December meme (in February): pre-20th century literature
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skygiants asked for me to talk about my favorite pre-20th-century literature.So on one hand, it's easy : I do not think I will ever quite make it all the way back out of Les Mis fandom.
Nor will I ever stop attempting to get people to read Hans of Iceland (if only because Hugo would so very much rather I didn't.)
But other than that it's harder than I expected - especially since I ran a panel on really old fandoms at con.txt! - because for most of my oldest fandoms, part of what draws me to them is that canon works differently when you have that much time; I like the fact that they have centuries of interpretations and reinterpretations built up, so that in going back to 'canon' it's hard to deny what's lost in taking the original as the 'real' thing and scraping off all the transformative work done on it. Even something as relatively concrete as Shakespeare - I like certain productions of the plays; I like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, and that everybody from now on who encounters MacBeth for the first time will remember Tolkien and think Shakespeare should have gone all-out on his prophecies; that my first exposure to the Bard was on Sesame street.
...Also it's hard because when I think of some of my very favorite old stories I go 'oh yeah, I should probably get around to reading the original at some point'. I am not. Actually. As well-read as I give off the impression of being.
In terms of really old literature - I keep coming back to Tao Te Ching, but I haven't yet found an English translation I like well enough I'd recommend it, though I've read six or seven; I keep coming back to Ecclesiastes/Qohelet, but I haven't read any translations from outside the Christian tradition so I don't know if the ones I have are really any good.
But! In honor of Shitposting February, there is one Very Old Fandom where I have Very Strong Opinions about the "canon", and that is that @$#P%@#$ Chretien de Troyes ruined Arthurian fandom forever with his annoying OC 'Lance-a-Lot The Perfectly Perfect' and his soap opera, and the only good stuff is the stuff that came out before Lancelot ate the fandom and ruined it. :P
So here, poall:
Who is the best Knight of all the Knights of the Round Table?
Gawain
19 (31.7%)
Percival
2 (3.3%)
Lancelot
1 (1.7%)
Galahad
4 (6.7%)
Gareth Beaumains
4 (6.7%)
Britomart
6 (10.0%)
Palomedes
2 (3.3%)
Tristan
1 (1.7%)
Valiant
0 (0.0%)
Dagonet
0 (0.0%)
Who is the best knight? It's Cavall! Yes you are! What a good knight.
8 (13.3%)
If you check the history books I think you will find it was Mordred
2 (3.3%)
Hank Morgan
0 (0.0%)
Kay (this option is just in case Kay takes this poll)
7 (11.7%)
You have clearly left out the actual best what is wrong with you
4 (6.7%)
Who was the true Grail Knight?
Arthur
2 (3.5%)
Gawain
2 (3.5%)
Percival
6 (10.5%)
Bors the Younger
2 (3.5%)
Lancelot
0 (0.0%)
Galahad
15 (26.3%)
Elaine
9 (15.8%)
Henry Jones, Jr.
9 (15.8%)
Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film
9 (15.8%)
You have once again left out the correct answer
3 (5.3%)
Once this was made, all later Arthurian canon sucks.
The Historia Brittonum
1 (2.0%)
The Historia regum Britannie
1 (2.0%)
Culhwch ac Olwen
2 (4.1%)
De Troyes' Lancelot
5 (10.2%)
The Vulgate Cycle
2 (4.1%)
Le Morte Darthur
6 (12.2%)
The Faerie Queene
1 (2.0%)
The Idylls of the King
0 (0.0%)
The Once and Future King
14 (28.6%)
The Mists of Avalon
12 (24.5%)
BBC's Merlin
5 (10.2%)
ETA: Also I forgot, what prompted this is that they just found some new Arthur fanfic! It's from after Lancelot but pre-Malory so it's still pretty exciting!.
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