March 18th, 2009 · No Comments · Moss Tales

It is a handy thing, this internet deal you have these days, is it not? I prefer the quill, the papyrus, and a rich bottle of ink, myself. A warm fire, a tall glass of goat milk, and stories to tell–What could be better?

However, Mr. Lewis has informed me that ink is not “web-compatible” or some silly thing like that. Fortunately, having magical powers, I need not the clunkiness of a computer to … blog … (a distasteful word, is it not?) but instead send my stories to this nonexistent realm you call the world wide web directly from my mind. Lichen tells me she’s got herself some silly little laptrap from Orange Computers or some such place. She likes the clickity-clack of the keys. I kid you not.

I do have some thoughts to share, if you’ll heed the words of an, dare I say, adventurous and somewhat charming brùnaidh. This is a topic close to my heart: What You Need To Know About Brùnaidhs.

1. I am a brùnaidh. (Don’t listen to Lichen. We are NOT brownies.)

2. Brùnaidhs are magic-born. For details on this, read The Goblin Road, by my new friend J. Parrish Lewis, who interviewed me thoroughly for a well-done account of a period of my life that I indeed miss and a lad I miss even more. A pity that humans cannot live as long as brùnaidhs can.

3. Give a brùnaidh fresh goat milk, gain a new friend. This cannot be trivialized. Fresh.

4. Generally, we are not annoying elf-like creatures, nor are we like the filthy pixies, but there are of course exceptions. Particularly I can think of one such annoying brùnaidh, but I won’t name names here because I am, after all, a gentlebrùnaidh and not a cad.

5. Brùnaidhs are quite skilled in the Art of Enjoying Life. The only exception I have seen in my lifetime is Cousin Bark, but I suspect this may have something to do with her having Goblin Blood from some distant ancestor. Takes a thousand years or so to get the grumpiness out.

6. We love a good story. We pride ourselves on our storytelling skills, and that’s a fact. I don’t mean to brag … well …perhaps just a wee bit, but there you have it: storytellers, the lot of us. Unfortunately, SOME brùnaidhs have a peculiar notion on what is worth telling to others and then somehow NOT GETTING THE HINT that the listener is not really all that interested in every little tidbit trivia about the lives of melodramatic sprites and crestfallen pig farmers. Please. Choose your stories wisely. Especially if WE must listen.

More to come. I am sifting through my memory for tales to share with you. In the meantime, check out The Goblin Road when it’s out. I expect you will particularly enjoy how my dear friend Ruarc and I met, those many years ago.

Sincerely yours, Moss of the Brùnaidhs.