Principia Ponderosa

It’s here! Third Flatiron’s Principia Ponderosa has just been released on Amazon with a collection of Weird West tales, including my story, “The Quiet Crime”. I’m really proud of this one, I think it’s one of my best and I’m so glad to see it in print. I never thought I would have a Western story published, it’s still kind of blowing my mind, but I hope that Sergio Leone would be proud. Thanks again to Juli Rew for making this possible.

It’s available on Amazon right now, so please check it out if you get a chance and let me know what you think.

So I've started a new YouTube channel, the Ancient Literature Dude, where I will read various and sundry ancient literature in a variety of ancient languages. My newest video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbjubSF917Q

It's a reading of Þrymskviða, the campy and hilarious tale of how Thor was driven to the home of the giants in a wedding dress. My very literal translation follows. It's not meant to be read in its own right, but more a very direct representation of the word order and some of the alliteration of the original.

Wroth was then Ving-Thor, when he awoke

and his hammer missed;

his beard he shook, his hair he tossed,

set out then Jordh’s son to recover it.

And he this first of all words said:

“Hear you now, Loki, what I now say,

which no man knows, neither on earth

nor in heaven: a god is robbed of his hammer!”

Went they then to the halls of fair Freyja,

and he this first of all words said:

“Will you to me, Freyja, your feather cloak lend,

if my hammer I might recover?”

“Though would I give it you, were it of gold,

and though lend it, were it of silver.”

Flew then Loki--the feather cloak resounded—

until he came beyond the walls of the gods,

and into came the home of the giants.

Thrym sat on his mound, the giants’ lord,

his hounds with golden bonds he fitted,

and his mares their manes he trimmed.

“How fare the gods? How fare the elves?

Why art thou come alone into Jotunheim?”

“Ill it is with the gods, ill it is with the elves;

have you Hlorridhi’s hammer hidden?”

“I have Hlorridhi’s hammer hidden

eight leagues beneath the earth,

he no man after will recover,

unless he bring me Freyja as wife.”

Flew then Loki--the feather cloak resounded—

until he came beyond the home of the giants

and into came the walls of the gods;

met him Thor amid the courts,

and he this first of all words said:

“Have you a message for your trouble?

Say you aloft your long tidings;

oft the one sitting fails in his saying,

and he who is lying a lie dares.”

“Have I trouble as well as a message;

Thrym has thine hammer, the giants’ lord,

he no man after will recover

save that he bring Freyja for wife.”

Go they the fair Freyja to meet,

and he this first of all words says:

“Dress yourself, Freyja, in a bride’s linens.

We shall drive two together into Jotunheim.”

Wroth became then Freyja and snorted,

all the gods’ abode under trembled,

sprang apart the great necklace of the Brisings—

“Me you must know to be most mad after men,

if I am to ride with you into Jotunheim.”

At once were the Aesir all in meeting,

and the Asynjur all atalk,

and over that counseled the great gods,

how they Hlorridhi’s hammer might seek.

Then said this Heimdall, the whitest of the gods--

knew he well what was to come, as the Vanir other—

“Let us dress Thor then in a bride’s linens,

let him have the great necklace of the Brisings.

Let us about him drop the keys

and women’s skirts about his knees fall,

and on his breast broad stones,

and daintily about his head a veil wind.”

Then said this Thor, the mighty God:

“Me will the gods call womanly,

if I myself be bound let in a bride’s linens.”

Then said this Loki Laufey’s son,

“Silence yourself, Thor, of these words;

at once will the giants Asgard inhabit,

unless you your hammer recover.”

Bound they Thor then in a bride’s linens

and the great necklace of the Brisings,

let they about him drop the keys

and women’s skirts about his knees fall,

and on his breast broad stones,

and daintily about his head a veil wound.

Then said Loki Laufey’s son,

“I would also with you a handmaiden be,

we shall drive two together into Jotunheim.”

At once were the goats home driven,

hastened to the harness, they should well ride.

Stone they broke, burned the earth with fire,

drove Odin’s son into Jotunheim.

Then said this Thrym, the giants’ lord,

“Stand up, Giants! And strew the benches:

now they bring to me Freyja as wife,

Njordh’s daughter out of Noatun.

Let come here to the court the golden-horned cows

the oxen all black for the giants to please;

great store I have of treasures, great store I have of jewels,

alone to me Freyja lacking seems.”

‘Twas then at evening come early,

and before the giants ale forward brought;

one ate oxen, eight salmon,

dainties all which women should,

drank Sif’s man three casks of mead.

Then said this Thrym, the giants’ lord,

“Where saw you brides bite more fiercely?

Never saw I brides bite more eagerly,

nor more mead a maiden drink.”

Sat the all wise handmaiden before,

who word found with the giant’s speech,

“Ate nothing Freyja for eight nights,

so was she madly eager for Jotunheim.”

He bent beneath the linen, desired to kiss,

and he outward sprang endlong the hall:

“Why are so fiery the eyes of Freyja?

It seems to me that out from her eyes a fire burns.”

Sat the all wise handmaiden before,

who word found with the giant’s speech:

“Slept naught Freyja for eight nights,

so was she madly eager for Jotunheim.

In came the poor giants’ sister,

she who the bride’s gift to ask must dare:

“Let you from your hand the rings red,

if to earn you will my love,

my love, my favor.”

Then said this Thrym the giants’ lord,

“Bear in the hammer my bride to hallow,

lay Mjollnir on the maiden’s knee,

consecrate us together with Var’s hand.”

Laughed Hlorridhi’s heart in his breast,

who hardhearted his hammer accepted.

Thrym slew he first, the giants’ lord,

and the family of the giant all he smote.

Slew he the old giants’ sister,

she who the bride’s gift bidden had;

she a blow accepted for a shilling,

and the stroke of a hammer for a store of rings.

So came Odin’s son in the end to his hammer.

Abbreviated Epics!

     I got my copy of Third Flatiron’s Abbreviated Epics in the mail a few weeks ago, and I’ve really been enjoying it.  The stories so far have been fun and thought-provoking, from the very well-presented alternate history of Iain Ishbel, “HMS Invisible and the Halifax Slaver,” which presents a living Caribbean world suffused with politically charged magic, to the genuinely funny and literal war of the sexes poignantly depicted in Manuel Royal’s “Heart-Shaped."  The anthology has a killer sense of purpose and is a great read.  The cover art is also fantastic; inspired by the mythic Japanese contents of its first story, Siobhan Gallagher’s "Blade Between Oni and Hare", the manga-influenced style really strikes a chord with me, as a comics fan and sometime comic artist myself. 

     I’ve enjoyed every story so far, but I will admit one story has stood out among the rest.  From the opening sentences I was floored by Deborah Walker’s "Beyond the Turning Orrery."  A beautiful, intimate, subtly told story of an inner mechanical world locked away from the rest of creation, its religious and even Gnostic overtones really resonated with me.  It reminded me of my two favorite authors, Gene Wolfe and Ursula K. Le Guin, with its strong first-person narrator and closely guarded secrets.  

     So yeah, please check out the anthology.  It includes stories from Siobhan Gallager, Iain Ishbel, Deborah Walker, Manuel Royal, Martin Clark, Ben Solomon, Margarita Tenser, Gustavo Bondoni, Adria Laycraft, Daniel Coble, Steve Coate, Jo Walton, Elliotte Rusty Harold, Marissa James, Jake Teeny, Alison McBain, Patricia S. Bowne, Stephen D. Rogers, and Robin Wyatt Dunn.  And please tell me what you think if you check out my story, "A Wolf Is Made." 

Another story coming up.

I just recently had a story accepted for Third Flatiron's upcoming anthology, Abbreviated Epics, slated for release November 1st of this year.  It can be found here. 

http://www.amazon.com/Abbreviated-Epics-Third-Flatiron-Anthologies-ebook/dp/B00NRA6A2W

Many thanks to Chief Editor Juliana Rew, she does an awesome job with these anthologies and I really appreciate the chance to appear in the pages of Third Flatiron.  The story is entitled "A Wolf Is Made," and is based on the story of the legendary and murderous king Sigi of the Norse Volsunga saga.

The Wisdom of Solomon.

The Wisdom of Solomon

Love righteousness, you who judge the earth;
Give thought to the Lord in goodness,
And you will find Him in the simplicity of your hearts.

For those who do not tempt Him will come to find Him;
He is revealed unto those who believe in Him.

The thought which is evil separates from God,
And His power in its revelation rebukes all thoughtlessness.

For Wisdom does not come into a soul which is evil;
Nor does it reside in a body given to sin.

For the spirit which is holy, the spirit of Wisdom, flies from deceit,
And it is distant from thoughts of evil,
And it reviles every essence of violence.

For the spirit of Wisdom loves man,
And will not justify the blasphemer;
For God is the witness of the inner self,
And he who seeks will find love in his heart, and he who listens will hear His words.

For the spirit of the Lord filled the world,
And he who accepts the whole of the world will understand its voice.

For this reason no one who speaks in violence will be concealed;
Nor will he escape the judgment which is forthcoming.

For the words of the unbeliever will be uncovered,
And the Lord will listen to his every word in revelation of his lawlessness.

For the ear of His envy listens to every work,
And the voice of those who mutter in anger will not be hidden.

Watch that you mutter not in emptiness,
And restrain your lips from slander.
For no word which is vain will be hidden;
A tongue which spreads lies will destroy the soul.

Do not envy, and perish, in the deception of your life,
Nor draw yourselves into destruction in the work of your hands.

For the Lord our God did not create death,
Nor does He rejoice in the destruction of what is living.

He created all things so that they might persist for all time;
And that they might be whole, the creations of the cosmos.
The poison of death is not in their hearts,
Nor is the kingdom of Hell upon the face of the earth.

But those without faith choose it in their works, and in their speech;
They take it to themselves as a fellow, they set it free,
They build upon it a covenant,
For they are worthy of the lot which is theirs.

II

For they said, reasoning in their hearts without understanding,
That our lives are short, full of sorrow,
And there is no ease in the death of man,
And no knowing in the heart of one who journeys to Hell.

For we have existed only in emptiness;
Beyond this life we will be as those who are no more,
For the breath of our lungs is mist,
And the word which moves in our hearts an ember.

For when it withers, the body in its whole will fade like ash,
And the spirit will escape from the body in the manner of air.

There will be no memory of our names, in our times,
No person will give thought to our works,
And our lives will pass on in the way of clouds,
They will dissolve in the way of a breath scattered by the rays of the sun.

Our time is a shadow which passes us always,
And there is no return in our deaths;
For a seal will be set on all souls, and none shall lift that seal.

So go and fill yourself with that which is good;
Use up creation in the hurried way of the young.

Let us sate ourselves with pleasant wine and incense,
And let the fruits of spring not pass us by.

Let us crown ourselves with rosy wreathes not yet withered,

So that none will exceed us in our sinfulness;
Let us leave a symbol of our joy in each place,
For this is our part, and our inheritance.

The lot of the just let us take in violence;
Let us spare no thought to the widow,
Nor let us suffer the shame of graying hair in the greatness of our age.

Let our power become for us the law of righteousness;
For weakness will be judged, and made of no use.

Let us lie in wait for the righteous one,
For he strives to do good service for us,
And he struggles against our works.
He mocks us in our sin against the law,
And he is revealed in our sin through his teaching.

He says that he knows God,
And he brings himself forth as a child of the Lord.

He becomes for us a reproach in our thoughts,
Our eyes cannot bear to look upon him,

For in his life there is no other equal, no likeness,
And his ways are full of change.

We are regarded by him as among the debased,
And he departs from our ways as if they are unclean.
He blesses the ways of the righteous,
And he dares to say that his father is God.

Let us see that his words are true,
And let us tempt him in his way.

If the righteous one is the Son of God,
He will accept him, and He will save him from those who strive against him.

Let us test him with torment and anguish,
For he will understand in his awareness,
And we will try him in his long-suffering heart.

Let us condemn him in a scornful death;
For they will find his worth according to his words.

It is these things they think, and these things that lead them astray;
It is their darkness that has closed their hearts.

And they have not understood the mysteries of God,
Nor have they set their minds on the reward of righteousness;
They have not believed in the honor of those souls which are sacred.

For God created man in immortality,
And he created him in the image of his likeness.

In the envy of the adversary death entered into the world;

It is his own kind who come to know him.

V

Then the righteous one will stand in an unlimited freedom, a shepherd in
The midst of those who tormented him, and those who disregarded him in his weariness.

They will see, and they will tremble in a tremendous fear,
And they will marvel in the wonder of his wholeness,

And they will say in their hearts, repenting
And sighing in the anguish of their spirits,
Saying, This is the one whom at one time we mocked,
Become for us a parable, a reproach of evil,

Thinking him in his lifetime a madness, in his death a scorn.

In how many ways did they consider the son of God,
And his lot in those who are holy?

For we have been deceived in the ways of truth,
And are not worthy of the light of righteousness,
And the sun will no longer shine upon us.

We filled ourselves with lawlessness, and destroyed our own ways.
We went into the wilderness, where none are known to walk;
The way of the Lord, we knew it not.

The high esteem of the heart, what has it done for us?
Or the esteem of men, the boast of our spirit, what has it given us?

All these things will pass in the way of a shadow,
And in the way of a report long faded,

Or in the way of a ship moving upon the water’s waves,
Unable to decide its way,
Or the path of its keel in the wave.

Or in the way of a bird flying forth,
(Though they have never marveled at its flight)
Beating its wings upon the subtle air,
Attaining it in a violent burst of movement,
Touching it with its wings, ascending the heavens,
Never after to be wondered at in its flight.

Or in the way of an arrow fired surely,
Reaching the air, taken by the wind, never to be known in its course.

In this way, having been born, we cease to be;
We have found no wonder in the virtue of existence.
So in our darkness…(manuscript incomplete)

And so the hope of the unfaithful is like a mote of dust, carried by the wind,
As light as a spider’s web, driven away by a whirlwind,
Or like a mist fallen into nothingness,
Like the thought of a lone sojourner, dwelling in a distant day.

VII

There is a spirit which is holy within itself, a spirit of thought, of a form in unity,
A form without form, without price, giving shape to works, full of power,
Existing without impurity, in wisdom, in sinlessness, in the love of good,
Aware of itself, a form which cannot be touched, giving the power to do what is just,

A spirit that loves man, strengthening him, and binding him, taking away care, powerful
In every work, looking upon all things, penetrating within all spirits
Which are holy, giving thought to those things which are subtle.

Wisdom moves more than all things that move;
It penetrates and touches all things in its purity.

For it comes through the might of God,
And through the holy glory of the All-Creator;
For this reason it can never be defiled,

Passing in a light that is eternal,
A holy mirror of the energy of God,
And an icon of all that is good.

Alone in itself, powerful in every work,
And enduring in itself, bringing newness to all things,
And in every generation penetrating each soul that is holy,
Bringing it closer to God, and to the prophets.

For God loves no thing, unless it resides in Wisdom;

For this Wisdom is more beautiful than the living sun,
And greater than the order of all the stars.
And if they liken it to light, it will be first among lights;

For the sun is wont to give its place to night;
But Wisdom is never eclipsed by the dark.

IX

God of my fathers, Lord of mercy,
You who fashioned all things by Your word,
You created man in Your wisdom,
So that he might become lord over all the objects of Your creation,

And guide the world in purity, in righteousness,
Making his judgment in the understanding of his spirit.

Give to me Wisdom, which stood at Your throne,
And do not reject me among Your servants,

For I am Your servant and a son to Your servant;
I am a man without strength, short in life,
Lacking in the understanding of judgment and law.

For if there were one perfect among the sons of men,
He would not have Your wisdom, for it is not found in any man.

You chose me for a king over Your people,
And one who gives judgment over Your sons and daughters.

You commanded me to build a temple in Your holy mount,
And an altar in the city of Your house,
The likeness of Your holy tabernacle which You prepared in the beginning.

And Wisdom was with You, She who has knowledge in all Your works,
And stood in glory when You fashioned the cosmos,
Knowing all that would be pleasant in Your sight,
And all that would adhere to Your commandments.

Send it forth into Your holy skies,
And out upon the throne of Your glory;
For it labors with me, it is in my heart,
So that I might understand what is acceptable in Your sight.

It has knowledge of every work, and understanding of each thing,
And it will guide my way in all things, in wisdom,
Guarding me in its glory,

So that my works will be acceptable,
And I might judge Your nation in righteousness,
And be worthy of the thrones of my fathers.

For who among men will understand the word of God?
Or who will know what the Lord desires?

The meditations of men are fragile, and their thoughts fade into nothingness.

For the mortal body wears on the soul,
And the house of earth piles care on the hearts of those who worry.

For we are like those things upon the Earth;
We find only the products of our hands, in weariness.
Who are they in the heavens who have asked after our deeds?

Or who will have understood Your word,
Save that You give to him Wisdom,
And send Your holy spirit forth in exaltation?

This is the manner in which the ways of all upon the earth were made right,
When men learned all that is pleasing to You,
And were made whole in Wisdom.