Puzzlewood The Children of Lir by Ed Org DSC09490
The Children of Lir by Ed Org. I've done this for the Show & Tell theme - Animal, Vegetable or Mineral. This is a Celtic mythic tale of metamorphosis, when sons and a daughter are turned into swans for 900 years, and a wicked stepmother into a demon of the air.
This beautiful limited edition print hangs on my wall, but the jigsaw was cut from a calendar of Ed Org's works (he issued two a few years ago), which included the fabulous art nouveau border. Heather Prydderch of Puzzlewood has cut me two jigsaws from the calendar. The other being Angel - see below. Her jigsaws are meticulously line-cut and this is no exception.
From Wikipedia:
The subject was also painted by John Duncan in 1914 - Heather has already cut me his beautiful painting St Bride Carried By Angels as a 3d-enhanced jigsaw.
Ed Org has taken artistic licence with the Lir story, making the children shown two daughters - not a daughter and three sons.
The Children of Lir (Irish: Oidheadh chloinne Lir) is a legend from Irish mythology which may have originated in the 14thC. It is a tale from the post-Christianisation period that mixes magical elements such as druidic wands and spells with a Christian message of faith bringing freedom from suffering.
To appease the disaffected Lir, Bodb Derg elected king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, gave his daughter Aoibh, to Lir in marriage.
Aoibh bore Lir four children: one girl, Fionnghuala, and three sons, Aodh and twins, Fiachra and Conn. After the birth of the twins, Aoibh died, causing great grief to Lir and Boadb sent a second daughter Aoife to become Lir's wife. Aoife became jealous of the affection given to the four stepchildren by the two men and tried to have them killed. Failing in this, she took them to Loch Dairbhreach and made them bathe, but once in the water, she cast a spell of metamorphosis to transform them into four white swans.
Fionnghuala rebuked Aoife and warned of revenge, asking her to set a limit on the time of the spell. She set a period of three hundred years as a swan on Loch Dairbhreach; three hundred more on Sruth na Maoilé; and three hundred at Iorrus Domnann and Inis Gluairé. She also foretold that when the spell ended, Lairgenn (the great-grandson of the King of Connacht), and Deoch (the great-granddaughter of the King of Munster) would be wed. Aoife allowed the children to retain the power of speech, stating they would sing plaintive songs without equal, and that they would not be distressed by being in the forms of birds. Aoife then returned to her father's court but Bodb was suspicious about the children's absence and sent messengers to Lir. Lir discovered the singing swans and told Boadb, who cursed his daughter Bodb to suffer the worst fate she could imagine and she was turned into a Demon of the air.
The Children served their sentence at the three lakes enduring hardships. Eventually Saint Patrick and Christianity came to Ireland, and one day the holy man Mochaomhóg arrive at Inis Gluairé — the swans heard him ringing a bell calling matins, and became frightened at the sound. However Fionnghuala declared the sound of the bell would liberate them from the curse of the spell, and so they listened to it. When it finished they sang a song. The holy man heard their song, and discovered that it was swans that sang it. Speaking to them he asked if they were the Children of Lir, stating that he had travelled to that place for their sake.
The swans put their trust in the holy man, and allowed him to bind them with silver chains. The birds felt no fatigue or distress in their situation in the company of the monk. Eventually the account of the swans reached Deoch, the wife of Lairgnen, the King of Connacht — she asked him to get the swans for her. He sent messengers immediately but the monk Mochaomhóg refused, making Lairgnen angry. He went to Mochaimhóg himself, and attempted to grasp the swans, but on his touch the swans' feathers fell off revealing three very old men, and an old woman, all lean, and very bony. On this Lairgnen left. Fionnghuala asked the monk to baptise them and to bury each, stating she sensed they were close to death. They were baptised, then died, and were buried. Mochaomhóg was sad for them. That was the fate of the children of Lir.
Puzzlewood The Children of Lir by Ed Org DSC09490
The Children of Lir by Ed Org. I've done this for the Show & Tell theme - Animal, Vegetable or Mineral. This is a Celtic mythic tale of metamorphosis, when sons and a daughter are turned into swans for 900 years, and a wicked stepmother into a demon of the air.
This beautiful limited edition print hangs on my wall, but the jigsaw was cut from a calendar of Ed Org's works (he issued two a few years ago), which included the fabulous art nouveau border. Heather Prydderch of Puzzlewood has cut me two jigsaws from the calendar. The other being Angel - see below. Her jigsaws are meticulously line-cut and this is no exception.
From Wikipedia:
The subject was also painted by John Duncan in 1914 - Heather has already cut me his beautiful painting St Bride Carried By Angels as a 3d-enhanced jigsaw.
Ed Org has taken artistic licence with the Lir story, making the children shown two daughters - not a daughter and three sons.
The Children of Lir (Irish: Oidheadh chloinne Lir) is a legend from Irish mythology which may have originated in the 14thC. It is a tale from the post-Christianisation period that mixes magical elements such as druidic wands and spells with a Christian message of faith bringing freedom from suffering.
To appease the disaffected Lir, Bodb Derg elected king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, gave his daughter Aoibh, to Lir in marriage.
Aoibh bore Lir four children: one girl, Fionnghuala, and three sons, Aodh and twins, Fiachra and Conn. After the birth of the twins, Aoibh died, causing great grief to Lir and Boadb sent a second daughter Aoife to become Lir's wife. Aoife became jealous of the affection given to the four stepchildren by the two men and tried to have them killed. Failing in this, she took them to Loch Dairbhreach and made them bathe, but once in the water, she cast a spell of metamorphosis to transform them into four white swans.
Fionnghuala rebuked Aoife and warned of revenge, asking her to set a limit on the time of the spell. She set a period of three hundred years as a swan on Loch Dairbhreach; three hundred more on Sruth na Maoilé; and three hundred at Iorrus Domnann and Inis Gluairé. She also foretold that when the spell ended, Lairgenn (the great-grandson of the King of Connacht), and Deoch (the great-granddaughter of the King of Munster) would be wed. Aoife allowed the children to retain the power of speech, stating they would sing plaintive songs without equal, and that they would not be distressed by being in the forms of birds. Aoife then returned to her father's court but Bodb was suspicious about the children's absence and sent messengers to Lir. Lir discovered the singing swans and told Boadb, who cursed his daughter Bodb to suffer the worst fate she could imagine and she was turned into a Demon of the air.
The Children served their sentence at the three lakes enduring hardships. Eventually Saint Patrick and Christianity came to Ireland, and one day the holy man Mochaomhóg arrive at Inis Gluairé — the swans heard him ringing a bell calling matins, and became frightened at the sound. However Fionnghuala declared the sound of the bell would liberate them from the curse of the spell, and so they listened to it. When it finished they sang a song. The holy man heard their song, and discovered that it was swans that sang it. Speaking to them he asked if they were the Children of Lir, stating that he had travelled to that place for their sake.
The swans put their trust in the holy man, and allowed him to bind them with silver chains. The birds felt no fatigue or distress in their situation in the company of the monk. Eventually the account of the swans reached Deoch, the wife of Lairgnen, the King of Connacht — she asked him to get the swans for her. He sent messengers immediately but the monk Mochaomhóg refused, making Lairgnen angry. He went to Mochaimhóg himself, and attempted to grasp the swans, but on his touch the swans' feathers fell off revealing three very old men, and an old woman, all lean, and very bony. On this Lairgnen left. Fionnghuala asked the monk to baptise them and to bury each, stating she sensed they were close to death. They were baptised, then died, and were buried. Mochaomhóg was sad for them. That was the fate of the children of Lir.