Poem: "Affuage"
May. 17th, 2023 09:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the May 16, 2023 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from helgatwb. It also fills the "rabbit" square in my 5-1-23 card for the Pets and Animals Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the series Quixotic Ideas.
"Affuage"
n 1753 -1847 right to cut wood in a forest for family fire
Learning to get along
with nonhuman neighbors
could mean the difference
between life and death.
Thieves rarely survived
sneaking into the faery forest.
A family who shared a bit of
butter or left the last berries
on the brambles for the fey,
however, would receive
in return the right of affuage.
They could go into the trees
to cut fuel for the family fire.
They could also gather
food such as mushrooms
and acorns, even set snares
for small game like rabbits
and birds and squirrels.
If there was a baby born
before the older sibling was
weaned, the mother could go
to a hollow hill to offer it up
for adoption instead of
simply abandoning it.
If a fey wished to learn
about humans by becoming
a changeling, there was usually
a childless couple happy to help.
If a boy wanted to sow his wild oats,
there were woodwives eager to oblige,
since they had no men of their own.
Likewise, a girl could go a-Maying
among the fauns if she had a hard time
getting with child, and they'd solve that.
Villages had a whitesmith to work tin
and a greensmith to work copper
in addition to a blacksmith for iron --
and the blacksmith took care to keep
any scraps from straying to make trouble.
It wasn't always easy for folks to get along,
with so many differences between humans
and fey, but was easier than dealing with
the problems that came when they didn't.
The right of affuage reminded everyone
to ensure a fair exchange, to see that
each family had enough to get by, and
to take only as much as they needed.
It wasn't easy, but it was enough.
* * *
Notes:
Whitesmith is another term for tinsmith.
Greensmith is another term for coppersmith.
helgatwb. It also fills the "rabbit" square in my 5-1-23 card for the Pets and Animals Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the series Quixotic Ideas."Affuage"
n 1753 -1847 right to cut wood in a forest for family fire
Learning to get along
with nonhuman neighbors
could mean the difference
between life and death.
Thieves rarely survived
sneaking into the faery forest.
A family who shared a bit of
butter or left the last berries
on the brambles for the fey,
however, would receive
in return the right of affuage.
They could go into the trees
to cut fuel for the family fire.
They could also gather
food such as mushrooms
and acorns, even set snares
for small game like rabbits
and birds and squirrels.
If there was a baby born
before the older sibling was
weaned, the mother could go
to a hollow hill to offer it up
for adoption instead of
simply abandoning it.
If a fey wished to learn
about humans by becoming
a changeling, there was usually
a childless couple happy to help.
If a boy wanted to sow his wild oats,
there were woodwives eager to oblige,
since they had no men of their own.
Likewise, a girl could go a-Maying
among the fauns if she had a hard time
getting with child, and they'd solve that.
Villages had a whitesmith to work tin
and a greensmith to work copper
in addition to a blacksmith for iron --
and the blacksmith took care to keep
any scraps from straying to make trouble.
It wasn't always easy for folks to get along,
with so many differences between humans
and fey, but was easier than dealing with
the problems that came when they didn't.
The right of affuage reminded everyone
to ensure a fair exchange, to see that
each family had enough to get by, and
to take only as much as they needed.
It wasn't easy, but it was enough.
* * *
Notes:
Whitesmith is another term for tinsmith.
Greensmith is another term for coppersmith.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-05-18 03:53 am (UTC)(And we need a new icon.)
Thoughts
Date: 2023-05-18 04:10 am (UTC)Exactly. That's the thread running through this whole series: what it would look like if people solved magical or fairytale issues sensibly. Feel free to ask for more in any relevant prompt call.
>> Herself will remember what you have done here; you have earned a similar right. <<
:D I'm fey myself, but I get the idea.
>> (And we need a new icon.) <<
We do. I don't know many artists, though, and nobody's doing icon days like they used to which is where I got almost all the custom ones. I'm not sure of a motif either. Maybe a key that looks magical?
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2023-05-18 12:32 pm (UTC)And RL doesn't usually work that way (and when it does, something's /badly/ screwed up).
So it's good to have plots with overcoming Fantastic Racism, or sensible parenting, or using actual social skills.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2023-06-02 11:53 pm (UTC)It isn't entertaining. It's just a bunch of unhappy people making bad decisions and becoming even worse off. Or if there's a foreign species introduced? 'It's bad/dangerous/evil, let's fight it.' Everything is an enemy - even nature. Hard pass.
But it does mean people stick to the local authors who do know how to make a good story.
- Baren (he/him)
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2023-06-04 11:29 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2023-06-05 12:11 am (UTC)Local-America has the book Save the Cat! which is responsible for much movie repetition. Terramagne-America also has Hang the Cat! which is all about avoiding too much repetition and predictability.
... you can see why just walking through a room when a character has the TV on is enough to distract me.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2023-06-05 04:22 pm (UTC)