Tellen Song, or the education of
Wilhelm Tell, released Christmas, 2015.
Publishing the story of the William
Tell — part legend, part history — was something of a Christmas
gift to myself.
I happened across an article some years
ago that tried valiantly to outline how much was myth and how much
true story. An heroic attempt but one that didn’t succeed entirely,
nor do I think the author thought he would. Too much is lost in the
mists of time. It has been over 700 years after all.
Yes, the Battle of Morgarten, one of
the precipitating events to the founding of Switzerland, occurred in
November, 1315 AD. That’s certainly a verifiable event. (Though,
even here there is some controversy among historians.) And yet, there
is so much that is ill-known about how the country we now call
Switzerland came to be.
That shouldn’t be surprising. It was
a very long time ago, and in an area where written records were not
the norm. But there are other reasons, some of which are possibly of
interest to an English-reading audience, most of whom pay little
attention to Switzerland (like most of the world).
One major factor in that uncertainty is
the sheer complexity of German politics of the period. The late
13th-early 14th centuries were a time of an
array of mind-boggling competition among power-lusting individuals,
families, and factions.
That extended from north, east, and
west of what is now Switzerland down to Lombardy (northern Italy) and
beyond. The rulers of the badly-named Holy Roman Empire had been
messing about not only in central and south Europe for generations
but all throughout Italy, too.
You’d think the Alpine mountain
ranges would’ve cut them off at the pass, but the St. Gotthard and
others helped open up Italy not only to trade but to the usual rapine
from men who want want others have produced.
And that brings us back to Tellen Song,
which covers a great deal of this history, grasping and factional
fighting, and a fair amount of more personal events — both real and
invented.
Give it a few minutes exploration,
please. Read the blurb. Download and read the sample. Let me know
what you think — good, bad, or otherwise.
And thank you.
Kindle version:
Paperback:
No comments:
Post a Comment