Dedicatory Epistle (+ Table of Contents)
The Legend of Leanna Page: Vol. I
Welcome to Elenvia!
This ‘World Within the Woods’ - only later to reach its full potential and be given its famous name - has been hidden away, just waiting to be discovered by one like you. This world… it has a thrilling story to tell, where the River and Sky are rivals and your dreams at night can lead you into daytime dangers. Nothing here is ever quite what it seems, especially that small servant girl no one important pays attention to. No, she’s not what she seems at all.
Below is included a handy map for exploring the chapters of this legend, but before jumping in, do take a moment to read this introductory note that will send you off on the journey prepared.
Most importantly, enjoy the ride.
Listen here:
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DEDICATORY EPISTLE
To my dear Reader,
The pages before you are filled with a world of legend. I want to assure you before beginning that every character, setting, and event portrayed within this volume, and those forthcoming, is entirely true, although how much is factual I cannot say. With the time that has passed between their happening and their telling, there can be no doubt some details will have shifted. I ask simply that you look beyond them and hold within you what we all might recognize as truth.
The second incident of these pages I shall ask you to oblige is the very fashion with which I have written them. I make no apologies for my archaic parlance; still, if you are to spend such time amongst my paragraphs, I suppose you may be due an explanation of their form. Thus, I shall offer you the following. This tale was not told to me quite so elegantly as it is here. Instead, it was spoken to me night after night by my grandfather, same as it had been sung to him by his own, in an ill-advised attempt at using adventure to lure a child to sleep. Within the confines of my small familial unit, the stories of Elenvia and Leanna Page were held and remembered alongside those of Robin Hood and King Arthur. It was not until I bravely quoted the royal fairy, Kennedy, to an early school instructor that I discovered with dismay the tales were entirely unknown. I do not blame the world for this for, though I tried, my grandfather at last sat me down and explained the truth: There are many magnificent legends the world rudely disremembers, but it happens that this one they have truly never been told.
It was then I learned of a tie to Elenvia I would never have dreamed. It was my own grandfather, Jemison Flyte, who, as a young Elenvian himself, had ventured deep into the Infinite Wood and, at long last, discovered us at the end of his journey! The moment he stepped beyond the Woods, into our own land, they vanished behind him, and, despite his efforts, he was never to discover that infinite Forest, nor the world that hid within it, again.
But my family is not the subject of this story, merely its teller, and the telling of it has been the inspiration for my life’s work. I have read through many publications in preparation for it, from various depictions of the Arthurian tales and the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest to the novels of Ann Radcliffe and Walter Scott. It was, in fact, Scott’s “Dedicatory Epistle” preceding his Ivanhoe that gave me cause to consider composing one of my own. He, in his own antiquity, set out as I do to tell a tale of a different time, and his thoughts on the endeavor, which I copy in part for you here, mirror very much my own:
“The painter must introduce no ornament inconsistent with the climate or country of his landscape; he must not paint cypress trees upon Inch-Merrin, or Scottish firs among the ruins of Persepolis; and the author lies under a corresponding restraint. However far he may venture in a more full detail of passions and feelings, than is to be found in the ancient compositions which he imitates, he must introduce nothing inconsistent with the manners of the age; his knights, squires, grooms, and yeomen, may be more fully drawn than in the hard, dry delineations of an ancient illuminated manuscript, but the character and costume of the age must remain inviolate; they must be the same figures, drawn by a better pencil, or, to speak more modestly, executed in an age when the principles of art were better understood. His language must not be exclusively obsolete and unintelligible; but he should admit, if possible, no word or turn of phraseology betraying an origin directly modern.” — Walter Scott, 1817.
There is the occasional poem contained within which, memorized by generations, finds you in all but its original form. The rest, however, required recomposing, and I thought it an injustice to the legend to allow its introduction to our contemporary world to take place in any manner that failed by its form to entirely respect the nature of its subject. Our own literary history is filled with legends told in the same manner as this one that have held a rigid grasp on our societal unconscious for centuries. The heroes of this tale are vastly dissimilar to those the centuries have known, and I hope that mirroring the style of old legends to tell this own anew will prevent their differences from delineating these to a lesser status.
Furthermore, I know this style of prose will seem antiquated to the modern ear, for I too once had to read my first volume written in it, but upon engrossing myself in the language I grew to adore it as I would an old friend. Now I maintain a love for these words, and their distinct ability to convey the most haughty humor or describe the perfect sunrise, and I hope that fondness will seep through the holes in these letters and replicate itself in your soul. I assure you, had the words of Radcliffe not made me burn to look through the windows of Udolpho, I would not have accepted them as my mentors.
My grandfather always told me that the legend of Leanna Page was an important one. I never cared much for his deliberation on its meaning as a child, but as I grew and witnessed more of the world around me I came to better understand. Leanna’s story tells of a broken world, kept apart by hatred, despondency, and pride, that at last was brought together by a simple serving girl who, of course, was always so much more. It is the origination of a state for humanity that feels, in our own time, impossible to attain; however, Elenvia is not a perfect place. It is not free of grief or anger or cruelty. It is only the combined efforts of most people living within the land environed by the Infinite Wood, regardless of their status or nationality, collaborating towards a world that serves them all. Perhaps their stories can be a lesson in their world’s attainability, but if you rather not consider it so then consider it only as thus: It is a tale, magical and romantic and filled with adventure at every turn. It is my dream that telling it in the way I do will cause it to infiltrate your heart, same as it did my own. If you find the legend herein enticing but the words unrelatable, I entreat you to consider this only the original text and accept my heartfelt invitation for you to tell it again in a new way.
Elenvia may be lost to us now, but perhaps through the rebirth of their stories, we can create one anew. Furthermore, the volumes you now hold contain only what my family’s memories were able to impart. While writing, further details came to me in dreams, and, knowing Leanna, that they did so should be no surprise. Once you open your mind to it, more Elenvian history may reveal itself to your imagination. I implore you to release it from concealment and share it with the world as I do now; for, if we are ever to find Elenvia, we must know what we are searching for.
Esteemed Reader,
I am, here on forth, your devoted servant,
Cedar Flyte
May 27th, 2021
*****
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter XXVII - [not yet released]
The Legend of Leanna Page is - and will remain - completely free to read for all its three volumes. If you’re loving it, please support the story by sharing it with your friends and tapping the like button on the chapters to increase visibility.
This cannot be underestimated. I like to read many things but I will admit I love to read things written in this manner. I love the prose and the form. It has a romantic feel to it. Magnificent introduction. I wish I had done something similar.
An excellent way to begin!