fandomhigh | World Mythology -- Third Period -- Monday

As students came in today, they'd find the desks removed in favor of the piles of cushions and blankets Ghanima favored for movie day. While this weekend wasn't as traumatizing as some events in Fandom's history, Ghanima knew some of the students had unfortunate run-ins with the creatures.

"The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German," she began once everyone got comfortable. "The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge. The Nibelungenlied is based on pre-Christian Germanic heroic motifs known as the "Nibelungensaga", which include oral traditions and reports based on historic events and individuals of the 5th and 6th centuries. Old Norse parallels of the legend survive in the Völsunga saga, the Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda, the Legend of Norna-Gest, and the Þiðrekssaga."

"An early critic labeled it a German Iliad, arguing that, like the Greek epic, it goes back to the remotest times and unites the monumental fragments of half-forgotten myths and historical personages into a poem that is essentially national in character. However, others criticised the work for being inferior to the Greek classics and not worthy of the status of a national epic."

"Despite its many critics, imagery from the Nibelungelied was used in many poems, essays, posters and speeches at every stage in the development of German nationalism, from the Befreiungskriege (Wars of Liberation) to the period of Nazi rule, to less jingoistic interpretations and references today. For example, the faithfulness among the Burgundian king and his vassals, ranked higher than family bonds or life, is called Nibelungentreue. This expression was used in Germany, prior to World War I to describe the alliance between the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, as well as by Nazi propaganda, e.g. when referring to the Battle of Stalingrad."

"It is also very popular outside Germany, as it is one of the inspirations for King of the Bracelets."

"Today, since I'm sure a number of you are worn out, we are going to watch a movie version of this story. We'll be viewing Dark Lands: The Dragon Lord, a made-for-television version that takes significant liberties with the myth, but is still entertaining. For those of you interested in reading the original Song of the Nibelungs, I suggest you make a visit to the library, as they may have a retelling in the language of your choice."

[OCD UP!]

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"That was gross actually," Jacob had to agree, because ew. "Are all invasions this messy?"

Tahiri grinned wryly. "The harpies were worse. You don't want to know what kinds of awful smelly things they threw."

"Harpies?" he blinked. "You're right. I don't. So this was a pretty mild one?"

She nodded. "Oh, there's definitely been worse." The zombies, for example, but that was all wrapped up in bad memories she didn't care to revisit much. "This is the first time they've ever breached the dorms, though."

"They were small enough," he said. "It's hard to keep something like that out. Even if they really didn't seem to stand a chance. This island's dangerous," said the big bad werewolf.

"No, really? Tell me something I didn't already know," Tahiri said, quirking an eyebrow at him. "It definitely didn't help that they were so cute and harmless at first, and then they just . . . changed."

She would never say that she looked uncomfortable at the prospect.

He grinned. "I meant the people here," he said. "Those things miscalculated." So did he, ask his shoulder.

He snorted, amused by something she'd said. "Guess you can't judge a book by its cover or something lame like that."

Tahiri's smile turned slightly ironic. "Around here, that may be more true than you realize, Jacob."

He fell back against the pillow, his eyes closing for a moment. "I don't know about that."

"I do," Tahiri answered, wrapping herself more closely in her blanket. "Because it's always that way around here."

"Big hairy monsters hiding in every corner?" he asked. Not that he was projecting.

"Something like that," Tahiri allowed. "If cleverly disguised."

She wasn't talking about him at all, actually. Guess there were two people projecting here.

They could start a club or something.

"Yeah." Jacob grew quiet and he was staring at the screen again, not seeing anything but at least he wasn't falling asleep.

"Uh huh," Tahiri agreed, her own attention drifting halfway back to the movie. "Stay awake, or I'll hit you with something bigger next time."

Oops.

"Then don't make me curious to see what you're coming up with," he replied, smirking a little at the threat.

"That's only a worry if you fall asleep," Tahiri retorted. She might have been deliberately misunderstanding.

"I can definitely fall asleep again," he nodded. He probably could too. Any flat surface would do and these pillows were puffy and soft.

Mmmm sleep.

"It's a shame there's no desks today." Tahiri gave him an exaggeratedly regretful look. "That would hurt. And I'd hate to have to do that."

World Mythology -- Third Period -- Monday

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