#Nicola Griffith

[devoutjunk]

getting emotional about nicola griffith’s HILD again (quotes from this essay:)

[ninja-muse]

I waited ten years for Menewood and it was well worth it. The period details, the quiet moments, the portraits of daily life interspersed with epic moments, the way the politics and intrigue were portrayed, it was all as good as Hild, if not better.

Menewood picks up a few months after Hild ends and follows Hild's first few years of young womanhood. (So if you haven't read Hild, I suggest you do so. There's a lot of context and character you'll be missing otherwise.) Hild might have survived the politics and battles of her childhood, but that doesn't mean that the politics have ended, or that she'll survive the next peril. It's only a matter of time before there's another war, after all, and it's her responsibility to keep her and her own safe through it.

Griffith does a wonderful job balancing the tenseness of the greater story with the realities of daily life and personal lives. Food has to be harvested, buildings need repair, relationships need strengthening, travel often involves hours or days of horseback riding through countryside. It's rich and detailed (and makes for a slow read) but that also lends to the tenseness in its own way because you can see what's at stake and you know the sort of things that are likely coming.

Griffith also doesn't shy away from the fact that organizing an estate, navigating court politics, having a good marriage, and trying to avoid a war is a lot of pressure for an eighteen-year-old, especially one whose childhood was full of similar tensions. I was glad she made this part of Hild's story, because it lends another level to the character and makes explicit some things that often get glossed over both in the stories we tell of medieval life and those we tell about ourselves now. Seeing Hild grow into her own as an adult was marvellous.

Honestly, there's very little about this book I didn't like. The secondary characters are as vibrant and finely drawn as Hild herself. Griffith's writing is strong on a technical level and it's clear she's done an impressive amount of research. She's as good at a fight scene as she is at writing a feast or a forest walk. Watching Hild work out politics and what's coming is a lot like watching a master detective solve a mystery—you have all the clues too but she sees how they fit together.

I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Hild until I started reading Menewood, actually. (Ten years will do that.) Then it was "yes, this book, this book is good, why am I the only person I know who's read it?" Please, I'm begging you, read these books if you like great historical fiction, if you like epic fantasy*, and especially if you enjoy both genres.

And if I have to wait another ten years for the end of the trilogy, it'll be worth it too.

* no, it's not fantasy, there's no magic, but it's not like Game of Thrones has a whole lot of that either.

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer Fiction Set in the Medieval Era, Part I

Gwen and Art are Not in Love by Lex Croucher (YA) Emry Merlin by Robyn Schneider (YA) The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi The Hild Sequence by Nicola Griffith Solomon’s Crown by Natasha Siegel Bonus: Coming up in 2024, Splinter & Ash by Marieke Nijkamp (MG) and Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher (YA)

[hpowellsmith]

absolutely inhaled SPEAR by Nicola Griffith yesterday and am left a bit dazed by how meticulously beautiful its style is. sometimes you read a book that makes you want to sit with it quietly afterwards and bask for a bit, and SPEAR was one of them

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 59 – Spear by Nicola Griffith

So after loudly complaining about this year’s Hugo nominations enough, it was recommended I try using the World Fantasy Awards shortlist as a reading list instead. Spear is the first result of that – I’d never heard of either it or Griffith as an author before, but the library helpfully had a copy with only a three-week hold. It was, well – unevenly paced and characterized, often beautifully written, a setting I’ve got an enduring fondness for, a bunch of things. But at the very least I’m not confused or annoyed that anyone would nominate this for a ‘best novel of the year’ award, so beating the Hugo’s!

The book’s Arthuriana, of a mythological and Early Medieval type. Specifically, it’s a queer retelling of the story of Sir Percival (Peretur here, the book makes an attempt to use Welsh names for most. Artos and Cei and so on) intermixed with celtic mythology (the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann are stolen to be the Grail, Excalibur, the Stone the sword was in, and Peretur’s Spear). Also Peretur is a) a demigod raised from birth on soup and water drunk out of the Grail/Cauldron and b) a lesbian. The book follows her childhood, raised in the wilderness with only her mother and wildlife for company, how she eventually leaves her behind to fufil a dream of becoming one of the king’s companions, and the trials she undergoes to become accepted by them. The second half of the book then follows her falling in love with Nimune, accidentally breaking the geas that was hiding her mother and the cauldron from her father (a wrathful Tuatha Dé) the organizing of the grail quest and her, Lancelot, and Nimune going to kill her dad and retrieve the grail/cauldron. And then bury it away after lying to everyone that the queen had had a sip from it and wouldn’t be infertile anymore. Having thus doomed the kingdom, they set about enjoying their lives together.

So, queer early medieval Arthuriana retelling. Which on reflection probably seems like less of a natural/obvious combination to people who spend less time on tumblr than I do. The ‘Early Medieval’ part of that seems pretty carefully researched, and the book takes great joy in describing everyone’s panoply, situating the politics in a very specific post-Roman collapse politics and geography, and so on. In that sense reminds of Bernard Cromwell’s take on a ‘historicall’ Arthur in the same era (which I read far too young because my father had just left them lying around the house and still inform my default view of the genre.) The queerness is just presented to be taken as a given more than part of the actual plot – being a crossdressing lesbian causes Peretur exactly zero problems at any point, and Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere are a loving polycule so actually it’s a net reduction in sexuality-related drama compared to the usual.

The basic conceit aside, the most striking thing about the book is easily the prose. It’s written in a kind of elevated, mythological or capital-R Romantic voice. There are passages that are legitimately quite beautiful, and just overall does a lot to sell the story as somewhere between chivalric romance and myth.

Otherwise – I pretty much adored the first half the book, covering our hero’s childhood and attempts to build a reputation that will earn her acceptance from the king’s court and a place at the round table. Peretur’s naivete and utter lack of understanding of politics form a nice contrast with her being, well, a superhuman demigod with magical wild empathy skills when it comes to everything else. The second half, on the other hand – I mean it just tries to pack in way too many plot points and too much lore in not nearly enough page count. The effect – one long procession of character revelations and things happening without preamble or fallout – fits the whole mythic style but, like, not in a good way.

Also since the whole happy ending is built around a central romance it’d help a lot if Nimune felt like more or a character and less of an exposition fairy. Peretur legitimately had more chemistry with Angharad-the-innkeepers-daughter from the second act. Also since it was how the book ended, the big choice to hide away the cauldron/grail and make sure neither king nor queen nor anyone else ever drinks from it is presented as this, like, considered and moral decision without ever touching on any of the massive hypocrisy inherent in it for ms. ‘grew up drinking from it every meal. But it’d corrupt and drive insane anyone else who did. For sure.’ was just deeply irksome to me.

Still, not at all a bad read. Maybe a bit style over substance, but it’s a good style and worn well.

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread

Spear

Arthurian historical fantasy novella

reimagines Perveval as a lesbian who disguises herself as a man to become a knight

Welsh mythology

[pieandpaperbacks]

Currently reading: Hild by Nicola Griffith

Starting the year right - with a hefty historical fantasy.

[queer-ragnelle]

hi!! i'm wondering if you've read Nicola Griffith's Spear, and if you have, what your opinions are/were on it!

thanks so much for the time and dedication you put into your work. it's clear how much you care for the material and the community, and that makes it hard to not care.

hope you have a good day!!

Hello there!

Sure have! Everyone go read Spear by Nicola Griffith if you want butch lesbian Perceval pulling girls left and right. It won't disappoint! The audiobook narrated by the author was a treat.

Also thank you for these kind words, it means a lot. :'^) Accessibility to these stories in all their forms is important to me and I'm happy to make available as much of it as I possibly can.

Take care!<3

[spiritintheinkwell]

After Marghe and Thenike left the courtyard, they walked for a while quietly, both wrapped under the same cloak. Marghe watched the stars, listening to the far-off hiss and drag of waves on the shore and slapping up against the wharf. She was a viajera. For the rest of her life she would travel and tell stories and judge disputes. It would rarely be as easy as it had been today, she knew, but she found she did not mind. She had found what it was she had been looking for; she had a place in the world, a place she had made. She touched the suke resting against her breast. She was Marghe Amun. The complete one. She felt at peace.

(Ammonite by Nicola Griffith @nicolagriffith, p. 271)

Femslash February 2 of probably not 50

More Femslash February More WLW Book Fanart

[devoutjunk]

"“Amen,” Hild said.

They watched the Yr moving, stately and steely, east.

“May Christ forgive him,” Rhin said. “I cannot.”

She would not even try. One day she would tear the heart from his chest.”

Menewood, Nicola Griffith

[mosswolf]

if you like arthuriana and chivalric style knight stuff in general you GOTTA read spear by nicola griffith its not even 200 pages but it still has the feel of an epic fantasy it's just SO well written. and it's queer!!!!

With her stolen hunting spear and mended armour, she is an unlikely hero, not a chosen one, but one who forges her own bright path. Aflame with determination, she begins a journey of magic and mystery, love, lust and fights to death. On her adventures, she will steal the hearts of beautiful women, fight warriors and sorcerers, and make a place to call home.

look at this

[wizardsvslesbians]

If you like lesbian sf and haven’t read Nicola Griffith, you’re missing out - this is the messy, morally complex stuff you’ve been asking for.  This one’s all about corruption, personal, political, familial and physical.

[bi4bihankking]

The Traitor Baru Cormorant Summary:

Lesbian autistic accountant infiltrates the evil Empire to take it down from the inside, commits atrocities bc the ends justify the means

Spear Summary:

One lesbian knight in Arthur’s court and her heartfelt conviction that Arthur should absolutely not in ANY circumstance get the holy grail. But really he’s barely in this.

[literary-illuminati]

So Spear by Nicola Griffith ends with an author's note, mostly about the writing process, historical accuracy, etc. But it does include an aside (in the middle of a short but angry rant about the idea of 'the heroine's journey') of her being very vehemently against the word 'heroine' (also 'actress', 'poetess' and similar) as being kind of inherently needlessly divisive (in the sense of creating a needless division) and retrograde.

Which I have no real take on either way, but I just find it very endearing when writers have really angry opinions about this sort of thing.

[catmint1]

Dogs own space and cats own time.

Nicola Griffith, Hild

[nicolagriffith]

The voice of each piece is born on the first page

In which I disagree with George Saunders' suggestion that a writer's unique voice emerges during the editing process.

Image description: Black background with, on the right,  a black and white headshot of a short-haired white woman at a microphone, and, on the left, gold-coloured text reading, “George Saunders proposed on his substack that it’s in the editing process that literary voice emerges — the more a writer edits the more they’ll make choices different to other writers, resulting in a voice and style…