Author’s Note: This is a vignette I wrote some years ago to accompany a drawing I had made. I recently came across it and thought I’d share it (and the drawing) here. I have also committed Poetry at the end. Forgive me. —G
In times long past the Prince of Hell was prone to fits of gloominess. He would mope about the inner circles of Hell, paying no heed to his business or duties, and being what we on earth might call a wet blanket.
Then one day the Prince, in his gloominess, stepped upon a fiddle someone had left lying in the hall. When he picked it up it bit him, much to his surprise and consternation. And when he found the fiddle’s owner you can be sure he had some very stern words for her. But she only tweaked his nose and told him to stop moping so. It did not become a prince, she said, let alone the prince of such an important place as Hell.
Now the Prince, whose name was Sepherus, had not had his nose tweaked in many thousands of years and did not know how to respond. The fiddle’s owner, whose name was Grimbald, Queen of Dreams, took his silence as agreement and offered to teach him how to play the violin. And since Grimbald did (and still does not) understand the concept of “no, thank you” that is exactly what she did. By the afternoon she had Sepherus playing merrily, and quite cured of his moping.
Next she is planning on teaching him how to dance.
Do you know who taught the Cat to fiddle?
The Cat to fiddle
The Cat to fiddle
It was the Devil who diddle, he did, he did!
It was the Devil who taught the Cat to fiddle.
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Do you know who taught the Trickster to fiddle?
The Trickster to fiddle
The Trickster to fiddle
It was the Devil who diddle, he did, he did!
It was the Devil who taught the Trickster to fiddle.
*
Do you know who taught the Fairy to fiddle?
The Fairy to fiddle
The Fairy to fiddle
It was the Devil who diddle, he did, he did!
It was the Devil who taught the Fairy to fiddle.
*
But who on earth taught the Devil to fiddle?
No one on earth!
Above or between!
Who taught the Devil to fiddle? Grimbald, Dream Queen!
It was Grimbald who taught the Devil to fiddle.
*
Singing Grimby, Dancing Grimby
Blue and black beneath the moon!
Whirling Grimby, Wild Grimby
Make your Devil dance his tune!
Grimbald! Grimbald!
The Queen of Dream!
—The Devil his Fiddle, a Song of Grimbald
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Grimbald is a recurring character in Goldeen Ogawa’s mythos. Within this mythos she is a trickster folk hero and sometimes god, the grumpy and unpredictable ruler of the realm of dreams and memories. She is often associated with the moon and night, famous for her biting fiddle, and is considered the counterpart of Tobius Leander (sun, day, flute). She is the namesake of Radio Grimbald and features in the titular piece of Fiddler’s Dream and Other Stories (eBook, 2011).
Goldeen Ogawa thought up Grimbald when she was 19, to scare away the monster in her (Goldeen’s) head. In return, she writes stories and songs about her (Grimbald). You can email her (Goldeen) at goldeenogawa@gmail.com or peck at her on Twitter @GrimbyTweets. (Not actually Grimbald, sadly.)
