For the ultimate force in the universe of these fighters and their poets (in spite of certain Christian touches inserted by later poetic editors before the poem crystallized into its present form) is Wyrd, the Fate of the Germanic peoples, cold as their own winters and the bleak northern sea, irresistible, despotic, and unmoved by sympathy for man.
Sometimes there is real religious yearning, and indeed the heroes of these poems are partly medieval hermits and ascetics as well as quick-striking fighters; but for the most part the Christian Providence is really only the heathen Wyrd under another name, and God and Christ are viewed in much the same way as the Anglo-Saxon kings, the objects of feudal allegiance which is sincere but rather self-assertive and worldly than humble or consecrated.
Instead of philosophizing about "returning to nature," however, the poems in Heroines from Abroad document the perspectival shift necessary to the process of re-visioning our place in the world using striking imagery and "
wyrd" equivalences.
The latter of these is of particular interest to me in my paper, especially as it pertains to the
wyrd sisters in Macbeth.
While "Guinevere is no sorceress" (Flieger 219), she is compared several times to the "fay-woman" (II.28, III.55, III.75, IV.71), and Flieger also points out the etymology of "fay": besides coming from the French for "fairy," it is also related to "fate." Just as the Anglo-Saxon's
wyrd descended in meaning from "goddess in control of fate" to the modern weird, "uncanny," so is the uncanny manipulation of the fay-woman on display in The Fall of Arthur.
Morris teams from Bare Bones and Way of the
Wyrd brought colour, music and life to the bandstand area that also hosted two performances of Rapunzel by Chorus Theatre.
The whimsical all-male Weird Sisters go unnamed in the film due to a protracted legal battle with real-life Canadian outfit the
Wyrd Sisters, but still had the honour of being portrayed by some incognito alternative legends.
Other adaptations of Discworld include the 1997 animated series "
Wyrd Sisters" and "Soul Music".
(39) Beowulf seems to see fear and heroism as opposed: "
Wyrd oft nere[??] / unfaegne eorl, ponne his ellen deah!" (lines 572b-73; Fate often spares a man who is not doomed, when his courage is good).
TERRY Pratchett fans are in for a treat this month when his novel
Wyrd Sisters is brought to the stage.
I have never felt that Robin Jarvis' work received the recognition it deserves (particularly the '
Wyrd Museum' trilogy) so perhaps this will introduce a new generation of readers to his books.
MUSIC The
Wyrd Wonder Present An Evening of Sunshine Psych Pop and Beyond This three-hour long set features No Three No Ess, Guto Dafis, and Harri Davies who range from acoustic, Welsh love songs and a mix of folk, pop and jazz.