Illuminated Texts on Beowulf and Grendel

I am struck by the number of times that I do not fully appreciate an Illuminated Text until I view it much later (very often in preparing it for this website).  This presentation is one of the most brilliant, creative, and insightful Illuminated Texts that my students have ever created.  One point of amazement is the sophisticated outlook that is present in its creation.  The students compare the men's ideas and theories to the constellations and stars in the sky.  The grim reality is show in the presentation on the ground.  And then, they go one step further.  The very sentences that make up the books words are, in turn, compared to these constellations -- giving us an understanding to the dark and inexplicable happenings of our lives. Brilliant, in every sense.

This wonderful Illuminated Text by Safiya Nygaard and Ashley Bowe uses the text, words, letters, and even fonts of Gardner's story to create a powerful image of the shaper.  The words and letters - like the hypnotic tales of the Shaper move to create a new understanding of what the monster, Grendel, has seen.  They dance across the screen to piano music - silent when the story calls for silence - changing colors when the text calls for it.  A terrific job.

This Illuminated Text by Oluremi Olufemi and Sifat Ali is epic in scope and in creativity.  Using mostly black on white or white on black text, they are able to introduce color for those times when they want to add a special effect or impression.  The same thinking has gone into their use of fonts - plain until you are trying to say something else.  The presentation concentrates on Grendel's view of the world - a place without purpose and how he got there.  Two worlds - the world of reality and the world of the shaper and how he tries to balance the two seemingly incompatable worlds in his head.  All-the-while the mysterious new stranger has landed, adding to an ominous sense of the future.  A terrific Illuminated Text.