I'm slow today, so no demo yet. Didn't sleep well last night. But that happens.
As to pronunciation, I haven't seen much agreement on how to pronounce "were" once you drop the suffix (wolf, bear, dragon, or whatever), Some rhyme it with "where", some with "fur" and some, like I do in this song, with "fear". I don't find it to be a regional thing even, I think it's just that different people settle on different vowel sounds in their heads while reading silently.
For the challenge, I kind of dodged around the question of whether it's really the same word if it's pronounced differently!
When We Were Were
Deirdre M Murphy
The tale is told of a dreadful curse
That turned men to wolves under the moon
And the story’s told in song and verse
Of a frightened child who begged a boon
The little one feared that like his kin
His form would change in moonlight bright
And so he begged a captive djinn
To save him from his own birthright
But we had nothing to fear
When we were were
This djinn was trapped in an ancient war
Kept from his children and his wife
He’d sworn that he’d even the score
Get revenge for his stolen life
The spell that bound him tight was strong
His magic bound to a shifter’s plea
He didn’t care that he’d done us wrong
He swore he’d bring us to our knees
For we had nothing to fear
When we were were
He could have made that little boy
An orphan of the human sort
But that would bring him little joy
His dream was to all shifters thwart
He changed us all, now we’ve one form
He took the birthright from us all
In one brief widespread magic storm
His cleverness his own downfall
We thought we had nothing to fear
When we were were
And now the djinn’s stuck all alone
There are none left who can hear him shout
He’s just a ghost in an ancient stone
With no chance now, to ever get out
That djinn has nothing to hear
Now that we’re not were
Copyright ©2022 Deirdre M Murphy (2/16/2022)
#skirmish #021622 (something nerdy) #polysemy #filk
@vegansongs Feb 2022
Magical storytelling and want to hear a pulsing tune!
@trolls2 Feb 2022
Really great captivating story enjoyed your adding the djinn.
@potentialspam Feb 2022
Love that you brought in the djinn (and also I just learned what that was). It really sets the tone for the story I think. Nice work!
@ajna1960 Feb 2022
Woohoo I found this, in Miriam Webster, which explains the 'wee' or 'we' sound in the 'were' of 'werewolf' !!
I just realised just how nerdy I must be to have to go and work that out lol
"Though some doubts about the word's etymology still remain, werewolf probably comes from a prehistoric West Germanic compound whose constituent parts gave Old English wer ("man") and wulf ("wolf"). The word is related to Middle Dutch weerwulf and Old High German werwolf."
And from an etymonline there is this:
"late Old English werewulf "person with the power to turn into a wolf," from wer "man, male person" (from PIE root *wi-ro- "man") + wulf (see wolf (n.); also see here for a short discussion of the mythology). Belief in them was widespread in the Middle Ages. Similar formation in Middle Dutch weerwolf, Old High German werwolf, Swedish varulf."
@ajna1960 Feb 2022
'Were' rhymes with fur. 'We're' rhymes with fear :) It's all in the apostrophe !
The play on word sounds in the refrains here is very clever. Now I'll have to an investigate the etymology of the word werewolf, to work out why it sounds different to standard English pronunciation !
@jwhanberry Feb 2022
Good telling of a mystical tale. And bonus points for covering two challenges with one song. Your use of language is top notch as usual. You can sleep well tonight.
@moonraccoon Feb 2022
Clever title and wordplay. This reads like the backstory for an epic film.
I hadn't realized that some dialects have "were" rhyme with "hear"; here, it rhymes with "where". (Completely missed how chorus 1 and 2 have it rhyme with "fear" LOL)
@pianoquest Feb 2022
What a fun way to tackle the skirmish prompt and the weekly challenge! Nice work!
@thedutchwidows Feb 2022
This is a really well-told tale! Very nicely done!
@berni1954 Feb 2022
Yep, magic, curses and fantasy figures are definitely of interest to nerds, if "The Big Bang Theory" is anything to go by.
Great story developing here.
@cindyrella Feb 2022
Wonderful storytelling! I'm in awe!
@chroes Feb 2022
Oh, this sounds like another person who enjoys pen&paper? Or at least fantasy. I like the turn of this story, well done!
@mhorning Feb 2022
Impressive response to the prompt.