How to build a world worth living in

Nicola Griffith

Nov 13

I've talked before about the video criticism of Raf Blutaxt: his magnificent, encyclopedic analysis of Arthurian retellings, and his insightful commentary on Hild.

And now he's discussing Menewood. Two things in particular struck me about his commentary and I've expanded the with my own thoughts here:

Hild's basic stance to the world in Menewood is about building for the future instead of fighting for the past. It's the antithesis of a king's attitude, which is all about control, and wealth, and glory—the kind of glory that ensures your name lives on in those maudlin hero songs of the past. Hild goes through some terrible things and her old world is destroyed. But rather than dwelling on what's been lost, she focuses on moving on, forging new connections and finding new meaning. Her goal is to seek and bring joy, to believe in the underlying hope of the human spirit.
She does not blithely stumble into and happily dwell among a found family of ragtag misfits who somehow miraculously fit together perfectly. No. Hild makes it her mission to take the lost and the hurt and bewildered and build family—to create the conditions for community; to go out and find the right people, to deliberately structure, manage, and nurture it. And to then protect it. Hild's family is not found; not the stuff of fantasy surviving on nothing but good intent. Hild's family, her community, is built. It is sustained. It is earned.

A king's key verbs could be kill, control, take, and break. Hild's are love, change, share, and make. That's how to build a world worth living in.