Thread: The Warwitch Hare

The Warwitch Hare, by Will Jacques

Once, long ago, there lived in the rocky village of Warwitch a young man called Hare. Hare was the seventh son of a very poor farmer and his family suffered much from want. One day, after his father died, his mother came to him and she was crying. “Hare,” she said. “You are a man now and your beard is coming in. We have no land for you, for it is all gone to your brothers. There is nothing for you here but hunger and want. You must leave and make your way into the wide world.”
Hare was much distressed at this and went to see his friend, who was the village smith and a cunning man.
“I am sorry to see you go,” said the smith. “For you are much beloved by me and the wide world is a dangerous and lonely place. Three gifts I have for you and I can do nothing more.”

For his first gift, the smith gave Hare a warm blue cloak; woven thick and close, for the road was cold, with rain and night.
For his second gift, the smith gave Hare a long knife; heavy and pointed for stabbing, for the road was dangerous and fraught with peril.
For his third gift, the smith gave Hare a sturdy oaken staff; capped with thick iron, for the road was long and the terrain treacherous.

Hare was much relieved, for he felt himself able now to face what troubles would surely come his way. He thanked the smith and started off along the winding purple road that led away into the wide world.
Long He walked, till he came to a mountainous land. Steep with cliffs and beset with icy winds. Hare trusted to his cloak to shelter him through the icy passes. At once, a frost giant lumbered out to block his way.
“Hold Pilgrim,” said he. “You need not that blue cloak. Come shelter within my icy hall. There you will sleep more deeply than you have ever slept before.”
“Thank you, but no,” said Hare. “I must walk to keep warm.”
The giant blew his freezing breath. “Sleep,” he sang, “dream of comforting warmth.”
Hare walked on. Soon, the giant tired of being nice. He raged and stormed with all his frigid wrath, but Hare walked on. At length, the giant tired and grew still. Hare found a great wealth of the mountain’s treasure, gold and silver. He took it to himself, with much toil, and his cloak sheltered him until he passed from the mountains, and continued down the purple road into the wide world.
Long he walked, until he came to a hilly land, thick with fog and damp with cold. At once, a hungry robber-wolf blocked his path.
“I see you are lost,” snarled the robber-wolf, “for this is a far and desolate land. Only the lost would venture here. Free yourself of your burden and I will show you how to get an easy meal.”
“I am not lost,” said Hare, “only travelling, through this hilly land into the wide world.”
“I am a killer,” said the robber-wolf.” I am frightening to all who behold me. Quake, for you must know that I am the most dangerous of fellows and I have many more just like me waiting to take their vengeance. I see you have gold and silver, give it to me and I will let you pass.”
With this, the robber-wolf bared his long, yellow fangs and leaned toward Hare with a horrible grimace.
“You certainly are a frightening fellow,” said Hare, “I will give you my silver.”
At this, the robber-wolf leaned closer, with an even more horrible grimace.
“You certainly are a frightening fellow,” said Hare. “I will give you my gold.”
At this, the robber-wolf leaned closer, with an even more horrible grimace.
“You certainly are a frightening fellow,” said Hare. “I will give you my steel.”
With that, he drove his long knife into the robber-wolf’s breast. Then he used his long knife to skin the robber-wolf and make a fine set of boots from his hide. He put on his boots, and then set out on the purple road to make his way further into the wide world.
Long he walked, until he came to a wide land, warm and rich with pastures. At once a learned priest blocked his path. He carried a crooked staff, with the image of a dying man carved into the top.
“Hold my son,” said the learned priest. “Harken unto me, and I will relieve your earthly burden. All who pass must carry this image, and give to ‘The unseen one In the Sky.”
Hare paused, “If he is unseen, what does he need with money?”
The learned priest looked unhappy. “He uses it to build temples for his worship and glory.”
Hare paused, “You cannot see the sky from a temple. Wouldn’t it be better to worship ‘The Unseen One in the Sky’ while outside?”
The learned priest looked angry. “He uses it for the glory of his church and for his priests to spread his holy vision.”
Hare paused, “If no one can see The Unseen One, then how can the priests see anything more than anyone else, since nobody can see anything to start with?”
The learned priest was furious. “You are a foreign devil, and have no right to enter the kingdom of God.”
He held up his crooked staff. “Accept this holy image and pay the holy tithe or we will declare you heretic and take all your earthy possessions. Make God take mercy on your heathen soul”
At this, Hare took up his oaken staff, bound with caps of thick iron and brought it down on the learned priests head.
“I think I will keep this one,” said Hare. ”It has been with me all this time and it seems my journey is just beginning.”

You have developed a very strong character here in 'Hare'. He seems like a proper old fashioned no nonsense hero. His change from 'much distressed' to 'much relieved' after receiving the gifts from his friend showed a lot of faith. Was this faith in the gifts or in his friend?

The story is based on Saxon myth. Hare is all men, he is the Trickster, Loki, Coyote, Gwyddion, Bugs Bunny. Wayland The Smith (Hephaestus, et al) gave Hare the three gifts man needs to survive, Shelter, Weapon, and Tool. Hare must leave because of overcrowding and famine, the oldest story of man. He must migrate and brave all elements, cold, rain, drout, thus the Frost Giant. His gold and silver are just ways of saying food, supplies, you know, stuff you need. There are two enemies now he must face, tyranny (Crime war...), and tyranny from taxation and moral enslavement.
Hare is Odin as a young man.

I really enjoyed it. It has the feel of an old fairy tale.
I found the part with the wolf to be a bit repetitious.

At this, the robber-wolf leaned closer, with an even more horrible grimace.

I know what you're doing with it, but I feel it might be more effective if there is just a slight difference between the lines. Such as "At this, the robber-wolf leaned closer still..."
Just a matter of opinion, though.

This is excellent, and I feel that the style and pacing, repitition (possibly leaning towards excess), and metaphor all serve it effectively. I imagine this is the sort of thing that could be ideal with some beautiful illustrations. The langauge and structure of it suits its setting and overall makes me think of early 20th century children's books, like Tolkien's Roverandom

You certainly have the style down in this piece. I didn't quite catch some of the meanings behind encounters. I would like to see more cohesion in the tale and more about he characters feelings. I don't think that is outside the scope of the format.

VERY NICE, this was so enjoyable and really fun!

I love me some animal whimsy. This has all the elements of a story that make me happy on the inside.

Very nice tale, it does remind me of some of Grim's tale. Keep going !

Awesome tale, it made me reminisce of Beowulf as I had just recently read the tale (well, at least one of its many English translations). The succinct aspect makes it seem very much like a tale that a grandfather would pass to his grandson, becoming realistic and thus more powerful. I agree with everyone above, you should keep working with it, adding things here and there to make it even better!

I enjoyed the take on the Saxon myth as it is something i myself have studied. I understand the style you used for such a story but i did not care for it. I tried as hard as i could to get into it and enjoy it for the style choosen but could not. What you have is gold, so do not take offence when i say i didnt like the form in which it was written, because more then likely that is just because i do not care for the lack of details and full story mode.

I really enjoy different takes on classical mythology and have to say this doesn't disappoint. Well done.