Saturday 21 May 2016

Samhain In Ys

In the Forum:

the Fire Fountain;
crowds of masked, costumed revelers;
wine, ale, hemp and mushrooms;
groups of musicians;
dancing and random embracing;
a juggler;
a man mimicking the Crucifixion outside the church;
a processional dance along Lir Way to High Gate.

Elsewhere:

sexual license and orgies;
occasional violence in Lowtown;
sex between Dahut and Tommaltach after which she tells him that it was a mortal misdeed that can only be redeemed if he fights her father to the death.

No! Sex is the greatest intimacy between (at least) two people. To use it to trap and manipulate someone like this has to be one of the vilest deeds imaginable. Dahut is up there with the best of the fictional villainesses. Who to compare her to? An adult version of Narnia could show us Jadis, the White Witch, at her best.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I agree that what Dahut did to Tommaltach was both treacherous and deceitful, first seducing him and then blackmailing Tommaltach into challenging Gratillonius.

But this was a very risky game Dahut was playing. If it was proven she was a scheming seducer and not a victim of rape, she could have been thrown from the cliffs overlooking the sea near Ys. That was the traditional punishment for faithless queens.

Sean