Birchfire Cry
From ‘Birchfire: Warsong of the Woods’, with excerpts from Drem Barcus’ translation of ‘Birchfire’
The climax of Birchfire’s second act centers around the piece’s most renowned passage, Kormutsen Taraffi’s war cry as he leads his tribe into combat against the Mechedai. As with all chisten felasta, the Meisylvan ‘mirror story-songs’, the midpoint of the story is considered the pivotal point. This is when the protagonists begin their descent into mirroring the antagonists.
As Kormutsen is calling out his litany, widely known as the ‘Birchfire Cry’, a large portion of his home forest is aflame. The Taraffi army is burning the heart of their ancestral home to destroy the Mechedai’s seat of power. This marks their turning point, as such behavior is a deep taboo for wood sylphs. The Taraffi have long been oppressed by the Mechedai, and are sympathetically established in the first act, but this apocalyptic offensive marks the start of their moral decline as the second act winds to its end.
Kormutsen calls out nine lines arranged in an accelerating metric progression, a common device for dramatic portions of felasta.
1-i. “I come to cleanse the forest of the slaughter-lords.”
Kormutsen Taraffi and his army are marching on the stronghold of their oppressors, the Mechedai tribe. The Mechedai are referred to as the ‘slaughter-lords’ numerous times throughout the tale. The word used here for ‘cleanse’ generally implies the use of some aggressive or destructive means. Barcus presumably translated it as ‘cleanse’ in place of ‘purge’ or some similar term to include the generally positive implications of the word.
1-ii. “I come to cast your house into a pyre.”
The Taraffi tribe intends to depose the entire dynasty of the Mechedai. Here we see a continuation of the flame imagery that pervades the piece. However, the author refrains from mentioning flames directly to maintain the sense of an ultimate taboo.
1-iii. “I come to set my people on the highest bough.”
Kormutsen intends for the Taraffi to take the Mechedai’s place of power, here referred to as the ‘highest bough’ of a proverbial tree. This is the first time in the piece that any of the Taraffi openly acknowledge their desire to replace the Mechedai, and not merely depose them. As the second act reaches its climax, we see the first major indication of the two tribes’ fundamental similarity.
1-iv. “I come to claim the pow’r you stole away.”
Taraffi lore holds that the two tribes originally coexisted peacefully, and that the Mechedai conquered the Taraffi ages before. Here Kormutsen conflates the Taraffi regaining their sovereignty with conquering the Mechedai. We see the first instance of the Taraffi justifying their aggression by referring to similar acts by the Mechedai, a principle which drives the remainder of the piece.
2-i. “I come to free those you have bound, to break their yokes and chains.”
Here the meter shifts, establishing the metric progression of the Cry. The progression will accelerate until Kormutsen’s climactic threat at the end. In this line he paints the Taraffi as liberators, but specifies that he will free the Mechedai’s prisoners. Combined with his previous claim, this is a hint that he intends to merely reverse the situation.
2-ii. “I come to fan the bankéd coals which you thought long-destroyed.”
Kormutsen refers to Daterach’s earlier statement that the Taraffi were ‘naught but ashes where coals once lingered.’ Daterach’s claim occurs at the climax of the first act. It is more directly mirrored at the climax of the third act, where Kormutsen calls the Mechedai ‘coals ground under the boots of free sylphs’, illustrating the parallels between the two chief characters. At the climax of the fourth act, Kormutsen refers to ‘the coals of the forest’s doom rekindled,’ directly mirroring the ‘bankéd coals’ being fanned. In this way, a similar parallel is drawn between the tribes.
3-i. “I come with rage and might and kin,”
The meter shifts again as Kormutsen builds up momentum and the flames rise around him. He threatens his foes with the anger in his heart, the strength of his army, and the loyalty of his family. Collecting these elements formed his drive throughout the second act, and now that they have been called together he has completed his quest. This line establishes that he has achieved agency, setting up the next line to express what he does with his power.
3-ii. “I come with death and ruin and fire,”
The Meisylvan word translated ‘ruin’ refers specifically to the long-term destruction of a long-standing establishment. Considering this, the author establishes a sequence of increasing scale in this line. Death alone being a personal downfall and ruin referring to the destruction of the Mechedai legacy, fire is reinforced as an ultimate doom. This line is also one of only two in the piece that contain the actual word ‘fire’. The other instance occurs at the climax of the fourth and final act, calling back to this initial burning of the forest.
4. “I come and drive your age’s end before!”
This final line of Kormutsen’s legendary war cry has a unique meter, serving as the pinnacle of the metric progression. The ‘end of an age’ is a common concept in Meisylvan literature, a notion rooted in the Meisylvan belief that history progresses in similar ‘cycles’. Here Kormutsen states that the Mechedai were the rulers of the previous era, meaning that they were subject to an impending revolution. This calls up the idea of their defeat being inevitable, but also implies that the Taraffi will in turn be deposed.
The word translated as ‘drive’ in this line generally refers to hunting animals moving ahead of a hunter, implying that Kormutsen has employed the inevitable historical force of the Mechedai’s downfall as his hunting beast. Again the language used implies that it will turn on him, however – only untrustworthy animals are driven ahead in this way. Loyal hunting animals are said to be ‘sent’.
From ‘Birchfire: Warsong of the Woods’, with excerpts from Drem Barcus’ translation of ‘Birchfire’
The climax of Birchfire’s second act centers around the piece’s most renowned passage, Kormutsen Taraffi’s war cry as he leads his tribe into combat against the Mechedai. As with all chisten felasta, the Meisylvan ‘mirror story-songs’, the midpoint of the story is considered the pivotal point. This is when the protagonists begin their descent into mirroring the antagonists.
As Kormutsen is calling out his litany, widely known as the ‘Birchfire Cry’, a large portion of his home forest is aflame. The Taraffi army is burning the heart of their ancestral home to destroy the Mechedai’s seat of power. This marks their turning point, as such behavior is a deep taboo for wood sylphs. The Taraffi have long been oppressed by the Mechedai, and are sympathetically established in the first act, but this apocalyptic offensive marks the start of their moral decline as the second act winds to its end.
Kormutsen calls out nine lines arranged in an accelerating metric progression, a common device for dramatic portions of felasta.
1-i. “I come to cleanse the forest of the slaughter-lords.”
Kormutsen Taraffi and his army are marching on the stronghold of their oppressors, the Mechedai tribe. The Mechedai are referred to as the ‘slaughter-lords’ numerous times throughout the tale. The word used here for ‘cleanse’ generally implies the use of some aggressive or destructive means. Barcus presumably translated it as ‘cleanse’ in place of ‘purge’ or some similar term to include the generally positive implications of the word.
1-ii. “I come to cast your house into a pyre.”
The Taraffi tribe intends to depose the entire dynasty of the Mechedai. Here we see a continuation of the flame imagery that pervades the piece. However, the author refrains from mentioning flames directly to maintain the sense of an ultimate taboo.
1-iii. “I come to set my people on the highest bough.”
Kormutsen intends for the Taraffi to take the Mechedai’s place of power, here referred to as the ‘highest bough’ of a proverbial tree. This is the first time in the piece that any of the Taraffi openly acknowledge their desire to replace the Mechedai, and not merely depose them. As the second act reaches its climax, we see the first major indication of the two tribes’ fundamental similarity.
1-iv. “I come to claim the pow’r you stole away.”
Taraffi lore holds that the two tribes originally coexisted peacefully, and that the Mechedai conquered the Taraffi ages before. Here Kormutsen conflates the Taraffi regaining their sovereignty with conquering the Mechedai. We see the first instance of the Taraffi justifying their aggression by referring to similar acts by the Mechedai, a principle which drives the remainder of the piece.
2-i. “I come to free those you have bound, to break their yokes and chains.”
Here the meter shifts, establishing the metric progression of the Cry. The progression will accelerate until Kormutsen’s climactic threat at the end. In this line he paints the Taraffi as liberators, but specifies that he will free the Mechedai’s prisoners. Combined with his previous claim, this is a hint that he intends to merely reverse the situation.
2-ii. “I come to fan the bankéd coals which you thought long-destroyed.”
Kormutsen refers to Daterach’s earlier statement that the Taraffi were ‘naught but ashes where coals once lingered.’ Daterach’s claim occurs at the climax of the first act. It is more directly mirrored at the climax of the third act, where Kormutsen calls the Mechedai ‘coals ground under the boots of free sylphs’, illustrating the parallels between the two chief characters. At the climax of the fourth act, Kormutsen refers to ‘the coals of the forest’s doom rekindled,’ directly mirroring the ‘bankéd coals’ being fanned. In this way, a similar parallel is drawn between the tribes.
3-i. “I come with rage and might and kin,”
The meter shifts again as Kormutsen builds up momentum and the flames rise around him. He threatens his foes with the anger in his heart, the strength of his army, and the loyalty of his family. Collecting these elements formed his drive throughout the second act, and now that they have been called together he has completed his quest. This line establishes that he has achieved agency, setting up the next line to express what he does with his power.
3-ii. “I come with death and ruin and fire,”
The Meisylvan word translated ‘ruin’ refers specifically to the long-term destruction of a long-standing establishment. Considering this, the author establishes a sequence of increasing scale in this line. Death alone being a personal downfall and ruin referring to the destruction of the Mechedai legacy, fire is reinforced as an ultimate doom. This line is also one of only two in the piece that contain the actual word ‘fire’. The other instance occurs at the climax of the fourth and final act, calling back to this initial burning of the forest.
4. “I come and drive your age’s end before!”
This final line of Kormutsen’s legendary war cry has a unique meter, serving as the pinnacle of the metric progression. The ‘end of an age’ is a common concept in Meisylvan literature, a notion rooted in the Meisylvan belief that history progresses in similar ‘cycles’. Here Kormutsen states that the Mechedai were the rulers of the previous era, meaning that they were subject to an impending revolution. This calls up the idea of their defeat being inevitable, but also implies that the Taraffi will in turn be deposed.
The word translated as ‘drive’ in this line generally refers to hunting animals moving ahead of a hunter, implying that Kormutsen has employed the inevitable historical force of the Mechedai’s downfall as his hunting beast. Again the language used implies that it will turn on him, however – only untrustworthy animals are driven ahead in this way. Loyal hunting animals are said to be ‘sent’.