Well, English was fun today (as always). Too bad text strips all of the sarcasm out of my communication. So I get to class, fully expecting to make a presentation on Michelangelo and watching the four girls do their respective presentations on their respective artists. Sarah brought cake (not sure what it had to do with her presentation), Katie brought lamps, Elizabeth got all dressed up, and then Batts comes in and says that we'll be doing the presentations next Tuesday and that we had a "field trip" today. That's always a good sign...
So he tells us that we'll be going to the Longview Museum of Fine Arts, such as it is, and then proceeds to hand back quizzes, talk a little, hand out some worksheets, and talk for a little more. We ended up spending about 20 minutes talking before he actually left to go get his car. Then Katie and Elizabeth went back to their rooms and were late coming out. So we finally came around to the museum and the road was closed. So he goes around downtown some more and finally decides to park. So we go inside, look around for about 20 minutes, recording things about four pieces we decided we liked. Then we left and came back to the university.
Now, as far as ideas go, this one wasn't bad. It wouldn't have bothered me to stay at the museum for another 20 minutes or so (any longer than that and I could have memorized every piece of art in there), but because of various things, not the least of which was him yammering before we actually left, we didn't have very long to look at the art or write about it.
So that's the story of Batts' class today.
A few days ago, I was reading an Irish story about the Four White Swans, the children of Lir, one of the Irish heroes. As the story goes, Lir's second wife, the step-mother of his four children, becomes jealous of the children because Lir loves them more than he loves her. So she turns them into swans, cursed to live as swans for 900 years, until there is a certain queen in Ireland, the Good Saint (Patrick) comes to Ireland, and the Christ-bell rings. In the 300-600 year period of the curse, the siblings are to sleep in a meterologically violent area on the shore, where they are to be attacked by storms most nights. And they are. Then, in the middle of this period, the following exchange takes place.
But that same night did a dream come to the
swan-maiden, and, when she awoke, she cried
to her brothers to take heart. 'Believe, dear
brothers, in the great God who hath created
the earth with its fruits and the sea with
its terrible wonders. Trust in Him, and He will
yet save you.' And her brothers answered, 'We
will trust.'
And Finola also put her trust in God, and they
all fell into a deep slumber.
When the children of Lir awoke, behold! the sun
shone, and thereafter, until the three hundred
years on the Western Sea were ended, neither wind
nor wave nor rain nor frost did hurt to the four
swans.
Now that, indeed, is an interesting study for some of you historiographers. Who decided, back in the day, to take an old Irish story and convert it to Christian propaganda? Quite the stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. However, I want to know what the story was like in its original form, or what story this one is adapted from, because from that point on, it assumes that Christianity has come to Ireland, and I'm pretty sure that the monks wouldn't have made up stories about a jealous step-mother using magic to turn her step-children into swans.
I like old Irish stories. Talk about super powers. I want super powers...
Posted by Gallagher at February 12, 2004 08:36 PM