I dream therefore I do!

My Book of Hours project!

The text is a poem that my husband and I collaborated on called the Lay of Marcus. It is the tale of a mighty feat of Prowess and Honour undertaken by my Lord’s Knight – Sir Marcus Eisenwald, which he accomplished during his second reign as King of Drachenwald.

It tells the tale of how midway through his reign, Sir Marcus is reminded by some great ladies of a promise he made many years previous when he was just a young squire and had newly won the title of May Count for that year, and of how he failed in the May Count’s main duty of ensuring fair weather to the Principality of Nordmark during his tenure. The foul weather so offended the populace that he was called to book for his failures and he took an oath to fight a bout for every month ruined by inclement storms, and furthermore, to do so for every Lady who felt herself offended by his shortcomings. This undertaking was supposed to take a year, but alas circumstances were such that after a few such tournaments, the promise fell by the wayside and was forgotten. Now the ladies recalled his oath to Sir Marcus who stood forth and removed his Crown and chain of fealty and declared that he would not wear them again until he had fulfilled the vow he made so long ago. With his faithful squires documenting all comers, Sir Marcus undertook to face every fighter on the field for 12 bouts each, and every fencer for the same. For the entire day, with barely a pause for food and water, Sir Marcus battled on until with the coming of the evening, the Ladies declared that honour had been satisfied. Then it was calculated that the King had fought in excess of 200 bouts in one day. To great acclaim, Sir Marcus once again put on the accoutrements of rank and honour and was lauded and proclaimed by the populace.

There will be around 8 full-page miniatures, 6 versals, 4 small miniatures and sundry marginalia. The book itself will be around 4”x5” total measurement for one page. I think it should be around 20 pages in total. The style I intend to use is broadly international gothic in the early 15th century style.

*takes a deep breath….*