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The origins of The Short Knife - Elen Caldecott

March 11th 2021

 

Elen Caldecott's The Short Knife has been longlisted for the 2021 Carnegie Medal. Elen explains the origins of the book and the questions that she wanted to answer when writing.

Is it possible to graft one language onto another? Can the roots of one sustain the flowers of another? What might this grafted language look like? Who would use it and why?

These were the questions I wanted to answer as I set about writing The Short Knife. I wanted to share the beauty and idiosyncrasies of my native tongue, Welsh, with readers who were, perhaps, speakers of just English. I wanted to write something that gave the impression of being written in Welsh, for English readers.

I wanted to do it partly for generous reasons: Welsh is one of the oldest living languages in Europe, as part of our collective heritage it should belong to anyone, like our national parks and stone-built monuments. But I also wanted to attempt it for more complex, angrier reasons: there are around a dozen indigenous languages spoken in the United Kingdom today, and yet on the news I was seeing people demand that we all speak English. I heard stories of people afraid to speak French, or Polish, or German on the street for fear of attack. I wanted to hold a mirror up to the UK and say ‘look, look, we’ve never been a monoculture, and I for one, never want to be.’

So, I went about grafting. I chose a period of history where Welsh and English (or at least, British and Anglo-Saxon) were evenly balanced in terms of distribution and power – the 5th century. Roman rule was over and dominance of the cultural landscape was up for grabs. I created a girl, Mai, who was caught between the two warring worlds. The book is written in the first person, and, with any luck, it should feel to the reader that they are hearing her speak Welsh – even while every word is intelligible to them.

I think I succeeded. Mai uses idioms which are a direct translation of the Welsh; to ‘have a bun in the oven’, becomes ‘growing small bones’; to ‘keep your nose out’ becomes ‘go boil your own pots’. Her grammar, too, is inspired by the Welsh; for example, there’s no indefinite article in Welsh, so Mai never uses the words ‘a’ or ‘an’. There are many, many more ways that Mai speaks which reveal the roots of the old language that was once spoken from Edinburgh to Exeter. On these islands, Mai witnesses, the culture is always evolving.

From her voice, and her setting, came the story. The 5th century was a dangerous place to be a young woman. Mai and her sister Haf get caught up in the turbulence of the time, fleeing Saxon fighters by heading to a local warlord, only to find that the devil you know isn’t always the best option. Throughout, Mai relies on the kindness and comfort of female friendship, as she finds a place for herself in the world.

I ended up writing historical fiction, inspired by quite an esoteric question (I got a PhD from the final manuscript!). But I also wrote a story about who we are now, as a country, as a community, as diverse groups of people who all call these islands home. I hope that Mai, and her language, belongs to everyone.

 

 

The Short Knife by Elen Caldecott is out now.

To order all of the Carnegie longlisted books or pre-order the shortlist, visit our CKG page.

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