And Speaking of Dragons... by Chipka
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Description
Because of my interest in Science Fiction, I’ve developed an interest in its cousin, Fantasy; in my younger years I avoided Fantasy like the plague. I found the stories and symbolism…disturbing: not because of the monsters, the sword-and-sorcery violence, or the bouncing, pendulous breasts (always exposed by page 102) but because of the assumptions made by such stories. It wasn’t until I came across the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. LeGuin, that I decided to give Fantasy a chance. The Neverÿon Cycle by Samuel R. Delany not only turned Fantasy on its head, but dissected and short-circuited all of its major tropes. Samuel R. Delany, in no uncertain terms, completely subverted the Fantasy genre, and because of a “later” Neverÿon novella, is recognized as the first author to deal with the topic of HIV/AIDS in mass market fiction. Shortly after that, China Miéville burst onto the scene, turning Fantasy on its head and kicking the Anglicized, bearded mages out of their sturdy, ivory towers. LeGuin, Delany, and Miéville wrote fantasy for adults, at least half of whom were non-white-women. (So much for high-fantasy and pulp sf!)
I’d avoided Fantasy (and quite a lot of pulp sf) because of the casually racist/sexist vibe many of the stories contained. Many of the so-called masterworks of the genres (f-&-sf) served as little more than juvenile fantasies for boys and young men of a very particular ethnic background and social class. As a result of that, the genres languished in seas of purple prose until people from outside came in, shook things up, and collected a few awards along the way.
And still…
…a problem remains. Not a serious one. Nothing to turn one’s back on a genre for. Nothing significant. And yet, it nags me. Toni Morrison once declared that if you can’t find the sorts of books and stories you want to read, then it’s up to you to write them. And so…we come to dragons.
LeGuin has handled dragons in her works. She’s handled them deftly. She has defined them as something other than treasure-hoarding, fire-breathing monsters with a taste for blond-woman-shishkabobs. LeGuin’s dragons wouldn’t fight Saint George so much as actually converse with him (provided he knew the Old Language, the Language of the Making) before pointing out the folly of his anti-reptilian crusade, toasting him on the spot, and then going to enjoy the day’s gossip with other dragons. LeGuin’s dragons are cryptic and inscrutable, and they talk a lot when they’re not being solitary.
And so we come to the crux of the matter. Dragons. Dragon-slayers. The western tradition of pyroreptiliophobia. I’ve been thinking about this since Saturday night. I’ve been asking myself questions: How do you talk to a dragon? What do you say? Do you bring bread and ask them to make toast?. I suspect there will be answers to these (and other) questions, and such answers may appear in the Writer’s Gallery, at some point…later…
Until then, here’s an image inspired by such ramblings. The base of the image is rust, photographed at work, last week (a companion piece to yesterday’s photograph) and a number of other Gimp-created effects. The human figure is a composite of various photographs I’d taken over the years, and the “flame effect” covering a bit of nudity that is not actually there is the end result of me fiddling around with the Gimp, clicking icons and asking myself: Hmm…what does this do?
And so, how do you talk to a dragon?
I don’t know, but I think I’m about to find out, just as soon as a particular character decides to tell me.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week.
Comments (18)
Wolfenshire
Really cool image and write up.
flavia49
wonderful work
Faemike55
ah! then you MUST read Anne McCaffrey's novels and short stories. She has dragons in a different light. fantasy and science fiction mixed with a touch of social commentary.
treasureprints
I love your end result,...it's quite beautiful. The background almost looks like woodland, and the light effects are similar to what can be achieved by someone photographing a twirling flashlight at night (which I've done). As for fantasy/sci-fi, I've not read LeGuin, but am intrigued now. My favorite is Peter F. Hamilton, who has the most original aliens and scenarios. What an imagination! His books are big and in wonderful complex trilogies. So complex that each time a new one comes out that I have to read the previous one to remember what all was happening.:)
MrsRatbag
I think the secret to dragons is that you have to have a pure mind. They read your mind, you know, and they instantly know if you're up to something you shouldn't be. They like sweets, especially dark chocolate, and they like marshmallows, but mostly to play with. There's a game they do where someone tosses one and they flame it midair and see how high up the wall it sticks when it hits. And they like cats, but a lot more than cats like them. Wonderful image and explanation for the same reasons I avoid a lot of fantasy; I've migrated to urban fantasy lately, and post-apocalypse sorts of things. I tend to avoid the magician/princess/swords/dragons kind of fantasy where everyone is perfectly beautiful. Kind of hard to relate to that!
beachzz
ah, dragons and creatures that have wings and horns, trees that talk and strange humanoids that wander around. i just watched "avatar" and saw all of those. for some reason, this image brings all that to mind. and if dragons like dark chocolate, tell him to come on over; i always have some on hand!!
durleybeachbum
Pyroreptilophobia! Hehe! Marvellous, and thankyou for a huge giggle. And before I read your intriguing ramble I thought "Gosh, this bloke has done something most unusual and rather inventive with a Sparkler". Very clever, Chip!
wysiwig
I have been watching Game of Throneson cable. One character, Daenerys, is a full bosomed blond with three young dragons as protectors. They are young but one has killed a slave trader who threatened Daenerys. She seems to be able to communicate with them well enough. Turns the old stereotype on its head. I think Denise has got it right. Speak to a dragon with your thoughts. Of course, first you have to summon one.
Hendesse
Excellent and very creative work. Looks fantastic!!
Mondwin
Splendid realisation my friend!!!bravissimo:DDD.Hugsxx Whylma
jendellas
I too had Game of Thrones in mind when I was reading your words. Daenerys says she is the dragons mother, she hatched the eggs in the fire, she was unhurt!! (you do have to know the story to know what we are on about!!) Super image. xx
clbsmiley
Dragontalk, interesting. I dedicated some insects to you.
kgb224
Outstanding work my friend. God bless.
JuliSonne
Experimental photography, combined with textures and filters ... an intoxicating copies out. An image for scrutinize!!
helanker
Maybe you should ask Merlin :-) He knows how to talk to Dragons. Merlin is a wizard but that is a secret, so he is servant for King Arthur :) Beautiful fiddling of this shot :)
sandra46
excellent work!
jac204
So the human is a composite? I would never thought that it was more than one person, very effective. Also effective is the way you make us believe that the human is, in fact, a nude.
auntietk
I'd missed this when you posted it, because I have my bots turned off. Dang. This is fabulous artwork, and I enjoyed reading the pre-story bits. Makes perfect sense now! I liked the dragon story, but thought it was a bit random, choice wise. Got it!! :)