Reynardine
Senior Registered
It all began when I visited the Alhambra two years ago. I enjoyed walking through it so much, and I nearly started to cry when they were closing and I had to leave...There were many places in it that gave me a strange feeling of familiarity, above all the highest watchtower and the ruins of the Nasrid palaces, but also the ruins of houses in the Alcazaba, the military part of the Alhambra (on the right in the first picture on the page).
As usual, it took me quite a while to "connect the dots", and it was only a few months later that I had the first memories. I remembered having been a Moorish soldier, probably named Yussuf, whose mother or grandmother had been an African slave. I still looked rather African, and my skin became very dark in summer, but nobody seemed to mind, even though I was the only one. I don't know what rank I had, maybe something equivalent to the modern rank of Sergeant, since I can remember training the young recruits and I think I had some authority.
I remember that we used to do a kind of sword dance in our free time, it was a slow one with measured movements, but you stil had to be rather precise if you didn't want to cut or bruise your opponent's hands when clashing swords. It's hard to describe, but it looked like a slow-motion sword duel with ritualised movements, and I think shields were used in it as well. We probably hit our shields with our scimitars at one point of the dance, perhaps at the beginning (???)...
I found an Andalusian Moorish tune called "Lamma Bada" that reminds me of the music for our sword dance; unfortunately I only have it as an MP3 and can't attach it. But if anyone is interested, PM me and I can email it!
We had lots of horses at the Alhambra; they would probably be considered as coarse and ugly by today's standards, but they were strong, clever and hardy. Most of them were greys or chestnuts with white spots on their foreheads, and I think the greys were all born black (grey horses can be born either black or chestnut-coloured).
There was one grey horse we called "Storm", who was rather difficult, but he had taken a liking to me and was rather nice when I was around. That probably was because I used to bribe him with stale bread and apples
Another horse I remember was a chestnut called Caliph, a favourite of my young friend, of whom I'll talk later. Caliph was friendlier than Storm, and a few years younger and rather playful. We sometimes used to race them against each other when we had some free time or were ordered to exercise the horses; that was one duty we loved to do!
As for my young friend, he was a Christian orphan whose original name may have been Rodrigo or Miguel; I don't know how he ended up on the Alhambra, but somehow he did, and was raised by Maryam, an older woman in charge of the sick and the orphans, who may have been a Christian in her youth as well. Maryam and I were friends in a Platonic way; we often used to joke that we were like two old, barren mules since neither of us had produced any offspring...We often used to sit in the shade of a tree, eat pomegranates and talk about things when we had time...
My young friend was raised by Maryam as well, and when he was old enough and declared that he wanted to be a soldier, he came into my charge. By that time he had been given an Arabian name which I don't remember, since he was usually addressed by his nickname "Rumi" (spelling?), which means "Christian" or "Byzantine" in Arabic. He was teased a lot at first, but managed to earn everyone's respect by being a good fighter and sword dancer. He got into a few scuffles as a teenager as well, but I usually pretended not to notice, since I thought the lads had to fight it out for themselves. Of course I would have taken action if it had become serious, but it never did...
I met Rumi a few times when he was little and still in Maryam's charge, and I remember how fascinated he was by my skin colour. He realised it wasn't going to rub off when he got older, though
This post and discussion is continued in the thread Memories of the Alhambra
As usual, it took me quite a while to "connect the dots", and it was only a few months later that I had the first memories. I remembered having been a Moorish soldier, probably named Yussuf, whose mother or grandmother had been an African slave. I still looked rather African, and my skin became very dark in summer, but nobody seemed to mind, even though I was the only one. I don't know what rank I had, maybe something equivalent to the modern rank of Sergeant, since I can remember training the young recruits and I think I had some authority.
I remember that we used to do a kind of sword dance in our free time, it was a slow one with measured movements, but you stil had to be rather precise if you didn't want to cut or bruise your opponent's hands when clashing swords. It's hard to describe, but it looked like a slow-motion sword duel with ritualised movements, and I think shields were used in it as well. We probably hit our shields with our scimitars at one point of the dance, perhaps at the beginning (???)...
I found an Andalusian Moorish tune called "Lamma Bada" that reminds me of the music for our sword dance; unfortunately I only have it as an MP3 and can't attach it. But if anyone is interested, PM me and I can email it!
We had lots of horses at the Alhambra; they would probably be considered as coarse and ugly by today's standards, but they were strong, clever and hardy. Most of them were greys or chestnuts with white spots on their foreheads, and I think the greys were all born black (grey horses can be born either black or chestnut-coloured).
There was one grey horse we called "Storm", who was rather difficult, but he had taken a liking to me and was rather nice when I was around. That probably was because I used to bribe him with stale bread and apples
Another horse I remember was a chestnut called Caliph, a favourite of my young friend, of whom I'll talk later. Caliph was friendlier than Storm, and a few years younger and rather playful. We sometimes used to race them against each other when we had some free time or were ordered to exercise the horses; that was one duty we loved to do!As for my young friend, he was a Christian orphan whose original name may have been Rodrigo or Miguel; I don't know how he ended up on the Alhambra, but somehow he did, and was raised by Maryam, an older woman in charge of the sick and the orphans, who may have been a Christian in her youth as well. Maryam and I were friends in a Platonic way; we often used to joke that we were like two old, barren mules since neither of us had produced any offspring...We often used to sit in the shade of a tree, eat pomegranates and talk about things when we had time...
My young friend was raised by Maryam as well, and when he was old enough and declared that he wanted to be a soldier, he came into my charge. By that time he had been given an Arabian name which I don't remember, since he was usually addressed by his nickname "Rumi" (spelling?), which means "Christian" or "Byzantine" in Arabic. He was teased a lot at first, but managed to earn everyone's respect by being a good fighter and sword dancer. He got into a few scuffles as a teenager as well, but I usually pretended not to notice, since I thought the lads had to fight it out for themselves. Of course I would have taken action if it had become serious, but it never did...
I met Rumi a few times when he was little and still in Maryam's charge, and I remember how fascinated he was by my skin colour. He realised it wasn't going to rub off when he got older, though
This post and discussion is continued in the thread Memories of the Alhambra