Merlin and Vivian

So, I've been listening to Heather Dale songs alot lately. They not only sound nice, but tell stories! Now, I don't know about you, but those sound-good-and-tell-a-story songs are my favorite. They're fun to listen to when you're doing something mindless and boring. Lately, my favorite of her's has been "Hawthorn Tree."




This stinkin' song has reminded me how much I love Arthurian legends. I have this huge hardback of Tennyson's Idylls of the King (illustrated by one of my favorites of all time--Gustave Dore')

I also had to do a quick google search on Merlin and Vivian. I love how different the story get's each time it's told. (My favorite versions are the ones where she imprisons him to save him. And they love eachother unconditionally. I'm a sap that way.)

(Words in this one are adapted from one of Tennyson's Arthurian poems)

Also, Merlin's being moody.

"Maid as fair as Apple Blossoms"

"My eye's are old, but still can see."

Fun fact: Sanguine pens make almost anything look remotely nice. Also, I experimented and didn't do a pencil sketch underneath the inks on any of these. I just drew these straight ahead, no planning, reference, or anything. Okay, I looked up Apple Blossoms to make sure I got them right. But that's it.

I almost forgot that Merlin was a crazy old bat living in the woods for a loooong time. Which is awesome---You gotta love those crazy mountain men. Apparently, because of this, he's often associated with Apple tree's in the various legends and literature he shows up in. (Apple Trees=Apple Blossoms??) Man, I love Heather Dale and her ability to actually care enough about these fun old stories to actually put little things like that into her rhymns.

Gotta love it!

~Livie