What's in an Order?

I'd like to take a break from my regular crafting posts to talk about a subject I find important. I was having a discussion with a Peer of the Realm, the content of which is irrelevant at this point. In that conversation, we realized that a person we both felt was beyond deserving of a particular award, had not received said award. The conversation went something like this:

Peer: Wait does [person] have their [award]?
Olivia: Yes. I'm sure they do. Do they? It's not listed on the OP. Let me check the Wiki. No, it's not their either. And they keep their page very up to date.
Peer: How is that possible? I was sure they had their [award] years ago.

As I delved further into the matter, I discovered that the person in question was not well-liked by enough of the order to receive the support for the award. This, my friends, I find disconcerting. While the person in question can be quite abrasive at times, there is no denying, they are deserving of the award, based on the standards presented on the East Kingdom website. 

The more I thought about this, the more I thought about another conversation I had a year or so ago regarding someone who was receiving an award. This conversation went something like this:

Person A: Did you know [person B] is receiving their [award] at [event]?
Olivia: Oh? I didn't hear. That's wonderful! And certainly well deserved!
Person A: Uh, really? But they don't do anything to deserve [award]. They just do [thing].
Olivia: Actually, if you really look at what they do, they do [thing], [other thing], [another thing], [one more thing], and all of that is on top of the [thing] you mentioned. Given the parameters of [award], they're well within what is considered deserving.
Person A: Oh, yeah, I guess. I didn't really think about that. I just...well, I had a bad experience with [person] and I guess that sort of sways my opinion.

Now, to be clear, we're not talking about Peerages here. We're not talking about an award that requires specific personality traits to be found deserving. We are talking about Kingdom-level awards, which are typically presented based on merit, experience, etc. 

So, then, why? Why are so many of us so focused on our personal feelings that we would withhold an award from a deserving person? By the same token, when we do have strong negative feelings about people, why are we not keeping our personal feelings out of the discussion? These are merit-based awards. They should have very little to do with how well a person is liked. 

To that end, I ask you to truly consider each nominee based upon their merit. How is a particular award recipient defined? Does the nominee fit those parameters? If you don't feel the person is deserving of an award, is this because their work is truly not befitting? If you have a negative opinion of a person, is this truly the time to air those grievances? 

We should always remember, the words we use toward those not in our favor are a direct reflection upon ourselves. 

~O

Drake Oranwood's Troubadour Scroll Words

A few months back, I was asked to write wording for Lord Drake Oranwood's' Troubadour scroll. My apologies in the delay for getting this post up. However, here's the information for his wording.

When I was first asked, I had one thought about the wording, "It must be in iambic pentameter." Nothing else would do for Lord Drake. So, I began digging around for inspiration. I came across some poetry by Sir Thomas Wyatt, as well as William Shakespeare that I used for inspiration. I've included two of the inspiration pieces below.

Ryght true it is : and said full yore agoo :
"Take hede of him that by thy back the claweth " ;
For none is wourse than is a friendly ffoo :
Though they seme good : all thing that thee deliteth :
Yet know it well, that in thy bosom crepeth ;
For many a man such fier oft knydeleth,
That with the blase his berd syngeth.
~Sir Thomas Wyatt

SONNET 33
Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,
Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;
Anon permit the basest clouds to ride
With ugly rack on his celestial face,
And from the forlorn world his visage hide,
Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace:
Even so my sun one early morn did shine
With all triumphant splendor on my brow;
But out! alack! he was but one hour mine,
The region cloud hath mask'd him from me now.
Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;
Suns of the world may stain when heaven's sun staineth.
~William Shakespeare

The first line of Lord Drake's scroll was taken directly from the first line of the Wyatt poem. The second is a slight alteration of the second line of this poem as well. Apparently I was extraordinarily tired when I wrote the second line, as it follows neither the metre of the inspiration poem, nor the metre of iambic pentameter. Whoopsie!

The most difficult part was working the required language into the metre. This took several days of wiggling and bending the words to the will of the poem.

"Ryght true it is and said full yore ago,“Take hede of him that rounde thy fire dothe presenteth”;Thys Goldsmithes worke and goodley song dothe groBoth voyce and visage for all deliteth.Full many a wondrus tale he recountsWoven stronge wyth thredes of thyne and Owre owneMemoryes. Lo! Have We cause goode to dance,Syng and rejoyse in tyme-cloth he hath sowne.

For as wyth cause We, Brennan and Caoilfhionn,Nobyll King and true Quene of the EasternLandes do inducte to the Order hereinOf the Troubadour, Drake Oranwood doneOn thys third day of October, A.S. L, Owre joyusCoronation in the northerne Baro-Ny of Owre Concordia of the Snows."

Calligraphy and Illimination by Katrusha Skomorokhov Negadieva doch'.

Overall, I'm happy with the first scroll I've ever done wording for. Were I able to alter it, I would re-work that second line to fit the metre, and also perhaps re-work a few of the other lines so it flowed a big more smoothly.

Congratulations (belated, as they may be) to Lord Drake on his induction into the order of the Troubadour!





Source:

http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/