July 31, 2006

• The Bristol Renaissance Faire- A Place to Be Me

  

  
  

  What’re you lookin’ at?

  
  

  One of the fey-folk at the Faire! Here are some pictures I took! Oh what fun it was…. I wrote another poem to Queen Elizabeth and received my third favor from her. She was quite sad but also very impressed when I told her that I might not be able to come any more since I’m joining the Jesuit Order. Other nobles in her court were equally impressed and saddened, and the whole weekend they were addressing me as Sir Jacob. It was very very cool. The Queen loved my poem too… I even got an, “awww…” from Her Majesty when she saw the title, “An Ode to Her Heart.” Here she is surrounded with members of the court. See the lady with the white plume in her hat? That’s her. She’s an amazing woman and I admire her immensely.

  
  

  

  
  

  Besides solidifying my standing with The Queen, I spent a lot of time watching the fey-folk. They are so graceful and beautiful to watch, and they are very silly. Here is Grandmother Cob, the Spider Fairy. See the web all around her? All day long she creates that web with white string, and I think she starts over every weekend. The other fey put things like sticks and leaves in the web, creating a beautiful masterpiece.

  
  

  

  
  

  And here is another fey:

  
  

  

  
  

  And another (sorry about the slight blurriness):

  
  

  

  
  

  Next is a sight that moved me to the point of writing poetry… oh what a graceful and beautiful creature…. Her Majesty’s physician and fey expert told me that she’s a Dragon Fairy. I was completely captivated by her… oh, what a heartache to say goodbye!

  
  

  

  
  

  Oh look… she’s reading it….

  
  

  

  
  

  Imagine that… she’s smiling !

  
  

  

  
  

  *sigh* I gave her a poem, and afterward she scoured the surrounding ground for a suitable gift. She found an acorn, blew upon it, and gave it to me.

  
  

  At the end of the second day, after all the characters had paraded out of the town and to the front gate, the fey disappeared…. I had written a note for the above fey, to tell her how inspiring she had been. I just stood in the near empty park, soaking it all in before heading out, when I saw one fey dart across the grass, soon chased by another. Then, out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of blue hide behind the trunk of a tree. I walked slowly toward it until a lithe, blue leg stuck straight out from behind it, hovering in the air a moment before slowly coming to rest on the ground in a singular, graceful step. Slowly, the rest of the dragon fey emerged and turned her head to look at me, smiling and cocking her head in an expression of curiosity. She balanced perfectly on one foot as I slowly approached, holding the note out to her. Taking it, she smiled beautifully, holding her other hand up to her mouth to giggle silently. I said goodbye and she made a sad face, but smiled again and held her perfect hand palm upward toward me. I placed my hand against hers and we both smiled for a moment before I turned to leave. That moments was, most probably, the most beautiful and moving moment of my summer so far.

  
  

  So, if anyone out there loves the Renaissance or fantasy at all, I highly recommend going to this Faire. Things are expensive, sure, but there is so much you can do for free that you need only bring some money to pay admission and buy food with. I really really hope I can go back some day, but if I can’t, this past weekend was the perfect way to say goodbye.

  
  

   

  • 6:03 pm
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