cold and empty that night.
The lady in white was at the club right then. She laced Kai's drink with sky blue crystals that filled him with such excitement that nothing else mattered. The next day, Gerda realized he had become even more awkward, shying away from her and from the sun, from Shakespeare and Voltaire, from the frogs and fish, his ice-blue eyes glazed.
That afternoon, the lady welcomed the drugged young man into her convertible with the promise of more of the blue crystals. And he readily accepted, half in trance half unconscious.
And it was Kai's disappearance that sparked Gerda's quest.
Her time with the flower children, still living as if the revolution were going on, is already far behind her. Half a year idda-gadda-da vida, until the weed left her system and that song by the Four... in the S-Kai with Diamonds... reawoke her memories. None of the stoners could tell her anything about her beau: each of them lived in their own octopus's garden in the shade.
The next stop, at the country club... maybe the blond young man playing the mixed doubles match with that lovely and intelligent socialite was Kai? No. Not every blond tennis player is Kai; Edmund was a bit taller, more slender, honey-eyed and left-handed, while Kai was a blue-eyed righty. The reveal, having snuck in as a ball girl during the match, hit Gerda as hard as her fake prince's serve. Still, the kindness of Edmund and his Lucy, who supplied her with a golf cart and oodles of power bars, convinced her that people were good in the wide world.
However, the cart was soon overcome, and Gerda taken prisoner, by a gang of bikers. The gorilla man and the orangutan man both wanted to shove her into their sleeping bags, but the leader's mercy saved her life. Asha, tall, dark, and sadistic yet with a heart of gold, heard Gerda's story being all ears, as she enjoyed in her dominatrix fantasies with the young blonde. Asha told her of the queen of crystal, of her fortress in a railway car in the middle of nowhere, of how she herself had been a thrall to the drug but her strength made her snap out of it.
"Only you can save him. I know you will", Asha said as she gave Gerda her own motorbike, while the thugs were sleeping off their drinks.
Now, after all these trials, she is standing before the railway car, she enters... the Queen is gone, Kai deeply unconscious, before a table in the crystal lab, vials of blue liquid suspended in his left and right hand.
Gerda calls his name, shakes his shoulders, but he does not react. Quickly, she turns the Bunsen burner on, smashes one of the vials against it, and runs out with her lover in her arms as the railway car explodes.
Kai awakens, looks left and right, is reassured by the twinkles in her green eyes. His right hand in her left, they seem to have awakened from a dream as they start southward, homeward, once more.
The tennis players are on their honeymoon. Asha wonders if Kai is really worth going to the ends of the Earth for as she looks wistfully at Gerda.
Back on campus, they sit down by the lily pond once more and finally, as children at heart, understand the words of Shakespeare:
"TONGUES IN TREES, BOOKS IN THE RUNNING BROOKS, SERMONS IN STONES, AND GOOD IN EVERYTHING".
And thus we leave them, in the summer of youth, as children at heart; ere disenchantment enters their lives.
domingo, 6 de noviembre de 2016
IN MEMORIAM GUSTAVI ADOLPHI 2016 - SLAGET VID LÜTZEN
SLAGET VID LÜTZEN
Översatt till engelska och svenska av Sandra Dermark inför 6 nov 2016
THE BATTLE OF LÜTZEN
If he had not died that young, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden would doubtless have been one of the great military geniuses of history, for he started a great revolution in the art of warfare.
In fact, his first measure was suppressing mercenary companies, using only Swedish professional soldiers at his service.
But what is most important is that he introduced a series of very light and fast weaponry, aside from a series of military tactics that combined the use of cavalry, infantry, and artillery in an excellent way. From that day on, part of the European countries would copy these systems introduced by the King of Sweden in his national army.
At Lützen, Gustavus Adolphus himself took part in the battle, leading his own troops. This was his last engagement, since he fell upon the battlefield, though the victory was for his own host.
Near Lützen
The year was 1632. Sweden had recently entered the Thirty Years' War and was trying to invade the Imperial German crownlands. After a string of victories, Gustavus Adolphus managed to arrive with his troops into the very heart of Saxony, near the village of Lützen, about ten kilometres away from Leipzig.
By the side of Lützen stood the Imperial army, prepared not to let the invader pass. It was led by a skilful general, whose name was Albrecht von Wallenstein. The Imperial troops vastly outnumbered those of the King of Sweden.
Wallenstein's army had the infantry in the centre, formed by four square tercios of tightly-thronged pikemen, covered by flintlockmen and arquebusiers. The cavalry was arranged in the wings, like in nearly every war in those days. The right wing was reinforced by a tercio of infantry and a row of cannon. The artillery was placed in the centre, right before the infantry, in great trenches dug into the ground.
Gustavus Adolphus's army also had the infantry in the centre, but in less tightly-thronged lines and defended by light artillery. In the wings, he placed his cavalry in alternating squadrons, according to his strategy, always protected by groups of flintlockmen and by more light artillery.
The confrontation
In the morning, both armies were unable to watch one another. A thick fog made any action impossible, so they had to wait until midday.
Gustavus Adolphus, leading the cavalry on his right wing, lunged at the Imperial ranks, taking over their artillery and shattering the cavalry on the enemy's left wing.
The cannon captured by the Swedes was now fired against the Imperialists themselves, wiping out two of the tercios, each one composed of four thousand men.
But General Wallenstein did not let his spirits down; rather, he commanded the right wing of his own cavalry to return and claim the cannons. This was done, and the Swedes were thus forced backwards, leaving the Imperial cannons in their flight.
Gustavus Adolphus, indignated by the Imperialists' maneuver, rushed into the centre of the fight, where it was thicked, without thinking of the consequences. There, he found himself alone before the enemy infantry. In the midst of this struggle, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden met his own demise. He had barely reached his thirty-eighth year of age.
The reaction
It seemed that this moment was the end of the battle. But the Swedes, now led by the King's lieutenant Bernhard von Weimar, managed to claim once more the artillery, while the cavalry on the left and part of the infantry reached the rest of the Imperial cannon and captured it completely.
It seemed then that victory was already Sweden's. However, reinforcements soon appeared for Wallenstein's ranks. Not more or less than eight infantry regiments!
These reinforcements thus claimed the cannon once more. But then, von Weimar gave the order to let the second line advance. It was a decisive attack. The cannons, now in the hands of Sweden for the third time, began to fire at the centre and the right wing of the Imperialists, who had to retreat in complete disarray. They left upon the battlefield, counting both the slain and the sorely wounded, a total sum of nine thousand men.
At Lützen, it was thus proved that the Swedish tactics were the best and that artillery, if well employed, would be the definitive weaponry for all the later wars.
......................
SLAGET VID LÜTZEN
Hade han inte dött så ung, hade den svenske kungen Gustav II Adolf varit utan minsta tvekan ett av världshistoriens stora militärgenier, ty han inledde en stor revolution inom konsten att föra krig.
Faktum är den första förändringen han presenterade var att sluta anlita legoknektar, och han använde i sina arméer endast professionella svenska soldater.
Men det viktigaste var att han för första gången ställde under sina fanor nya, otroligt lätta och snabba vapen, och dessutom en ny taktik där infanteri, kavalleri och artilleri kombinerades på ett väldigt skickligt sätt. Från och med då skulle flera europeiska länder kopiera de system som den svenske regenten för första gången framställde inom sin nations armé.
Vid Lützen deltog Gustav Adolf själv i slaget och ledde sina egna trupper. Det var hans sista strid, ty han mötte döden på slagfältet, men trots det fick hans soldater kamma hem segern.
Nära Lützen
Året var 1632. Sverige hade nyligen gått med i trettioåriga kriget och försökte tränga in i Tyska rikets arvländer. Efter ett pärlband av segrar hade Gustav Adolf lyckats att med sina skaror tränga in i Sachsens hjärta, nära byn Lützen, på ungefär tio kilometers avstånd från Leipzig.
Vid Lützen befann sig dock den kejserliga armén, redo att inte låta inkräktaren passera. Den fientliga hären var ledd av en skicklig general vid namn Albrecht von Wallenstein. Hans skaror var mycket talrikare än den svenske kungens.
Wallensteins krigshär var uppställd med fotfolket i centern, format i fyra tertior, verkligen tätt uppställda fyrkanter av pikenerare täckta med hakeböss- och flintlåsskyttar. Kavalleriet var uppställt i flyglarna, enligt den tidens sed inom krigskonsten. Den högra flygeln var dessutom förstärkt av en tercio fotfolk och en rad kanoner. Resten av artilleriet var uppställt i centern, framför infanteriet, i stora löpgravar som hade grävts i marken.
Gustav Adolfs armé hade även fotfolket i centern, dock uppställt inte så tätt i linjer, beskyddade av lätta kanoner. I flyglarna placerade han sitt kavalleri i alternerande skvadroner, enligt sin egen strategi, rytteriet alltid beskyddat av grupper med flintlåsskyttar och ännu mer lätt artilleri.
Drabbningen
Under hela morgonen kunde de två krigshärarna knappast se varandra. En tät dimma gjorde alla aktioner omöjliga och de fick vänta fram till mitt på dagen.
Gustav Adolf, i täten för sitt högra flygels rytteri, kastade sig mot de kejserliga, och tog sålunda över deras artilleri och förskingrade ryttarna på fiendens vänsterflygel.
De av svenskarna tagna kanonerna avfyrades då mot de kejserliga själva, och tillintetgjorde två av deras tertior, var och en bestående av fyra tusen man.
Men general Wallenstein tappade inte andan; han befallde sin högra flygel att ånyo rädda kanonerna. Sagt och gjort, och de tvingade svenskarna tillbaka, så att Gustav Adolfs män i flykten lämnade de kejserliga kanonerna i löpgravarna.
Gustav Adolf, provocerad av de kejserligas manöver, skred in i centern, där striden var som hetast, utan att tänka på följderna av denna handling. Där befann han sig ensam mot det fientliga fotfolket. Mitt i den här striden mötte Gustav II Adolf, Svea rikes konung, döden. Han hade knappt fyllt 38 år.
Reaktionen
Det såg ut som att slaget höll på att ta slut. Men svenskarna, nu ledda av kungens högra hand i fält, Bernhard von Weimar, lyckades med att ånyo tillskansa sig artilleriet i löpgravarna, medan den svenska vänsterflygelns ryttare och en del av fotfolket nådde resten av de kejserligas kanoner och gjorde anspråk på alla av dem.
Då såg det ut som om segern tillhörde redan svenskarna. Trots det fick de kejserliga trupperna se deras förstärkningar dyka upp. Inte mer eller mindre än åtta tertior fotfolk!
Dessa förstärkningar tog återigen över kanonerna. Men då befallde von Weimar den andra linjen att skrida fram. Detta anfall blev avgörande. Kanonerna, för tredje gången i svenska händer, började avfyras mot de kejserligas center och deras högerflygel, vilket tvingade fienden till reträtt i total oordning. De lämnade efter sig på slagfältet sammanlagt omkring niotusen man, stupade och svårt sårade.
Vid Lützen bevisades det att den svenska taktiken var den bästa och att artilleriet, väl använt, skulle bli det avgörande vapenslaget i alla de kommande krigen.
Översatt till engelska och svenska av Sandra Dermark inför 6 nov 2016
To the memory of Gustavus Adolphus Karlsson of Vasa
*Nyköping, Sweden, 9th of December 1594
+ Lützen, Saxony, 6th of November 1632
+ Lützen, Saxony, 6th of November 1632
Beloved ruler of nations and leader of armies,
consort, father, friend, and lover
| His spouse Mary Eleanor (next to the throne), their daughter Christina Augusta (in his arms), his right-hand man Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna (next to the throne), his courtiers and his people, his officers and soldiers, will always keep his memory alive, as long as Sweden and freedom exist. |
Inspired by thirst
for glory, on the field of battle quaffed
instead death's bitter draught.
The last word was missing in his epic song:
the word that crowns every achievement.
The mourners have done their duty, right or wrong:
they wrote it in blood and bereavement.
He left us when we (and he) expected it the least,
in the prime of his life and at the climax of his career,
before he could be tarnished by the failing vigour of an older age
or by the corruption brought upon him by success.
A single bullet, just like any other,
suddenly struck his back and entered his noble chest,
to quench a flame that never could or should have burned brighter.
Biblioteca cultural Carroggio, ed. Carroggio S.A. de Ediciones, Barcelona.
Enciclopedia Infantil. Tomo/Volumen 5: Lecciones de historia.
Impreso en Artes Gráficas Grijelmo, S.A. Bilbao, 1974
Creación: Fernando Carroggio y Ana Calzada
Ilustración de Pierre Monnerat
THE BATTLE OF LÜTZEN
If he had not died that young, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden would doubtless have been one of the great military geniuses of history, for he started a great revolution in the art of warfare.
In fact, his first measure was suppressing mercenary companies, using only Swedish professional soldiers at his service.
But what is most important is that he introduced a series of very light and fast weaponry, aside from a series of military tactics that combined the use of cavalry, infantry, and artillery in an excellent way. From that day on, part of the European countries would copy these systems introduced by the King of Sweden in his national army.
At Lützen, Gustavus Adolphus himself took part in the battle, leading his own troops. This was his last engagement, since he fell upon the battlefield, though the victory was for his own host.
Near Lützen
The year was 1632. Sweden had recently entered the Thirty Years' War and was trying to invade the Imperial German crownlands. After a string of victories, Gustavus Adolphus managed to arrive with his troops into the very heart of Saxony, near the village of Lützen, about ten kilometres away from Leipzig.
By the side of Lützen stood the Imperial army, prepared not to let the invader pass. It was led by a skilful general, whose name was Albrecht von Wallenstein. The Imperial troops vastly outnumbered those of the King of Sweden.
Wallenstein's army had the infantry in the centre, formed by four square tercios of tightly-thronged pikemen, covered by flintlockmen and arquebusiers. The cavalry was arranged in the wings, like in nearly every war in those days. The right wing was reinforced by a tercio of infantry and a row of cannon. The artillery was placed in the centre, right before the infantry, in great trenches dug into the ground.
Gustavus Adolphus's army also had the infantry in the centre, but in less tightly-thronged lines and defended by light artillery. In the wings, he placed his cavalry in alternating squadrons, according to his strategy, always protected by groups of flintlockmen and by more light artillery.
The confrontation
In the morning, both armies were unable to watch one another. A thick fog made any action impossible, so they had to wait until midday.
Gustavus Adolphus, leading the cavalry on his right wing, lunged at the Imperial ranks, taking over their artillery and shattering the cavalry on the enemy's left wing.
The cannon captured by the Swedes was now fired against the Imperialists themselves, wiping out two of the tercios, each one composed of four thousand men.
But General Wallenstein did not let his spirits down; rather, he commanded the right wing of his own cavalry to return and claim the cannons. This was done, and the Swedes were thus forced backwards, leaving the Imperial cannons in their flight.
Gustavus Adolphus, indignated by the Imperialists' maneuver, rushed into the centre of the fight, where it was thicked, without thinking of the consequences. There, he found himself alone before the enemy infantry. In the midst of this struggle, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden met his own demise. He had barely reached his thirty-eighth year of age.
The reaction
It seemed that this moment was the end of the battle. But the Swedes, now led by the King's lieutenant Bernhard von Weimar, managed to claim once more the artillery, while the cavalry on the left and part of the infantry reached the rest of the Imperial cannon and captured it completely.
It seemed then that victory was already Sweden's. However, reinforcements soon appeared for Wallenstein's ranks. Not more or less than eight infantry regiments!
These reinforcements thus claimed the cannon once more. But then, von Weimar gave the order to let the second line advance. It was a decisive attack. The cannons, now in the hands of Sweden for the third time, began to fire at the centre and the right wing of the Imperialists, who had to retreat in complete disarray. They left upon the battlefield, counting both the slain and the sorely wounded, a total sum of nine thousand men.
At Lützen, it was thus proved that the Swedish tactics were the best and that artillery, if well employed, would be the definitive weaponry for all the later wars.
......................
SLAGET VID LÜTZEN
Hade han inte dött så ung, hade den svenske kungen Gustav II Adolf varit utan minsta tvekan ett av världshistoriens stora militärgenier, ty han inledde en stor revolution inom konsten att föra krig.
Faktum är den första förändringen han presenterade var att sluta anlita legoknektar, och han använde i sina arméer endast professionella svenska soldater.
Men det viktigaste var att han för första gången ställde under sina fanor nya, otroligt lätta och snabba vapen, och dessutom en ny taktik där infanteri, kavalleri och artilleri kombinerades på ett väldigt skickligt sätt. Från och med då skulle flera europeiska länder kopiera de system som den svenske regenten för första gången framställde inom sin nations armé.
Vid Lützen deltog Gustav Adolf själv i slaget och ledde sina egna trupper. Det var hans sista strid, ty han mötte döden på slagfältet, men trots det fick hans soldater kamma hem segern.
Nära Lützen
Året var 1632. Sverige hade nyligen gått med i trettioåriga kriget och försökte tränga in i Tyska rikets arvländer. Efter ett pärlband av segrar hade Gustav Adolf lyckats att med sina skaror tränga in i Sachsens hjärta, nära byn Lützen, på ungefär tio kilometers avstånd från Leipzig.
Vid Lützen befann sig dock den kejserliga armén, redo att inte låta inkräktaren passera. Den fientliga hären var ledd av en skicklig general vid namn Albrecht von Wallenstein. Hans skaror var mycket talrikare än den svenske kungens.
Wallensteins krigshär var uppställd med fotfolket i centern, format i fyra tertior, verkligen tätt uppställda fyrkanter av pikenerare täckta med hakeböss- och flintlåsskyttar. Kavalleriet var uppställt i flyglarna, enligt den tidens sed inom krigskonsten. Den högra flygeln var dessutom förstärkt av en tercio fotfolk och en rad kanoner. Resten av artilleriet var uppställt i centern, framför infanteriet, i stora löpgravar som hade grävts i marken.
Gustav Adolfs armé hade även fotfolket i centern, dock uppställt inte så tätt i linjer, beskyddade av lätta kanoner. I flyglarna placerade han sitt kavalleri i alternerande skvadroner, enligt sin egen strategi, rytteriet alltid beskyddat av grupper med flintlåsskyttar och ännu mer lätt artilleri.
Drabbningen
Under hela morgonen kunde de två krigshärarna knappast se varandra. En tät dimma gjorde alla aktioner omöjliga och de fick vänta fram till mitt på dagen.
Gustav Adolf, i täten för sitt högra flygels rytteri, kastade sig mot de kejserliga, och tog sålunda över deras artilleri och förskingrade ryttarna på fiendens vänsterflygel.
De av svenskarna tagna kanonerna avfyrades då mot de kejserliga själva, och tillintetgjorde två av deras tertior, var och en bestående av fyra tusen man.
Men general Wallenstein tappade inte andan; han befallde sin högra flygel att ånyo rädda kanonerna. Sagt och gjort, och de tvingade svenskarna tillbaka, så att Gustav Adolfs män i flykten lämnade de kejserliga kanonerna i löpgravarna.
Gustav Adolf, provocerad av de kejserligas manöver, skred in i centern, där striden var som hetast, utan att tänka på följderna av denna handling. Där befann han sig ensam mot det fientliga fotfolket. Mitt i den här striden mötte Gustav II Adolf, Svea rikes konung, döden. Han hade knappt fyllt 38 år.
Reaktionen
Det såg ut som att slaget höll på att ta slut. Men svenskarna, nu ledda av kungens högra hand i fält, Bernhard von Weimar, lyckades med att ånyo tillskansa sig artilleriet i löpgravarna, medan den svenska vänsterflygelns ryttare och en del av fotfolket nådde resten av de kejserligas kanoner och gjorde anspråk på alla av dem.
Då såg det ut som om segern tillhörde redan svenskarna. Trots det fick de kejserliga trupperna se deras förstärkningar dyka upp. Inte mer eller mindre än åtta tertior fotfolk!
Dessa förstärkningar tog återigen över kanonerna. Men då befallde von Weimar den andra linjen att skrida fram. Detta anfall blev avgörande. Kanonerna, för tredje gången i svenska händer, började avfyras mot de kejserligas center och deras högerflygel, vilket tvingade fienden till reträtt i total oordning. De lämnade efter sig på slagfältet sammanlagt omkring niotusen man, stupade och svårt sårade.
Vid Lützen bevisades det att den svenska taktiken var den bästa och att artilleriet, väl använt, skulle bli det avgörande vapenslaget i alla de kommande krigen.
IN MEMORIAM GUSTAVI ADOLPHI 2016 - I
Since this is the Fourth Centennial year, now we'll go for something completely different: a little crossover mashup with pre-Lützen cooing and post-Lützen tension (or: the one where Gustavus and Eleanor are Othello and Desdemona, while Wallenstein may be Iago and Herr Oxenstierna ---Moor or less--- does Cassio, but there is no cheating plot involved; rather, only the story about the risk of losing a loved one).
A LITTLE "MOOR" CONVERSATION, PLEASE!
or
The One Where Othello Gets Inevitably Crossed Over With The Battle of Lützen (or, at Least, the Eve and the Aftermath of the Battle)
Scene the First: Weissenfels, early November 1632
At the feet of the local keep. Queen Eleanor awaiting her spouse.
A LITTLE "MOOR" CONVERSATION, PLEASE!
or
The One Where Othello Gets Inevitably Crossed Over With The Battle of Lützen (or, at Least, the Eve and the Aftermath of the Battle)
Scene the First: Weissenfels, early November 1632
At the feet of the local keep. Queen Eleanor awaiting her spouse.
Trumpet within
- The King! I know his trumpet.
Axel
- 'Tis truly so.
Eleanor
- Let's meet him and receive him.
- Axel
- Lo, where he comes!
Enter GUSTAVUS and Attendants
Gustavus
- Oh my fair warrior!
Eleanor
- My dear Gustavus!
Gustavus
- It gives me wonder great as my content
- To see you here before me. Oh, my soul's joy!
- If after every tempest come such calms,
- may the winds blow till they have waken'd death!
- And let the labouring bark climb hills of seas
- Olympus-high and duck again as low
- as hell's from heaven! If it were now to die,
- 'twere now to be most happy; for, I fear,
- my soul hath her content so absolute
- that not another comfort like to this
- succeeds in unknown fate.
Eleanor
- The heavens forbid
- but that our loves and comforts should increase,
- even as our days do grow!
Gustavus
- Amen to that, sweet powers!
- I cannot speak enough of this content;
- it stops me here; it is too much of joy:
- And this, and this, the greatest discords be...
Kissing her after each "and this"
- ...that e'er our hearts shall make!
-
- Come, let us to the castle.
- News, friends; our wars on Friedland sure are done.
- How does my old acquaintance of this land?
- Honey, you shall be well desired in Leipzig;
- I have found great love amongst them. O my sweet,
- I prattle out of fashion, and I dote
- in mine own comforts.
- Come, Eleanora,
- once more, well met in Leipzig.
- How goes it now? he looks gentler than he did.
- He says he will return incontinent:
- He hath commanded me to go to bed,
- and bade me to dismiss you.
- Dismiss me!
- It was his bidding: therefore, good Frau Ebba,
- give me my nightly wearing, and adieu:
- We must not now displease him.
- I would you had never seen him!
- So would not I my love doth so approve him,
- That even his stubbornness, his cheques, his frowns--
- Prithee, unpin me,--have grace and favour in them.
- I have laid those sheets you bade me on the bed.
- All's one. Good faith, how foolish are our minds!
- If I do die before thee prithee, shroud me
- In one of those same sheets.
- Come, come you talk.
- My mother had a maid called Kasia:
- She was in love, and he she loved proved mad
- and did forsake her: she had a song of 'willow;'
- an old thing 'twas, but it express'd her fortune,
- and she died singing it: that song tonight
- will not go from my mind; I have much to do,
- but to go hang my head all at one side,
- and sing it like poor Kasia. Prithee, dispatch.
- Shall I go fetch your night-gown?
- No, unpin me here.
-
- Singing The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,
- Sing all a green willow:
- Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee,
- Sing willow, willow, willow:
- The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur'd her moans;
- Sing willow, willow, willow;
- Her salt tears fell from her, and soften'd the stones;
- Lay by these:--
Singing- Sing willow, willow, willow;
- Prithee, hie thee; he'll come anon:--
Singing- Sing all a green willow must be my garland.
- Let nobody blame him; his scorn I approve,-
- Nay, that's not next.--Hark! who is't that knocks?
Ebba- It's the wind.
Eleanor- Singing I call'd my love false love; but what
- said he then?
- Sing willow, willow, willow:
- If I court more women, you'll couch with more men!
- So, get thee gone; good night, your eyes do itch;
- doth that bode weeping?
Ebba- 'Tis neither here nor there.
Eleanor- I have heard it said so. Oh, these men, these men!
- Dost thou in conscience think,--tell me, Frau Ebba,--
- That there be women do abuse their husbands
- In such gross kind?
Ebba- There be some such, no question.
Eleanor- Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?
Ebba- Why, would not you?
Eleanor- No, by this heavenly light!
Ebba- Nor I neither by this heavenly light;
- I might do't as well i' the dark.
Eleanor- Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?
Ebba- The world's a huge thing: it is a great price
- for a small vice.
Eleanor- In troth, I think thou wouldst not.
Ebba- In troth, I think I should; and undo't when I had
- done. Marry, I would not do such a thing for a
- joint-ring, nor for measures of lawn, nor for
- gowns, petticoats, nor caps, nor any petty
- exhibition; but for the whole world,--why, who would
- not make her husband a cuckold to make him a
- monarch? I should venture purgatory for't.
Eleanor- Beshrew me, if I would do such a wrong
- for the whole world.
Ebba- Why the wrong is but a wrong i' the world: and
- having the world for your labour, tis a wrong in your
- own world, and you might quickly make it right.
Eleanor- I do not think there is any such woman.
Ebbaa- Yes, a dozen; and as many to the vantage as would
- store the world they played for.
- But I do think it is their husbands' faults
- if wives do fall: say that they slack their duties,
- and pour our treasures into foreign laps,
- or else break out in peevish jealousies,
- throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us,
- or scant our former having in despite;
- why, we have galls, and though we have some grace,
- yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
- their wives have sense like them. What is it that they do
- when they change us for others? Is it sport?
- I think it is: and doth affection breed it?
- I think it doth: is't frailty that thus errs?
- It is so too: and have not we affections,
- desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?
- Then let them use us well: else let them know,
- the ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
- Eleanor
- Good night, good night: heaven me such uses send,
- not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend!
- Now, how dost thou look now? Oh ill-starr'd man!
- Pale as thy shirt! when we shall meet at compt,
- this look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven,
- and fiends will snatch at it. Cold, cold, my lad!
- Even like thy ice-blue eyes. Oh cursed fate!
- Whip me, ye devils,
- from the possession of this heavenly sight!
- Blow me about in winds! roast me in sulphur!
- Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!
- Oh Gustav Adolf! Gustav Adolf! dead!
- Oh! Oh! Oh!
- Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
- nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak
- of one that loved not wisely but too well;
- of one not easily jealous, but being wrought
- perplex'd in the extreme...
- This year, for Gustavus Adolphus, I made pear-chestnut-raisin ryschewys (crescent-shaped beignets with a fruit and spice filling, served with sugar on top).
- They're a rather easy to make recipe, with ingredients that would have been costly in cold climates in the past, such as eastern spices and raisins, not to mention the sugar. Think of these as the five-star version of the beignets our Spanish and French churro/beignet stands sell in winter. The recipe can be varied ad infinitum as long as there's cinnamon, black pepper, and some fruit (fresh, dried, and/or nutty) of various kinds...
- These treats are what I imagine as typical of Stormlands nobility. Methinks little Renly was pining for warm ryschewys when they rationed everything and ate the cats and the rats of the keep, as the Tyrell host beleaguered Storm's End. Methinks, as a young man, he offered his beloved Loras some of them in exchange for costlier Reacher treats of marzipan and sugar paste (so beautiful that they should be called pieces of art).
Exeunt GUSTAVUS, ELEANOR, and AttendantsScene the Second: Weissenfels, 6th of November 1632.The Queen's bedchamber, where she is with her lady in waiting.EbbaEleanorEbbaEleanorEbbaEleanorEbbaEleanorEbbaEleanorEbbaEleanorScene the Third: A Weissenfels Chapel in Mourning the Week After,Gustavus Laid in State, Eleanor in WeedsEleanor
domingo, 31 de enero de 2016
SINCE I TURN 24 TODAY...
SINCE I TURN 24 TODAY...
I guess that I'll turn at least a little older and wiser.
So far, I have been given lavender soap and bath salts (Scented Garden Warm Lavender), the El Último de la Fila box set, and my very own MP3. Not to mention the cool blingy Wellingtons or the Blackstar CD/DVD (the swan song of David Bowie, may the Seven be with him). And the cake that I'll get for supper will surely be delicious.
My friends and family have showered me with greetings, both live and on Facebook, and I feel in the best of moods! What ever could go wrong? TODAY IS MY (NAME/BIRTH-) DAY!!!
I guess that I'll turn at least a little older and wiser.
So far, I have been given lavender soap and bath salts (Scented Garden Warm Lavender), the El Último de la Fila box set, and my very own MP3. Not to mention the cool blingy Wellingtons or the Blackstar CD/DVD (the swan song of David Bowie, may the Seven be with him). And the cake that I'll get for supper will surely be delicious.
My friends and family have showered me with greetings, both live and on Facebook, and I feel in the best of moods! What ever could go wrong? TODAY IS MY (NAME/BIRTH-) DAY!!!
viernes, 1 de enero de 2016
WELCOME TO 2016...
Let us wish you, readers, a Happy New Year that comes full of surprises and events!!!
2016: YEAR OF THE FIRE MONKEY
2016: YEAR OF THE FIRE MONKEY
This Year of the Fire Monkey is brought to you, conveniently, by the Pokémon Infernape.
2016: LEAP YEAR
February this year will be one day longer, adding Rare Disease Day (the 29th of Feb) to the calendar.
2016: OLYMPIC YEAR
Like every other leap year, there will be Olympics, this time in Rio and elsewhere across Brazil. Which means a summer full of: Sports, samba, colour, heat, and care for the environment...
Vinicius (jaguar+macaw+monkey+frog) combines the characteristics of various animals of the Amazon rainforest, while Tom (leafy bush with a flower on top) combines those of various plants of the same ecosystem. The Olympic mascots, representing the fauna and flora (respectively) of the vast, diverse Amazon, are named after famous Brazilian musicians.
Both of them are also endowed with powers: Vinicius can stretch into infinity like rubber, while Tom can pull anything out of his leafy head...
2016: YEAR OF NORDIC COUNTERPART CULTURES
From the blazing Brazilian tropics to the freezing waters of Ondalina and lands of Galagard, where Astrid Kolfinnsdóttir's secrets will reach Spanish audiences and we will get to meet her family and friends in the Kolfinn clan's redoubtable ice palace.
And overconfident, crusading Kveldbera Menadóttir has as much to say and for us to know about her as Astrid. Let's hope neither Kolfinn's daughter nor Mena's disappoints us who are fans of them!!!
2016: LITERARY YEAR
Sancho, Quijote... Quijote, Sancho...
Othello and Desdemona have to represent the Bard in this blog once more. Just 'cause I love them
The Bard of Avon and the Manco of Lepanto, Miguel and William... both of them left this brave new world in 1616, four centuries ago. Which makes this a GREAT YEAR for literature lovers like me. Famous authors will retell their works: Jo Nesbö, for instance, will tackle a noir version of Macbeth; Tracy Chevalier is, this autumn, due to retell Othello; and Margaret Atwood will surprise us with her own Tempest. All of these works will be translated into Spanish and published by Lumen.
2016: YEAR OF THE HOPE KINGDOM'S DELIVERANCE
Speaking of the Bard's works, Shut, having been cashiered by Lady Dyspear, has got a path ahead that sounds pretty Shakespearean; brooding, fallen from grace, turning his back on both Towa and Shamour in spite of their efforts... Something tells me that he will be a key player in the resistance's endeavour to free the occupied Hope Kingdom from Dysdark rule... (Cue "Do You Hear the People Sing?", Dermark's gender-equal version, sung by the whole cast of the series).
2016: THE YEAR BRIENNE WILL DIE?
With the Winds of Winter howling at the door of this new year, we cross our fingers for the Maid of Tarth to survive for yet another book more of this thrilling series. We wish that she would confess her feelings to Jaime, and/or meet Stannis and Mel up north (to avenge Renly or not? That is the question!) We keep our fingers crossed as we pray for the Maiden to keep her pure as she still is, for the Warrior to give her unwavering courage, to the Crone to give her wisdom and insight, and for the Stranger to delay her final hour at least for a novel more.
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