Halcyon - Tumblr Posts

cait-toons

2 years ago

THE OUTER WORLDS (2019)

↳ SCENERY

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the outer worlds obsidian entertainment spacer's choice halcyon byzantium the unreliable edgewater tow

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cheapsweets

1 year ago

Ooh, had no idea about that one!

I appreciate that the bestiary illustrator didn't just draw another eagle, and we have webbed feet too!

Bestiaryposting Results: Nisegwag

Birds! Moving right along.

If you don't know what this is about, you can find out at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry these artists are working from is here:

maniculum.tumblr.com

Bestiaryposting -- Nisegwag

As a reminder, all previous entries in this series can be found at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting . The Nisegwag is a seabird

And if you want to join in next week, that entry is here:

maniculum.tumblr.com

Bestiaryposting -- Dolthruk

As a reminder, all previous entries in this series can be found at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting . The Dolthruk is so called

Art below the cut:

A drawing of a seabird-like creature with gray feathers resting in the sand. Instead of wings, it has a turtle shell on its back, and its legs are shaped like turtle flippers.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) says they started with a plover-like bird, but then decided it could also be part turtle since technically there's no mention of it flying. I think that turned out really well, so good call there.

A brush pen sketch of a seabird, standing in a sand nest on a beach that stretches out into the distance. It has a fluffed up chest where it was sitting on its eggs, a few of which are still visible. Its body faces to the left of the picture but it has twisted its head around staring to the right, towards the sea. It has a triangular marking on its face, encompasing the eye and leading back from the beak. Beneath it is a naked chick looking to the left of the picture, as well as the head of a second chick emerging from an egg. The sky is clouded mostly over, but there are sun rays breaking through the cloud above the sea and above the beach. There are shells and hanks of seaweed on the beach, as well as a small hermit crab. Behind and to the left, there is a grassy bank of sand dunes, and further back still is a dark cliff with two small windswept trees on top.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) wanted to show the weather effects described in the entry, so we get a good view of the sunbeams and calm sea. I think it's a really nice beach scene, and the little hatchling is quite charming. Additional details in the linked post, and thank you for including alt text.

A drawing of a white-and-gray seabird standing on a rock, watching a clutch of three eggs. It has one leg and one wing raised; its head is turned to be in front of the raised wing.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has given us a seabird watching its eggs, and her usual fictionalized-naturalist overview of what the creature this entry is based on might be like (in the linked post). Enjoyable, and I also really like the pose that's going on here.

A stylized image of a seabird with a puffin-like beak and a halo-esque crest. It stands in a bowl-like nest with seven green eggs, spaced out around it. In the background is a half-circle of blue sky, in rectangles of varying shades. Around the curve of the half-circle are spaced sun-like yellow flowers, or perhaps flower-like yellow suns. Beneath this whole arrangement is a curve of stylized seawater, rising up into waves on either side.

@wendievergreen (link to post here) has done this really lovely stylized depiction; everything about it is delightful, really. I recommend checking out the linked post to learn more.

A medieval-stylized drawing in black lines on a gold-foil-esque background. The bottom of the image shows a sea that is rough on the left of the image but gradually becomes calm on the right. Above the sea is a seabird with webbed feet, wings spread, in an attitude that suggests it is exercising some supernatural power over the sea.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) correctly notes that cormorants are excellent birds, and has based their design on one. I think the pose and face as it calms the sea here really works.

So, the Aberdeen Bestiary:

A medieval manuscript illustration with a faded red decorative border and a gold-foil background. Within the border is a blue, white, and orange roundel. Inside the roundel is a seabird with blue-green feathers, a long neck turned back over its shoulder, webbed feet, and a "toothed" bill.

So this is a... maybe-mythical one, and one that's particularly interesting because of how it has and hasn't been remembered in modern culture. The story about the bird that calms the sea is pretty much completely forgotten, but preserved in a fossilized phrase -- let me share with you the un-redacted version of the last sentence of the entry:

This little bird is endowed by God with such grace that sailors know with confidence that these fourteen days will be days of fine weather and call them 'the halcyon days', in which there will be no period of stormy weather.

Yep. That's where that phrase comes from. Meet the halcyon. This whole business apparently traces back to the Greek myth of Alcyone, if you want to know more.

As for "maybe-mythical" -- the halcyon is apparently probably a kingfisher, but there's some doubt surrounding whether the ancient sources are actually referring to the same bird. I chose not to fall down that particular rabbit hole.

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maniculum bestiaryposting bestiaryposting bestiary Awesome art halcyon birds mythical birds

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