author - "alastair macleod"
"On the bare upper slopes, as night was closing in, a shepherd fed me and shared his mint tea.
He said men often hid in the hills from this faction or that.
Who was I now? A man without a state, without a relationship, without a philosophy.
We sat round his small fire, the bells of the sheep tinkling gently close by in the shadows. It was then he told me the story of “the horseman and the snake."
"Lu had felt something with vampires; the thrill of losing, of going down, disappearing, of being the willing victim, like a hunted deer at the kill by a tiger , being devoured, lost in that last act.
“But a Jilkan will fill you so full with ecstasy, your energy and power will spread, you will become powerful. The Jilkan is an awakener, you will be lost in him.”
"As she turned to open the car door she froze as she saw on the silvery ribbon of the road three dark shapes close, and for a moment, menacing like grown men with their hands held up. Then they shifted position and she saw the sheen of the moon on their flanks and the antlers, branch like, against the sky. Red deer stags, cautious, stopping to check her out as they crossed the road. One of them coughed. Their hooves clicking delicate steps they moved off slowly, a faint swishing of the undergrowth marking their progress.
What was it like to be them at night, stepping dainty on hooves through this landscape, nostrils keenly alert, ears vibrating to the slightest nuance of sound?
"The land was sparse, dry, covered in Maquis shrub; juniper, myrtle, dwarf pine, wild rosemary. They were all more all or less aromatic, the beating sun releasing a heady scent into the air. He walked down the track, his boots crunching on gravel. In the bay below, the sea, a bright Mediterranean blue lazily caressed the cliffs. He was searching for geckos – sunny days brought them out to bask. Cold rendered them inactive. He thought of his wife. She was like that. Back in Manchester she’d been a different person, morose, taciturn, cynical. Here she just flowered out. It was the sun"
"King Frodi went on a visit to a King Sven in Sweden, there he saw Sven had two giantesses, Fenya and Menya, large strapping women with jet black hair in plaits. Sven used their great strength to cut down trees.
King Frodi bought them from Sven who was pleased to be rid of them for they ate a lot.
Back in Denmark King Frodi set them to work, grinding at the Grotti stone"
"On the bare upper slopes, as night was closing in, a shepherd fed me and shared his mint tea.
He said men often hid in the hills from this faction or that.
Who was I now? A man without a state, without a relationship, without a philosophy.
We sat round his small fire, the bells of the sheep tinkling gently close by in the shadows. It was then he told me the story of “the horseman and the snake."
"Lu had felt something with vampires; the thrill of losing, of going down, disappearing, of being the willing victim, like a hunted deer at the kill by a tiger , being devoured, lost in that last act.
“But a Jilkan will fill you so full with ecstasy, your energy and power will spread, you will become powerful. The Jilkan is an awakener, you will be lost in him.”
"As she turned to open the car door she froze as she saw on the silvery ribbon of the road three dark shapes close, and for a moment, menacing like grown men with their hands held up. Then they shifted position and she saw the sheen of the moon on their flanks and the antlers, branch like, against the sky. Red deer stags, cautious, stopping to check her out as they crossed the road. One of them coughed. Their hooves clicking delicate steps they moved off slowly, a faint swishing of the undergrowth marking their progress.
What was it like to be them at night, stepping dainty on hooves through this landscape, nostrils keenly alert, ears vibrating to the slightest nuance of sound?
"The land was sparse, dry, covered in Maquis shrub; juniper, myrtle, dwarf pine, wild rosemary. They were all more all or less aromatic, the beating sun releasing a heady scent into the air. He walked down the track, his boots crunching on gravel. In the bay below, the sea, a bright Mediterranean blue lazily caressed the cliffs. He was searching for geckos – sunny days brought them out to bask. Cold rendered them inactive. He thought of his wife. She was like that. Back in Manchester she’d been a different person, morose, taciturn, cynical. Here she just flowered out. It was the sun"
"King Frodi went on a visit to a King Sven in Sweden, there he saw Sven had two giantesses, Fenya and Menya, large strapping women with jet black hair in plaits. Sven used their great strength to cut down trees.
King Frodi bought them from Sven who was pleased to be rid of them for they ate a lot.
Back in Denmark King Frodi set them to work, grinding at the Grotti stone"