Uddrag af Ælnods saga om Knud den hellige i Vendsyssel 1932 - 1935

This page, from Niels Larsen Stevns, which was created with pen and ink, probably sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, shows the artist's hand, both literally and figuratively. You can see Stevns thinking through his penmanship, varying the pressure to get different effects. I can almost see Stevns sitting at his desk, deeply engrossed in the saga he’s illustrating. The words are tightly packed together, like thoughts jostling for space in his mind. The ink looks kind of thin in places, and it probably dried quickly, leaving a slightly scratchy texture on the page. I imagine he paused often, rereading passages, and letting the story sink in. It reminds me of other artists who worked with text, like William Blake, who combined words and images to create his own visionary universe. It's all part of the same conversation across time, with artists inspiring each other, riffing on old themes, and making them new again. It is a kind of embodied expression which embraces different interpretations and meaning.