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swandog — The Union of Eagle and Raven
Published: 2008-05-29 12:11:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 14071; Favourites: 253; Downloads: 1053
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Description
A commissioned wedding invitation design for Almariel. She's an American (thus the Eagle ) who'll be marrying a Manxman (thus the Raven ), and they both have a deep passion for Celtic knotwork and folklore.
Edit: The invitations are all done--check them out! [link]
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Comments: 62
Gorgeous Celtic knotwork! I happen to love eagles and ravens!
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oh man.. i'm getting married next month and we both consider ourselves to have crow animal spirits (and he's irish). this is awesome.. i'm jealous! ^_^
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Well, you can ask Almariel if you would be allowed to use this...you can digitally remove the eagle, copy the raven, flip it around, and put it in place of the eagle. You would have to get her permission though, since it was made especially for her. I can note you with her contact info, if you'd like.
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my invitations are already done. i had considered making a dual crow design myself, but we're going with USMC colors instead
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Okies...look forward to seeing yours (or have you posted them already?)
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nope, not posting them, they're just traditional invites.
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I adore Celtic knotwork. This is no exception--it looks like it could've been taken right off an ancient artifact! It's that perfect. Your clients are lucky.
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I love knotwork :3
And this piece is simply awesome!
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Your celtic knotwork pieces always blow a few of my circuits 
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So beautifully clean,
I can feel the significant weight of the symbolism...
really great art.
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Wow! I love it. really nice work and very fitting!!!
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You always amaze me with your celtic work. This looks incredible, wonderful work, the details are simply amazing.
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Interesting artwork - were you aware that the Eagle and the Raven are two of three ancient English "beasts of Battle"? The English (i.e., the Anglo-Saxons) believed that the Eagle was the symbol for victory in a battle and all shield bosses and decorations on battle helmets always featured the eagle; unfortunately, as with most civilisations, they associated the Raven and the Wolf (the third beast of battle) to be something untoward. The wolf hinted at betrayal and the raven hinted at death in a battle (which included losing the battle). Ancient English shamans could tell what events were due to happen merely by watching how a raven's wing flapped in flight and the raven is a messenger from Woden. They also used the raven to allow their spirits to travel to the spirit world - whereas the wolf is believed to be the natural ancestor of the ancient kings of England. Woden, the English Heathen Lord of the Forest and Wild Hunt had two ravens (and two wolves) for companions. They would inform Him of all events occurring in middle earth.
I find international folklore about ravens (wolves and eagles to name but 3 - and let's not forget the stag!!) absolutely fascinating and I love the idea that your clients chose two beautiful and spiritually well-connected creatures for their wedding invites - must have been some wedding and I hope their lives are totally blessed.
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Aargh, the Amazon link didn't post properly...just enter "The Secret Language of Birds by Adele Nozedar"; here's what the cover looks like: [link]
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Very interesting lore; thanks for mentioning that (some of it I knew, but not all)! I love reading/hearing about symbolism in animals--particularly birds--for I've always been fascinated by such. I think you would LOVE this book, because it's all about that: [link] 
...also, this is neat: [link]
...and some groups that might interest you (if you're on LJ):
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
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Many thanks Swandog - I can order the book via [link] at a very reasonable price and will order it next week (when I get paid - grimace
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Ah, great! Lemme know what you think of it!
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Will do! Can't wait till next week so that I can order it!!!
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Luvly m'dear!!
Btw, how is the swandog coming along? I have been working endlessly on mine and seem to be getting nowhere fast. It started off as a simple suit....but the more I work on it, the more ideas I get. This will be the suit that never ends.....or gets finished.
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(Sorry I didn't reply to this earlier, dear; it got buried in inbox...Swandog is likewise going very slowly, and I don't have any new updates to show as of yet. But Sayh's panduck is coming along quite well!)
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Fantastic work, I'm sure they're thrilled with it.
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Yay! You posted something ^^ And what a beatyfull celtic-themed invitation.
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its so perfect how do you get knotwork so even and stuff? wow
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Oh this is beautiful beyond belief.
I would deeply consider commissioning you for my own wedding invitations~
In the meantime, do you have any suggestions for making celtic knotwork? I'm Irish myself, and I've always wanted to incorporate it into my art somehow.
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Aww, thanks, hon! And my suggestion would be to get a good book on the making of knotwork, or browse the Net for knotwork tutorials, for they do exist.
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Ah! Thank you so much! I hope this will help me.
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Welcome!
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This is gorgeous, both in the symbolism and the knotwork.
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Despite the fact that I saw a pretzel before seeing the knots, this is still a very original wedding invitation design.
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This is gorgeous! Swanny as always your knotwork is not only gorgeously astounding, but leaves me baffled at how you managed to do it. LOL I've tried, I tie myself in knots >.<
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Even the title alone bears love, it's just wonderful!
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Wonderful! I'm sure they are just ecstatic with this design.
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