Month: December 2019

In this excerpt from the portfolio of Seamus Burke Sundermeier (English ’20), he takes Geoffrey of Monmouth to deep space. His re-imagination of medieval historiography, particularly Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “History of the Kings of Britain,” reflects on medieval constructions of kingship and counsel:

I tried to match the pseudo-history that is present in the work of Arthurian “History”. This story treats Arthur as a brilliant strategist just as he is in Monmouth’s novel. Arthur uses his relationships that he developed as a young man to help lead the people of the caravan just as he uses his alliances to help defeat his enemies. Instead of making Merlin a prophet who advised the king, I made the character an artificial intelligence that eventually helps bring salvation to the human realm.

The result is a contemporary, sci-fi take on history writing sure to please fans of Arthuriana and Battlestar Galactica alike.

from A History of Intergalactic Generals

Earth was the best of planets, situated in what was the Milky Way Galaxy. With a diameter of almost 8,000 miles, there was much land to shared amongst great leaders. The planet was luxurious, generous, and allowed for overwhelming prosperity for all of its creatures. Yet our people squandered it nonetheless, and we were forcefully cast out from the safe bosom of our Mother Earth. A planet, ruined by pollution, was now toxic for all living creatures.

Many people tried to lead the ark of survivors out into the cold depths of space. However, few were as successful as the Great General Arthur. Fifty years after millions of people were forced to caravan across the galaxy to look for a new home, Arthur was born. Knowing only the cold steel of his traveling home and the black void of his deadly surroundings, the young man developed a determination to save his people and explore the universe for a home fit for a new generation of life. As he grew, he studied the known universe, scouring the data for any signs of a new home.

He inspired some with his ambition to find a sustainable planet, and upon his completion of schooling, he was admitted onto the Council of Intergalactic Travel and Sustainability. Yet this population of hopeful youth was not enough to turn the elders from the darkness. Men and women began to fall into a hopeless insanity. Those who had known the warmth of the sun’s touch, the feeling of fresh air in their lungs, and the savor of unprocessed food on their tongues began to go mad from the containment of the vessels. Small insurrections of maddened people had broken out in the years prior, but the Council had been able to squash these violent outbursts in time to stop paranoia from reaching others’ minds. It was hard not to go crazy when one had been cooped up in a station for seventy-five years.

Arthur recognized the turmoil surrounding him and knew he had to act quickly. Over years of schooling, the young man had made bonds with the best and brightest minds within the caravan of space shuttles. They began working in secret to create a data analyzing artificial intelligence. Twenty-five of the brightest young minds began to work as many of the older generations threw themselves from the ships, escaping their psychosis forever. Numbers were still strong but were beginning to dwindle with time.

After years of hard work, Arthur had accomplished his technological feat. They had claimed a near-abandoned ship’s motherboard for their work, and its navigation system was now operating to find planets best suited for sustainable life. The title of the AI was Motherboard v.3 Repurposed for a Life-Supporting Inhabitable New-Earth, or M.3.R.L.I.N for short.

Upon activating M.3.R.L.I.N, Arthur pressed him for advice and help seeking the planet they all desperately desired. M.3.R.L.I.N proposed three planets of equal chances of colonization. People rejoiced at the recent news of hope.  They praised Arthur for his brilliance and appointed him the first General of the Ark. His first decision was to separate the bright minds and tasked them with finding out more information about these planets. M.3.R.L.I.N was fitted onto every ship, as an advisor for all of the travelers and explorers.

After several years under Arthur’s rule, the explorers finally returned. The first to arrive had saddening news. The planet they explored was not fit for humanity, and many of the explorers on the expedition were lost in the night. The second to arrive had similarly dire news. Panic began to break out on the caravan, but Arthur began to rule with a tight iron fist. He controlled the mania, and assured all would be well. Eventually, the third ship returned. The planet they sought was out there. The final ship had found a planet with a peaceful civilization, and the Earthlings might be able to colonize. Arthur plotted a course for this land.

Upon arrival, Arthur met with the leaders of the new-found civilization and transcribed a treaty for the Earthlings to have a small section of their lush planet for a colony to continue life. The people named this colony Camelot and Arthur continued for years.

* * *

Seamus Burke Sundermeier is a senior studying for a double major in English (with the focus area of creative writing) and Film Studies (with the focus area of screenwriting). He loves creative writing and has aspirations of becoming a screenwriter. He dreams of one day creating a major motion picture or television series based on his ideas and writing.

Brenna Kane (English ’20) shares two of her beautiful sonnets. The first, “Musing from the Grave(stone)” is an homage to pre-conquest poetry (particularly Dream of the Rood) as well as the early medieval propensity to make objects speak (such as in the Exeter Book riddles). The second, “A Reply,” speaks back to John Donne’s famous sonnet, “The Flea,” calling into question his oft-repeated conceit.

Musings from the Grave(stone)

From my face curvatures form vast ravines

Caverns upon which tears find fertile ground

From axe and epitaph I source my means

To this/their plot I am forever bound

My brothers speak of different tales than I

Their ears bend far to cater whimpered prayer

In truth, it is not ours to reason why

How loss is mine to hold but theirs to bare

To them I am the bones beneath the sod

Not self but more a player, mask adorned

Hold fast my face, lament with logic flawed

Hell hath no fury as a mortal scorned

Ash is to ash as are the bones to me

Thus from my captive state, souls wander free

A Reply

To liken love and lust I caution thee

Such mindless musings written as our fate

Take heed to conjure marriage in a flea

In young hearts words turn cradle, bearing weight

Fertile lands sought without harvest’s intent

An unskilled farmer, reckless seeds are sown

Not innocence-but patience I fear spent

What good is mingling blood to tend crops grown?

From window’s view, stone disposition rests

Yet drops of loose blood pool to tip the scale

 In doubt’s harsh womb still yet awe manifests

Sweet nothings turning iron judgment frail

While my own temperate wisdom do I seek

I entreat you and these coy fates to speak

* * *

Brenna Kane is a senior English major graduating in May of 2020. Literature editor of Mosaic Undergraduate Magazine and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, she hopes to pursue a career in literary publishing. Specializing in writing, rhetoric and literacy, Brenna hopes to bring literature into the world that reflects the diverse thoughts and experiences of its inhabitants. Her time at OSU has has been instrumental in the formation of that goal, as the access to higher education has truly shaped her worldview.

In these sonnets excerpted from his portfolio, Nathan Oddi (English ’20) poetically captures the spiritual strife inherent in much premodern poetry. In his first, “The Chamber of the Lord,” he ruminates on the anchoritic life of Julian of Norwich, particularly the bodily constraints of living a reclusive life and the spiritual rewards it affords. The second sonnet, “His Once-Royal Visage” is a testament to Miltonian ideas about Satan’s psychology and appearance:

Eleanor Brown shares these stunning children’s books, inspired by medieval hagiography. These two books translate the lives and enduring significance of St. Euphrosyne and Julian of Norwich to a younger audience without sacrificing any of the narrative beauty and aesthetic appeal of the original texts. Commenting on her intellectual/artistic process, she writes:

For the tale of St. Euphrosyne I was at first unsure whether to lean into the Anglo-Saxon culture of the story-tellers I was reading from, or the Egyptian coptic tradition of the story’s subject. Eventually I chose the latter, as a less confusing communication and a more authentic exploration of Euphrosyne/Smaragdus themselves. Also, I am sure part of what attracted the Anglo-Saxons to this story was the glamour of an ancient vanished culture and far-away land…

Eleanor Brown thinks she might be a sophomore, but isn’t sure since she’s been working at this degree for an awfully long time between babies. She feels most alive, and most terrified, when she is trying to write something beautiful, and her deep down secret hope is that someday she will do that in a great big way.