Aryanhwy's Calligraphy and Illumination: August 2009

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Thank you card

This is a thank-you card that I made to give to my supervisor upon the (hopefully) successful defense of my Ph.D., since he's been a tremendous supervisor these last four years. This was my third attempt at penwork initials; the first was a practice "T" I did before Raglan, the second was the "T" I do for Alaric's ID company of merit in arts & sciences scroll, which was done by memory of the one I'd done for practice, and then I did this one. So the "T" was copied from an actual exemplar (though different from the one I'd used for the other two), but the "Y" was completely made up. You just don't find that many capital "Y"s in medieval manuscripts.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

AoA for Bjorn fari Kvedulfson

The illumination was done by Amal binti Hamid. The text reads:

Now hear the will of Gerhardt and Judith, king and queen of Drachenwald. Many are the reports that we have heard of the good conduct and loyal service of our subject Biorn fari Kveldulfson. We therefore create the said Biorn a lord and award him such arms as he shall register with the College of Arms. Done the 22nd of August, a.s. 44, at Raglan Castle in Mynydd Gwyn.

Company of Merit for Artisans and Scholars for Alaric of Bangor

The text was done by Genevieve la flechiere. I did the initial and the flourishes.

Silver Guard for Alaric of Bangor

The illumination was done by Ylandra. The text reads:

Gerhardt et Judith, King et Queen of Drachenwald by these words we create Alaric of Bangor a member of the Order of the Silver Guard. Done the xxiith day of August anno societatis xliv in Mynydd Gwyn.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Lindquistringes for Chiara de'Danielli

The illumination was done by Amal binti Hamid. The text reads:

All shall know who read or hear these words of the deeds of Chiara de'Danielli, loyal subject of the crown of Drachenwald. Long has the said Chiara served us, and so it is the will of Gerhardt and Judith, king and queen of Drachenwald that she be made a member of the Orden des Lindquistringes, with all the rights and responsibilities attendant thereto, including the right to bear the badge of the order, a ring formed of a wingless dragon or maintaining a gem gules. Done on August xxi, in the year of the society xliv.

Silver Guard for Dafydd Gwynfardd

The illumination was done by Amal binti Hamid. The text reads:

By these letters let all know that We, Gerhardt and Judith, king and queen of the glorious kingdom of Drachenwald had heard the testimony of many reliable men and women and have witnessed for ourselves the skill and prowess at arms and also the honour and chivalry of our loyal subject Dafydd Gwynfardd. Our kingdom is made strong and kept safe by these deeds ofthose like the said Dafydd and it is the pleasure and the privilege of the crown to reocgnize those who have served the kingdom in this fashion. And so we make Dafydd a member of our Order of the Silver Guard, with all the rights and responsibilities appertaining thereto, including the right to bear the badge of the order. Done the 21st day of August, anno societatis 44.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Lindquistringes for Ursula Sturludottir

Lindquistringes for Ursula Sturludóttir

The text, done in artificial uncial, translates as:

By reason of her service to the lands of Insula Draconis we Gerhardt and Judith king and queen of Drachenwald invite Ursula Sturludottir into our Orden des Lindquistringes. Done August 22, a.s. xliv.

The calligraphy was done on Juuly 24, before I went to Pennsic, and then the border was drawn and inked on August 12 and 16. The border was way more headache than I expected. I'd picked what I thought was a relatively easy exemplar (fol. 191v of The Book of Durrow, which is reproduced in various places; I was working from plate 7 of Nordenfalk, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Painting), but spent a number of evenings trying to copy the bottom border, both by sight, with a grid, and then with a different grid method, and failing each time. I finally gave up and went with a simple dot + grid knotwork border, which I knew I could do but which I also knew didn't look as nice as the original I was trying to copy. I'd gotten the outlines of the bottom border all inked out one evening...and then it smudged. That was just the final straw, I had to put the entire thing away for a few days before I could even stomach to look at it to see if it could be fixed.

It could be, and was, fixed, but this is still nowhere near as good as I'd hoped, and definitely not one of my favorites. But I think the calligraphy turned out beautifully.