You and Carol both woke up early, at six. She is reading the paper and has no doubt fed the cat. Last night after driving home you researched material on Avalon for description. Again, we will go over this and add to these notes where it is appropriate.
You were pleasantly surprised upon reading the paper that a columnist on the Opinion page supports Occupy Wall Street and that the conservative minded Enquirer actually printed it.
I have nineteen sourced pages from the Internet on Avalon. The simplest definition: the blessed isle of the [Celtic] Dead and in a comparison with Elysium. I don’t know what more might be useful.
We’ll find some things, boy. – Amorella.
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[Edited for notes from Wikipedia]
Avalon first appears in Geoffrey of Monmount’s 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae ("The History of the Kings of Britain") as the place where King Arthur’s sword Excalibur (Caliburnus) was forged and later where Arthur was taken to recover from his wounds after the Battle of Camlann. Avalon was associated from an early date with immortal beings such as Morgan le Fay.
Geoffrey of Monmouth called it in Latin Insula Avallonis in the Historia. In the later Vita Merlini he called it Insula Pomorum the "isle of apples". The name is generally considered to be of Welsh origin . . ., derived from Old Welsh abal, "apple", or aball, "apple tree" . . . It is also possible that the tradition of an "apple" island among the British was influenced by Irish legends concerning the otherworld island home of Manannan mac Lir and Lugh, Emain Ablach (also the Old Irish poetic name for the Isle of Man), where Ablach means "Having Apple Trees" - derived from Old Irish aball ("apple")—and is similar to the Middle Welsh name Afallach, which was used to replace the name Avalon in medieval Welsh translations of French and Latin Arthurian tales). All are etymologically related to the Gaulish root *aballo- (as found in the place name Aballo/Aballone, now Avallon in Burgundy) and are derived from a Common Celtic *abal- "apple", which is related at the Proto-Indo-European level to English apple, Russian jabloko, Latvian abele, et al.
According to Geoffrey in the Historia and much subsequent literature which he inspired, Avalon is the place where King Arthur is taken after fighting Mordred at the Battle of Camlann to recover from his wounds. Welsh, Cornish and Breton tradition claimed that Arthur had never really died, but would inexorably return to lead his people against their enemies. The Historia also states that Avalon is where his sword Caliburn (Excalibur) was forged. Geoffrey dealt with Avalon in more detail in Vita Merlini, in which he describes for the first time in Arthurian legend the enchantress Morgan le Fay as the chief of nine sisters (Moronoe, Mazoe, Gliten, Glitonea, Gliton, Tyronoe, Thiten and Thiton) who live on Avalon. Geoffrey's description of the island indicates a sea voyage was needed to get there. His description of Avalon here, which is heavily indebted to the early medieval Spanish scholar Isidore of Seville (being mostly derived from the section on famous islands in Isidore's famous work Etymologiae, XIV.6.8 "Fortunatae Insulae"), shows the magical nature of the island:
The island of apples which men call “The Fortunate Isle” (Insula Pomorum quae Fortunata uocatur) gets its name from the fact that it produces all things of itself; the fields there have no need of the ploughs of the farmers and all cultivation is lacking except what nature provides. Of its own accord it produces grain and grapes, and apple trees grow in its woods from the close-clipped grass. The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, and people live there a hundred years or more. There nine sisters rule by a pleasing set of laws those who come to them from our country.
By comparison, Isidore's description of the Fortunate Isles reads:
"The name of the Isles of the Fortunate signifies that they bear all good things, as if happy and blessed in the abundance of their fruits. Serviceable by nature, they bring forth fruits of valuable forests (Sua enim aptae natura pretiosarum poma silvarum parturiunt); their hilltops are clothed with vines growing by chance; in place of grasses, there is commonly vegetable and grain.
From: Wikipedia
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Avalon was the enchanted island where Arthur's sword was forged and where he was brought after his last battle. Arthur was placed on a golden bed and carried into Avalon by it's divine priestess. He could only be healed by entrusting his care to her completely forever. It is said that Arthur waits there with her until the time of his return. Avalon was presided over by Arthur's sister Morgan le Fey. This was sometimes varied, but was always ruled by one prime priestess; usually a relative of Arthur's. This entire island was beset by woman who pledged their lives in the service of the one goddess. It is said that Avalon "went into the mists" when belief in the goddess had dwindled because of Christianity.
Avalon was often thought of as a mysterious and mystical island with a view of Glastonbury, but at times it was also thought to represent Glastonbury itself. On one end of the spectrum Arthur awaits his time of return, and on the other he was laid to rest in his tomb.
http://www.gods-heros-myth.com/godpages/avalon2.html
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In many legends of visits to the Otherworld, an outsider requires a special token to ensure safe passage to and from the land of fairies. This token is most often a branch of the Otherworld apple tree, a silver bough bearing blossoms and fruit that make music when shaken, often luring humans into enchanted sleep. This idea seems to come from older druidical practices, as early descriptions of the bards often mention the ritual use of silver branches hung with bells.
http://www.netplaces.com/celtic-wisdom/the-tree-of-life/apples-of-avalon.htm
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We can take your imagination from the above foundation material. – Amorella.
I need a descriptive introduction as it looks like Avalon is the fulcrum on which to balance HeavenOrHellBothOrNeither.
It must also balance the ‘alien’ Marsupial-Humanoid Land of the Dead – the vertical axis, as the human Dead are the horizontal axis.
This could be complicated metaphysical geometry. I don’t know whether I am up to this.
You have to see the crosshair if you want to hit the target, boy. – Amorella.
Oh my, Amorella. I cannot foresee all this – too much at once. We are talking about book six?
Of course.
Your reasoning may be straight on, but I am not up to it.
Relax, boy. It will come to you eventually. Post. – Amorella.
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