There goes the potential ‘help-line’.
In knot-tying. I always wondered why that was a thing scouts trained in. Is it for use while sailing? I dunno. Either way, I’m doubting that Houdini escapist tricks were part of it.
Next week…some more of this…
Bata Neart
Irish Magical Girls!
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So I was wondering, is there a reason Aine stripped Aoife and took her clothes instead of Ashling? Aoife’s clothes don’t seem to fit her very well. My mischievous side wonders if it’s because there’s a danger Aoife would actually enjoy being tied up next to a half naked Ashling…. 😉
Could you clarify the correct pronunciation of “Aine”? I was reading it as sounding like “vine” without the “v”, but I’ve learned not to make assumptions when it comes to Gaelic spelling…
I was under the impression that Áine took Aoife’s clothes because of the symbol on her bandeau. Which along with being a symbol of the old Irish royalty also seems to be that of Áine’s ancient enemies. I’m not sure how that fits together yet.
Also: Rawr will confirm, but if I am reading it correctly, Áine is pronounced something like AWN-ye.
@Kessy Athena: Your mischievous side seems to know Aoife well 😀
There’s a couple of reasons why Áine took Aoife’s clothes. For one, there’s the comedy angle of her taking the clothes of a much shorter girl when Ashling’s clothes would have fit better (thus the reason Áine looks a bit pissed when she initially get’s dressed in Aoife clothes). Another angle is irony; since Aoife spent some time teasing Ashling about her dream-nudity, it seemed like karma that instead it would Aoife who ends up half-naked. Finally, the there’s a practical angle; Áine has probably never seen a pair of jeans or a hoodie before. She wouldn’t have known how to get them off Ashling, let alone how to put them on herself. Aoife’s more familiar school-kilt and cardigan would have seemed the better option.
So there you go, my far too many reasons for what happened there 😀
Oh yes, and as for ‘Áine’. Azrael got it pretty right. It is pronounced AWN-ye. It can also be pronounced AWN-yA, and the name is somewhat related with ‘Anya’ which is pronounced ANN-yA. In Irish, the letter Á is an elongated vowel which tends to make an ‘awwww’ sound when spoken.
I will throw in a phonetic prompt on the page when Áine is finally named in-story. It will be much like when Aoife was first named in Chapter 2, with the prompt that her name is pronounced ‘EE-fa’ 🙂
@Azreal You are close on your bandeau symbol theory, very close.
The Harp symbol has been used in Ireland for an unknown amount of time, and in particular with the Kingdom of Lenster which comprises much of the modern Provence of Lenster in Ireland. Bata Neart is set in County Wicklow, which is in Lenster, which continues to use this symbol.
The Harp was later adapted after the Norman & English invasions as the symbol of the Lordship of Ireland, and then Kingdom of Ireland. Since the King or Queen of England became automatically became King/Queen of Ireland, this Harp was introduced into the British royal standard, where it remains to this day. After the Anglo-Irish War, independant Ireland also continued to use the Harp, but this time as a national seal (much like the eagle symbolism the US uses). This Harp appears on Irish money, including the Irish variant of the Euro.
Thus Aoife wore the national symbol, unaware however that Áine viewed it as the symbol of the enemy at the time, the Kingdom of Lenster. This goes back to the the flashback in Chapter 1, where the armies of Lenster and Munster are in battle, and the Bata Neart is eventually lost. (Thanks in no small way to the War-Priest using the ‘Bata Achrann’…..oooo spoilers….)
Thus, Áine saw the girls as a possible threat, and tied them up. This will be better explained later in-story (I hope) 😀
I’m an old scout from the forest, not from the sea. And while I am reasonably sure a sea scout would know more than I do and have more use for it, we still learned to tie knots. And how to break the knots, not necessarily while being tied up, although we did play around with that as well a few times.
I have been using it for tying things together. Things that are falling apart, things that need to be held together more or less permanently, securing a load, tying my shoes. Tying a safety line or a climbing rope is something I have not done, but yes I can make a knot I would trust both my and other peoples lives to if need be. I could even make a crude climbing harness out of rope.
@O8h7w: Ah, thanks for the info! I now I think I get why scouts learn it 🙂 That does sound pretty useful in general.
Well, Rawr, all I can say is that if Aine was intimidated by jeans, that would explain why Aoife got to keep her bra. 😉
I thought Wicklow was pretty far from the Munster border – if Munster’s army is fighting a battle there, wouldn’t that be a really deep incursion into Leinster territory? Or is my sense of scale off?
BTW, I noticed a while ago in the comments you mentioned that you didn’t know of many Irish themed webcomics – are you familiar with Samhain Night? http://samhainnight.com/the-comic/ It has some similar themes to Bata Neart
@Kessy: Good point on Aoife keeping her bra 🙂 That was my thinking too (also I’m kind of pushing it already in the Fan-service department in this chapter. A topless Aoife would have overdrawn my ‘allowance’ in this 😀 )
You are completely right on Wicklow being deep in Leinster. To get that far, the Munster forces would have needed to invade most of the kingdom to get there. The battle shown in Chapter 1 was a ‘last ditch effort’ by Leinster in preventing their defeat. It was then that they reluctantly unleased the Bata Achrann, and you already know what happened next.
Ooo OOO! Thanks for that link!! I have been going through the archive, and unfortunately it seems to have suddenly stopped a few months ago. Still, it is nice to know that there are others out there doing Irish themed webcomics. Thank you for that 🙂