Kevin's Watch

Posted: **Wed Dec 29, 2021 7:04 pm**

So I came across these guys the other day. Probably old news for some, but they are new to me.

That's a Pokemon named "Avalugg". The Iceberg Pokemon. They are pretty big - six feet tall.

They're not exactly what I have imagined arguleh look like, but damn if they don't check off a lot of boxes.

The moving shape was as wide as the height of a Giant, as thick as the reach of Covenant's arms. Short legs bore it forward with deceptive speed. Dark gaps around its edge looked like maws.

Even the names arghuleh and avalugg are somewhat similar.

Etymology: Avalugg's name is based off the words avalanche, and either lug, which means to carry or pull heavy objects, or lugg, which is Norwegian for "pile."

Posted: **Mon Jan 03, 2022 4:34 pm**

More.

So I ran across this post while I was looking for discussions of the arguleh: Winter in Combat, a reading by Stephen R. Donaldson...

Sadly, all the links are dead, but a little sleuthing turned up an image of the album cover.

Larger version: link

This album cover is fascinating in it's own right. We have Waynhim in their rhysh, Covenant, Linden, the First, and even Pitchwife. All of them, I must say, are rather well done, and true to the descriptions in the story.

But look in the silver medallion in the middle. Look closely. (And so the larger image.) Arguleh! Not just one, but two - a small one riding on the back of a larger one.

It is the croyel arghule. This is possibly the only artistic rendering in existence.

Given the faithful rendering of the other characters, I have to wonder how much Donaldson himself had guided the design of those creatures.

... more sleuthing found this in the Gradual Interview:

In the Gradual Interview, Stephen R Donaldson wrote:Yes, your Caedmon cassette is authentic--although I myself only have the LP version. I did that reading. But I tend to forget that it ever existed, since it was only a fragment anyway, and had such a short shelf-life (it sold so poorly that Caedmon quickly cancelled their plans for a whole series of "Covenant" recordings). And Real Musgrave is a dear personal friend, so don't blame him if the cover-art seems a little, well, "de trop".

(08/17/2004)

Not sure what Donaldson means by "de trop" here.

de trop \ də-ˈtrō \ : too much or too many : SUPERFLUOUS, EXCESSIVE

de trop /də ˈtrō/ adjective: not wanted; unwelcome.

Maybe he thought that poor Musgrave squeezed too much into one picture? Anyway, I don't think it means that the depiction of the arghule is poor. In fact, that the fact of their close friendship leads me to believe more in their accuracy.

Posted: **Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:46 pm**

Hmm maybe Donaldson meant that he felt the cover art gave away too much of the story?

Although my guess is your right that he meant it was excessive - a lot of different images on one cover art.

Posted: **Tue Jan 04, 2022 4:37 pm**

Come to think of it, he may have been alluding to the number of legs on that arghule ...

Posted: **Wed Jan 05, 2022 1:10 am**

That album cover is the coolest thing!

Posted: **Wed Jan 05, 2022 1:13 pm**

Laboriumed.

Posted: **Mon Jul 11, 2022 6:40 pm**

Heh heh.

Posted: **Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:02 pm**

+JMJ+

I'm lovin' it, WF.

Though made in the 80's, that artwork is just so 70's.

I'ma picturin' it sittin' pretty in a macramÃ© frame.

Posted: **Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:08 pm**

Perfect.

Posted: **Wed Jul 13, 2022 6:21 pm**

It's another one of those things that I had and lost many years ago. Donaldson chose this particular scene to read from due to its "serendipity." He had no idea what to have the questors doing between returning to the Northron Climes region and making it back to the Land. This is all explained inside the album cover.

wayfriend wrote:More.

So I ran across this post while I was looking for discussions of the arguleh: Winter in Combat, a reading by Stephen R. Donaldson...

Sadly, all the links are dead, but a little sleuthing turned up an image of the album cover.

Larger version: link

This album cover is fascinating in it's own right. We have Waynhim in their rhysh, Covenant, Linden, the First, and even Pitchwife. All of them, I must say, are rather well done, and true to the descriptions in the story.

But look in the silver medallion in the middle. Look closely. (And so the larger image.) Arguleh! Not just one, but two - a small one riding on the back of a larger one.

It is the croyel arghule. This is possibly the only artistic rendering in existence.

Given the faithful rendering of the other characters, I have to wonder how much Donaldson himself had guided the design of those creatures.

... more sleuthing found this in the Gradual Interview:

In the Gradual Interview, Stephen R Donaldson wrote:Yes, your Caedmon cassette is authentic--although I myself only have the LP version. I did that reading. But I tend to forget that it ever existed, since it was only a fragment anyway, and had such a short shelf-life (it sold so poorly that Caedmon quickly cancelled their plans for a whole series of "Covenant" recordings). And Real Musgrave is a dear personal friend, so don't blame him if the cover-art seems a little, well, "de trop".

(08/17/2004)
Not sure what Donaldson means by "de trop" here.

de trop \ dÉ™-ËˆtrÅ� \ : too much or too many : SUPERFLUOUS, EXCESSIVE

de trop /dÉ™ ËˆtrÅ�/ adjective: not wanted; unwelcome.

Maybe he thought that poor Musgrave squeezed too much into one picture? Anyway, I don't think it means that the depiction of the arghule is poor. In fact, that the fact of their close friendship leads me to believe more in their accuracy.

Posted: **Sun Jul 17, 2022 9:33 pm**

By "de trop," I gather that Donaldson was saying in a nice way that it's an ugly cover, or that he doesn't like it for some other profoundly aesthetic reason. We know from the GI that he doesn't like the original covers to the First Chronicles. Even beyond the fact that the Giants are huge in comparison to TC and LA, beyond any other defects in the artwork, Donaldson would see it as just plain ghastly, not his style.

wayfriend wrote:More.

So I ran across this post while I was looking for discussions of the arguleh: Winter in Combat, a reading by Stephen R. Donaldson...

Sadly, all the links are dead, but a little sleuthing turned up an image of the album cover.

Larger version: link

This album cover is fascinating in it's own right. We have Waynhim in their rhysh, Covenant, Linden, the First, and even Pitchwife. All of them, I must say, are rather well done, and true to the descriptions in the story.

But look in the silver medallion in the middle. Look closely. (And so the larger image.) Arguleh! Not just one, but two - a small one riding on the back of a larger one.

It is the croyel arghule. This is possibly the only artistic rendering in existence.

Given the faithful rendering of the other characters, I have to wonder how much Donaldson himself had guided the design of those creatures.

... more sleuthing found this in the Gradual Interview:

In the Gradual Interview, Stephen R Donaldson wrote:Yes, your Caedmon cassette is authentic--although I myself only have the LP version. I did that reading. But I tend to forget that it ever existed, since it was only a fragment anyway, and had such a short shelf-life (it sold so poorly that Caedmon quickly cancelled their plans for a whole series of "Covenant" recordings). And Real Musgrave is a dear personal friend, so don't blame him if the cover-art seems a little, well, "de trop".

(08/17/2004)
Not sure what Donaldson means by "de trop" here.

de trop \ dÉ™-ËˆtrÅ� \ : too much or too many : SUPERFLUOUS, EXCESSIVE

de trop /dÉ™ ËˆtrÅ�/ adjective: not wanted; unwelcome.

Maybe he thought that poor Musgrave squeezed too much into one picture? Anyway, I don't think it means that the depiction of the arghule is poor. In fact, that the fact of their close friendship leads me to believe more in their accuracy.

Posted: **Wed Jul 20, 2022 1:02 pm**

wayfriend wrote:Heh heh.

Yeah, that art is really good!

Kevin's Watch

WGW Chapter 5 - Landward