Maledicti Fennones!
I wish I had a whole studio of obedient slaves who would make my visions come true while I catch up on my thesis work, sleep, eat and other things that I seem to forget nowadays.
This only started because I wanted to see Falco in a beard.
I’ve always been fascinated by the Thirty Years’ War, ever since school in Germany. The effects of the war can still be seen, believe it or not. Especially the Swedish intervention left quite an impact on the Catholic side. There are still masses held in Bavaria for the martyrs that fell for the ravaging army of the Swedish king. Later nationalist writers and historians in Sweden and Finland, and Protestants in Germany, especially in the 19th and 20th century, created a myth about the noble “Lion from the North”, fighting evil Catholics symbolized by the stereotypical scheming Jesuit. Zacharias Topelius‘ adventure story cycle Fältskärns berättelser from 1853-67 features heroic (but also brutish) Finnish cavalry soldiers, an evil priest and a brave but misguided young Catholic lady who learns the error of her ways. It’s the source of the Latin phrase, Maledicti Fennones! - which means, Damned Finns.
Of course, I’m not going to do that story.
Don Ignazio Maria Desiderio Scaramuccia is a priest. He is also the descendant of the famous condottiero Scaramuccia da Forlì, and well versed in the art of battle. His mission is to secure an ancient rosary that belongs to the house of Wolfclau in Bavaria, which is being destroyed by the Swedish and Saxon army. One would think that he works for the Emperor of Austria, but the neutral powers, the Pope and France’s Cardinal Richelieu, are also interested in the rosary. The priest is able to summon protective fire through intense prayer. His horse is a black Spanish gelding called Savonarola.
Frau Ursula von Wolfclau is the young wife of the last heir of the Wolfclau name, her cousin Friedrich. Ursula is a very devout Christian, and Don Ignazio has her complete trust. When Friedrich decides to defect to the Protestant side, she is devastated - but he expects her to obey and deliver the rosary. While Don Ignazio pockets it instead, oblivious to the turmoil inside his confessant, she decides to rebel. She kills her treacherous husband, disguises herself as a man and runs off with her favourite hunting horse and hound to warn Don Ignazio that the entire Swedish army is on his trail. If Ursula has any special powers, it is her Bavarian bloody-mindedness and her ability to convince people of her petite and peach-cheeked masculinity.
Pekka Antinpoika Pertuska is a Finnish cavalryman or hackapelite, a veteran from campaigns against Poland and Russia, hence his nickname “Pertuska”, the bardiche. The hackapelites’ Finnhorses were small, but strong and sturdy. Pekka’s Finnhorse has the Biblical name Jehu - “he driveth furiously”, Kings 9:20. Like all Finns, Pekka knows quite a bit about witchcraft and manipulates the weather in his favour. He is able to whistle for wind and shoot for rain.
Soon they’re all on each other’s trails, and trying to survive among bloodthirsty Swedes, Saxons, Bavarians, Croatians, Scottish mercenaries, French spies, wolves, worms and other strange things that roam the Black Forest.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Ooksää alkanu piirtään tätä sarjaa jo?
Siis että sää keksit kaikkee!