Re: Veedon Sheep

From: John Hughes <nysalor_at_primus.com.au>
Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 10:14:05 +1000


Greg asked about Veedon sheep.

> In thunder rebel, p 28 there is a sentense about "our silver fleece
> veedons".
> I've made some research about this breed of sheeps (and I found an
> interresting link : http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds about all kind of
> breed, with pictures), but no "veedon" anywhere.

Veedon are a uniquely Heortling breed. They haven't been sketched out in any systematic way, but here are some personal notes, from a Balmyr clan background.

***
Halt, Stranger! Who walks in a place made sacred by a fierce people? Do you come in friendship, or as an enemy of my clan? .... take my cloak and wrap it close about you. Yes, it is spun from the soft-silvered sheen of veedon fleece, for which our clan is famed wherever the six winds blow. It is my gift to you, a sign of our friendship.

What is your clan?

I am of the Shouting Rocks clan, we who are also called the grim Kerandi. Ours is the ancient and fearful Balmyr tribe, and together we farm the blessed lands from the Crossline to the Stream.

Keran Thunder-Gong came with his family and thanes from Hendrikiland, and first laid his hearth here after defeating the Twice-Born Winter Bear. He made peace with the daimones of forest and stream, and tore down the eight Black Rods. The clan was formed in a great foundation ritual at our Law Rock, and we united with other clans to name Balmyr Thunderson our first king.

Then Inganna Kerandotter, who is called Many Meadows, gained a flock of magic fat-tailed sheep from Heler the Sky Shepherd. Later my ancestor Veedon Blinks-Twice (whose name must be known to your tribe and all the world!) quested to the Other Side and stole the ram Silverfleece from the Giant of the Wide Dark. All our flocks are descended from that mighty beast! Though our herds are troublesome and our ewes demanding, the veedon fleece is prized wherever kinsfolk meet. We guard our sheep most jealously!

My clan was wealthy once, but that was long ago, in my father's time. Still, better my own small beer than the mead of Lunar silver. The invaders tax us greedily, and the Red Ones demand all our silver fleece at prices of their choosing! Our chieftain Ranli Umath-Arm is a wise man, and prudent too; he has shielded us from the worst of the invader's greed, and from spear play that would only enslave us. 'The wind will change', he says, and so we wait, and every year we are less than before. We have all lost brothers and sons and daughters to lunar blades or to exile. Our great ceremonies grow weak, our giftings are small, and now we face a year of no wind, with our crops meagre, our barns empty and our herds imperilled. ***
There is some general background on Heortling sheep at http://home.iprimus.com.au/pipnjim/nysalor/ff2.htm (and no, apart from the essay continuity the other links aren't live).

I believe there are dozens of sheep breeds, many with unique properties, and all closely guarded by their clans. Julian Lord has written some excellent material on Heler and Heortling sheep.

Cheers

John


nysalor_at_primus.com.au                 John Hughes


"William Blake and the Eternals oh standin' with the  Sisters of Mercy, Looking for the Veedon Fleece..."

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