The gentle before Us is Ellyn Grene
Who wears a sheaf of arrows bright and keen
And in her hands, a mighty bow she bears
Achieved Bowman in her many affairs
Upon her arm she wears a bright bracer,
Which she'd lend to support, never waiver
With such courtesy and skill set before Us
A noble we find she truly is. Thus:
We, Demon King of the Three Heavens
Ryouko'jin and Rani Indrakshi, even
Declare the Apollo's Arrow Elkyn's now
With all accouterments upon their brow
Done in the Barony of the Debatable Lands
As 57, Pennsic, by Our hands
Word Count 100
Calligraphy and Illumination by Magdalena Lantfarerin
Because, unlike some other Robin hoods-I can BLOG with an English accent
The recipient's EK Wiki entry was light, but held several key points of information. They were primarily an archer, and their persona was "a 14th c. Englishwoman living in Leicestershire." So I immediately thought of Chaucer! Simple, right?
I googled "Chaucer" and "archery."
And got nothing.
"Chaucer" and "archer." Nothing.
"Chaucer" and "bows." Nothing.
"Chaucer" and "arrows" ... success! Sort of. I found one quote, with no further attribution. But it was a quote from Chaucer: "A sheaf of peacock arrows bright and keen."
I plugged that sentence into the search engine and got a palpable hit!
The General Prolog of the Yeoman
It was perfect for what I needed. The recipient was even wearing green and a hood in their photo. Not exactly as described, but more than close enough!
For the bulk of the scroll I set out to incorporate the Chaucer quote with the required information.
The gentle before Us is Ellyn Grene
Who wears a sheaf of arrows bright and keen
This was adapted from the second line of the Yeoman:
And he was clothed in coat and hood of green.
A sheaf of peacock arrows bright and keen
I was absolutely delighted to work the recipient's name into the rhyme - using the original Chaucer rhyme. Greene was even spelled the same way!
And in her hands, a mighty bow she bears
Achieved Bowman in her many affairs
Bowman is the recipient's rank in the East Kingdom Royal Round Rankings when the scroll was written.
Upon her arm she wears a bright bracer,
Which she'd lend to support, never waiver
The write up particularly mentioned the various forms of aid and courtesy the recipient offers to new archers.
With such courtesy and skill set before Us
A noble we find she truly is. Thus:
The Apollo's Arrow is the first award this gentle has received. I like to allude to this in the Silver awards. Rarely do I state outright that they are also receiving an AoA. I think the allusion makes for better poetry.
This led to the couplet with Their Majesties names, the couplet naming the award and the final place and date couplet.
The words, "in the year of the Blue Tyger," didn't fit with this verse form. Alas, that sometimes happens, even with Chaucer.
The resulting scroll is gorgeous. The C&I artist Magdalena used a 13th century exemplar that matched the words perfectly. Altogether it came out wonderfully and I am justly proud of what I helped create.
