Varitations on Storycrafting: Thomas the Rhymer
Part 4: True Thomas:Approaching the Story,
Approaching the Art
by Sam Cannarozzi

t may sound like I'm stating the obvious at the beginning of what is to be basically analysis (from the Greek meaning 'to unravel',) but it is an importaint point for me just the same. The first thing I ask myself is if the story talks to me; if I have the desire to tell it and why. For me any other questions are moot if you can't enter into symbiosis with a story. As the proverb says, "it's always the watermelon in the neighbor's garden that's the sweetest!!"

But as we have been asked to give our reactions to an 'imposed' story, I will pass on to other pertinent questions...

The first time I hear or read a story, I know if it is for me or not. I go with my intuition. And on equal footing with its content, I have an ear that is quite tuned to any specialities in regards to the language of the story. When I can I try to read a story in the original language (I can do so in English, French, German, Italian and, to a lesser extant, in Danish.) My ear then turns toward uncommon words or phrases, expressions, and the like. These I retain for future reflection.

I'm also sensitive to geography. Where is the story from? This is obvious from the start of "Thomas the Rhymer" because the story is immediately situated in Ecrildoune, Scotland. And I'd like to know where that is. I'd cross reference that with any other Scottish tales I might have in repertory. Huntly Burn also strikes my ear--strange that 'Burn' refers to river, therefore water. That's a seeming contradiction that might give rise to wordplay. But, in fact, a burn in the Scottish dialect means stream or brook. So in fact one should say 'on the bank of Huntly Burn,' which I find more intriguing, as stream here is redundant.

I then let go with the story in general. This one is pretty straightfoward, Thomas goes to Elfland, returns to our world until the end of his life when he again will rejoin the Elf King and Queen. So now I am looking for ways to render the sructure more striking to the ear and eye. I'd continue to note place names- Eildon Tree for example and check to see if it,too, has a significance. As I have a Scottish storytelling friend, I would call her up to see about pronunciation.

In regards to the story proper, I'd list common devices. For example, Thomas transgresses several times what he is told not to do: he should not 'speak sweet words' although he does, nor eat in apple, but again he faults. I note the mathematics of the story, 7 greyhounds, a ride of 3 days, a choice between 3 roads, and again 3 days or 7 years. And finally 2 animals, deer, a hart and a hind (again two more interesting words, which are defined I learned from the dictionary as red deer! So the fact that they are snow white has significance.) The deer, along with Thomas, make up the final trio in the story.

Music is mentioned several times in the story in the form of the bells of the Elf Queen and again the gift of the harp Thomas is given. I would look to incorporate some kind of music then into the story, just in touches as a rythmic element. Finally I would cross reference this particular story with any others I know that have a similar structure, be they Scottish, from elsewhere in the British Isles, or not. Then I am ready to begin appropriating the actual story. I do this simply by putting the text aside and telling the story simply from memory several times, comparing my rendition with the important points I have noted. I shuttle thusly back and forth until the story becomes comfortable and then look for an occasion to tell it perhaps informally at first, watching for audience reaction. Then back to the drawing board making further adjustments. Until finally after forty tellings or so I judge it reasonable to put it into repertory. During this time it slowly begins to take its own personal shape and becomes my story.

Ideally one day it would be told to a Scottish audience, in order to insure that any last subtleties should come into play. And voila, that's the story.

—posted February 2002

Back to the series main page.