Agnete and the Merman
This is a project inspired by the ancient stories and fokelore from Denmark. This story is about a maiden who walks by the sea. Approached by a merman, she falls in love and agrees to follow him to the bottom of the sea. They start a family, but she later abandons the merman and their seven children to return to land and never to look back.
Scandinavian fokelore oftne has a cruel and ironic endings, which makes them quite different from the average tale. The beautilful imagry of the poems makes them ideal for story illustrations.
Agnete og Havmanden
(Danish)
Agnete hun ganger paa Højelands Bro,
da kom der en Havmand fra Bunden op,
— haa haa haa -
da kom der en Havmand fra Bunden op.
»Og hør du, Agnete, hvad jeg vil sige dig:
Og vil du nu være Allerkæresten min?«
»O ja saamænd, det vil jeg saa,
naar du ta'r mig med paa Havsens Bund.«
Han stopped hendes Øren, han stopped hendes Mund,
saa førte han hende til Havsens Bund.
Der var de tilsammen i otte Aar,
syv Sønner hun da ved den Havmand faar.
Agnete hun sad ved Vuggen og sang,
da hørte hun de engelandske Klokkers Klang.
Linework and value comp
Final illustration
More linework for illustrations in same series.
