In Annaren society this position would have been considered well beneath the dignity of a Dhillarearen, and the present-day eclipse of poets, whom we presume to be their contemporary descendants, would have been well nigh unthinkable. Bards in Edil-Amarandh held a very different political place and power from the bards in these later societies there is however an intriguing foreshadow of their later decadent status as courtly chroniclers and flatterers in Gilman's employment of the Bard Mirlad at the beginning of the story. The danger of using the term is, as has been pointed out, its inevitable associations with Irish and Welsh traditions. Bard seemed the most transparent and useful word available to me in English for imputing political, social, and cultural status to those it describes. I also considered the fact that in the Annaren language, dhille was the verb "to sing" or "to chant," and this bilingual pun led to the popular designation of the Dhillareare as Singers of the Gift. With its particular resonance of artistic mastery and spiritual authority, Dhillareare has no real equivalent in our language. I have used Bard to translate Dhillareare from the Speech. ![]() Many decisions perhaps require a little explanation, but here I wish to be brief and will examine only the most important, my choice of the word Bard. Where I have struck an intractable problem, I have chosen to serve the latter rather than the former. In translating from the Annaren, I have attempted as my first concern to convey its vitality: if this has led to some unscholarly, or even controversial, decisions, I at once plead the conventional excuse of the translator-that it is sometimes impossible to keep both to the letter and the spirit of another language. ![]() ![]() The original text, of which there exists a single complete copy, is written in Annaren, the principal language spoken in Annar. The Naming consists of the first two books of the Naraudh Lar-Chane. Armstrong, and Christiane Armongath's indispensable L'Histoire de l'Arbre-chant d'Annar. For the curious amateur, the most useful sources to begin looking for background on the Naraudh Lar-Chane are Uncategorical Knowledge: The Three Arts of the Starpeople, by Claudia J. Since that event in 1991, much more has been said of the dismaying implications for contemporary archaeology, of the riddles of dating that still remain stubbornly unsolved, and of the laborious and ongoing task of decipherment and translation. Much has been written elsewhere of the sensational discovery of the Annaren Scripts in a cave revealed by an earthquake in the Atlas Mountains of central Morocco. However, I hope that the tale stands without these notes, and that the reader who seeks primarily the pleasures of adventure will be satisfied by the narrative alone. Instead, as a courtesy to the reader, I have included some general information on the society and history of Edil-Amarandh, as well as notes on the pronunciation of Annaren names. To this end I have eschewed explanatory footnotes, which would have interrupted the flow of the story. If my labors have captured a tenth of the enchantment of the original, I shall be well pleased. I was overcome by a desire at once humbler and more ambitious than my original intention of writing a dissertation on Annaren society: I wished to capture its vivid drama and unique magic in contemporary English. Up until now the Naraudh Lar-Chane has been primarily valued for the illumination it throws on the culture of Edil-Amarandh, but what struck me when I first encountered it were its virtues as a romance. This is therefore a book directed toward the general reader rather than the scholar. This great classic of Annaren literature deserves, it seems to me, a much wider audience than the academics it has so far attracted. ![]() One is the singer, hidden from sunlight Two is the seeker, fleeing from shadows Three is the journey, taken in danger Four are the riddles, answered in treesong: Earth, fire, water, air Spells you OUT! Traditional Annaren nursery rhyme Annaren Scrolls, Library of BuskĪ NOTE ON THE TEXT THE Naraudh Lar-Chane (or Riddle of the Treesong), one of the key legends of the lost civilization of Edil-Amarandh, is here translated in full for the first time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |