Aryanhwy's Calligraphy and Illumination: 2019

Thursday, December 5, 2019

AoA for John Yarrowe

Given the recipient's name, it was so obvious what I needed to do -- find a medieval MS with yarrow in it and make a page that looked like it could've come from a medicinal. I found a variety of MSs, but liked the best this De Materia Medica image of yarrow from a 10th C Turkish MS.

The text on the left reads:

Achilleos sive yarrow, alias dictam vulgariter gearwe, est herbiferum flos ad solantem spirituum et animorum.

Which translates to:

Achilleos or yarrow, otherwise commonly called gearwe [the Anglo-Saxon name of the plant] is an herbaceous flower for the soothing of spirits.

The right-hand side was intended to read as if it were a translation or gloss of the Latin, but without being a translation:

Yarrowe, otherwise commonly known as John, soothes the spirits of all and is now named a lord of our court.

I'm exceptionally pleased with the calligraphy which I did freehand without even drawing any lines. I feel like I've finally figured out how to write rather than the draw.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Lindquistringes for Maud de Elsynge

I didn't intend to do any scribing at Crown Tourney, so I didn't bring my stuff with me. Which just means that I calligraphed this blank (not yet finished, as depicted here) by Greta of Thamesreach with unfamiliar pen, nib, ink, and without a ruler. I'm pretty pleased with my ability to draw evenly spaced lines without a ruler, and while the calligraphy is by no means my best, and I came away with a hand covered in ink, the result is still not too bad. And I can't wait to see the thing when it's wholly done.

Due commendations and salutations to all seeing, hearing, or reading these present letters from Vitus and Isabel, king and queen of Drachenwald. Let all bear witness and testimony to our royal will that on the xix day of October Maud de Elsing is made a Lindquistringes.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Sun and Chalice for Agatha of Norwich

I've had this blank, done by Saraswati man-Ikkam, for absolutely ages. It was a pleasure to use it for such a wonderful lady as Agatha.

The text reads:

Go forth and spread the words of Constanza and Duncan rulers of Insulae Draconis who by the power invested in us by the authority of law and custom do recognize our dear subject lady Agatha of Norwich as a member of the Order of the Sun and Chalice on the xix day of October, anno societatis liv. hac testamur (here we witness).

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Silver Guard for Robert du Prey

This initial is taken from Codex Michaelburanus perg. 1. f. 195r.

I screwed up a bit on the spacing of the calligraphy -- did the top line on the gap between the lines rather than on the text line, and then started the second line of main calligraphy too low. Ah well. Overall, I think it's okay. The text reads (unabbreviated):

His presentibus audite (Pay attention to these presents!) The kingdom of Drachenwald is made strong by those who protect our borders and those who are renowned are numbered amongst the Order of the Silver Guard. Such a warrior is Robert du Prey who we, Vitus and Isabel, enroll today as a member of the said order. Dated xxxviii sept. a.s. liv, and witnessed below.

I love doing these zoomorphic gold dragon initials with the red decoration, but have always struggled with getting the wash background right. This actually worked pretty well.

Two more snaps:

Panache for Ellisa von Styra

Sometimes you find an exemplar (like HMML MS Hs. 3, f. 128a) which looks like it should be simple and straightforward and yet flashy and lovely, but it turns out being just a step or two beyond your ability. Ah well, I would have liked this one to have been brilliant, because it's for a fellow scribe, but in the end it's merely "fine". On the other hand, as crappy as the calligraphy is (even with measuring the exemplar, I still didn't get the line spacing right!!) it is still some of the best Gothic I've ever done, and so I'm pretty pleased by that.

And, you know, it is vellum with gold. And it has abbreviations! So it's not all bad.

The text reads:

To our dear clerk Ellisa von Styra greetings from Vitus and Isabel. By these presents we confirm you as a member of our order of panache with all rights and responsibilities. Done xxviij September a.s. liv and witnessed by us below

Two other snaps:

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Pelican for Mór inghean Bhriain

This is quite possibly the best scroll I have done to date. It's oak gall ink, gold leaf, and gouache on vellum, and basically every single thing about it, I love. Originally I had wanted to do supporters as well, but I quickly realised that my artistic skills would not be up to drawing them, and that I would rather having something simpler done well than something more complex that failed. And you can't even tell that I spilled tea all over part of the border while putting down the gold size!

The design is one of my favorite types of borders, which I last used almost 10 years ago for another Pelican scroll for a dear friend. It's amazing to see how I've improved in a decade.

The text reads:

To all true gentle and noble people these present letters reading hearing or seeing we Vitus and Isabel, king and queen of Drachenwald send due and humble commendations and greetings. Equity wills and reason ordains that women virtuous of noble courage be by their merits renowned and rewarded and one such person especial is our beloved cousin Baroness Mor inghean Bhriain, gentlewoman, lady of the lindquistringes. So that not only in her person in this mortal life so brief and transient but also in her good name and fame to be of noble memory after her departure out of this life and to be in every place of honor ever more reverenced so that by her example other persons may the more sooner desire to apply themselves to dispend their lives in honorable works and virtuous deeds therefore we the said sovereigns have by the power and authority given us by law and custom make the said Mor a member of the ancient and honorable Order of the Pelican and have ordained and assigned unto her the sole and unique right to bear the arms argent a rowan tree issuant from a base gules the tree frcuted and the base charged with three bezants and for augmentation on the middle bezant an ancient crown sable as is depicted more plainly herein these letters patent which we have caused to be drawn up so that we may sign them below in confirmation on the xxj day sept liv.

I did not plan my time very well with this, and spent the last four days before it had to go in the mail working on it for ~3 hours a night. Prior to that, I'd probably done another 3 hours of prep work, so I'm guessing this took around 15 hours in total. Below are a variety of in-progress pictures and close-ups.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Ffraid for Johanna af Hucka

The text reads:

To all present and to come these letters seeing or hearing greetings from the soverigns of insulae draconis, Duncan and Constanza. For the love we bear our cousin mistress Johanna aff Hucka and for all she hath done we invite her into our order of ffraid. xxi*ix*liv.

I had had an entirely different design planned, but then I found a scroll I'd earlier done with this style of bordure and it reminded me of how much I love it, so I changed plans. (I had also forgotten how fiddly all that gilding is!).

I was a bit under pressure time-wise, so the scroll came along with me to Würzburg and I painted in my hotel room. Here's some inprogress photos!

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

AoA for Hiltrude von Trivium

Sepia ink on vellum with gouache and gold leaf. The text reads:

To all true and honourable people these present letters seeing or hearing greetings from Vitus and Isabel king and queen of Drachenwald. Inasmuch as we have both seen and heard of the works and skills of our trusty and well-beloved servant Hiltrude von Trivium we the above-named rulers affirm that henceforth and in perpetuity she shall be known in all places as a lady, and for the remembrance of this she now holds the sole and unique right to display the arms depicted above plainly.

Confirmed vii aug liv.

Always a pleasure to do an AoA when the recipient has registered arms!

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Winged Pouch for Lara the Tall

When you're at a castle and your princess comes to you and asks for a combat scroll, you say "of course" and whip out your pre-cut vellum squares and your gold. This may not be my nicest gilding, but it is by far my quickest. (Usually I let my gesso cure overnight. After moving house in May, to a much less humid house, I found I could let it cure for 30-90 minutes and then gild. In this case, I let it cure for...probably closer to 15. It was definitely too wet in some places, so it smudged and smeared and I had to do a bit of scraping, but I figured a bit of wonky gold would still be better than no gold at all. And I'm told the recipient was quite happy with it.

The text reads:

To all present and to come seeing or hearing these words know the will of Duncan and Constanza, prince and princess of Insulae Draconis, aving seen the great works of our subject Lara the Tall especially her scholarship are minded to make her a member of the Order of the Winged Pouch. Datum viii augusti a.s. liv.

The thing I most proud of is the fact that I drew the margins and the lines without a ruler. I am super pleased that they are roughly parallel to each other, and the lines are basically equidistant.

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Panache for Yannick of Normandy

Ink, gold, and gouache on vellum. Based on a British Library MS.

The text reads:

Notum sit omnibus dilecti draconis patris filijs quod ego Vitus rex et regina mea Isabella having received many reports of our noble cousin viscount Yannick wish, will, and desire to advertise to all the skills he has displayed in the gentle arts by naming the said Yannick a companion of the order of Panache. Done at Raglan Fair and signed by the king below.

The Latin bit is translated into English as: "Let it be noted by all sons and daughters of our beloved dragon father Albion that I Vitus king and my queen Isabel..." It is adapted from one of the openings found in W. A. Hulton, editor, The Coucher Book, or Chartulary, of Whalley Abbey (Manchester: Printed for the Chetham Society, 1847-49): Notum sit omnibus sancte matris ecclesie filijs quod ego [name] et uxor mea [name] = Let it be noted by all sons of our holy mother church that I [name] and my wife [name].

Friday, July 26, 2019

Hild for Catherine Weaver

Done on vellum. The "C" is based on the Macclesfield alphabet; I'm quite happy with it so long as I don't compare it to the original.

The text reads:

Constanza princess and Duncan prince to our right worthy cousin lady Catherine Weaver. This present charter confirms you as a member of the Order of Hild, created at Raglan Fair in august in the first year of our reign anno societatis LIV and here witnessed.

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Silver Guard for Gilbert Blakthorn

My twin Mala had been doing a bunch of blanks from the Macclesfield alphabet and it made me want to revisit that source. I was super pleased to find -- when I couldn't find my facsimile edition in the post-move book mess -- that the entire MS is online! The Dragon T I picked is on folio 10r; it was a choice between that and the "I" two folios earlier, but G saw both and told me to do the dragon, so there it is.

The text reads:

To all seeing or these present letters hearing both now and to come greetings from Vitus and Isabel king and queen of Drachenwald. It is our will and command and solemn desire that from this day henceforth Gilbert Blakthorn be numbered and counted amongst the company of the Silver Guard.

The text should have read "To all seeing or hearing these present letters" BUT at least once I realised I'd skipped "hearing" I was able to reconstruct a grammatical sentence.

The scroll took me 1.5 episodes of Great British Bake-Off to complete, using vellum I'd already pre-cut.

Friday, June 7, 2019

Sigillum Coronae for Simon Talbot

I was given the privilege of doing one of the very personal end-of-reign scrolls for my dear husband, who dropped a lot of his own projects (including renovating our house) to make a new Order of Precedence database and interface. I had recently been gifted about a kilo of vellum scraps, so shortly after we moved house I sat down and went through all of them to find the biggest squares I could cut, and then picked the biggest one out of them. I wanted to do a diploma style writ, and my twin said if I finished it soon enough and sent it to her, she'd not only seal it with the kingdom seal, but also with her own personal seal as a witness. Seeing as Simon is a big fan of seals, I knew this was the route to go.

The basic format of the diploma was modeled after a 12th century papal letter.

The text was modelled after a couple of 12th C French documents from the abbey of Notre Dame in Paris. It reads, in Latin:

Willelmus rex et Isabetta regina drachenwaldenses notum fieri volumus universis tam presentibus quam futuris quod donamus Simoni Talbot, armigero, jus ostendere sigila nostris. Actum apud Polderslot, a. s. LIV. Ego Aria Bona scripsi.

Translation:

William king and Isabetta queen of Drachenwald will it be made known whether to present [people] or future that we give to Simon Talbot, armiger, the right to bear our sigils. Acted at Polderslot, in the year of the society fifty-four. I, Good Ary, enscribed [this].

I included as many abbreviations as I plausibly could.

I wasn't present at the court it was presented at (didn't get to site until a few hours after he did), but the first thing he did after I arrived and found him was squee about the seals. And he said the scroll made up for the fact that he'd spent the nights that I sat at my desk working on it (in his presence!) irritated that I was scribing instead of unpacking boxes.

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Dragon's Jewel for Alexandra af Gotvik

The illumination, based on British Library MS Burney 74 fol. 3, was done by Her Majesty Queen Isabetta at Arts in April IV.

I did the calligraphy. The text reads:

Omnibus has literas visuris vel auditoris Willelmus et Isabetta rex et regina Drachenwaldenses salutem in salute. Such are the many courteous and noble deeds that have been rendered unto the subjects of the abovenamed king William and queen Isabetta of Drachenwald by Alexandra af Gotvik that we have received reports far and wide attesting to the brightness of her gentility. In recognition whereof we the said king and queen induct the said Alexandra into the Order of the Dragons Jewel in our court at Double Wars a.s. liv. In witness whereof we, Isabetta, have limned this charter writ by the hand of our clerk Aryanhwy Bona and signed by the king and queen below.

The Latin translates to: To all these letters seeing or hearing, William and Isabetta, king and queen of Drachenwald, greetings in good health.

Monday, May 6, 2019

Panache for Thorkill Goddredsson

The inspiration for this scroll was British Library MS Arundel 66 f. 267. The scroll itself was done on vellum with 23 karat gold, oak gall ink, and carmine, vermillion, ultramarine, white and black gouache. The line spacing is 1/16", with a 0.5mm nib.

The text reads:

Salutations, commendations, greetings, and good will to Thorkill Godredsson from William and Isabetta king and queen of Drachenwald. Many and numerous are the reports that we the abovenamed princes have received of the many and diverse talents and skills displayed by the said Thorkil, including, to wit: Item both fine and great woodworking, viz, instruments and furniture; item crossbows; item prints and playing cards; item the art of dancing with a sword. In accordance with ancient and honourable custom and tradition and by the power and authority invested in us as we sit upon the Dragon thrones we, William and Isabetta, advance the said Thorkill to the ranks of the Order of Panache with all the rights, responsibilities, and privileges appertaining thereto, including the right to bear the badge of the order: Issuant from a torteau charged with a bezant pierced sable three feathers gules, or, sable. Datum apud Dun in Mara super festum torneamentum stultorum a.s. liv per manum clerici Arinauia Bona.

Progress photos:

Saturday, April 27, 2019

PCS for Wilhelm von Scharfenstein

The morning of the event, Arts in April, the king and queen realised they needed an unplanned scroll, and wanted to have it made on the day. Luckily, the event was full of scribes! But the queen came to two in particular, one who was teaching a calligraphy class and one who was co-teaching an illumination class. So, this was a mother-daughter duo piece; Aryanhwy did the calligraphy, and Elsabelle did the illumination. The text reads:

William and Isabetta, king and queen of Drachenwald, to our right trusty and well-beloved cousin Herr Wilhelm von Scharfenstein, greetings and good will. By the report of many good, true, and trustworthy people we have been well-informed of all that you have done for our kingdom, and for that reason we confirm you as a member of the Popular Company of Sojourners. Actum xxvij apr liij.

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Ordo Cygni for Magdelena Grace Vane

The text reads:

And it came to pass that William and Isabetta, king and queen of Drachenwald, traveled south to the barony of Knights Crossing for the great feast by the renowned cook Magdelene Grace Vane who from the xxvii day of april a.s. liii was henceforth proclaimed a member of the Ordo Cygni.

The three main sources for the seated figures, the table drapings, and the food were BL MS Royal 14 E III f. 77v , BL MS Royal 2 B VII f. 199v, and BL MS Additional 42497 f. 1av. The three exemplar photos for the people pictured in the illumination are this one, this one, and this one.

Alas, the calligraphy smudged while still wet, and this is when I learned that scraping on vellum isn't quite the same as scraping on perg. I wish it had cleaned up better; but I also wasn't sure that I wanted to recalligraph it all.