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Footholder

ThunderCelt

ThunderCelt

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I hope it'll be okay if I jump for joy at another sale :dance 'Footholder' is set in north-west Wales, and is about a king who must keep his foot in the lap of a maiden, or die. There's no sex and only minimal violence :cry
 
ThunderCelt said:
I hope it'll be okay if I jump for joy at another sale :dance 'Footholder' is set in north-west Wales, and is about a king who must keep his foot in the lap of a maiden, or die. There's no sex and only minimal violence :cry
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That sounds as boring as fuck TC:lol. I hope you get somone else to write the blurb on the back page. There must be more to it than that or it wouldn't have been taken up.

Expand a little mate - sell it to us.
 
well done TC

Is it based around the Rhyd Ddu area and which era?

I look forward to reading it

Is it about a king hiding in Wales as kings in Wales have been very thin on the ground.

edit ...re-reading the last comment , it is not meant as a criticism.
 
Thanks guys. :) I'd have thought what I put is enough to get the adrenaline pulsing :hissyfit , but anyway...

'Tis about a king who has to keep his foot in the lap of a maiden, or else he will die. He's only able not to do this if he's at war. Sadly, one of his nephews falls for the maiden, and engineers war with a neighbouring kingdom so he can 'spend some time' with her. It's a wonderful story of love, power and betrayal, but as it's a traditional Welsh tale, I can't take any credit for it. It's a retelling of my favourite from a set of Welsh stories known as the Mabinogion.

No. it's not a euphemism :hissyfit

It's set around Llanllyfni (My last 'Celtic' book was around Rhyd Ddu and Beddgelert, but not this). One historian places the city at Foel hillfort nearby, and that's the location I've used, but the story also overflows to Maentwrog and Nantlle, etc. The heroine's village is specifically placed (I've read) where the small estate just beyond the bridge over the Llyfni south of Talysarn now stands. The Mabinogion doesn't date the story, but I've sort of set it in Roman times.
 
I'll be interested in reading this book.

As the Mabinogi are based on Welsh myths , locals tend to take "ownership" of places named in the Mabinogi and associated poetry.

Traethmawr , the area which includes my hometown Porthmadog gets a mention.

Last year I went on a "Mabinogi" walk with friends starting in Maentwrog , to Tomen Y Mur , past Llech Gronw finishing at Llyn Morwynion ,
We finished off with a few pints in the Pengwern in Llan Ffestiniog

The Nantlle website has a good Mabinogi section

http://www.nantlle.com/mabinogi-saesneg.htm
 
traeth said:
Last year I went on a "Mabinogi" walk with friends starting in Maentwrog , to Tomen Y Mur , past Llech Gronw finishing at Llyn Morwynion ,
We finished off with a few pints in the Pengwern in Llan Ffestiniog
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That's some afternoon stroll... :clap

My visits to the locations for research were done by car :embarassed
 
well done , I'll read it in the next few weeks as I've got time to spare

p.s. just realised your avatar is the cover of the book
 
Thanks traeth; hope you enjoy the read as much as I enjoyed the write. If you spot any errors, please keep them to yourself (except for the misspelling of 'Gwynned' on the sleeve which I'm not responsible (irresponsible?) for).
 
I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Footy" , the story gripped me and I read it in three days.

I liked the way the story was based around Goewin , who in me recollection of the Mabinogi was only a bit part player.
Your story was much more realistic as when I was told the Mabinogi it is the changing of the main characters from humans to eagles , owl, deer boar and wolves that enthralls us when we are children.

When I was younger it was the four day journey with the pigs from Rhuddlan that stuck in my memory [ probably because of the placenames ] . I was told the version that had the main battle at Pennard [ Glynllifon] and running battles as Pryderi was driven away at Ancall , Dolbenmaen , Traeth Mawr and Maentwrog , probably as we could relate to these localities

The only "errors" are very minor , I read the electronic version and the term "Teulu" was merged with the next word i.e. Teuluwas , Teuluon ... I realised this mistake but for non Welsh readers it may cause some confusion. I suppose it must be some form of "spellcheck type" error.
In your postscript you use the word Mabinogion , which is widely used incorrectly , it does annoy the Welsh "Grammar Police".
It should be Mabinogi ,

I hope you have you got another "Mabinogi" book in the pipeline.
 
Thanks traeth; I'm glad you liked it. There was always a chance someone who knows more about the story, language, and setting than I would read it so I'm relieved you've largely let me get away with it. My publisher is very keen on reviews as in the small press reviews and other peoples' opinions are more important than reputations, so if you could see your way to a brief comment on Amazon or wherever you got it, it would be appreciated :wink

Another Mabinogion book? The publisher suggested I carry on with the rest of the story, but with people standing with one foot on a bathtub and the other on a goat and all under a specially-thatched roof so they can be killed, it all seemed a bit too convoluted to me. The only other N Welsh Mabinogion story I know of is The Dream of Maxen which lacks Footy's subtlety and charm and doesn't appeal so much, and neither do stories outside NW Wales 'cos I don't know the places.

The current work in progress is a retelling of a story set in Betws Garmon, about Pelling who married a fairy. I did a recce on the meadow where fairies danced when we were up there a few weeks ago. It's now a pumping station and caravan park :cry Presumably it was more picturesque in the fairies' day.

Ta again.
 
Done a quick review on amazon mate

I suppose continuation of the story does have a lot of "magic" , especially the creation of the people's favourite Blodeuwedd. The story progresses to Ffestiniog area and Mur Castell [ Tomen Y Mur-near Trawsfynydd]

I'm also like "The Dream of Macsen Wledig" , mainly because my favourite walk if from Tomen Y Mur [ site of an old roman fort] to Dolwyddelen on the Sarn Helen.

Here's a blog by a local author Dewi Prysor that contains facts along that walk
http://www.cwmnida.tv/en/blog/dewi-prysor-blog-bryn-y-castell-history-and-legend/

Geraint V Jones another local author is an expert on the Mabinogi in the Ffestiniog area.

I look forward to your Pelling book

p.s. Mabinogi is in plural form so Mabinogion has been pluralised twice , which sounds odd to the Welsh ear , just as foots would do to an English speaker. [ Welsh pluralisation is difficult though]
 
Thank you for the review; 'tis appreciated.

You walked Tomen Y Mur to Dolwyddelen! :clap :zhail We did Dhyd Ddu to Beddgelert and were so knackered we had to get the train back :embarassed :giveup
 
Thanks for the review you gave Traeth.

Before your post I thought that the book was not really for me but weirdly your post made me intrigued so I looked into it a bit more.

So this whole "maginobi" idea is still a mystery to me - and being english maybe it should remain so - but your post made me want to try to understand it a bit more --- so yesterday I ordered the book

Today I read your review on amazon and find that we have the same surname :eek

I of course have no idea what this means ...
 
Colbro said:
Today I read your review on amazon and find that we have the same surname :eek

I of course have no idea what this means ...
Click to expand...

My name is not mentioned in the Mabinogi so there's no connection there.
My paternal family comes from Blaenau Ffestiniog.
In the last 40 years there are many children that have been named after characters from the Mabinogi.

Wikipedia have a lot of information on the Mabinogi , which are a number of mythical tales
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabinogion

"Footy" is based on the first part of the fourth branch , which could lead to two or three more tales from the fourth branch.
These mythical tales are based around actual locations , some of which are local , which kindles my interest.

Enjoy the book
 
Thanks Colbro, I hope you enjoy it. Blimey, I'll be entering the bestsellers' list at this rate. (And if you think it's okay and have time to do a review like traeth did, that'd be great.)

And treath - your name *is* in the Mabinogion - assuming your full name is Traeth Mawr, of course :leaving
 
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