View source for The Heroic Tale of Sir Jamal

Sir [[Jamal Damian Marcus]]<br>
fallen in [[A Chronicle of Spring Crown Tourney A.S. XLI|Spring Crown Tourney, A.S. XLI]]

==The Heroic Tale of Sir Jamal==
(in ottava rima)

Today is the day of the rising star,<br>
It will judge who will rise, who will fall.<br>
Who would be the fighter who’ll go far?<br>
Whose head would this day swiftly roll?<br>
Those who came to the field from afar,<br>
All came willing to pay the high toll.<br>
At these hopes and dreams of the crown,<br>
The fortune will smile, wink, or frown.<br>
 
So comes Sir Jamal with his love Eowyn,<br>
The Mistress who holds the moor’s heart.<br>
For her he would try to succeed, to win<br>
This day with his warrior’s art.<br>
The foes are as fierce as they’ve ever been,<br>
And soon will the battle start.<br>
Thus, under the golden, bright eagle crest,<br>
He starts on his bold, on his noble quest.<br>
 
The day is still hopeful, young and bright<br>
As Jamal bravely comes to the field,<br>
Eowyn dazzlingly smiles at her knight,<br>
And he readies his sword and his shield.<br>
Kuma, the Bear in all his might<br>
Is a foe that would not ever yield.<br>
As the eagle falls and the bear reigns,<br>
To Jamal only single life remains.<br>
 
His next foe is young, but of some renown,<br>
Lorccan who knows his way with the sword.<br>
Watches Eilidh with a worried frown;<br>
Eowyn shivers as if with cold.<br>
Will Sir Jamal keeps a chance at the crown?<br>
Will the kingdom be his to hold?<br>
He did not miss his chance to prevail,<br>
And so goes on this hero’s tale.<br>
 
Sir Padraig, the bearer of dragon’s head,<br>
For Lady Runa comes to the fray.<br>
Boldly both knights charge right ahead,<br>
Fighting not to wound but to slay.<br>
Weapons clash, clang, and inspire dread;<br>
Jamal’s steady blows naught can defray.<br>
The battle is over, mighty yet brief,<br>
And Eowyn breathes a sigh of relief.<br>
 
On come the MacMillans, joining the fight.<br>
Sir Tearlach has his eye on the prize,<br>
His noble lady his pride and delight,<br>
But Eowyn makes Jamal’s spirits rise.<br>
Tearlach falls to a sword’s bitter bite,<br>
Mutely lamenting his hope’s demise.<br>
The day goes on, the lists grow trimmer...<br>
Who is to behold the crown’s bright glimmer?<br>
 
Viscondesa Jimena, the beauty of Spain,<br>
Stands by her knight who fights for the dream.<br>
Sir Rhys meets Jamal, to kill or be slain,<br>
Foes and knights of the highest esteem.<br>
Eowyn watches, her care is plain,<br>
Willing Jamal to emerge supreme.<br>
And since he does, their hopes are high<br>
As they find respite in getting a bye.<br>
 
Sir Edward, who bears a boar,<br>
Leads Mora with him to the lists.<br>
Oh, what of Jamal? He is sore,<br>
And dreading that his sword may miss.<br>
They charge, and they clash, and they roar…<br>
For them, just this moment exists.<br>
As it flees, Sir Jamal falls defeated,<br>
His hopes of the crown depleted…<br>
 
To Eowyn he looks in frustration,<br>
As he thought that this day could be his,<br>
But she is his love and salvation,<br>
And the promise resides in her kiss.<br>
They will not embrace desperation;<br>
Instead they’ll get stronger from this.<br>
The future still harbors much hope,<br>
And so they would not ever mope.<br>
 
:—  Lady [[Liudmila Vladimirova doch’]]
::...is a daughter of a Moscow boyar, of blessed memory, who lost his fortune in the early days of Tsar Ivan Vasilievich’s reign and had to agree to marry her off to a foreign merchant. Thus, she had to leave her home but still refuses to wear any unseemly Western clothes and do unseemly Western things.

Note: The ottave rima  is a poem with a stanza of eight lines following a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c rhyming scheme. It was first used by Boccaccio, and eventually appeared in Elizabethan England, mostly in translations. Originally it was intended for heroic epics,  but also appeared in the mock-heroic poetry. The author is not quite sure which of the two she produced.

{{Crown Poems}}