[Ansteorra] "The fascination of what's difficult..."

[Peter Schorn]

I don't have one particular memory of Mistress Janet.  Does anyone have
a memory of any one particular Spring?  No, we just remember Spring
itself, and have faith that it will always come round again.

Mistress Janet was like one of Tolkien's or C.S. Lewis's dwarves: short,
doughty, skilled and hardy, up to any amount of work, coarse or fine,
that you could give her.  She had an exterior that was gruff and sharp
at times, but that was about an inch deep.  Underneath, it was gold all
the way down. And that went for miles and miles.

Mistress Janet was like a short-block V-8.  She could throw off a lot of
noise and heat, but if you wanted something big brought up from a
standing start to full career, or pulled out of the Slough of Despond,
and you wanted it done *right now,* there wasn't anything better in any
shop.

Mistress Janet was like Mallory's Sir Kai le Seneschale.  She started
out pursuing honor in the knightly arts.  But she soon realized that
there would be no quests or feasts or tournaments or noble castles
without someone to order, provision and run them.  And she realized that
there was honor in this work, and that she was good at it.  So she put
by her arms and armor and gave herself up to raising the towers that
were the focus of our battles and amours.

She never became a knight.

But without her there would have been no Camelot.

--Cadfan ap Morgan