GERMAN KNIGHTS

Upon a deep green Achmardi

She bore the pride of Paradise,

Root and branch, beyond all price.

That was a thing men call the Grail,

Which makes all earthly glory pale.

           

 

 

 

Scene no 31: German Knights (Del Prado toy soldiers) in front of the ruins of a Church (Noch HO Scale toys, 58606). Wolfram von Eschenbach in the middle. Schenk von Limburg in the left. In the right, a knight who bears the arms of a member of the von Mallinckrodt family of Westphalia.

The Text: Verses from PARZIVAL, a Knightly Epic, by Wolfram von Eschenbach. The greatest work of Germany's greatest medieval poet.

SNOW GLOBES

For the selective remembrance of all the carefree days gone by.

For the mystical places which evoke our childhood memories.

For the sacred melancholy of the lost wonderland.

 

 

Scene no 30: Winter glass balls (unknown manufacturer) with running wolves, old train, and a peaceful cottage. In the snowy forest.

WELLS FARGO OVERLAND STAGE

The Stagecoach Wars.

The safety of the passengers traveling through Indian country could not be vouchsafed by anyone but God. Raiding warriors attacked stagecoaches in every state of territory from the Great Plains west.

…The driver spun the coach around and the Indians stabbed their lances through the windows. The coach careened along, with passengers leaning out to shoot at their pursuers…

                                              

 

 

 

 

 

Scene no 29: Wells Fargo Overland Stage with driver and attacking Indians trying to climb onto the roof of the coach (Alps Toys, battery operated tin toy, made in Japan). Three impressive cowboys (Lafredo copies, plastic figures made in Hong Kong) have taken over the defense.

PAPER WARRIORS

Cut and Assemble!

                                           

 

 

Scene no 28: Knights and Landsknechts in a variety of action poses, including plenty of accessories. One-sided paper soldiers from the back cover of the Greek boys’ comic magazine AGORI (BOY, nine issues: no 111 – no 119, summer of 1979).

THE LAST STAND

« ... because a united Europe, for which they strove, was the only – perhaps the last – possibility of survival for a marvelous old continent, a haven of human joy and fervor, but mangled and mutilated to the point of death.

  A day will come, perhaps, when people will regret the defeat in 1945 of the defenders and builders of Europe.

 While awaiting that day, let us tell truthfully their epic tale – how they fought, what trials they suffered, how they gave their hearts to the struggle.»

 

 

 

 

                                                                                         

Scene no 27: Waffen SS soldiers in front of the ruins of their world (King and Country toys).

The Text: From THE EASTERN FRONT: Memoirs of a Waffen SS Volunteer 1941-1945, by Leon Degrelle.                         

THE CHESSMEN

Palamedes concocted the game, to relieve his boredom during the ten years of the siege of Troy.

A complex game of strategy. 

Scene no 26: All the different Romanesque chess figures (plastic pawns given as a prize inside Mr. Chips cereals, in Greece in the 70s) in a four colors battle formation. 

KING OF CONGO

Scene no 25: Milou enthroned (Herge - Moulinsart toys, Coffret scene plastique) in the middle of the lions (Britains toys, Zoo), and small shrubs all around (W. Germany / Jean toys).

The comic book pictures: From the Adventures of Tintin (Tintin in the Congo).