Remembering Scotland's Father of Fantasy
A new illustrated map of Huntly in memory of George MacDonald
2024 marks 200 years since the birth of George MacDonald, an Aberdeenshire poet, kirk minister and early writer of fantasy fiction. His fairy stories were read by C.S. Lewis (author of the Chronicles of Narnia), J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) and Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) but MacDonald himself is not so well known either inside or outside of Scotland.
MacDonald’s 200th birthday is the focal point of this year’s Scottish Illustration Festival, which takes place in Huntly, the town of the author’s birth. As part of the festival I was invited to create a new map of the town, highlighting locations related to MacDonald’s life - such as his birthplace, his kirk, and his family farm. (I have also made the map available as a print).
I have always admired and been fascinated by Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, but I wasn’t aware until recently that there was this early Scottish connection to the development of modern fantasy literature.
There are some common fantasy elements shared between Tolkien and MacDonald, such as realms under mountains and magic rings - but I’ve also been thinking about the use of stairs, often long and winding ones, leading to hidden places, deep places, transcendent places, and places of adventure.
MacDonald’s Princess Irene discovers a ghostly grandmother figure at the top of some stairs. In The Lord of the Rings, the Mines of Moria are filled with endless stairs, and eventually Frodo and Sam enter Mordor by traversing the steep stairs of Cirith Ungol. Ascending stairs is a way of elevating the stakes, of entering new sets of circumstances, of discovering and confronting what lies ahead.
That’s why I included winding stairs, alongside other elements from MacDonald’s stories, such as castles and underground realms, around the edges of this map of Huntly. I liked the idea of drawing together both real and imagined places into one single image.
Join me in Huntly
Join me in Huntly on Sunday the 1st of September as I present my new map of the town and delve into the art of map-making. I’ll also say a bit about George MacDonald, Tolkien, Scottish history, as well as my own Atlas of Scotland project.
This free event will take place at 11am, No. 30 The Square, Huntly, Sunday 1 September. You can also view the full programme of the Scottish Illustration Festival on their website.
In the meantime I would like to thank Creative Scotland and Orb’s Community Bookshop for backing this project. I couldn’t have done it without their support.
In other news
In other news I recently finished a 25-day stint at Edinburgh’s West End Fair showcasing the Atlas of Scotland project. I had never been at a design market for that length of time before, so it was a real learning curve but one which I enjoyed. I’d really like to try it again next year, perhaps with some changes to my set-up and some new work.
In the meantime, my next art market will be at Summerhall in Edinburgh on the 15th of September, open to the public 11am - 5pm. Feel free to come by if you’re in the area.