Worthy Reading

The Fight of Falkirk

    Wallace, or The Fight of Falkirik, is a historical verse poem with romantic and epic elements. Notes of supernatural and gothic horror are present throughout the poem, with some imagery harkening back to the ghosts and other ominous forces present in much of William Shakespeare’s work. An air of dread and inevitable fate is a strong theme throughout as well, with the mention of  “destiny” in particular repeated by multiple characters (especially Wallace himself).

    The story begins in the midst of battle, which Holford uses as an opportunity to introduce the heroic Scottish warriors who lead the rebels against the English. Early, Holford establishes the political and honour-based motives that drive these warriors to battle, and, in the case of the character of Comyn, she hints at darker motives and brewing betrayal. For Wallace and many of his allies, resistance to the English is a matter of duty to Scotland; on a number of occasions the Scottish characters refer to the English as “robbers,” more so than even invaders, and Holford’s representation of the rebel side seems to be favourable. After many of the heroic characters are introduced, the themes of destiny and dread become more apparent; in canto the second, Wallace witnesses a skeletal, spectral figure that seems something reminiscent of the Grim Reaper. The figure warns Wallace of a grim future in which his friends meet their demise, and in which, though he outlives them, he will find a grimmer fate awaits him.

    Wallace is painted as a conflicted character from this point onward, as his doubts toward the possibility of victory become more and more prominent. Holford depicts Wallace as a picture of bravery—a heroic character who, despite all suggestion of failure, persists in fighting for what he believes to be just. Later in the story, Holford switches perspective from Wallace and the Scots; instead, she focuses on the English warriors—and King Edward leading them—as they prepare to do battle with Wallace. She takes time to present and develop various knights fighting in favour of the English cause, with even one such knight being a Scot, and her portrayal of the king paints him as somewhat admirable. After this point, it becomes clearer that Holford’s depiction of the conflict between rebel and loyalist is more objective than it may at first have seemed; she endeavors to represent both sides as valid in their motivations for war, and both sides as composed of flawed and human characters. With these factors in mind, the battle that ensues—the titular “fight of Falkirk,” though once gain from the Scottish perspective, prompts the reader to straddle the line between the side he or she may favour. The battle is chaotic and desperate, with deaths of characters prominently focused upon as balance shifts between both sides, and it is through a final betrayal that one side finally sees victory over the other. Wallace is as much an epic story of heroic warriors and the horrors of warfare as any of its time, with eloquent and harmonious rhyme worthy of standing alongside some of the best. Its dramatic conclusion, and the twists of plot that lead up to and follow it, will captivate the reader until the very  end: When Wallace meets a destiny altogether stranger than any warning the spectre could have given him.

Calaf: A Pesian Tale

    Calaf: A Persian Tale is a novel, in two volumes, following the character of Calaf—a young man, pious but naïve—and his father, Alzamor, on their journey to answer a summons from the king of Persia. Themes of coming of age, youth and agedness, and the balance between happiness and sorrow are present throughout; much like Wallace as well, supernatural elements serve to reinforce themes of destiny. The story is told largely through the related stories of other characters, a sort of extended monologue that acts as a story within the story, and it seems that these tales are told for the benefit of Calaf.

    The story begins with a naïve Calaf who has lived most of his young life in a mountain cottage where his father retired; Calaf is accustomed to the day-to-day needs of this rather solitary existence, having already earned some degree of mastery of the hunting and survival skills one might require in such a place. It is clear from the beginning, however, that Calaf knows little of the complexities of denser human societies (and it is even mentioned later that he barely gave a glance to the young girls who lived, albeit few and far between, near his home). Calaf’s simple world is taken away from him, however, when a messenger demands the presence of Alzamor in Persia, ending his de facto exile for the first time in nearly two decades. Calaf has no choice but to follow his father, forcing him to face an uncertain and terrifying future: The navigation of the civilized world. Such a world is something about which he is warned by his father, and Alzamor’s experience with it is only alluded to until some chapters into the story. In despair and rage against his fate, Calaf spends an early portion of the story wandering the verdant wilderness of his home for the last time; there, he encounters a spirit—a Genius, as Holford describes it—who manifests not far unlike an angel. The genius tells Calaf that he can no longer keep watch over him, and that Calaf will soon face a world of deceit and vice that will tempt him to stray from his otherwise pious path. He tells Calaf that his destiny will lead him to rule Persia, but that he must also have the strength and wisdom to not be consumed by the world he must navigate. From many characters over the course of the book, his own father included, Calaf learns of the danger and deceit of his fellow man; he learns that trust is a dangerous thing to bestow upon anyone, and that many who have come before him have suffered for it. Calaf is faced with questions of virtue and the human capacity for evil, and with this knowledge—and the advice of those he meets along his journey—he is forced to decide how to accept the world he has been thrust into.

    Calaf: A Persian Tale is a masterful example of Holford’s compelling narrative skills and her attention to detail. Throughout, Holford respectfully presents the culture of the area and time period she wishes to represent, with the use of non-English words (and corresponding explanations for those unaware of their meaning) reinforcing immersion in the world. The novel asks the reader complex questions of morality, trust, and human relationships, with an overarching theme in the form of a question: If life is so tragic, and happiness so fleeting, how does one live in the world? This question is one indirectly posed to Calaf himself, and one for which he must find an answer should he avoid tragedy himself.