If there’s one theme that runs through all my fantasy tales, it’s this: nothing is as it seems on the surface. A superficial glance suggests the novels deal with Arthurian legend and Celtic mythology in a modern setting. But the conceit is that those old stories are a secret code for the truth that lies behind them. Sometimes one character or myth or idea can represent two very different things, which is actually something that runs through the old Celtic legends. For example, King Arthur is a man (but not ‘King Arthur’) and also a great magical power – and if that sounds complicated, read the books. It really isn’t.
That’s because we’re dealing here with very powerful archetypes, the secret language of the unconscious. But that’s another blog entirely…
Our ancestors always hid codes in popular stories, as this well-researched blog shows.
The gods in my books are not quite the gods you find in the old Celtic legends, either. I won’t go into who or what they are, but from time-to-time I do want to touch on some of the legends behind the major ones appearing in Kingdom of the Serpent.
Niamh is one of the central characters in the myth sequence I’m creating. In the Celtic legends she’s the wife of Conall Caernach. She became the mistress of Cuchulainn while she nursed him back to health from war-wounds. Niamh tried to prevent the great hero returning to battle, but the witch Badb cast a spell on Niamh so that she wandered away into the countryside. Badb then assumed Niamh’s form and told Cuchulainn that he must return to war.
In my story, Niamh also carries the title Queen of the Waste Lands. In Arthurian legend, the Queen told Perceval of his mother’s death, and was one of the women on the barge that bore Arthur away after his last battle.
All of that is code for what really happens…
It’s all circles within circles isn’t it? I suspect the truth is different for each individual, it’s the making you think part that is probably as important as the thoughts. At least that’s a bit of what I get from all the ‘codes’
You don’t need to worry about the ‘codes’. There’s a straightforward story on the surface for those who want that. There’s another story beneath for those who can be bothered to look for it.
It’s nothing new. All myths and legends are the same.
Joseph Campbell, J.G. Frazier and co. would be with you on that one, and I rather suspect Jung might back you up as well…
Pfft. Amateurs.
All the same…so even with myths and legend it boils down to the same two stories : a stranger walks into town, and a man goes on a quest ?
That’s the extreme reductive analysis of storytelling. But the quest story was popular for myths and legends because they often served the purpose of imparting information for the ‘journey of life’.
Exactly