An Irish Mythical Creature – The Enfield

Myths and legends, there are so many of them throughout our immense world. Many came into existence as a means to interpret nature’s strength, the divine, the unexplained. But some also came from the need us humans have for security and protection. From such want, the Enfield was born.

Enfields are a lesser-known type of Chimera, a mythological creature made up of body parts of other animals. They are known to generally have the head of a fox, the body and forelegs of an eagle and the hind and rear legs of a wolf (some variations also add lion and greyhound parts into the mix). They are mainly associated with Ireland although records also place them in England. One thing is certain, the Enfield is unquestionably Celtic and of great importance to its chieftains.

A medieval Enfield

In Celtic tales, Enfields had the role of being the guardian of the leaders fallen in battle. The Celts believed in giving their dead a proper burial ceremony which gave them a motivational disadvantage as their enemies would try their best to steal the bodies of the chieftains and, to put it into milder words, disgrace them. This meant, in Celtic culture, that the deceased would be cursed to never find peace in the afterlife unless properly avenged.

The want for a guardian of their fallen, made the Celts conjure forward the Enfield, a fierce defender to protect the lifeless body of their chieftains, remaining by the dead man’s side and protecting the body from anyone with ill intent.

But not our rendition of an Enfield!

Curious and eager, as all young things are, his path has yet to burden him with such a grave task as guardian of the dead. Mind you, he doesn’t shun his future, an Enfield is proud of his legacy and grateful to those who have chosen him. But it is pumpkin season now and the Fairy Queen bestowed upon her humble vassals the possibility to become human for a day and go enjoy human things.

So this is where we caught our Enfield, in mid-transformation from chimera to human, eager and still cautious about undesirable eyes catching him off guard. Tonight he shall feast on hot minced meat and pumpkin pie before returning to his elders and learn the ways of the guardians of the Celtic Chieftains.

Happy Autumn once again and have a wonderful weekend and as always,

★ stay inspired!★

Advertisements

An Irish Mythical Creature – The Enfield ~ Teaser

Now that Autumn is getting comfortable as ruler of the northern hemisphere, strange creatures (with our very own twist) feel emboldened to make an appearance here on StarlitDen! We invite you to come meet our first visitor, an Irish mythical creature, this next post and worry not, we’ll make sure that you’ll be quite safe.

★hope you’re all having a great week and stay inspired★

Autumn Equinox 2019

Let’s welcome the Autumn Equinox with its shades and the falling of leaves and knowing better than to forget a jacket before leaving the house.

The bringer of Fall of tricks and treats, when the length of days give way to the night’s grasp as the darker times become longer. The greater thing is, it means that the season of roasted chestnuts and jeropiga (mistelle) will be here. We can barely wait!

★stay warm and stay inspired!★

Talk Like a Pirate Day! 2019 ~ Lines

What lies beneath our diving menace? Lines, of course!

Here’s the linework we did for our pirate (it’s just a hobby, really…) and since we had a lot of fun rendering her tattoos and in wonder if some of you were curious for the parts that can’t be seen, we’re sharing the full composition.

Here’s the Nice…

And the Spice.

Rest assured “Santa Maria” ship, as in all balanced opposites, this pirate’s life may be made of spice but also has a good bit of nice.

★Have a nice weekend! Stay afloat and stay inspired!★

Talk Like a Pirate Day! 2019

Avast ye for the Man-O-War! Ahoy, landlubbers♥

At long last!
This Talk like a Pirate Day can have an “Arring” lass showing her hidden nature under an eye patch, dangerously topping up on “Maaarrrgaritas” and making the Santa Maria caravel fear for its buoyancy.
The “Santa Maria” or “La Gallega” (which was not a caravel, but actually a “nau” – also created by Portuguese, but it was a bigger ship than caravels, better prepared for longer journeys). This particular one was the largest ship on Christopher Columbus’ fleet when he first ventured across the Atlantic Ocean. There are several replicas nowadays but one of them holds a special place in our heart as it is Portuguese – built in Madeira island- and known for its accuracy of details and proportioning a time travel experience for everyone boarding it around the Madeira coast – the cherry on the cake is that you get to watch dolphins and whales!

The day can’t go by without us mentioning a Portuguese buccaneer named Bartolomeu Português who despite his debatable morals and ruthlessness – as buccaneers, corsairs and pirates were known for- he could be considered a resilient, cunning and determined man despite his constant misfortunes. He established the earliest “Pirate Code”, a set of rules that “managed” those stepping into Piracy, as much as that line of work could be coordinated. It was later used by pirates in the 18th century like John Phillips, Edward Low and Bartholomew Roberts.
As many in this type of profession, his end was unknown but mentioned to be in the “greatest wretchedness in the world”.

After so many years of not being able to fit in an illustration for this day between deadlines, this time we knew better and planned it pretty much ahead, managing to pull through.
And now if you’ll allow us… AAaarrr, everyone! Happy Talk like a Pirate Day!

★Yo-heave-ho and stay inspired!★

Blimey! Danger for the caravel!

What could possibly threaten to sink the Santa Maria caravel?!…

Grrrreatings, arr! Can ye guess what day will be rigging this Thursday?
Weigh anchor for the next post!

★Stay inspired!★

Shaman-on-the-Making Morning Call (full)

The sun has been up and the ceremonies are not getting done on their own. This too is a great test to patience and character.
Breathing in and breathing out, she is still waiting for cooperation as patience starts to wear thin…

With the lines and detail posts, we cheer our Shaman Apprentice as she wakes up one of the participants on the ceremonies this month. Join us in hoping that the soul of the one that slacks off will be saved once she gets her hands on them.

★We hope you enjoy your weekend and stay inspired!★