Robert de Boron and the Prose Merlin
There are so many wonderful things about the internet: there was a time when a scholar had to order through ILL and wait for weeks or months before he or she could set eyes on such works as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini or Robert de Boron's Prose Merlin . No more. from Prose Merlin Robert de Boron Full wrothe and angry was the Devell, whan that oure Lorde hadde ben in helle and had take oute Adam and Eve and other at his plesier. And whan the fendes sien that, they hadden right grete feer and gret merveile. Thei assembleden togedir and seiden: "What is he this thus us supprisith and distroyeth, in so moche that oure strengthes ne nought ellis that we have may nought withholde hym, nor again hym stonde in no diffence but that he doth all that hym lyketh? We ne trowed not that eny man myght be bore of woman but that he sholde ben oures; and he that thus us distroyeth, how is he born in whom we knewe non erthely delyte?" Than ansuerde anothir fende and seide
Good advice: Read and write.
ReplyDeleteThe Coincidence Room: I just started reading Conrad's _Nostromo_ yesterday. It's a re-read, so I'm looking forward to it, not with the excitement of something new but with the familiarity of meeting an old friend, one I haven't seen in years.
It's good advice, but I'd take it one step beyond: Read far outside your comfort zone. Many young, aspiring writers believe they'll find all the tools they'll ever need within a narrow humanities education, but exciting things happen in their minds when they encounter science, math, computer programming, business, etc., even if those encounters are frustrating and unsuccessful. Good writing, I think, is a whole-brain activity.
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