"O Skald, sing now an olden song,
Such as our fathers heard who led great lives;
And, as the bravest on a shield is borne
Along the waving host that shouts him king,
So rode their thrones upon the thronging seas!"
This year's Epic Weekend will be the weekend of the 27th March and will focus on Norse Myths.
Unlike in previous years there is no one version to go with, so for tale headings we're using Kevin Crossley Holland's "Norse Myths" (KCH), supplemented by Barbara Leonie Picard's "Tales of the Norse Gods" (BLP). We are aiming for between eight and ten hours of telling split across the tellers and of course listeners are more than welcome.
For those who've not been before, the format is arrival on the Friday afternoon for dinner and the first part of the telling, telling through Saturday, and the first part of Sunday, aiming to finish by about 4pm on the Sunday. Many people stay over the Sunday night and leave on the Monday morning.
The location will depend upon the number of bookings before the middle of October, but will either be close to the welsh border as in the two previous years, or possibly in the peak district. As this event isn't run at a profit this should allow me to gauge interest and pick a venue which keeps us within budget. Accommodation is normally in shared rooms with bunks (we've used an activity centre and a youth hostel in the past).
The cost will be £100 per person, consisting of a £50 deposit on booking and the remainder to be paid by Christmas.
The tales we are telling are the following - numbers in square brackets are rough timings based upon page count and the total amount of time we are telling for, so please take them with a large pinch of salt.
- The Creation [11]
- The War of the Aesir and Vanir [6]
- The Building of Asgard's Wall [17]
- Lord of the Gallows [8]
- The Song of Rig [22]
- The Mead of Poetry [19]
- Loki's Children and the Binding of Fenrir [14]
- The Theft of Idun's Apples [17]
- The Marriage of Njord and Skadi [11]
- The Treasures of the Gods [17]
- Skirnir's Journey [14]
- The Lay of Grimnir [17]
- The Necklace of the Brisings [14]
- The Lay of Thrym [14]
- The Lay of Vathfrudnir [14]
- Thor's Journey to Utgard [42]
- The Lay of Hymir [14]
- Hyndla's Poem [11]
- Thor's Duel with Hrungnir [22]
- How Loki Outwitted a Giant (see BLP) [17]
- Odin and Billing's Daughter [6]
- Gylfi and Gefion [6]
- The Lay of Harbard [14]
- The Ballad of Svipdag [17]
- Thor and Geirrod [17]
- The Lay of Loddfafnir [8]
- Otter's Ransom [18]
- The Lay of Alvis [11]
- Balder's Dreams [8]
- The Death of Baldur [33]
- Loki's Flyting [19]
- The Binding of Loki [11]
- Ragnarok [11]
I would like tellers to sign up for at least half an hour of telling. They don't have to be consecutive tales, and don't have to be on the list as long as the tale involves the Norse gods. As mentioned above these are guide times so if you find they come out shorter or longer, just let me know and I'll adjust the schedule accordingly.
To book, please email me at goodale@gmail.com, subject line "Epic Weekend Booking - YOUR NAME" (please replace "YOUR NAME" with your name). In the email I need:
- Names of everyone you are booking for, saying which are tellers and which are listeners.
- A list of tales for each teller, or I can pick the tales out of a hat for you.
- Any dietary requirements.
- Any accessibility issue.
I will then send you details of how to pay your deposit.
