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work, he has composed the compelling musical suite, Genesis of the Grail Kings. [See Audio Reviews, this issue. Ed.] France, while Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm produced their German work, he has composed the compelling musical suite, Genesis of version in 1812. the Grail Kings. [See Audio Reviews, this issue. Ed.] Over the years, many people have likened Tolkien's wizard, Gandalf, to Merlin of the Arthurian tales. At the same time, O: apparent fact about Tolkien's elven folk is that, unlike Tolkien's Aragorn has been likened to King Arthur but, as Tolkien the cute little elves of many children's tales, these charac- himself pointed out, there is really a closer similarity between ters are actually larger and more powerful than average Aragorn and the historical Charlemagne. mortals. They are also endowed with greater powers of wisdom, The challenge which faced Charlemagne, who had been they ride magical horses and closely resemble the ancient Irish charged by the Church to establish a viable Empire from various king-tribe of the Tuatha Dé Danann. In this regard, Tolkien was disunited kingdoms, was not unlike that which confronted quite accurate with his assessment of the original Ring Lords of Aragorn, who reunited the divided kingdoms of Middle Earth. the Albi-gens who, in the far distant years BC, were called the But there was a marked difference in practice, for Aragorn was far Lords of the Sidhé (pronounced "shee"). more like Arthur in having an advisory wizard, whereas The Sidhé was a transcendent intellect, known to the Druids as Charlemagne did not because the Church would not consent to the Web of the Wise, while "druid" (druidhe) was itself a Celtic counsellors outside its own appointees. word for "witch"—an English form of the Saxon verb wicca, Aragorn's was therefore more of a Celtic-style environment, meaning "to bend" or "to yield" (as indeed do willow and wicker). with the enemy being the evil Sauron. Charlemagne, on the other The Tuatha Dé Danann (or Dragon Lords of Anu) were masters hand, was a champion of the Roman Church whose adversaries of the transcendent Sidhé, and were duly classified as "fates" or were the supporters of the unlawfully ousted Merovingian estab- _—"fairies". Before settling in Ireland (from about 800 BC), they lishment—an establishment to which Aragorn would personally were the world's most noble race, alongside the early Kings of have been well suited. Egypt, being the Black Sea Princes of Scythia (now Ukraine). In the event, it became essential for the Church to settle some Like the original dynastic Pharaohs, they traced their descent from form of Ring entitlement upon Charlemagne so that he was per- the great Pendragons of Mesopotamia; and from them sprang the ceived to conform to the Dragon tradition. And so a suitable tale kingly lines of the Irish Bruithnigh and the Picts of Scotland's was invented to the effect that a ser- Caledonia. In Wales they founded the pent appeared at his court with a Royal House of Gwynedd, while in golden ring in its mouth—an Cornwall in the southwest of England, enchanted ring that compelled him they were the sacred gentry known as to love whoever's finger it was on. For here, in this one noble race, the Pict-sidhé—from which derives At this stage, it is of interest to we have the "elves", "fairies" the term "pixie". note that a newly proposed three- So, from a single caste of the film series of Tolkien's The Lord of and "pixies"—not beguiling original Blood Royal—whether sages of development. Aftersome | little folk, but distinguished or the Ring Lordk-we discover many 8 months of negotiation with the kings and queens of the of the descriptive terms which sit at American film company Newline Dragon succession. the very heart of popular folklore. For here, in this one noble race, we have the "elves", "fairies" and "pixies"—not beguiling little folk, but distinguished Kings and Queens of the Dragon Cinema, the $260-million contract has been acquired by New Zealand film-maker Peter Jackson. Various parts of New Zealand will apparently make ideal Middle Earth locations for the project, and succession. it is hoped that the first film (based upon Book I of Tolkien's One of the most important Scythian words was uper, which 950s trilogy) will be released within the next couple of years. meant "over" or "above"—a word that we still use in today's This film, The Fellowship of the Ring, will subsequently be fol- _ English in such definitions as "superintendent" or "supervisor". In lowed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King. titular form, a Scythian Uper was an Overseer or, more important- With a speaking cast of about sixty and many thousands of ly, an Overlord—the equivalent of a Pendragon. Later, in the extras, it has recently been rumoured that one of the key roles, Hungarian and Romanian regions, the word gained the variant that of Gandalf, is hotly tipped for Sean Connery. Given that The form, Oupire. Lord of the Rings has been voted "the most popular book of the Until the mediaeval fabrications of the Christian Church, there century", and with stars of this calibre, we could well be looking was nothing remotely sinister or supernatural about the definition at one of the first mammoth box-office attractions of the new of Oupire, but this was eventually destined to change when the millennium. witch-hunts began, for the priestly/kingly Oupires were, in the The composer Richard Wagner's personal association with eyes of Rome, the equivalent of Magian Druids. They were there- Grail lore and, of course, his own famous Ring Cycle are well fore witches, and the Sidhé definition (Web of the Wise) became known. It is therefore very appropriate that one of the present newly dubbed as "the Web of the Weird". hopeful contenders for The Lord of the Rings film score is In the main, outside the Celtic regions of Britain, the traditional Richard Wagner's own descendant, Adrian Wagner, who is now Oupires had been apparent in the Balkan and Carpathian regions in touch with the film company in this regard. of Europe, having prevailed from Transylvania to the Black Sea When Bloodline of the Holy Grail was released, I was heart- in ancient times. They were therefore not only associated with ened to learn that the Wagner Grail tradition of Lohengrin and witches but with Gypsies. The Church bishops and Inquisitional Parsifal was still very much to the fore. At that time, in parallel friars suspected them of being the ultimate rulers of the Land of with my book, Adrian Wagner released an album called The Holy Continued on page 87 Spirit and the Holy Grail. Now, as a companion to my latest For here, in this one noble race, we have the "elves", "fairies" and "pixies"—not beguiling little folk, but distinguished kings and queens of the Dragon succession. 60 + NEXUS Continued on page 87 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1999