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Malfet
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Alban Arthan

Malfet

October 2nd, 2020
9 tracks
55:11
Alban Arthan
Alban Arthan
The Penumbral Grove
0:00
6:15
1
The Penumbral Grove
Malfet
“…To sleep, perchance to dream…”
6:15
2
Lost In Shadow, We Sought Your Radiance
Malfet
“Where art thou, my gentle child? Let me think thy spirit feeds, With its life intense and mild, The love of living leaves and weeds Among these tombs and ruins wild;— Let me think that through low seeds Of sweet flowers and sunny grass Into their hues and scents may pass A portion— Percy Shelley. “To William Shelley.” MDCCCXXIV.
7:01
3
Regina Quondam, Reginaque Futurus
Malfet
“When the sun rises I long for thee, and when the sun sets I long for thee still. Surely I would ask no boon of this life but to lie with thee once more, if but once more. Such is my ardor. In knowing thee all else beneath the sun seems foul, and so does all beauty pale to thine, so that no fair thing shall ever seem fair so long as my love for thee endures. I carry its ashes in somber procession, silent, arrayed in black, and will take for myself no other love so long as I tarry beneath the sky. I love thee, now and always.” Morrowdim. “Longing.” Wandering Songs, MMXIX
3:01
4
Sage and Cedar Adorn His Antlered Crown Aflame
Malfet
“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd, Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone: Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!” John Keats. “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” MDCCCXIX With deference to Turlough O’Carolan (MDCLXX-MDCCXXXVIII)
7:18
5
On the Tree That None May Ever Know
Malfet
“I ween that I hung on the windy tree, Hung there for nights full nine; With the spear I was wounded, and offered I was To Othin, myself to myself, On the tree that none may ever know What root beneath it runs.” Anon. “Hávamál,” v. CXXXIX. Codex Regius, MCCC. Trans. Henry A. Bellows, MCMXXXVI. Adapted from: Murk Rider. “Return.” Exile of Shadows, MMXIX Morrowdim. “Of Wandering II.” Wandering Songs, MMXIX
3:49
6
Alban Arthan
Malfet
“Thereat once more he moved about, and clomb Ev'n to the highest he could climb, and saw, Straining his eyes beneath an arch of hand, Or thought he saw, the speck that bare the King, Down that long water opening on the deep Somewhere far off, pass on and on, and go From less to less and vanish into light. And the new sun rose bringing the new year.” Alfred Lord Tennyson. “The Passing of Arthur.” The Idylls of the King, MDCCCLIX
8:39
7
The Sadness Of Her Might
Malfet
“She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die; And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh, Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips: Ay, in the very temple of Delight Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine, Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine; His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might, And be among her cloudy trophies hung.” John Keats. “Ode On Melancholy.” MDCCCXIX
7:34
8
Wanderer, May You Pass Through Evermore Verdant Realms
Malfet
“Oh, where do you wander When the frost fades in spring? Do you seek for the land where the hearth glows everlasting?” Adapted from: Morrowdim. “Of Wandering I.” Wandering Songs, MMXIX
1:48
9
Naught But Worn-Out Joy
Malfet
“When she died at last, her Lancelot came for the body, with his snow—white hair and wrinkled cheeks, to carry it to her husband’s grave. There, in the reputed grave, she was buried: a calm and regal face, nailed down and hidden in the earth. “As for Lancelot, he became a hermit in earnest…He entered a monastery near Glastonbury, and devoted his life to worship…and lived in glad austerities apart from man. He even learned to distinguish birdsongs in the woods. Arthur, Guenever, and Elaine were gone, but his ghostly love remained.” T.H. White. “The Book Of Merlyn.” The Once And Future King. Harper Collins, MCMLVIII, pp. CMXXII-CMXXIII.
9:46

Dreams and death.

Credits

Art and music by Malfet

Tracks 3, 5, and 8 adapted from Morrowdim, "Wandering Songs," MMXIX

https://morrowdim.bandcamp.com/

Track 5 also adapted from Murk Rider, "Exile of Shadows," MMXIX.

https://murk-rider.bandcamp.com

Layout by Andrew Ross Fritts & Malfet

LP & CS editions mastered by Mammoth Sound

Dedicated to the stalwart berserker Nick Darway: a big man with a big heart and, most importantly, a big friend to us; and to the eternal shield-maiden warrior-Queen who once was, Queen who shall be: Maria Rice - a voice of astonishing innocence, a sublime and inspired poet of darkness and light, and the creator of Morrowdim.

I like to imagine that Nick and Maria are sharing great plentiful horns of cheer today in that land where the fae mead flows and the hearth glows everlasting.

Agápe, Éros, Philía, Storgē!

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