99 Leaves from the Book of Sorren
AN UNEXPECTED FIND
On a trip through the UK with Dan and a few of our band mates we stopped at a very old book shop in Edinburgh. The proprietor was in no hurry to have us leave and engaged us in conversation. He was selling out his life work of book collecting and moving to the Scottish highlands to continue his beloved passion for shepherding. I told him about my love of the old world and my own passion for writing. We bought some books from him and left on good terms. Later, when we were riding on a charter to Fort William to survey the mighty Ben Nevis which we intended to hike, I opened my book bag and found this, which I have discovered is The Book of Sorren. Quickly I realized what an enormous gift I had been given. The book was hand written, and was not a book at all, but more properly a fragmentary chronicle, possibly a form of diary. I knew that this could be no accident. The proprietor had chosen me to receive this book.
RUMINATIONS ON THE BOOK
In these pages, I will try to offer my perspective on the meaning and sources within Sorren's book. I will make reference to poems and stories and explain how the band Apolog has sought to develop songs. Sometimes the connection has been superficial, possibly only the inspiration from a fragment of an idea or even a strange reference contained within the book. Other times the connection is much stronger and the music has been developed from the very thoughts of Sorren. Lastly there are songs developed by Apolog that have been written around the very poetry of Sorren himself or the poetry attributed to him by other chroniclers. As far as possible, the music has been written to reflect the times and the ideas of Sorren and no attempt has been made to update this thematic music into contemporary terms. Part of the Book of Sorren is its value as a source of wisdom, its source of long forgotten lore, some of which may not even be properly understood within our modern interpretation.
THE ARCHIVIST KNOWN AS "M"
Before I begin with my evolving thoughts about this mysterious book, one more matter should be addressed. When we began to analyze the book with closer attention, it soon became clear that the annotations inside the margins of the pages were not written by Sorren, but instead by a mysterious person known as M. The writing was succinct and elegant. Each annotation would be marked with the initial M. Seeing this, I immediately realized that this book had been in the hands of a person that had taken much care in reading, and analyzing its content. I searched all the annotations until I found an annotation that was marked Melanthros, and henceforth the original archivist will be referred to by the initial M.
Finally, to make an attempt at categorizing my thoughts on this work, I will chapterize what I currently deem to be the essential matters under investigation. Each chapter is labelled as a leaf and I begin with the topic which all others must follow: Why should we read this work? What are its origins and what is its relevance? I will offer whatever insights I have been endowed with in these pages, but it may be that this artifact can only be understood with the wisdom of the many. If you discover in Sorren’s words a sentiment which touches you, feel free to leave your comments as well.