Metafiction, Myth and Language: A World in Words (and Pictures)

 This afternoon brought part 2 of the Mægtha/Hretha stone to completion - thickening the outline on Mægtha's sickle and carving Hretha in their entirety, with a bit more improvisation in the spiral design work, creating a bit more symmetry and balance within Hretha's body to mirror Mægtha's: Hretha still has something of a bovine look to their head, which I kind of like, as it suggests a particular breed of goat which is unknown in our world - hinting again at the idea of species extinction and 'lost times' and 'lost worlds' (rather than just slightly wonky art drawn without reference). Tomorrow I'll likely be busy with other things all day and I need a break from physical work anyway. That will give me time to reflect on this and figure out if there is any need for further design elements, or if it should just be left as is? The slab will sit outside to let the elements get rid of the dust and the freshly-engraved look for the next few weeks. It would b

   Continuing on from yesterday's post and thinking about land art and installing these images in landscape, yesterday evening I made an impromptu visit to one of the Carerthun hill forts near Edzell. I clambered up to the top of the White Caterthun with camera gear and the 7kg 'spear-maid' (stone #2) on my back - not an easy climb, but worth it for the view alone! The site has some personal significance as it was one of the main locations for my 2020 film 'The Wanderer and the Wish-maid' - itself based upon and inspired by the valkyrie figures of Norse mythology, forming a very tangible link from last year's undergrad work to this year's Master's work. The ready-made cairn was a gift for installing the stone - creating a natural axis point between sky and earth, the perfect embodiment for a character who inhabits that liminal space, whether as one who takes the spirits of the dead to the otherworld, or if the stone specifically represents Gerthild, Wo

(A change to today's planned post, since for some reason Blogger (Google) has chosen not to allow me to upload any images. Instead, some written reflections upon one of the themes during the main narrative - that of the land itself, not just specifically of the small, mythical nation 'Gyldland' of the title, but of all land everywhere - including ours.) The title of chapter XXIV, ‘The Visitors’, is a deliberate ploy: at first, as it is presented, a trio of hostile animal and bird-headed spirit-beings announce themselves to King Hodar’s camp at night in a blaze of baneful light, bearing dire warnings. Yet as the chapter concludes, it is clear who the real ‘visitors’ truly are – the heroes themselves, and by extension all sentient races, who have merely ‘lease’ upon the land which has been defended and guarded by these nature spirits ‘since day first dawned’. The lives of kings and heroes are temporal – the land is eternal, and so its guardians. While rather unfairly picking