Stay updated with breaking news from Wood dove. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Hextol column: Miracle, how I went from darts zero to bullseye hero hexham-courant.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hexham-courant.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
FRIENDS gather of an evening to witness the once-in-nine-yearly flowering of an exotic cactus. While they’re waiting for this miraculous night bloom, they keep themselves entertained in time-honoured tradition of telling heroic tales and reciting epic poems. The last recitation is the Gurresange – a grand tragedy of illicit love and jealous fury and the transcendental powers of nature to resurrect the human spirit. It goes something like this. Back in 14th century Denmark, King Waldemar loves the beautiful maiden Tove and they meet for secret passionate trysts at the castle of Gurre. Queen Helwig poisons Tove in a jealous rage (the original ballad has her locked in a sauna, which seems a uniquely Scandinavian revenge) and Tove’s funeral is recounted in vivid verse by a wood dove. The grieving Waldemar curses God and is condemned to forever fly through the night skies, while Tove is splendidly transfigured through the glories of nature and, to top it all off, the poet ....