Photo: drawing from my notebook 8/28/2011.
In such a plotless story that grew over a period of 100 days, the cast of characters, actors and accidental visitors, deserve the highest praise for bringing the book on the road at all. These fabulous people, many of whom lived & all of whom should have lived, are, in the order of their appearance:
Gisela von Bayern (Gizella) | Gerbert D’Aurillac | Hont, Paznan and Vecelin von Wasserburg (Bavarian Knights) | A Medicus | Red-headed witches | Monks | Henry the Quarreler (Duke of Bavaria) | Father Finnegan | Colossus of Rhodos | The Holy Spirit | Belfries (Saxon steed) | Wärtling & Friedmaken (Vecelin’s swords) | Gisela’s mother | Abbess of the convent of Dargun | Stephan I of Hungary (Prince Vajk) | Semiramis of Babylon | Three travellers & a dwarf | Gisela’s daimon | A Three-headed beaky monster (Baphomet) | Circe, Penelope & Ulysses | Tin Man, Tin Woman and Snake | A blind king | Monkey Boy | Ebenezer Smoltonson & his daughter Ebenezerdottir in the town of Hillzhhutghdanburgh & Houyhnhnms | Vladimir Nabokov & a butterfly | A horny choirmaster | Clusters of Angels | A distraught king | Myles Crawford | Pirates & Mermaids | Timothy Cabbage & Frantik the dwarf | Edna | Lucifer & Old Nick & Eros | The Last Lion King | The fire-man & the mayor & a girl | Imre | Monarch butterflies & Chinese policemen | Men on Mars | Mr Who (teacher) | The pig-dog | Minotaur & sleeping girl | Master Grammar | Emperor & Pope | Alexander & Bucephalus | Israhel & Ida | A Dragon | Mother | Monopod, Satyr, Blemmyae & Panotti | Uncle Thomas & City people | Man & dead woman | Butterfly Collector & Old Lepitopteran | Theodosius & Beowulf (Royal Gardeners) | Princess’ Lover | Hildegard (nun) | Falada (talking horse) & Bath Keeper | Father Mary & his murderers | Treasure hunters | Warlords & Queen Gizella & Five Butterflies | Toulouse Conscientia & Byzantina Nescius (witches) | Maestro & Artifices Magni | Ladies at Court | Girl On An Adventure | Aristotle & Old Librarian of Alexandria | Great Mother & Crone | Magyars | A Writer | Oracle gypsy | Common Woman | Norseman (Viking) | Melencolia | Old Warrior Learning To Read | Fox & Butterfly & Head Of Child | Mechanical Man & Eunuch | Witch Chair Constructor | Father In Heaven | Ego Bar A Hero | John & Christ & Old Church Visitors | General Tongue Collector | Musical Angels | Traveller To The Fountain Of Youth | Woman & Man & Slave | Stromboli Sideways (incubus) & Gorrnilla Gekarrterrakarrmer (succubus) | Subterranean Spiders & Toads & An Immortal Fish.
Special thanks to my daughter Taffimai Metallumai, who illustrated many of these stories: «Taffimai has a career ahead as an illustrator. Would love to see her sketch the battle between dragon and Beowulf.» — Frank Rasky
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