How to find inspiration with the Book of Kells

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I went to Dublin on a pilgrimage to fulfill my lifelong heart's desire: to see the Book of Kells.

This 1,300-year-old treasure, one of the world's oldest books, is housed on the campus of Trinity College in Dublin. The book has its own building (with a gift shop, of course! I got a keychain and a calendar) not far from what's known as the Old Library, where it used to be stored.

My first stop on campus was to explore the Old Library. Being in any library is way to find inspiration. "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library," wrote Jorge Luis Borges in his "Poem of the Gifts" in 1958.

This is what's known as the Long Room, located in Trinity College's Old Library. The globe at the end is called Gaia, and it turns. It's made from photographs of Earth taken by astronauts from space.

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A staircase in the Long Room, plus a few of the books stored in this fabulous place.

The Book of Kells was made around 800 AD by Columban monks on the Isle of Iona off the west coast of Scotland. The monks left due to Viking attacks, taking the precious illuminated manuscript with them. Their boats could have been swamped at any time in the stormy seas and their lives and the treasure they carried lost. 

They landed on the coast of Ireland and moved inland to avoid the Vikings, taking the manuscript to the Abbey of Kells in County Meath. But the book was stolen. It was later recovered, but the jewels and gold leaf that had been on the cover had been stripped off and have never been recovered. The manuscript was buried at one time and recovered. Finally, in 1661, it was given to Trinity College in Dublin for safekeeping.

The book is only 10" x 13", so the work to illuminate corners and letters is incredibly fine.

I find inspiration in the artistry, the attention to detail. In writing a story, you have to have a big theme, and maybe some subthemes, but you must at the same time pay attention to the details. Did you say your character is wearing her hair in a braid? Then in the same scene her hair can't be flowing over her shoulders, unless you account for the change.

I've put books back on the shelf for this kind of carelessness, and I watch my own stories like a hawk for these errors.  

To help you find inspiration, here are a few photographs of details from the Book of Kells.

Here's a detail, magnified. I'm highly enamored of the dots.

This detail is in the corner of the page, to give you a sense of the incredibly fine work 

the monk illustrators did.

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Another detail, more delightful dots.

One final photo (with my camera making a shadow) that shows the loving, incredible work the illustrators did.

To find inspiration in more posts, see my post about the beautiful St. Chapelle in Paris and glorious, ancient libraries in Paris.

How about you? Do you find inspiration in this kind of art? Have you been to see the Book of Kells? Is it on your bucket list? 

What is on your bucket list, anyway? Comment below!

A Pause for Beauty and Creativity in Paris

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By Norma Hopcraft

I urge you to take a moment to bathe in stained glass beauty. 

The walls of St. Chapelle in Paris are mostly made of glass! It's an architectural feat by the French who pulled this off in 1248. 

If the wall isn't made of glass, it's stenciled with all kinds of designs in gilt paint (a detailed photo below).

Saint Chapelle is breathtaking. 

What places, either man-made or in nature, have you been in that you thought were exquisite? Please comment below and share it with all of us so we can explore it too!

Now I'll let you enjoy St. Chapelle in peace:

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What places, either man-made or in nature, have you been in that you thought were exquisite? Please comment below and share it with all of us so we can explore it too!

Adirondack High

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By Norma Hopcraft

The scent of a foot of new-fallen snow. Just pause for a moment and imagine it. Take a relaxing break to think about "woodsbathing" (Japanese term) in a forest with every twig dusted by white powder.

Please do come with me now to enjoy the cross-country skiing I did over New Year's.

I was there for four nights, during which we got 16 inches of snow. One morning it was 6 degrees when I got up, with a "feels like" temperature of -1.

But the pristine snow was beautiful!! The woods were beautiful!! 

I was in the Tughill area of the Adirondacks, in a ski lodge called Osceola XC Ski. Kristin and Tom are the excellent hosts, and they're crazy about winter. Good thing, because there's lots of it here.

Blue-eyed Barrow

He's one of Kristin's two Euro Hounds. These dogs are bred to pull sleds mid-distances (30-300 miles in a day). They are a blend of husky, German short hair pointer and saluki. Kristin says she has yet to truly tire them out, but I can testify: they are on the run ALL day.

Barrow went out with me on my first try at snow-shoeing. He would gallop way ahead, turn, and wait. He'd disappear around a curve, and I'd think, I've lost him. But when I got around the curve, there he was! Then he'd dash past me, heading toward the lodge. I thought he was abandoning me in favor of checking to see if there was kibble in his bowl yet. But no, back he would come, galloping at top speed. Then stop, turn, and wait. He stuck with me the whole time I was out, except when we were once again in sight of the lodge. I was very glad to have his company my first unsteady time on snowshoes.

He and his half-brother Slate followed other skiers too, every day, all day. They did not stop for one moment. More pics of the Euro Hounds below.

Me, heading out onto the groomed trails.

The wind would toss the tops of the 40-foot-tall Christmas trees and snow would slip to the next lower branch, and the next -- a mini avalanche of pure powder! Beautiful. Would have filmed it for you but I never knew when it would happen. 

Despite day-after-day below-freezing temperatures, this stream was still running, cutting a path through the drifts.

We got a lot of snow.

My athletic sister, a twinkle-toes on skis.

I highly recommend this place -- rustic, with friendly, helpful hosts. You can rent or buy skis and snowshoes, boots and poles, with personal guidance from Kristin. 

Just one of the beautiful trails.

Left a Mohawk on this big car, where I couldn't reach.

This is how folks who live in the Adirondacks get around in winter. Snowmobiles parked outside the self-styled "World Famous Osceola Hotel."

Tom grooming the trails with Slate and Barrow supervising.

They do rest, but they don't really NEED to rest.

Be sure to see the short video of the two black dogs frolicking with each other on pure white snow, below.

Getting home was easy. The roads are thoroughly sanded after every snowfall -- it must be like Jones Beach around here in summer. I was able to easily drive home to Rochester. Don't let fear of the roads stop you from XC ski! 

This poem explains winter in the Adirondacks beautifully. It crossed my path by pure serendipity. I would credit the writer if I knew his or her name:

And one last glimpse of Slate and Barrow: