Description: The Archangel Michael spears a beast with “the strength of God” in a page from the Black Book of the Exchequer.
Date: 13th century
Our Catalogue Reference: E 36/266
This image is from the collections of The National Archives. Feel free to share it within the spirit of the Commons. For high quality reproductions of any item from the collection please contact the image library.
From the UK Archives in Flickr Commons.
Image from the British Library collection in Flickr Commons.
Title: “Mr. Grant Allen’s New Story “Michael’s Crag.” With … marginal illustrations in silhouette, etc”
Author: Allen, Grant
Shelfmark: “British Library HMNTS 012630.ee.13.”
Page: 118
Place of Publishing: London
Date of Publishing: 1893
Publisher: Leadenhall Press
Issuance: monographic
Identifier: 000055000
Grant Allen on Wikipedia and elsewhere, Gutenberg text of the story here.
There’s server work on a site I hang out on tonight. If it all goes wrong, people can come over here and discuss how to make it better, or just chat.
JM Barrie, of Peter Pan fame, once described his writing as “playing hide and seek with angels.”
How, in a good* moment, would you describe your work†?
—–
* or strange**
† either the thing that pays or your life’s work‡
** to the extent that there is a difference
‡ vide supra
The first days with the flaming sword, I swore
I’d break my arms, or burn my fingertips.
My palms were blistered. Skin came off in strips.
At sunset I’d be weary to the core.
And now I can, with joyful spirit, tell
How when my widespread wings were newly fledged
I lost control, and ended my flight wedged
Inside a cliffside crack (from which I fell!)
In time I learned to better wield my sword
And not set light to quite so many trees.
I fly for days on end with grace and ease.
And doing these things well, I please the LORD.
(But I confess – His pleasure’s just a part
Of my delight in mastering my art.)
Written for Teresa Nielsen Hayden at the beginning of a new job, and posted on Making Light.