Ye Olde English

A short update for now, since I have to (gasp) venture out of the house to procure sustenance.

From the South English Legendary, a medieval collection of stories about saints, comes this passage that may or may not (hint - may) prove relevant to Daughter of Eve. (Many, many thanks to Mr. Holden for his services in translating from Middle English to Modern English.)



Ake huy þat heolden sumdel with him : and nouȝt fulliche so faste, 
Out of heouene he drof heom : and In-to þe lofte heom caste,
Al here bi-neþe toward þe eorþe : þare mest tempeste is:
And þare heo schullen in tempest and in pine beo : to þe daye of dome, i-wis;      
And ase hore gult þe more was : heore pine was al-so,
þe worse stude heom i-take : heore penaunce for-to do.
Ake to helle huy ne schullen nouȝt : are domes-day i-wende;
Ak þare huy schullen after-ward : bi-leue with-outen ende.      
Oþure þare weren þat for heom : sumdel in mis-þouȝte weren,
Ake natheles huy heolden betere with god : and vnneþe fur-bere:
þulke wenden out of heouene al-so : and a-boue þe oþure beoth,
An heiȝ onder þe firmament : and godes wille i-seoth,      
And so schullen sumdel in pine beo : a-non to þe worldes ende,
Ake huy schullen at domes-day : a-ȝein to heouene wende.
In eorthþeliche parays : some beoth ȝeot al-so,
And in oþur studes on eorþe : heore penaunce for-to do.
For heore defaute in heouene : þoruȝ ore louerdes grace
Man was formest on eorþe i-wrouȝt : to fulfulle þulke place


But they that hold somewhat with him, but in no way fully so firm,
Out of heaven he drove them: and into the air he cast them,
All downward toward the earth, where most of the tempest is,
And where they should truly be in tempest and in pain until the day of doom.
And the more their sin was, the more their pain was also,
The worst state for them was taken: in order to do their penance.
And to hell they owe nothing of their doomsday recourses;
But there they afterward owe belief without end.
Other tares were there for them – somewhat in error they were.
But they nevertheless held better with God, and they scarcely let alone
Those who also went out of heaven.. And above the others there is,
A high place under the firmament, and they see God’s will;
And so they should be somewhat in pain from now until the world’s end,
But at doomsday they shall go again to heaven.
Some of them are also in parts of the earth
And in other places on earth for to do their penance
For their default in heaven. Through our Lord’s grace
Man was first made on earth to fill this place.

What could it mean??

Problematic Chosen Ones

Hello again, readers...

Work on the 2nd draft (well, draft 2.5 or 3 at this point) of Vatican Vampire Hunters continues nicely, and I'm still juggling what to work on next. Leaving aside the vague "semi-realistic superheroes" idea that watching Avengers yesterday inserted into my brain, there's the full fantasy I've been talking about the last few entries on one hand, and on the other a sort-of-sequel to VVH - a work set in the same not-quite-real world. It's something I started a few years ago, and got maybe 10k words in before losing steam. No big loss, because at the time, it was a bit of a mess, and I didn't have a clear idea of how to get the plot from Point A to Point Z.

Anyway, the main character of said work is that beloved, or at least frequently used, staple of fantasy/horror fiction - a Chosen One, heralded in prophecy and burdened with a great (and dark) destiny, etc. etc. There are pitfalls in writing about any kind of Chosen One - how to make them interesting in their own right, as who they are instead of what, for instance. There's also the risk of the story being boring because it's blatantly inevitable the protagonist will win.

This is a real problem when God is literally on your side, as He is in the case of my story's heroine. How does one work around being the champion of an omnipotent God? In VVH, the characters serve God, but aren't directly empowered by Him, so the issue isn't as important. It's a little different when the heroine is the direct matrilineal descendant of Eve, chosen (cursed?) by God with the inherited duty and power to fight against monsters of all sorts (vampires, ghosts, Leviathan, angry sasquatches, etc).

(Any resemblance to a certain SoCal cheerleader character is all in your imagination. Really.)

I know how I'm going to address the issue in the book, if (when) I get around to it, but what would you the writer do under similar circumstances? Have at it, ladies and gentlemen!