Knightmare

I had a 'knight'mare. I dreamt that I was on the grounds of a castle estate. I had a knife in my hand to defend myself against an evil force that was haunting the walls. Several times I thrust the knife into thin air but the evil thing eluded me. At the last it came out of a tree that grew very close to the castle wall and again I thrust my knife and the spirit flew forward and came right at me. That's when I awoke- screaming.

Later on when recounting this dream to my husband (who shook my shoulder that night and calmed me down) I told him what I had been researching- an old abby called Kloster Lehnin in Brandenburg that had a legend associated with it where the hero fell asleep in an oak grove and was threatened by an aggressive stag. The hero could not use his spear to defend himself until he prayed for help...something like that.

In other words, my not-so-original nightmare was the same as the hero's but there was no time to pray. I've obviously spent way too much time researching a project and it might be getting time to give it up. Namely, building a family tree that connects names from the 1700’s to the 1800’s. I’m missing family names that would connect those generations…don’t really know anymore where to take it as I’ve even checked the armorial archives for the relevant area. Oh well, maybe one day I will get to see Oberwart one day and ask what family is left if they know more.

That last picture is a photo taken by either my mother or father of my sister, brother and me when we were in our early teens. It's one of my favorite pictures and I'm feeling sentimental tonight. :)