Chapter 4: Riwal, the walnut and the bard

Daniela Herbaliste
Oct 25, 2024
6 min read

ree — Riwal and Rory designed by Emilien Dumoulin Chaparu

Riwal sits by the stream at the edge of the forest.

It's cold, but there's no wind.

He has already finished work, Juna had to gather a few supplies for the winter,

‘ So that she has more nuts to throw at lost travellers! ‘ he thinks to himself.

He listens to the rippling water and quickly loses himself in his daydreams.

If he could sing, he would sing Broceliande's praises.

In the few weeks he has spent here, he the forest has become important for him and he cherishes every day. Sometimes weird, almost always secret and always hiding surprises.

The spot here by the water is one of his favourite places.

The sun is reflecting in the stream and you can see the stones shimmering underground as if they were precious stones.

Now he is whistling to himself a little. The weather puts him in a good mood.

Suddenly another whistle answers him. He pauses but hears nothing more.

‘ Nonsense, there was nothing! ‘ he says to himself.

Calming down he continues to whistle to himself...and again an answer!

He looks round - nothing!

‘ Is anyone there ? ’

This forest always finds something new.

Then he hears the whistling again, 3 notes and it stops...

Too bad, it sounds good, better than his own whistling.

He tries to whistle the 3 notes himself and it answers him again.

Now there is a rustling in the bushes and someone steps out into the sun.

It is a man dressed in a blue robe. He has dark hair and a square face.

His beard contrasts with his light-coloured eyes.

In one hand he holds a mixture of a guitar and a harp (a lyre, he is later told).

Amused, Riwal thinks of the bard who, if he sings wrongly, is tied to a tree far away from the table.

‘ You shouldn't make fun of wrong notes, your whistling wakes the gods it's so wrong ! ‘ the bard replies, as if he was reading his thoughts.

Surprised, Riwal presses his hand to his mouth.

‘ Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you ‘ says Riwal

‘ You're welcome ‘ replies the bard ’ perhaps you can make yourself useful and help me to look for it... ‘.

Now Riwal realizes that the bard wasn't looking directly at him, but was keeping his eyes on the ground the whole time.

‘ What are you looking for ? ‘ Riwal asks

‘ My hut is not far away, maybe I have what you are looking for at home... ? ‘ he offers.

‘ No, I don't think so, I'm looking for my thoughts, which I've forgotten here somewhere ’

Riwal : ‘ How can you look for a thought in the forest ? You don't have it in your trouser pocket! ’

‘ Don't be mistaken, ‘ the bard replies, ’ a thought, a song, a poem become an object once they have been spoken. But for some time now I've been forgetting my thoughts more and more and now I'm looking for the lyrics of a song I wrote for my beloved.

I'll whistle the first notes and hope that the lyrics comes back to me. You wouldn't happen to have a few witch nuts in your hut ?

‘ Euh,... I only have a few normal walnuts, ‘Riwal stutters and thinks of Juna, who has done a lot of work to gather them.

‘ I even have some in my bag here with me.... ’

Juna didn't know about it, he thought he fully deserved them after the squirrel was always so strict with him.

Bard : ‘ A normal walnut, of course !

Haven't you been taught that every walnut is a witch nut ? ’

Riwal: ‘ Euh, ...I'm still an apprentice druid ’

The bard now closely looks Riwal from top to bottom. Apart from his Celtic amulet, Riwal could have been a normal young man.

The bard wore his blue bard's robes, but Riwal was not yet ready.

Juna had taught him that he was not allowed to wear the robes of the young druids until spring.

Now the bard held out his hand and introduced himself:

‘Rory, bard of Taliesin, transmitter of wisdom, ambassador of our celtic culture’.

Riwal stared at him as if he was a magicien; his grandmother had told him a lot about the bards. If he had been more musical, he would have enrolled in a bard school instead.

He would have travelled like a bard and met lots of new people every day.

Again, the bard read in his mind:

« Yes, always meeting new people...but not often seeing those close to our hearts! Often you sit alone at the end of the table and after a song, people go home to their family. But you lie alone in your bed and your family is far away, and I miss my beloved even more. »

Now Riwal hears the Scottish accent in Rory's voice. His own family is far away, and he understands what Rory means.

“ What was it like with the nuts again? ” Riwal quickly asks in order to change the course of the conversation and pulls some nuts out of his pocket.

His distraction works and the bard picks up one of the nuts and cleverly cracks it open.

It takes a quarter of a century for a walnut to produce its first nut. All that time, it stores the sun and all the good nutrients to make the walnut become a small marvel.

Have you ever looked at a walnut without the shell... what does it remind you of ? »

« Uh... I don't know » Riwal stutters again.

Bard: « Look carefully, a little hint: just now I was talking about memory... »

“Euh...a brain....?” Riwal asks doubtfully.

« Exactly! » replies the bard « Many plants look like the part of the body they can help »

“ And what does the walnut have to do with the brain?! ” asks Riwal, still doubting.

« A walnut is two-thirds vegetable fatty acids, just think of the good walnut oil! Half of the brain is fat. If you want to fix your hut, what kind of wood do you use?»

Riwal quickly replies: « good wood, of course! »

"That's right," says the bard.

"It's the same with the brain, if you regularly eat good vegetable fat like the walnut, your brain will feel better. And the walnut is ready just before winter, when there's nothing more good to eat. The list of ingredients is so long, and it's almost easier to tell what's not in it.

In any case, five nuts a day is all it takes to protect your immune system and keep your hair, teeth and bones strong.

In addition, the walnut promotes blood circulation and strengthens your nerves. »

The bard concludes his lecture with « and now I'm eating one ».

Riwal is once again impressed by Juna, who obviously collects walnuts not only for taste reasons.

After eating his walnut, Riwal makes a litte ship out of the shell. He uses a leaf to make a mate with a sail and places the ship in the stream.

Suddenly, the bard’s deep voice rings out and Riwal seizes a shiver.

« I have found my thought again ! »

And he sings the song of his beloved:

You ask me to believe in magic

Expect me to commit suicide of the heart

And you ask me to play this game without question

Raising the stakes on this shotgun roulette