WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS?
A
story, of course. And a bit of magic. And a bit of tradition – a
link with the past, with Christmases gone by.
Then
you want Gawain
and the Green Knight.
It starts off at Christmas, in the court of King Arthur, where the
King refuses to sit down and eat until he has seen a wonder. If the
knights daren't grumble, their stomachs do.
But then, there
rides into the hall where they're not yet dining a Green Man, on a
green horse, with an axe in his hand, and he issues a challenge:
which one of these knights is bold enough to strike a blow at him, in
return for having a blow struck in return the following Christmas?
Only Gawain is
foolhardy enough to risk his life to keep up the reputation of King
Arthur's knights. But he thinks he's sorted the matter when he
strikes off the Green Knight's head with one stroke of the axe: no
return match!
However – and
here's where the magic comes in – the Green Knight picks up his
head, picks up his axe, mounts his horse, reminds Gawain of what he
has sworn to do, and gallops off into the night.
Is
this something new from Pixar, or Peter Jackson, or even Spielberg?
No, it's in the theatre of your mind, in the cinema behind your eyes:
it's a story
– the oldest art in the world, before there was fire for them to
see to paint in the caves.
And
you can hear the whole of it told by Sarah Rundle, widely acclaimed
professional storyteller for everyone, and not just children, at the
Boston Tea Party in Ringwood, starting at 7.30pm on Thursday,
December 21st,
admission £5. Get there earlier if you want coffee and cake!
What a way to
start Christmas!
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