Piper at the gates of dawn

"Some august Presence was very, very near"

from Chapter 7, Wind in the Willows…

Then suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground.

It was no panic terror— indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy— but it was an awe that smote and held him and, without seeing, he knew it could only mean that some august Presence was very, very near.
…

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

"he looked in the very eyes of the Friend and Helper"

Trembling he obeyed, and raised his humble head; and then, in that utter clearness of the imminent dawn, while Nature, flushed with fulness of incredible colour, seemed to hold her breath for the event, he looked in the very eyes of the Friend and Helper; saw the backward sweep of the curved horns, gleaming in the growing daylight; saw the stern, hooked nose between the kindly eyes that were looking down on them humourously, while the bearded mouth broke into a half-smile at the corners; saw the rippling muscles on the arm that lay across the broad chest, the long supple hand still holding the pan-pipes only just fallen away from the parted lips; saw the splendid curves of the shaggy limbs disposed in majestic ease on the sward; saw, last of all, nestling between his very hooves, sleeping soundly in entire peace and contentment, the little, round, podgy, childish form of the baby otter. All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.

‘Rat!’ he found breath to whisper, shaking. ‘Are you afraid?’

‘Afraid?’ murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love. ‘Afraid! Of Him? O, never, never! And yet— and yet— O, Mole, I am afraid!’

Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.

Sudden and magnificent, the sun’s broad golden disc showed itself over the horizon facing them; and the first rays, shooting across the level water-meadows, took the animals full in the eyes and dazzled them. When they were able to look once more, the Vision had vanished, and the air was full of the carol of birds that hailed the dawn.

from The laughter of Peterkin by Fionna Macleod

“In those first fragments of Peterkin’s experiences, all his life was foreshadowed. Wonder, delight, longing, laughter–the four winds of childhood–these blew for him through his first few years, through childhood and boyhood and youth. He is a man now; but though the laughter is rarer and the longing deeper and more constant, there still blow through the dark glens and wide sunlit moors of his mind the four winds of Laughter, Longing, Wonder, and Delight.”

Fionna Macleod (William Sharp), A retelling of old tales of the celtic underworld, 1897

http://www.archive.org/stream/laughterofpeterk00sharuoft#page/n0/mode/2up

 

 

A visit to Bag End

Are you there Master Frodo?

Fionna and I went to Bag End, Middle Earth this morning and popped in for some honey cake at Frodo’s house. This has to be my favourite photograph ever.

Inspiration from a blank page

Next time you think that you’ll never be an “real” artist because you can’t afford expensive materials, be inspired by this guy, Peter Callesen. Simply take white A4 paper, scissors, glue and imagination:

http://www.petercallesen.com/index/index2.html

Pan’s labyrinth

I think 2007 is going to be a good year for fantasy …
If you haven’t seen trailers for the forthcoming film Pan’s Labyrinth, have a look at http://www.panslabyrinth.com/

It’s a twisted and dark fantasy story, and sounds much like the original type of fairy stories before Disney recreated them into the friendlier sugar coated versions where everthing is happily ever after.

I think it will be beautiful in terms of the imagination of the fantasy creatures, but I also expect it to be terrifying.  The story is rooted in the adult world of the horror of the aftermath of WWII and the previews let you know that this darkness is a major part of the film.