Screwtape
Of Ships and all things Nautical
I’m afraid I am something of a nerd. A sad but true fact.
The Langorian pirates have invaded my novel Song of Leira, and as a result, I have been doing some seaworthy research. I have always loved the sea… and ships (wooden ships from the age of wind powered sailing!)… and pirates… and anything sea related!
In fact, one of my favorite family vacations ever was a a trip to Mystic Seaport (The Museum of America and the Sea) in Connecticut! We went aboard several ships, including a 19th century whaling vessel, the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship in the world. I loved every minute of that trip.
For Christmas this year, one of my presents was a beautiful old copy of Knight’s Modern Seamanship!
Anyway, so when I was researching ships yesterday, I happened upon a glossary of nautical terms in Wikipedia! Needless to say, I was incredibly excited! I think I said something like “Wow, this is so awesome!!!” So my sister asked me what it was and when I told her that I had found a complete glossary of nautical terms, and started expounding upon some of the more interesting ones, she gave me a look which I could only interpret as meaning “How in the world did I end up with such a crazy sister?” :)
But, on the merest chance that there are some sea-loving-nerdy-crazy people out there like me, I am posting a link to the website! Glossary of Nautical Terms
Some of the interesting things I discovered:
Midshipmen (from the 18th century on) were non commissioned officers below the rank of lieutenant – think of the little boy officers in Master and Commander – and were so called because of where their living quarters were positioned aboard ship. The berths of regular seamen were located in the forecastle of the ship – the fo’c’sle. Sailors were referred to as being “before the mast” (i.e. not officers) because their berths were in front of the foremast. Since the fore part of the ship was the roughest place to be while sailing, the nicer quarters in the stern were naturally reserved for officers.
In point of rank, (at least from the 18th century on) Midshipmen came between seamen and regular officers, so their quarters corresponded with their rank, and were located amidship between the seaman’s quarters in the fo’c’sle and the officers quarters in the stern. Thus they were called midshipmen.
Pipe down: Has anyone ever told you to “pipe down there” and be quiet? This phrase is also a nautical one, stemming from the bosun’s pipe signals – the pipe down whistle was the ‘lights out and everybody quiet’ whistle at the end of the day.
Taken aback – She was taken aback by the strange result of her experiment. Believe it or not, this phrase had its origin at sea as well! According to Wikipedia’s Glossary of Nautical Terms, “An inattentive helmsmen might allow the dangerous situation to arise where the wind is blowing into the sails ‘backwards,” causing a sudden (and possibly dangerous) shift in the position of the sails.“
Awesome seafarin’ movies and books:
The Midshipman Quinn Collection by Showell Styles record the exciting tale of the adventures of one unlikely British Midshipman – Septimus Quinn – during the naval battles against Napoleon. Septimus finds himself in a variety of exciting adventures from battling highwaymen to warring with the French, participating in daring escapades into enemy territory, consorting with spies, and striking such dreaded blows against the enemy that he earns a place on Napoleon’s “most hated” list! Septimus meets each strange chance with a “cool hand and spectacled eye.” These are some of my favorite historical fiction books.
Master and Commander – the movie! An exciting movie, again set during the era of Britain’s valiant fight against Napoleon. For Captain Jack Aubrey of the HMS Surprise, what started out as a simple mission becomes a personal quest and a struggle to maintain the balance between pride and duty! A heroic tale full of bravery, exciting battles, and thrilling sea chases, as well as memorable characters! A must see!
And of course, there’s always the Pirates of the Caribbean movies for any time you want to sit down and enjoy an evening of exciting swashbuckling fun full of battles, epic sword fights, hilarious crew, trickery… in short, pirates!
Well, mateys, I’ve already tarried here too long. ‘Tis high time fer me t’get under way again and sail off on an adventure of me own – the quest t’find the endin’ to me novel…
Ready all hands t’put about and sail into the sunset!
~ A Servant of the King
The Unlikely Hero
The stage is set, the spot light is on, the audience sits in eager anticipation. Suddenly, the trumpets sound, the curtains roll back, and the hero walks out on stage.
A roar of applause fills the air and the audience stands in thunderous ovation. But wait… This is the hero? Instead of shining armor, he is dressed in simple cotton clothes. Instead of a royal robe, he wears a woven green cloak, fastened at his throat with a leaf shaped broach. A short sword hangs at his waist. He doesn’t look like a hero…
And in any case, isn’t he too small?
Frodo Baggins was as unlikely a hero as his uncle Bilbo Baggins was before him. But it is because they are such unlikely heroes, that they are so near and dear to our hearts.
An unlikely hero is a person you would not ordinarily expect to accomplish great and heroic deeds in view of their stature, condition, personality, character, or circumstances, etc.
The unlikely hero is a well known figure in the fantasy world. In the Lord of the Rings, the four main Hobbit characters are all unlikely heroes in their own way. Their height (or rather, lack of it), their love for peace and quiet, and the simplicity of their lives in the carefree Shire, are not exactly factors conducive to forming brave hero stock.
Other unlikely heroes in fantasy include the four Pevensie children from the Chronicles of Narnia, Reepicheep from the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aidan from The Door Within Trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson, and Taran the Assistant Pig Keeper from Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, to mention just a few. From folk lore, we have the tale of the little Dutch boy who held back the sea by plugging the leak in the dyke with his finger and so saved his city from destruction.
In most stories, the unlikely hero is thrown into events beyond his/her control and far out of his/her comfort zone and is forced to either sink or swim. I cannot help thinking of poor Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, thrust out of Bag End to participate in a quest he did not even care about, only to discover that he had forgotten his pocket handkerchief!
“To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, a walking-stick, or any money, or anything that he usually took when he went out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished and quite unwashed-up, pushing his key into Gandalf’s hands, and running as fast as his furry feet could carry him down the lane, past the great Mill, across The Water, and then on for a mile or more.
Very puffed he was, when he got to Bywater just on the stroke of eleven, and found he had come without a pocket handkerchief!” (The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien)
It is often the unlikely hero in fiction and fantasy that we find it the easiest to relate to. The unlikely hero is usually an ordinary person, thrust into most extraordinary circumstances, who manages to respond in a heroic way.
History is as full of unlikely heroes as fantasy and legend.
For example, think of Sergeant Alvin York. One of the most highly decorated American soldiers of World War I, he was born in the backwoods of Tennessee, became a devout Christian in 1915, and prior to being drafted was a pacifist! After he was denied exemption as a conscientious objector, Alvin went on to study his Bible and pray and became convinced that he should fight. He was awarded the medal of honor for his actions on October 18th, 1918, when:
“After his platoon suffered heavy casualties and 3 other noncomissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading 7 men, he charged with great daring a machine gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machine gun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several gun.” (Quotation from York’s Medal of Honor citation)
There are many unlikely heroes in the Bible as well. The shepherd boy David, forgotten in the field while his father and brothers met with the prophet Samuel. Peter – an uneducated fisherman! Gideon. Even Paul!
Isn’t it interesting that God so often chooses an “unlikely hero” to accomplish His great plans! God uses the weak and foolish, the lowly things of this world, to accomplish His great purposes! Why was it the simple shepherd boy David who killed the giant Goliath? Were there no strong men around? Why was it Gideon with his three hundred men who routed the Midianite army with trumpets and torches? Why was it Peter, a man who had denied Christ three times, who was chosen to be the leader of the Church?
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo asks this very same question about himself.
“I wish had never seen the Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?”
“Such questions cannot be answered,” said Gandalf. “You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.“
In the Bible, however, we have a clearer answer than the one Gandalf gave:
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.‘” (I Corinthians 1:27-31)
So that through weak instruments great deeds would be accomplished and God’s name would be praised! Why does God use us? Like Frodo, it is not for any merit, no inherent righteousness or ability that we possess. But rather so that through our weakness, He would be shown to be strong!
How marvelous are the workings of our God! We should indeed be grateful that He choses to use us, unlikely, unskilled, weak as we are! May his name be praised!
I started to read through that passage in I Corinthians the other day and this post popped into my mind. So, what are some unlikely heroes you can think of – from fantasy, fiction, history, or the Bible?
~ A Servant of the King
On a side note, Song of Leira has reached the amazing length of 100,690 words! Not quite finished, but entering the homestretch! Almost there! Then come the inevitable red pen days… editing… cutting… revising!
The Deadly Trap of Comparison
There is a deadly trap laid for those who have been saved. The trap of comparison.
It is easy to compare ourselves to others and come away feeling smug because we are not quite so obviously sinful as they are. We’re not that bad! We try to do the right thing!
But in our smugness, we grow complacent. Complacency draws us away from Christ. Our hope begins to rest in our self righteousness rather Christ’s righteousness and power to save.
“For in his own eyes, he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.” (Psalms 36:2)
In our own eyes, we flatter ourselves too much to detect or hate our sin.
We forget that in God’s book, anger is as deadly as murder and just as death worthy a crime. We forget that we have been saved by grace alone, bought at a great and terrible price – the blood and suffering of the one who created us! It was our sin that nailed Him to the tree, our penalty that He paid!
Luke 18:9-14 records a parable that Jesus told “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else… ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Too often, our attitude is like that of the Pharisee. Even though we might never say or pray such words, our heart attitude is the same. We think and act as if we were somehow better than others.
Instead, our attitude should be like that of the tax collector or that of the apostle Paul.
Paul wrote in I Timothy 1:15-17 “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.“
And also in I Corinthians 4:7 “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you did not?“
We have been saved by grace alone. Nothing we have ever done or could ever hope to do could result in our salvation. Justified by grace through faith, we are sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit, not our own efforts. What do we have that we did not receive? Why then, do we act as though we have somehow made ourselves the way we are?
The sin here is the sin of pride! We take pride in our “righteousness?” While not always the most obvious sin, pride is just as deadly as any other. Pride was the cause of Satan’s downfall, and too often it is our downfall as well.
Instead of comparing ourselves to others, let us compare ourselves to Christ! Let us focus on His redeeming work in our lives, and like Paul and the prophet Jeremiah, say “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 1:31)
~ A Servant of the King
To the praise of His glory!
Exploring the Realm of Fantasy – Post Two
One week… three epic stories… seven late nights of reading…
Ted Dekker’s Circle Trilogy: Black, Red, and White.
Yes, I blame Ted Dekker for my lack of sleep over the week in which I devoured his Circle Trilogy. It certainly was his fault for writing such a wonderful epic… rather than my lack of self-control in trying to get to bed at a reasonable hour!
The Circle Trilogy is now one of my favorite fantasy series! (The list keeps expanding!) It possesses all the necessary elements of good fantasy. It was both exciting and riveting – most nights I did not set the book down until 2:30am – definitely a page turner, with the perfect blend of likable characters and intense action.
At the same time, the story made me think. The questions Dekker asked – and didn’t always answer – are still relevant today! The themes of love – God’s love for us, Christ’s love for us, our love for others – resonate within. The symbolism and allegory were clear but well written, and so stirring! Sacrifice… hope… love…issues of faith and trust… all in all, the Circle Trilogy is an epic worth remembering!
For me this was both a Dr. Pepper and a hot coffee story. (See earlier Exploring the Realm of Fantasy post to understand!) Some parts I gulped down… other parts I savored, slowly tasting each word! In short, I loved it!
Black: When a blow to his head makes Thomas Hunter lose consciousness in our world, he awakes in another! When he falls asleep in the new world, he awakes in the old. Confused and bewildered, Thomas finds himself suddenly thrown into the midst of a violent struggle between good and evil in both worlds. The stakes increase, when Thomas discovers a secret about a mutant virus that threatens to destroy our world… and he alone can hope to stop it! But time is running short.
Red: The Raison Strain is unleashed upon the unsuspecting world. Thomas Hunter struggles to battle the virus while at the same time, in the alternate world, he is a mighty general fighting to save his people against the vastly greater army of the Horde… But strength cannot battle treachery, and treachery rules the day in Red.
White: The Circle, the last of Elyon’s faithful followers, flee to the desert with Thomas Hunter where they are constantly hunted by the Horde. Meanwhile, in our world, the Raison Strain rages on without a cure! Is the end truly coming, both for the Circle and the world as we know it?
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT BELOW!!!
I also read book zero: Green. This book ties the whole series together into a circle since it can serve as both the first book in the series or the last book in the series. The tone of Green seemed very different from the tone of the Circle Trilogy. It was darker and much of the story was written from the evil POV which resulted in a blacker, more unsettling story. It also included vampires, creatures that I do not like at all.
And while I think that the concept of a circular series is brilliant – I can’t imagine trying to fit it all together – there are aspects to it that I don’t like. The idea of a constantly repeating circular history is somewhat reminiscent of Eastern mysticism. Also, I like stories that end well. Because Green makes the trilogy into a cricle, there is no real conclusion… the series just repeats itself over and over again. Also, if you look at it that way, then there was no way that anything Thomas did changed history because (since it’s a circle) when he goes back to change “history” he simply repeats everything he did before in the series. With Green as a beginning and end, it just wasn’t satisfying – at least not to me.
Green answered many of the questions I still had at the end of White and in that aspect, it was interesting. However, the negative elements really turned me off from the story and I didn’t come away with the same feeling that I had after I finished the Circle Trilogy.
END SPOILER ALERT
So, in conclusion, I can’t honestly say that I had a favorite of the three books Black, Red, and White… they all fit together so well, that it seemed like one big book rather than three separate books. I definitely recommend these stories to any fantasy lover, but would warn that these books are written for adults and evil is clearly shown as evil and it’s not a pretty sight.
The Circle Trilogy belongs on my favorite fantasy shelf! It is definitely one that I will read and re-read over and over again. A heart stirring, thought provoking, page turning, knuckle gripping epic!
Now, off to write my own novel…
~ A Servant of the King
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