Hiraedd by True Art Is Angsty

Hiraedd (or hiraeth, pronounced ‘HEER-eye-th)’ is a profound Welsh concept that transcends simple homesickness. It encapsulates a deep, often mournful, longing and nostalgia for something profoundly missed. It's a bittersweet ache for a past that perhaps never truly existed, a future that can never be realised, or even a love lost before it was ever fully known. It speaks to a desperate yearning for an idealized state, a connection, or a time that remains just beyond reach.

Hiraedd draws its inspiration directly from Katharine Kerr's epic Deverry Cycle. Just as the concept of hiraedd itself weaves together disparate threads of longing, the Deverry Cycle unfurls a complex narrative across multiple generations and incarnations. Kerr's sprawling saga masterfully illustrates how the past, present, and future are inextricably intertwined. Characters' actions in one life ripple through time, creating profound consequences and karmic ties that bind them to others in subsequent existences. This cyclical nature of fate, love, and conflict perfectly mirrors the enduring and often sorrowful quality of hiraedd.

Hiraedd seeks to capture the vast temporal landscape and deep emotional currents that shape lives within the Deverry Cycle's intricate web of destiny. Here, the past and future are inseparable, with actions echoing both forward and backward through time—a concept often expressed through the powerful tapestry of wyrd. This isn't about blind fate; it's about how honor and dignity remain central. You may be destined to fall in battle, but you retain the profound choice of how you meet that end: with a laugh and joy among your blood brothers, or in a shameful, cowardly flight. Fundamentally, Hiraedd highlights the pervasive impact of absence, of what is missing, rather than just its void.

Art by Siobhan Nicholls, talented and soulful Australian artist. For more visit dreamingofdarkhorses.art

Sheet music available at https://trueartisangsty.musicaneo.com/sheetmusic/sm-619009_hiraedd.html