Okay, this is going to get a little personal, because this is about one of my very best friends: Anne Spanget-Larsen. We've known each other since the early 90s, when we met at university and discovered that we shared a love for fantasy. For many years, Anne has been my GM (game master) when we played tabletop role-playing games. Therefore, I have first-hand experience of her ability to create enchanting stories.
Photo: Kitty Mortensen
About a year ago, she finally took the plunge and wrote her first novel about Mirja, a young kitchen maid who lives in a castle deep in the forest - which in more ways than one is getting darker and more dangerous every day. And Mirja is the only one who can (maybe) do something about it. If she dares.
The book Askenfjeld was one of the winners in Krabat's fantasy competition, and when it was about to be published, Anne entrusted me with the task of drawing a world map, to be printed in the book. What a nerve-wracking responsibility, but also a very fun task!
The card was given a squiggly frame and here I drew, among other things, a certain key that plays a crucial role:
“Raven's amulet. It feels surprisingly heavy in Mirja's hand as she lifts it up by its leather cord. A strange little root stump with beautiful veins and textures in the wood. ”Is that a key?” Mirja asks. The moment she asks the question, it strikes her how stupid it sounds. Everyone can see that they're just a tree root and not a key.”
As Anne's birthday approached, I set out to create that exact key for her, and because I had just drawn it, I knew exactly what it looked like.
With wax and tools in hand, I threw myself into the project, which took quite a few hours to carve. But even though I often work with shaping jewellery in this way, there was a sense of artistic ”con amore” even more than usual, so it was a pure pleasure!
I had the key cast in silver, part-oxidised it, tied it to a leather cord and placed it in a medieval wooden mini-chest. On moss, of course. Fortunately, she was suitably surprised, so it was worth all the hours of crafting to see her so happy.
Now the book has been published. It is exceptionally beautiful, has received great reviews and has been purchased by several libraries across Denmark. Anne is already writing the sequel and to support her project, I decided to take a mould of her key so that others can get their hands on a version of this artefact. Whether they can use it in the same way as in the book, however, I will leave to the individual's magical abilities...
I will initially cast the key in silver (light or partially oxidised and in a black leather cord) and you can get it in both my online and physical store in Copenhagen. But as always: Since I create it especially for you when you order, you can ask for changes. You can have it cast from a different precious metal, get a different colour leather strap or maybe hang it on a chain.
Buy the key (at a special discounted price) here:
What a happy blend of imagination, storytelling and artistry this journey with Anne has been! I hope she will end up being as popular a writer as she so clearly deserves and eagerly await the next story from her hand.
Buy the book here:
Read more about Anne here:
About the story:
Mirja, the kitchen maid, lives in the castle Askenfjeld deep in the dark forests. She has made an art form out of being invisible, because as we all know, he who lives quietly lives well. But eventually she realises that (much against her will) she seems to be playing a role in a drama that started many generations ago. It involves the divine King of the Forest, his son and the powerful magician Miramar. Since these events, the forest has become increasingly darkened and now everyone's life is in danger.
Too bad Mirja. Your days of hiding in the shadows are over! Step forward, realise who and what you are and DO something! And try not to fall in love. Because then things will just get even messier...
Incidentally, this key is not the first artefact from a novel that I have created my personal version of! A few years ago, a customer asked me to build a special version of the Ourobouros ring worn by the female Aes Sedai magicians in the novel Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. Read about that project here:
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