Lady Georgiana Octavia von Cthulhu of the Atlantic Cthulhus, here guarding the washing machine.

Time has ceased to have any meaning, in these strange times of social distancing and staying indoors. An octopus moved into my flat (her name is Lady Georgia Octavia von Cthulhu, of the Atlantic Cthulhus), so that’s been interesting. She’s excellent company, a fellow , and a great storyteller (I wish I’d been able to capture on film her performance of Tennyson’s sonnet The Kraken, but she’s still a bit shy; you can read the poem below). She does maintain that this poem is about one of her ancestors, but who’s likely to be able to contradict her?  There are strange little purple flowers springing up all over the garden for the first time ever, and a ridiculously large bumblebee is fighting with a butterfly for control of the sunny windowsill (no victor yet). Having spent so much uninterrupted time in current Library HQ, I’m now debating doing some Green Knowe-style interior decorating; this means gargoyles, hawthorn blossom growing inside the house, spooky doll houses, old swords hanging on the walls, and mysterious mirrors in which you think you might see a ghost. So, yes, in short, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”.

The Kraken

Below the thunders of the upper deep;
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides: above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumbered and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages and will lie
Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1830)

As you may already know, if you follow the library on Twitter and/or Instagram, today is National Unicorn Day. The unicorn being Scotland’s official national animal, attention must be paid. So here are some book recommendations! Elizabeth Goudge’s The Little White Horse is a fairytale about Maria Merryweather, an orphan who moves to live with a distant cousin in Moonacre valley, where she discovers that it is her destiny to right several ancient wrongs, reunite brokenhearted couples,  and restore happiness to the valley. Thinking about it, I might need to add some Moonacre Manor style to my Green Knowe interior decoration plans (above). You should also read Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn, Lari Don’s Legend of the First Unicorn (a new book this year) the comic Phoebe and her Unicorn by Dana Simpson, and the science fiction short story ‘Mythological Creature’ by Stephen Donaldson, in his short story collection Daughter of Regals. Do you have any recommendations? Add them in the comments. I would also recommend the 1985 film Legend, though you would do well to ignore Tom Cruise if you can, and watch it for Tim Curry’s role as the Lord of Darkness.

Competition

Take a good look at the picture to the left. Does it set your imagination alight? What does it make you think of? Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create something inspired by the picture. If you’re a wordsmith, you can write a story of no more than 500 words or a poem of no more than 10 lines. If you are more of a visual artist, you can create a comic with no more than 10 panels, or a short film maximum 10 minutes long.

You have until 10pm on Wednesday 22nd April to email me your competition entries. Please put your name and year group in the email. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, in the comments or by email. Good luck!