Brendan the Navigator, Brandán el Navegante, Brendan de Clonfert et la moins connue des îles Canaries

 

Jasconius // Aspidochelone // Aspidochélon

- Il existe dans la mer un être nommé tortue à bouclier, semblable au dragon ou à la baleine

-  There exists in the sea a creature known as the shield-turtle, resembling the dragon or the whale.

 

During Inktober of 2024,  when the prompt was "navigator" I made a little picture about Saint Brendan.

And I knew about the legend of phantom island of San Borondon for a good long while. 

Yet somewow, I've never made the connection between the two - the difference in the writing of the name was sufficient to mask it. Up till today, that is.

Now I know it all started with Saint Brendan. It was him and his companions who stopped by what they assumed was an island. They were wrong, the island was not an island, but rather a giant creature called Jasconius. They woke him up by making a campfire at his back.

I prefer to think of him as a dragon rather than a whale. He learned to hide much better since Saint Brendan's time.  Here he is, dreaming happily, undisturbed by campfires.

Landmark/repère

 Today's,  and the last, Inktober prompt is "landmark/repère".

In this picture there are a few of them. The one in the foreground is Gañifa rock arch, middle plane is occupied by the iconic Roque Nublo, and in the backgound there is Teide. You can't get much more landmarky than this.

Violin/violon

 Today's Inktober prompt is SUDDENLY! "violin/violon".

And here is the cat,  who finds himself facing an enormous violin scroll after all the hiking, trekking, walking and navigating. He looks perplexed,  but, let's face it, who wouldn't be in his place.

Images of violin on shutterstock

Navigator/Navigateur

 

Today's Inktober prompt is "navigator/navigateur".

Initially I thought I'll go with a more modern version of the word, but a reference image search brought me this beautiful illustration of   Saint Brendan le Navigateur, and I've changed my mind. 

Many other depictions have him holding a boat in his hand, and he is the patron saint of sailors. 

I must have seen the picture in one of the James Christensen books that we have, but didn't remember it.

Pictures related to navigation on shutterstock

Jumbo/énorme

Today's Inktober prompt is "jumbo/énorme (adj.)".

I've chosen to ignore the obvious "-jet" addition to "jumbo", and went with the source of all the jumbo tags - the so named elephant. 

The cat, who is not small himself, is there for scale. They both look so pleased because they were pen pals for years and now have the first opportunity to meet, thanks to the Inktober tag. 

Road/route

 Today's Inktober prompt is "road/route".

And here is the cat, on the road again, trying to tackle Harry Pregerson interchange in LA. The fact that I unwittingly put him into a left-hand drive car doesn't make things easier.

Camera (obscura) / chambre noir

 Today's Inktober prompt is "camera". I expanded it a bit to "camera obscura/chambre noir".

One day, a long time ago, I entered a dark windowless corridor in the new, but already shabby, building of our university. One of the doors had a hole, where the lock was broken out completely. The room behind the door had the windows looking at another part of the same building, the sun hitting it full-on. First, I  noticed a blurry regular pattern on a wall opposite to the door and then something moving.  It took me some time to work out the moving thing was a curtain hanging out of one of the windows in the sunlit wall. The fact that it was upside down didn't help to recognise it.

It was an accidentally formed camera obscura, very imperfect of course.  I'd never seen the effect before. We had studied a bit of optics at school,  and there might have been an illustration in the textbook, but it probably was a line drawing, and it was difficult to form a link between it and real life. My own illustration of the event also doesn't explain much, I'm afraid.

And below I leave a beautifully executed, but still not very explanatory,  version of the same phenomenon printed by Hokusai 

Scarecrow/épouvantail

Today’s Inktober prompt is “scarecrow/épouvantail”.

And here is Turnip Head, happy as usual, greeting you.

I guess this departure from the previous line of “adventure/travel” prompts is due to upcoming Halloween.

Which reminds me that I need a pumpkin.

Expedition/expédition

 Today's Inktober prompt is "expedition/expédition".

And here is the cat, bitterly regretting his decision to come to a polar expedition.  What is all this white stuff? He doesn't like this white stuff.

Come to the pole they said.  It will be fun they said.

Rust / rouille

Today's Inktober prompt is "rust / rouille".

It's a difficult subject to draw. You just have to believe me that ill-fated "American Star" in the pic is extremely rusty. 

Or rather it was rusty. Now it is mostly gone.

Camp

 

Today's Inktober prompt is "camp/camp".

And here us the cat, camping illegally in Teide National Park.  He really,  really wanted to see the comet. And cats are very good in ignoring the rules imposed by humans, as we all know.

Rhinoceros/rhinocéros

 Today's Inktober prompt is, SUDDENLY!, "Rhinoceros/rhinocéros".

And here is the cat,  dressed up as one.  As costumes go,  this one is not bad. Still, he doesn't like it. He is a refined creature,  and there is nothing refined about rhinoceroses.

Uncharted / inexplorée

 

Today's Inktober prompt is "uncharted / inexplorée".

And, of course,  the first thing that comes to mind is "here be dragons". 

Just one very large dragon,  really. He barely fits into this measly bit of uncharted terrain, and doesn't fit at all once he spreads his wings.

Ridge / crête

Today’s Inktober prompt is “ridge/crête”.

And here is the cat, walking along what looks like a path to nowhere.

I am not worried about him though. Unlike some people I know and love, this cat is able to turn around when he sees an abyss in front of him.

Drive/conduire

Today’s Inktober prompt is “drive/conduire”.

As I already stated, I don’t like driving in the snow. But I must add that I absolutely hate driving in the mountains, and avoid it at all costs.

The road in the picture represents how I see the road between Agaete and La Aldea de San Nicolas, here on Gran Canaria. It was and is being improved all the time, tunnels dug and some bits straightened, but it is quite frightening even now.

Journal

Today’s Inktober prompt is “journal”.

I think the cat is having difficulties with keeping a journal. His paws are just not meant for it.

Or maybe he is just tired. Looks like he is at the end of Artenara — Cruz de Tejeda walk. It is a very respectable hike, for a cat.

Grungy / crade

Today's Inktober prompt is "grungy/crade".

And what is the dirtiest, the worst for wear piece of equipment of any hiker worth her salt? That's right, the boots. And here you have mine. Looks like I need a new pair soon, if not right now.

Now that the tendency of the prompts is very obvious,  I rather think they meant this type of boots here, and not what I drew, the Puss-In-Boots kind. 

But well.

Guidebook / guide

 

Today's Inktober prompt is "guidebook / guide".

Which reminded me of a little episode from a few years back. We were walking in the hills, using an online guide by a very knowledgeable local hiker. It wasn't one of the complicated routes,  but it was a foggy day and the visibility was limited. We weren't lost, exactly,  just not sure where we were.  And then, in the verbal description of the route,  we came up to a phrase which went "and then you come to a farm with dogs that bark". Right on cue, a dog started barking in the fog, and suddenly we knew exactly where we were.

Roam / errer

 Today's Inktober prompt is "roam / errer".

And here is the cat,  feeling unusually energetic. I have no explanation as to why. Mysterious are the ways of the cat.

Le problème du chat / horizon

 Today's Inktober prompt is "horizon", written the same in French and English.

The cat has a problem, le problème du chat . Unlike "Le problème du cavalier", where the Knight has to visit every square on a chessboard, the cat's problem is simpler - he just doesn't want to move at all. He is just fine where he is, thank you very much.

Come to think of it,  he doesn't have a problem. No-one can make a cat to move if he doesn't want to.