Aesthetics and why they matter – The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal – Walker Ciancio
Volume 3 embodies summer, and with it themes of “song, sea, sex and sainthood” (Kooistra, Summer Introduction). The third issue has the largest quantity of artwork, both drawn and written. This follows suit with theme of song as the written pieces are almost all poetry.Summer carries with it the theme of water, known as the opposite of light and heat, water plays a large role during the summer as the only way to alleviate the burden of summer’s heat. Summer also represents themes of transition, death, and intensity. “Telen Rumengol” Rinders second folktale is about the King of Cornouailles. The King finds an ancient stone where the druids would worship god. Upon finding this place he declares that a temple shall be built here in the name of the Virgin Mary. However, before the temples completion the king passes, and ascends to heaven. There the virgin appears before him and thanks him for the beautiful temple, in return for this deed she offers him a favor. The King being a kind man only wishes for Mary to put a stop to his daughter who has turned evil, living below the water’s surface and using her voice and feminine visage to lure sailors to their death when the moon is full. Mary claims it is not in her power to do so, instead she creates a festival. This festival happens once a year and people from all over the islands come to sing and dance, which lulls the siren into a docile slumber.
The celebration full of singing and dancing is an easy claim to the theme of song, the king’s daughter using her charms of seduction shows relation to sex and pleasure. While the connection to water comes from the daughters place of dwelling. Different pieces of work are shown in this issue, the almanac (Figure 6) is worth mentioning as it represents summer in its most obvious form. With the depiction of summer plants and butterflies as well as the small pound, the artwork shows summer as a cycled season. Water being a fundamental source of life for the plants growing from it, reiterating that bodies of water come with importance during this season.
The headpiece (Figure 7) for the poem “I.-A Forerunner” by John Duncan depicts a bare breasted woman in a figure-eight of swirls, accompanied by two fish and flowing hair. The work seems like an artistic representation of a woman in the water, the fish representing the life given from the body and the swirls representing the water, and the naked woman for sex. “Bathers” (Figure 8) by Robert Burns is a simpler take on water. Depicting a woman in an outdoor bath, the theme of water here is about relief and cleansing instead of life giving.
The last of Rinder’s tales is found in the final issue of The Evergreen: a Northern seasonal, volume 4, winter. “Saint Efflam and King Arthur” is a tale about a young noble boy who marries a fair and wealth princess of a faraway land. Her name was Enora and with her father’s blessing the two of them were wed. During that night Efflam left the castle followed only by his dog, and ventured out into the world. Pushed only by a divine vision, Efflam set out on a journey west, using a chest as a boat Efflam crosses the sea to the waste land of Amorica where dragons were said to rom the land. Fortunately for Efflam, it was winter when he arrived, so instead of dragons, he was met with crisp white snow making it difficult for navigation. This doesn’t pose a problem as he sees blood scattered on the snow. Efflam comes across a knight fighting a beast of a dragon. The Knight is losing but Efflam steps in grabbing a blade and striking the dragon down. The knight lays on the ground still, and it’s only when he brings a cup of water to the man’s lips does he awaken again. It’s revealed that he is King Arthur and they travel together for a time, Efflem leaves Arthur and settles on a hill where he lives the rest of his days as a saint with his wife Enora who joins him.
Winter has the darkest themes out of all the seasons. “Death, sleep, loss, remembrance and hope” (Kooistra, winter introduction) When King Arthur laid on the ground motionless it conjured themes of sleep and death, not knowing where he stood between the two. In addition, both Enora and Efflam died in their sleep, but not after giving hope to all who visited as they performed miracles to those in need. Seen as the most “mystical” of the seasons winter has the most “pagan-Christian blur”. The Almanac (Figure 9) for winter stands in opposition to the summer one, this piece displays a woman standing aside an arch of wood and snow. There she gazes at the ground with a somber but peaceful expression, this could be in relation to winter’s theme of hope or remembrance, as it’s during these times do we often look back at loved ones with a bitter sweetness.
Conclusion
With well-planned design and an ingenious community built around The Evergreen: a Northern seasonal. This “little magazine” brought about the Celtic revival to Irish, Scottish and Breton communities across the globe. Folktales were shown to be sources of cultural significance, as well as thematic tools to connect Celtic culture to literary work. The Evergreen: a northern seasonal had its impact on the Celtic revival because of its desire to be cohesive, and goal to be collaborative driven. Reinventing the slums of London, England, rebuilding a culture almost lost to the ages and producing one of the most artistically designed magazine of its time. Peter Geddes allowed art to take center stage in a way that was deemed “improper” and “occult” by modern Victorian standards. Showing that as long as you have community and culture, art and passion will always follow.
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