Through the gate of dreams he went

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Alexander Aethelwulf
fallen in Fall Crown Tourney, A.S. XLII

Through the gate of dreams he went,
Thence to seek the crown.
Kathryn’s champion, Aethelwulf,
he of bright renown.

First to face the bat-winged cat,
to brave the lion’s jaws.
The hammer’s swing drives Aethelwulf
to fall beneath sharp claws.

Another lion, tawny gold,
tries a mailed thrust;
Aethelwulf sends compass star
spinning to the dust.

Behold, the storied pithon comes,
this serpent wise in ways of war;
and Aelthelwulf considers well
—this head has worn the crown before

And so the battle now is joined
with measured step and deadly glance.
Here Aethelwulf and Edric
meet each other in the ancient dance.

Where Saxon fire meets pithon’s grace,
the list-field crucible tries each
and Aethelwulf now falls at last;
the crown, for now, just out of reach.

Some day again, the call will come
However far the day now seems
And Kathryn’s champion, Aethelwulf,
Will breach once more that gate of dreams.

— Baron Riordan Robert MacGregor
... is a 15th Century Scot of no fixed address, who amuses himself arranging words and beads. If only this talent would work in his cupboards and storerooms!

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