Master_Margarita
12-09-2010, 03:50
The Page of Swords is conveyed in this deck by the Russian story of Finist the Bright Falcon, which is rendered particularly elegantly here. (http://www.oldrussia.net/story.html) The illustrations at this link are from Ivan Bilibin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Bilibin) and capture the enchantment of Old Russia magnificently. [To digress, Bilibin was a contemporary of Ilya Repin, left Russia after the October Revolution, then returned to his homeland and died in World War II during the Siege of Leningrad. So I think of Bilibin as being ultra-Russian.]
The illustration on the card is a bit in the style of Bilibin, although Bilibin''s palette favors browns and tans much more than the Page of Swords illustration.
I became familiar with the tale of Finist (who is really an unknown in this story) many years ago. It pleases me because it is a tale of a resourceful youngest daughter who is both intrepid and faithful and overcomes all obstacles (with the help of various supernatural folk along the way) to marry her prince/animorph.She is clever, courageous, and faithful, but not necessarily mature, a perfect manifestation of the Page of Swords.
:heart: M_M~
The illustration on the card is a bit in the style of Bilibin, although Bilibin''s palette favors browns and tans much more than the Page of Swords illustration.
I became familiar with the tale of Finist (who is really an unknown in this story) many years ago. It pleases me because it is a tale of a resourceful youngest daughter who is both intrepid and faithful and overcomes all obstacles (with the help of various supernatural folk along the way) to marry her prince/animorph.She is clever, courageous, and faithful, but not necessarily mature, a perfect manifestation of the Page of Swords.
:heart: M_M~